Watch Satellite TV On Computer Using PCTV Cards

Watch Satellite TV On Computer Using PCTV Cards

There are folks who watch satellite TV on computer using PCTV cards. You could be one of them. It is quite a relief to know that you do not need to set up a satellite dish system before you can watch the TV channels.

There are basically two types of PCTV cards in the market. One is an external device that can be fitted easily into your PC’s USB port. The other is an internal card that is fitted onto the PCI slot on your motherboard. Needless to say, using an external card is a piece of cake for most people. It is very much plug and play technology. Fitting the internal card requires you to dismantle your computer and then fitting the card. It gets a little bit too technical here if I go into the details of slots and pins so I will not bore you here.

Most TV cards require a minimum PC configuration of Pentium 3 processor and at least 512 KB RAM. You will need an internet connection. The requirement can vary as some can run even on a dial up connection. But frankly, no one goes for dial up nowadays and broadband is THE standard for most surfers. But that said, sometimes, you may be living in a place where broadband is a rarity. In any case, one good old advice is to pop by the local computer hardware shop and ask them if the PCTV cards they offer are compatible with your computer. That would save you a lot of trouble and headaches down the road.

The cards are generally not too cheap and can set you back easily by 200 to 300 US dollars. Well, you can get a decent TV card from Plextor, Pinnacle and other brands for that price so it really depends on how you see it. Invest in an external card if you are not too techie. All you ever need to do is to connect it to your computer’s USB port.

That’s about it! You may watch satellite TV on computer using PCTV cards. Still…there is a third option which we will discover in the next post. Look out…