# Tivi to Laptop Via Fying Lead



## flotzie (Nov 30, 2006)

Can I do this with say a scart to S-Video Lead. Then can I watch my progs on laptop?


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## verses (Nov 6, 2002)

The S-video port on a laptop is normally an output-only port. So unless you have a very fancy laptop that can receive input on the s-video port then you'll not be able to do this.
The other alternative is to buy a TV decoder card that can plug into the laptop, these usually only have an RF input but depending on the pennies you're willing to spend I would expect you can get them with other inputs too.

Cheers,

Ian


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

You now have the problem of getting an ANALOGUE tv card, or usb.

Most new ones are digital freeview receivers, so can't take a video input.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/8976 would be ok though, for £27


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## flotzie (Nov 30, 2006)

That's great guys. If I bought this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/8976 what leads would I then need? Can I just use an RF lead from Tivos RF output and plug it into the card?
Your right , my S-video is only TV out only


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## flotzie (Nov 30, 2006)

What one of these USB 2.0 would be best for simply watching Tivo progs on my laptop via a flying RF lead?

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/74755/product_info

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/79322/product_info

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Hauppauge-WinTV-USB2-TV-Tuner-1027/version.asp


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## DeadKenny (Nov 9, 2002)

The £27 one has an RF socket. On the ebuyer listing, click on More Images and you can see the sockets on the box. The £44 has an RF socket also. There are no images for the other on ebuyer and I can't get to laptopsdirect's site.

Also it looks like these boxes have an S-Video socket on the side. That would be ideal, however I don't believe UK TiVo boxes output S-Video signals on SCART. Only composite PAL and RGB. The former will just give you a black and white picture when connected by S-Video I believe (and the latter won't work at all).

If you're just looking to watch on the laptop and not looking to archive to play back on a big TV or something, then RF I guess would be fine. It's the worst of all the possible connections, but probably okay in a little window on a laptop.

You need a regular RF lead, but you might also wan't some audio leads (stereo phono to stereo 3.5mm jack).

It depends if the audio is passed through RF okay and if the capture box decodes it. Note also that some TiVos had broken NICAM which meant audio through RF wouldn't work if you wanted NICAM stereo audio. This might cause a problem (though whether the capture cards decode NICAM I have no idea. It's a British specific thing so possibly not).


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## flotzie (Nov 30, 2006)

Thanks mate. I might just bite the bullet and buy one of these they sound a lot simpler to set up. Are they wifi though?

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/main.detail.item.556496/left.html.file.metadrill,html?ref=fgl


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Ah the slingbox.. no its not wifi, but you can attach it to your wifi router and access it like that.

The slingbox is good for watching tivo over the internet (if you have a decent upload speed - 256kbps is not really enough).

I didn't find the quality inside the LAN to be as good as I'd hoped, even maxing out all the settings. Still, its meant for internet streaming , not really local LAN use.


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## DeadKenny (Nov 9, 2002)

Good point. Forgot about Slingbox. Nice little gadget that. Can stream to all kinds of devices and even over long distances.

Not sure about WiFi, but if not you could likely connect it to a wireless access point to make it wireless I guess.

If you've not seen the official site, check out http://uk.slingmedia.com/page/home


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## flotzie (Nov 30, 2006)

How do I connect the slingbox, which according to this diagram goes behind the Tivo and TV in lounge to the household wifi main router behind the PC in the bedroom?

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=264922&sourceid=2019


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## SteveA (Oct 30, 2000)

mikerr said:


> I didn't find the quality inside the LAN to be as good as I'd hoped, even maxing out all the settings. Still, its meant for internet streaming , not really local LAN use.


The Slingbox Pro is supposed to be much better on the LAN side. I believe its now available for the UK market (or will be very soon).


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Sorry to drag the thread back up, but I found a better (smaller) usb-stick model:
hauppage HVR-900

That one can take analogue (tivo) output as well as having a digital (freeview) tuner as well, and all in a usbstick sized package.

I managed to get it for £21 delivered though google checkout and saverstore out of stock there now though!


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