Direct TV Internet

The first step in watching TV through your computer is to find a medium, or a place to watch TV. My favorite web site locations are:

Streamick

Streamick is a free website that offers a decent channel selection and is really easy to use. Don't bother with the "Channel Selector" at the top of the screen as it rarely works. Rather, just click the channel you wish to view on the bottom half of the main page. You can double click the viewer to watch TV in a full screen view... but the image gets pretty blurred. My favorite thing about Streamick is MTV Uber and MTV Brand New, which I didn't get even when I was paying for cable.

Channel King

Channel King has a full 280 online TV channels to choose from. It is pretty reliable and the picture seems of a bit better quality, on my computer at least. Unfortunately, it still gets pretty blurry at a full screen view and terribly blurry when connected to a TV screen. My favorite channel is "Movee" where you'll occasionally catch a pretty decent flick.

Direct TV Internet

Finally, Direct TV Internet. This is what this page is really about. I had been watching TV on my computer for a few months when my DVD player busted. I knew my computer had a DVD player so I went about getting the parts and info I needed to hook it up to my TV. It turned out to be really easy and I'll show you how to do it below. But anyway, I got the parts and the next day Die Hard was on "Movee". So I had the brilliant idea to hook up and watch it on my TV. No go... like I mentioned above the picture quality was terrible. So I went in search of something better and found Direct TV Internet. You get 3000 channels and the picture quality is leaps and bounds above the others. Especially if you plan on hooking up to a TV screen, it really is a must.

ooook guys, here's what you gotta do. The first step is to look on the back of your computer. You should see one of a few things:

A. An S-Video type connector
S-Video
B. A DVI type
DVI
C. ooor, A VGA type
VGA

Step two is to wander over to your television and look on the back of it for...

A. A yellow RCA Plug. If your TV was made in the last decade it should have one of these.

B. If your TV is a bit newer, it may also have any of the three that were pictured above: the VGA, S-Video, or DVI. If you have a fancy Hi-Def TV, it is almost sure to be equipped with the DVI plug which will give you the best picture quality.

Finding the appropriate cable.

They make a cable for any of the possible combinations of the above fittings. Unfortunately, some are more expensive than others. You can get a VGA to VGA cable at Wal-Mart for less than 5 bucks. A VGA to RCA cable can cost as much as 50. I've found Radio Shack to be an excellent resource for cables like these. Just go in and ask for a ____ to ____ cable, inserting the names of the fittings that you specifically need of course. If you don't live near a Radio Shack you can just type the ____ to ____ cable name into Google and choose from the hundreds of merchants that offer it. That's it for picture! Now for the easy part...

Sound

OK, like I said this part's easy. Again, every TV made in the last decade has RCA plugs and every computer I've ever seen has a headphone jack. So while you're at Radio Shack (or online) pick up an 1/8 inch to dual RCA cable. I got mine for 4 dollars. The 1/8 inch end looks just like the plug on the bottom of any set of headphones. Put it in the headphone jack and plug the RCA ends in the red and white RCA plugs on your TV labeled "in".

Since I have a laptop I just leave these two cables plugged into my TV with the cords sitting next to it. I can walk over and hook everything up in seconds. If you have a desktop that you would like to connect, many of the cables can be purchased in lengths of several feet. I've seen VGA to VGA cables that were 20 feet long.

To sum it all up

It's hard to explain in fewer words just because of the variance in computers and TVs... but it's really not at all complicated and it's definitely worth the trouble. Since most newer computers also have DVD players, not to mention access to Direct TV Internet (which I highly recommend), you can save a serious amount of cash by spending a few bucks and a Saturday afternoon seeking out a couple cables. I'd say give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

note: this write up was originally posted with full picture detail on my wordpress blog which can be found at http://www.directtvinternet.wordpress.com