Floppyhead - Digital Media and Home Theater Computers

Most widescreen laptops are perfect for watching high definition video. Watching HDTV on a laptop does have advantages, mainly being portable. ATSC, a digital broadcast standard, is available in many areas of the United States, especially in most major cities. Her are some quick tips:

1. Purchase a USB adapter HD tuner and portable antenna. Articles on the Pinnacle HD Pro Stick have been making their way around the blogosphere. It comes with a portable antenna so you can use it with your laptop when you’re on the road and it also comes with an A/V adapter that’ll let you hook up a cable/satellite set-top box straight to the Pro Stick. Slightly bigger than a thumbdrive, it is pricey at $129. For my money, Artec makes a similar product for about half the price though the include antenna is larger than the HD Pro Stick.
2. Many portable antennas are not very “powerful” with only a range of around 10 miles to the broadcast tower. If you are not traveling, consider getting a larger indoor antenna.
3. It is generally not possible to receive an ATSC signal while en route (e.g. in a car or train).
4. Buy a newspaper. Without an internet connection, you won’t be able to download the tv channel listings. You can download the tv listing ahead of time if you know where you are going to be.
5. When traveling for work, hook up your new HD “tv” to the company pojector and forget about your boring Powerpoint presentation.

The Artec USB tuner.

The Pinnacle HD Pro Stick