USB TV receiver?

michaelp · 16 Sep 2012 at 22:56

Hey there,

My girlfriend recently moved out for uni and she doesn't have a TV Ariel anywhere in her new flat. I remember seeing there's things like USB TV receivers but have no idea how good they are and there doesn't seem to be any reviews on them here. I like the look of this one.

But how good are they? will it be able to pick up all the digital channels or is it all above coverage and a lot of moving around? There seems to be another version with a Arial would that product just receive a worse connection?

Has anyone had one of these before of a TV card in order to give me some advice?

bremen1874 · 16 Sep 2012 at 23:12

Every PC TV tuner I've used needed a real roof aerial to get a decent picture.

If she’s close enough to the transmitter and has a decent line of sight she might get away with it.

michaelp · 16 Sep 2012 at 23:22

could that be because your not in a great area for reception? I know of two people who have indoor aerial's and I have managed to position them so that they good a good signal and most channels with decent picture.

Side note that link is a bit misleading as I assume that aerial has a cable meaning its a lot more annoying as first hoped

scwba06 · 17 Sep 2012 at 00:21

All the flats I lived in at Uni had a digital Ariel socket that lead to the Ariel on the roof, a simple case of buying a digital ariel cable. Are you sure there is no socket?

R.C.Anderson · 17 Sep 2012 at 01:07

If the broadband speed is ok, she would be better off just using tvcatchup.com has all the freeview channels streamed (still need the TV licence), then there's no need to try and find a place for the aerial that gives a good signal.

wazza300 · 17 Sep 2012 at 01:09

it depends on where you live,i get 120+ channels on a usb digital tv stick and the tiny matchstick ariel that comes with it,picture quality is great

mines a k-world usb stick

michaelp · 17 Sep 2012 at 09:45

She's not living at halls instead she's sharing a bungalo that has just been renovated and the landlord clearly thought a TV wasn't needed. So there is not a single point in the house since there's no aerial as for watching things online they're not getting broadband because there only there for 6 months because they then do a work placement and contracts are usually 12/18 months so there going for dongles which doesn't allow for a whole load of data usage.

siege2 · 17 Sep 2012 at 09:56

michaelp said:
She's not living at halls instead she's sharing a bungalo that has just been renovated and the landlord clearly thought a TV wasn't needed. So there is not a single point in the house since there's no aerial as for watching things online they're not getting broadband because there only there for 6 months because they then do a work placement and contracts are usually 12/18 months so there going for dongles which doesn't allow for a whole load of data usage.

If she has a android tablet phone etc she can get apps for TV;

online TV
mplayerPro
TVcatchup
even get netflix with a free one months subscription :-)

Kenneth