Recording TV to media centre...........

j88kln

hi,

i have just got a laptop with media centre installed on it.

i was wondering if it is possible to connect the laptop to my TV (with inbuilt freeview) and record the programs to my harddrive?

if so how do you do it?

cheers

Andy

missile

It would help if you said what make / model of laptop and TV. Does laptop have a TV connection? Does your TV have a usb out or similar?

On mine http://www.johnlewis.com/Technology/Computers/Computers/Desktops/396/230446814/Product.aspx I just plugged a tv cable into the wall socket and the other end into the PC.

j88kln

sorry for being vague.

i have got a Dell XPS M1530 notebook and a Samsung LE26R73BD TV.

Im not sure what the connections that are needed look like sorry.

ABH_3

You would need some means of connecting the tv aeriel to the laptop. So something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Digital-Personal-Recorder-Laptop/dp/B000HWDBJ8/ref=sr_1_157?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199839280&sr=1-157 it's got a standard aeriel socket on the end, you would need to plug your tv aeriel into the usb stick, use the software to search for the channels available in your region, then use the recording options to record the tv. Then simply unplug it and you can watch your recorded tv anywhere. You should be aware however, that if you have the solidstate 1530 then 1hour of recorded tv could be as large as 4.7gb which is the size of an average dvd in terms of data.

HTH

j88kln

thanks for the reply.

i was wondering if it possible to set up TV recording in media centre on my laptop then plug the TV into the laptop and record the TV straight to my laptop?

as i already have freeview in-built into my TV.

is this possible at all?
and if so what cables do i need?

Andy

Stubert

You would need a video capture card on your laptop, which would probably be hard to install on a laptop unless you could get one that fits into an express card slot.

ABH_3

j88kln wrote: »

thanks for the reply.

i was wondering if it possible to set up TV recording in media centre on my laptop then plug the TV into the laptop and record the TV straight to my laptop?

as i already have freeview in-built into my TV.

is this possible at all?
and if so what cables do i need?

Andy

As Stubert says you would need a suitable capture card, however you will already have that built into the usb tv stick if you go that route. All it does is give you an interface which you use to record tv to your laptop. It's the easiest and quickest way, then all you need to do of an evening is insert the usb key which is connected to your roof aeriel, and set the pvr software on the laptop to record whatever you want to record.

You will need something like this: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=1626&doy=12m1 or http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=1625&doy=12m1 to allow you to connect two devices to your rooftop aeriel, unless you're in a strong enough signal area that the mini aeriel with the usb tv card is able to pick up the tv channels.

HTH