A tv tuner that will get the job done

[alonzomourning23]

I just got an samsung a920 cell phone and I recently figured out I can stream all the videos and music from my pc to my phone through using a free program called Orb. It's pretty good quality too, and the sound is much better streamed than if I'm running a video off my memory card. It also has an option to stream all the cable channels on my tv to my phone too.

Now my pc is underpowered and all (it recommends one about twice as fast), but I'm real low on cash now and don't want to spend the 150 bucks needed to upgrade it. I also don't feel like spending 30-100 bucks for a halfway decent tv card. But if I can get tv, even if the quality isn't great, for like 10 bucks or so then I'll do it. This way I'll have something to tide me over for when I actually decide to buy something of quality. I know tv tuners have been around for over 10 years so maybe there's a really outdated one that will at least get me analog cable channels (I have digital cable, but probably don't want to spend the money for a digital card). I already have mobitv on my phone, which gives me msnbc, discovery channel, espn etc. but I really want to get local channels like fox.

This is what Orb says about tv tuners:

TV Tuners for Windows XP Users

A supported TV Tuner is required for streaming live TV in Orb

Supported Single Analog Tuners (MPEG-2 tuners)

All tuners with a built-in hardware MPEG-2 encoder (aka. MPEG-2 tuners) such as:

Hauppauge: WinTV PVR-150 - Buy now and save $20! (http://registration.hauppauge.com/webstore/pvr150_orb.asp)
Hauppauge: WinTV PVR-USB2 - Buy now and save $20! (http://registration.hauppauge.com/webstore/pvrusb2_orb.asp)
Hauppauge: WinTV PVR-250, and 350
ADS Instant TV Deluxe PTV-305 PCI - Buy now (http://www.orb.com/get_orb/system_requirements/ads/)
ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB (External) - Buy now (http://www.orb.com/get_orb/system_requirements/ads/)
AVerMedia UltraTV Media Center PCI 500 and PCI 550
Emuzed Angel Dual TV Tuner*Important: ADS Tuners are for Windows XP only and are not compatible with Media Center Edition PCs.

Supported Over-The-Air (OTA) Digital Tuners - ATSC Tuners

All Microsoft BDA-compatible ATSC tuners, such as:

ATI HDTV Wonder (Hybrid ATSC/analog PCI card)
VBOX: DTA-150 and DTA-151 (PCI cards)
VBOX: USB-A 3560 (USB-2 external); ATSC 2060
ATSC tuners compatible with Media CenterNOTE on DVB tuners:

Most DVB-T (terrestrial) digital tuners should work in Orb. However, this functionality is offered as a "beta" and is therefore not fully supported at this time.
DVB-S (satellite) digital tuners do not work in Orb at this time.Supported Dual Tuners

Hauppauge WinTV 500MCE PCI (for Media Centers only)
Emuzed Angel Dual TV Tuner PCI
Adaptec VideOh! Media Center USB 2.0 (AVC-3610)
Novac NV-TV300D2 Dual-TV2
NVIDIA Dual-TVNote on software-based, non-MPEG2 TV tuners

At this time, most non-MPEG2 tuners (such as: ATI All-In-Wonder family of tuners; Hauppauge soft-PVR USB tuners; etc.) will work in Orb. However the implementation of this functionality is still in beta and therefore not supported. If you cannot make your non-MPEG2 tuner work in Orb, search Orb forum posts at forums.com.orb (http://forums.orb.com/) where issues related to this type of tuners are discussed, and basic setup tips are offered.

Set-Top Boxes

If your TV setup includes a Set-Top Box (STB), to change TV channels in Orb you will need a Microsoft MCE-compatible Infra-Red (IR) Blaster (usually comes bundled with the MCE remote control). The following Set-Top Boxes are supported by Orb:


TiVo Series 1 and Series 2
Motorola DCT-2000 to DCT-6000
Scientific Atlanta (SA) Explorer Series 2000 to 8000
Echostar 301 and 501 for Dish NetworksRemote Controls and IR Blasters

The following Remote Controls include IR Blasters supported by Orb:

Philips Media Center Remote Control
SMK Remote Control for Windows XP Media Center Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Remote Control
Hewlett Packard Remote Control for Windows XP Media Center Edition
USB-UIRT (Universal Infrared Receiver Transmitter)
ADS IR Blaster(*) NOTE: The ADS IR Blaster is for Windows XP only. It is NOT MCE-compatible and only works with the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB tuner listed above

I have absolutely no idea what it's talking about in the set top box section, other than I do think mine may be compatible (it's a digital motorolla but I'm not sure about the numbers). I also sort of have tivo. I stopped using it a few years ago because it would no longer connect for updates and was going to cost 1 or 200 (can't remember) to fix. I'm not sure if it would work here. I think the tv tuner is my best bet though, mainly because I won't get confused.

[CokeCola]

The IR blaster is a USB dongle that allows your computer to control your cable box through its standard IR port - sort of like taping your remote control to your box if your computer was plugged up to it.

I don't know about cheap solutions, but Happauge is a great brand. I love mine.

Where did you find out about this program? Does it have a good reputation?

[alonzomourning23]

http://www.orb.com is the program I'm using and it was recommended to me by ringerpost.com, a place where you can get cell phone programs for free.

There are about 40 internet tv channels but the quality depends on the reception. Maxed out it comes in very fluid and clear, lower reception it's blocked and choppy. But stuff streaming from my pc seems to come in fine as long as I'm getting some reception. Honestly though, just getting sound would be better than nothing.