the DVI interface on your notebook is output only, unfortunately, so that delicious large 1920x1200 screen cannot be used to display sources such as an HDTV receiver.
if you have a PVR (tv tuner/capture) device, such as ATI TV Wonder or Hauppage PVR, you can watch your Dish on your laptop - but not in HD, so its not worth it.
21-24" HDTV displays can be obtained for under $500, so I'd recommend that as your best option.
BTW, if your Dish receiver has a firewire port, you may be able to use that to watch HDTV on your laptop - but I don't think it will, AFAIK, only a few models of cable HD receivers have firewire outputs.
I don't think there is any way to do it without specialty hardware.
There are companies such as 169time for DirecTV receivers that specialize in modifying receivers without 1394 outputs to include them.
169time does not do Dish as far as I know, but I remember seeing a company that did. A coworker has their product (I can't remember if he's using it with Dish or DTV) and loves it. Note that the mod is $600-700+ on top of the price of the receiver.
Well, there are places (I can't really say any more than that) where you can get half-res HD versions of TV shows. HRHD is still much better than 480i NTSC.
Also, you can buy PCI ATSC/QAM receivers to receive over-the-air (via antenna) HD or unencrypted cable HD channels. Some cable companies provide receivers that have built-in 1394 ports that are not always encrypted. (Time Warner is not one of them). PCI solutions won't help for a standalone solution on your laptop, but you can record on one (desktop) system and playback on another. I am currently doing this for standard definition TV using a Hauppauge PVR-500 in a homebuilt fileserver box, streaming the video via WLAN to my E1705. Within the next month I'll be adding an AirStar HD5000 ATSC/QAM tuner card to the backend machine for tuning the handful of unencrypted digital cable channels Time Warner provides.
There are basically no solutions like this for U.S. satellite systems other than the aforementioned expensive receiver mods from people like 169time.
For more info on recording HD content to a PC in your area, I strongly suggest checking out www.avsforum.com
jaminus
31 Posts
0
May 1st, 2006 14:00
the DVI interface on your notebook is output only, unfortunately, so that delicious large 1920x1200 screen cannot be used to display sources such as an HDTV receiver.
if you have a PVR (tv tuner/capture) device, such as ATI TV Wonder or Hauppage PVR, you can watch your Dish on your laptop - but not in HD, so its not worth it.
21-24" HDTV displays can be obtained for under $500, so I'd recommend that as your best option.
BTW, if your Dish receiver has a firewire port, you may be able to use that to watch HDTV on your laptop - but I don't think it will, AFAIK, only a few models of cable HD receivers have firewire outputs.
Entropy42
529 Posts
0
May 1st, 2006 15:00
There are companies such as 169time for DirecTV receivers that specialize in modifying receivers without 1394 outputs to include them.
169time does not do Dish as far as I know, but I remember seeing a company that did. A coworker has their product (I can't remember if he's using it with Dish or DTV) and loves it. Note that the mod is $600-700+ on top of the price of the receiver.
vemuru
3 Posts
0
May 1st, 2006 23:00
Entropy42
529 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2006 15:00
Also, you can buy PCI ATSC/QAM receivers to receive over-the-air (via antenna) HD or unencrypted cable HD channels. Some cable companies provide receivers that have built-in 1394 ports that are not always encrypted. (Time Warner is not one of them). PCI solutions won't help for a standalone solution on your laptop, but you can record on one (desktop) system and playback on another. I am currently doing this for standard definition TV using a Hauppauge PVR-500 in a homebuilt fileserver box, streaming the video via WLAN to my E1705. Within the next month I'll be adding an AirStar HD5000 ATSC/QAM tuner card to the backend machine for tuning the handful of unencrypted digital cable channels Time Warner provides.
There are basically no solutions like this for U.S. satellite systems other than the aforementioned expensive receiver mods from people like 169time.
For more info on recording HD content to a PC in your area, I strongly suggest checking out www.avsforum.com