Laptop for student & to watch TV

closed

The website does say this, but it's really clutching at straws legally, it's bound to be plugged in, not that anyone can prove it without knocking the door down. The battery won't last as long if it's constantly cycled watching tv, and they can cost almost as much as a licence.

Your parents' TV Licence will not cover you while you are away at university unless you only use a device that's powered solely by its own internal batteries. You must not plug it into the mains when using it to receive TV.

lonestarfan

wallbash wrote: »

Far more important than watching the football on his laptop is the boring subject of laptop theft. One, insure it . Don't just think it will be covered on an existing policy , it won't.

And can I bring to your attention a favorite topic of mine .

http://preyproject.com/

This completely free piece of software can reunite the said laptop/ smart phone with its owner , if stolen.

My daughter , was able to give the location of her stolen laptop .........280 miles away , the IP address being used , name of thief ( via email address) and even a picture of him ( via web cam ) sitting using her laptop. Police knocked on his door 2 hours later.

Thief got fined , a criminal record and my daughter got her lap top back .

Preyproject , please spread the word to all , it costs nothing but might be the best bit of software hidden on your laptop.

Super thanks for that. Yes I must make sure I sort out insurance. That is another pain tho as I paid for mobile phone insurance for a month or two before I understood it didn't cover hardly anything- what a load of rubbish that was - didn't cover loss or the thief running up a bill and yet thats a main thing I wanted as you can lose things. I ended up putting it on their home contents including things such as accidental damage, also as personal possessions away from the home. Any suggestions on a good policy for him at uni? Is it just a good contents insurance policy I need to get like the home policy I got? Slightly off topic I know but all for a good cause 😊

lonestarfan

closed wrote: »

sep is a while away yet

Does that mean sleep is a while away or is sep a code for some technology thing? If you meant sleep then I hope ou manage to get some soon as it is a bit late now 😴

lonestarfan

closed wrote: »

The website does say this, but it's really clutching at straws legally, it's bound to be plugged in, not that anyone can prove it without knocking the door down. The battery won't last as long if it's constantly cycled watching tv, and they can cost almost as much as a licence.

Your parents' TV Licence will not cover you while you are away at university unless you only use a device that's powered solely by its own internal batteries. You must not plug it into the mains when using it to receive TV.

I wonder what those existing students meant then & how they did it. Seems to me that we have to get him a licence as no one has confirmed a free way of watching live tv only catch up TV.
The communal area has a licence but the university definitely says it won't cover their bedrooms.

closed

tember.... ie buying later will probably result in a better spec machine for the same price

lonestarfan

closed wrote: »

tember....
Lol 😂😂😂😂😂 took me a while to piece the two bits together hee hee September. I can tell its late for me to be up lol.

closed

the other students were probably either referring to catchup tv/torrents, or relying on the fact that it's far harder for anyone to prove anything if all you've got is a laptop, with an ip address, hidden behind the halls router, rather than a 42" tv with coronation street on next to a downstairs window. The battery thing is also impossible to prove, so it's more of a moral issue.

reaprr

lonestarfan wrote: »

I wonder what those existing students meant then & how they did it. Seems to me that we have to get him a licence as no one has confirmed a free way of watching live tv only catch up TV.
The communal area has a licence but the university definitely says it won't cover their bedrooms.

The website I posted (tvcatchup.com) is live TV, despite the name.

Thanks for the link to prey, I have been looking for software like this since my laptop/ipod/external HD was stolen in my final year of university! (Luckily I had just had JUST handed in my dissertation!)

Cornucopia

To achieve what the nephew wants ie. watch Sky sports without a TV licence, the ONLY legal option is watching it on the laptop, whilst not connecting the laptop to mains power, and being covered by his mother's licence which covers his permanent address. Get him to keep a copy of her licence with him.

Technically how you get Sky to the laptop is Sky Go via the internet. For Freeview channels, you would use a TV dongle or iPlayer etc. I don't think you could connect the laptop to a TV whilst watching TV broadcasts, though you could do this for catch-up TV (iplayer etc.)

lonestarfan

But if you decide to get him a licence then remember he can get a refund for the time he's NOT at Uni, which is around 1/5(?!?) of the cost i think.[/QUOTE]
Thanks Solitaire. That's something to think about as his accommodation is a 44 weeks arrangement but I don't think you can stop and start the licence. I think it has to have 3 months left or something like that so I think it's a bit tight to buy late September and end it in June as I don't think Uni is finished by June.
Just looked at the term dates they are 23 Sept to 6 June so it's just about possible.
Reappr - The website I posted (tvcatchup.com) is live TV, despite the name.
Yes I did interpret that as catch up tv not live tv - they could do with a better name lol ��
You can connect laptops to TV or monitors very easily with a few cheap cables depending on what connections the laptop/tv/monitor has. These would allow the TV or monitor to display whatever is on the laptop. HDMI cables would be best as these transmit both video and audio over 1 cable and can display HD quality, however if the devices don't have the right sockets you can use an AUX cable for sound (connected to the headphones jack) and a VGA cable for video.
closed ;- I think that would mean that the laptop is then mains powered so would need a licence. Do you think that?
the other students were probably either referring to catchup tv/torrents, or relying on the fact that it's far harder for anyone to prove anything if all you've got is a laptop, with an ip address, hidden behind the halls router, rather than a 42" tv with coronation street on next to a downstairs window. The battery thing is also impossible to prove, so it's more of a moral issue.
I think you have a good point about morals. The moral issue is important to us as we are raising a good citizen and don't intend to encourage him to find ways to con and avoid paying his way. I've worked hard all my life for everything I've got and he's a great kid - very risk averse actually. But as the TV licence had been raised on many uni open days we thought we'd look into it.

Cornucopia wrote: »

Technically how you get Sky to the laptop is Sky Go via the internet. For Freeview channels, you would use a TV dongle or iPlayer etc. I don't think you could connect the laptop to a TV whilst watching TV broadcasts, though you could do this for catch-up TV (iplayer etc.)

Someone said earlier that a TV dongle is the same as having a tv and aerial so needs a tv licence. Think I'm leaning towards needing to buy a licence.