<p>I've managed to have a respectable GPA and watch tons of TV. It's not rocket science. (Unless, you know, it is.)</p>
<ol>
<li> I'll watch a few shows a week--sometimes while I'm doing homework or eating dinner.</li>
<li> Not more than an hour a day--but the TV is on for background noise a lot.</li>
<li> TV tuner recording on computer</li>
</ol>
<p>Actually, trip buddy, I was referring to the girl who claims to have not watched more than one TV show in her life.</p>
<p>We had a large Jeopardy lunch watching group.</p>
<p>I watch quite a bit of T.V. but really the only things worth watching for me are:</p>
<p>Simpsons
NFL Football
College Basketball
Survivor(on during the college year too)
ESPN NEWS(catch up on sports)
NASCAR</p>
<p>question is, is there enough time to watch sporting events over the weekend and stuff like NFL football?</p>
<p>Thats why u get one of those TV tuner cards these people are talking about so u can record it.</p>
<p>i will have to get a hdtv tuner card because im sure the school im going to this fall doesnt have hdtv dvr boxes :(.</p>
<p>So what exactly are these tv tuner cards, and how do they work? Is it just some card you put into your computer and voila, it picks up a TV signal?</p>
<p>you can watch TV and still get good grades, it's really not an issue. I watch lots of stuff on TV... Prison Break, 24, NCIS, Amazing Race, NFL, college basketball, college football, etc</p>
<p>If you go to class for 4 hours a day and watch tv for 2, that still leaves you 18 hours to do other stuff.</p>
<p>I use my TV mostly for baseball and football, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and Price is Right. I don't watch all that many shows unless I don't have much else going on, but game shows have been something I've watched daily since I figured out what a TV was back when I was less than a year old.</p>
<p>If you don't want to get one of those boxes to record shows, invest in a VCR. You can get one for about $80 at Sears. Tapes are pretty cheap now too. Not every movie is on DVD yet (the majority are now, but some still aren't) so it's good to have one anyway. I recommend either a Panasonic (tough to find these days but great, I have one that's four years old and I've never had a problem) or a Sony (a little more than the Panasonic but good).</p>
<p>sweetnsarah: Essentially, yes.</p>
<p>There are 2 kinds of tv tuner cards: internal and external. The internal ones can only be used for desktop computers. They are typically designed to take up a PCI slot on the motherboard, but video cards that include a tuner will usually take up the AGP slot. If you arn't comfortable opening up your desktop computer to perform the installation (and don't know anyone who is), you shouldn't buy an internal card.</p>
<p>External tuners, on the other hand, can be used for laptops and some desktops (I say 'some' because there are cards that use the PCMCIA, which most(all?) desktops don't have). They plug into an external port on the computer, such a USB port. These are (obviously) the more user friendly of the two.</p>
<p>Both types of cards work the same way: they take in a coaxial signal, and using various hardware components and software-based codecs, convert it to an audio/video format for the user. A commercial TV tuner will come with custom software and drivers (which you must install yourself) so that the device will function properly.</p>
<p>Based on your question, I think you might have fallen victim to a popular misconception. The computer monitor doesn't magically become a 'TV' in the traditional sense. When you use the card, the viewable image will be displayed in some sort of window on your desktop, which you can resize to your liking. You change the channels, volume, etc through commands on the window (try to imagine windows media player with TV displaying in the 'video' part. It's kind of like that).</p>
<p>Many cards let you record the incoming signal to your hard-disk, so that you can watch it later or archive it to something else. If you really want the 'TV' experience, a number of cards also include a remote control that can be used to do all the usual stuff.</p>
<p>I hope this helps.</p>
<p>That really does help. I was really confused, but that cleared it up. </p>
<p>Thanks =]</p>
<p>So, what kind of signals does it pick up? Is it just local broadcasts, or does it get cable too?</p>
<p>problem with a tv tuner is most ppl have laptops and most laptops dont hvae space for the tuner card. so u gotta get a more expensive external one.</p>
<p>Dont u just plug in ur TV cable?</p>
<p>sweetnsarah: As far as I know, most cards don't come with an antenna for local broadcasts (if you wanted one, you would need to buy a seperate coaxial antenna or just build it yourself). TV tuners are primarily designed for the standard cable range (ie channels 1-125), but I think there are some that work at higher ranges so that you can get DirectTV and stuff like that.</p>
<p>riptide88: Look on the TigerDirect link I posted. If you go through all the pages for tuners, you can find some reasonably cheap external ones for laptops.</p>
<p>also your going to have to be doing defrags often and disc cleanups with all the deleting and saving of huge files, along with a burden on your computer. but it sounds worth it if you watch tv often. personally i will probably just get a flatscreen 17'' tv and mount it on the wall.</p>
<p>Im bringin a regular TV too, but Im still gonna get one of these TV tuner cards so I can record stuff.</p>
<p>I watch more cable news now. The Daily Show and Colbert are about the only shows I watch for pleasure. The only way I learn about shows like Lost, A-Idol, the OC, Desperate housewives, CSI, ect, is through the aforementioned shows.</p>
<p>I might have the T.V. or radio on while doing work but I'm not really watching it.</p>
<p>You'll learn not to miss TV. As a kid I was a huge TV junky.</p>
<p>Is it better to have XP Media with a tv tuner or will other XPs be worth it?</p>
<p>college is a time warp, i mean i didnt even know that there was a hurricane about to hit myrtle beach this fall... thats how little tv i watched, also there are tons of better things to do at school than sit in your dorm and watch tv</p>