Wireless cable TV on laptop... yes I'm watching on my T41p

[tselling]

I am running a 30 day demo of LocationFree Player for PC on my T41p.
http://www.sony.com/locationfree
Looks pretty good. Catch is you need a Sony LFX1 or LFX5 LocationFree TV. Then you load the software on your PC and it connects to the BaseStation. The basestation connects to my wireless router via a wired connection and plugs into cable. You can wirelessly connect up to 4 monitors/PCs to one basestation. Sony wants $150 for the software for 2 PCs. That seems a bit pricey but the demo looks good if the price were a little less. The LocationFree TVs themselves are quite pricey, but I already have one so the software would make it more useful.

One thing I haven't been able to do is connect to the TV basestation when outside my own home network (supposed to work). I think my BuffaloTech wireless router isn't doing the port forwarding correctly.

[yukit]

Looks interesting. Is it streaming mpeg2 or mpeg4 video to the PC?

I have a much more mundane setup. ATI's TV tuner on a desktop, they provide a remote client for the TV tuner. Effectively, the desktop (server) is capturing the TV to a file like TIVO, streamed to the Thinkpad. Remarkably works well enough. The software is a hassle to setup with XP SP2 though.

I know some people are using videolan or Windows Media Server.

yuki

[tselling]

The included monitor has its own wireless channel (can be B or G) to the basestation and is mpeg2. Any additional monitors or PCs that connect use NetAV over my wireless network connection and are mpeg4.

Only one of the monitors or PCs can be active at one time (to include the monitor it comes with). So while you can have 4 PCs or monitors registered with the basestation, the last monitor/pc to connect to the basestation steals the video connection from any active monitor. So its not like you can have 2 or more TVs active from the one basestation.

I like the LocationFree TV since right now I have it in the nursery where there is no cable connection... and if I have a guest I can move it to the guest bedroom (also no cable connection)... or I can even take it into the garage, kitchen, etc.

The software is an interesting idea for using NetAV to watch TV from over the internet anywhere there is a broadband connection. Taking the LF-X1 monitor with me isn't really practical but with the software is more interesting. I might try it out when I go back to work in a couple of weeks but the corporate firewall might not let it work. Its also supposed to work from hotspots, etc as long as its a broadband connection.

So far I have only been able to test the software on my local wireless network. The video degradation isn't too bad from mpeg2 to mpeg4 when I look at the LF-X1 monitor and Thinkpad side by side. Of course neither of them is as good as a normal TV but they aren't bad.

Looks interesting. Is it streaming mpeg2 or mpeg4 video to the PC?

I have a much more mundane setup. ATI's TV tuner on a desktop, they provide a remote client for the TV tuner. Effectively, the desktop (server) is capturing the TV to a file like TIVO, streamed to the Thinkpad. Remarkably works well enough. The software is a hassle to setup with XP SP2 though.

I know some people are using videolan or Windows Media Server.

yuki

[tselling]

For those of you who would like to have wireless TV on your Thinkpad. I have a SlingBox and it works pretty well for $250. Much more affordable than Sony's LocationFree TV! Just need to connect it to your wireless Router.

http://www.slingmedia.com/slingbox/

[JHEM]

Teresa,

Catch is you need a Sony LFX1 or LFX5 LocationFree TV.

Which is a deal breaker for me as I'll never buy another SonyTV again! My most recent problem was having two die during their warranty period and I had such problems getting them repaired I wound up getting my money back from AMEX.

Sounds like an interesting implementation of wireless technology and if my house wasn't already cable ready in every room I'd probably look into something along these lines.

Regards,

James

[tselling]

I was updating this thread with a new product I've been using. The SlingBox is a stand alone product. It has a network port so just attach to wireless router. I'm pretty impressed with it for $250. It looks about as good as Sony's PC software (but not as good as the actual sony location free tv).

[JaneL]

I was updating this thread with a new product I've been using. The SlingBox is a stand alone product. It has a network port so just attach to wireless router. I'm pretty impressed with it for $250. It looks about as good as Sony's PC software (but not as good as the actual sony location free tv).

I saw an article about the SlingBox recently and thought it looked interesting. I finally put a cable modem at my father's (and, no, I won't let up on the whole pictures in threads thing), but I draw the line at upgrading his cable to get a DVR there. It would be nice to be able to watch stuff off my DVR from his house. Wonder if it works with a Moxi box?

Have you been able to connect your notebook to a TV and watch something like that?

[tselling]

Right now I have the slingbox connected directly to incoming cable. It has a built-in TV-tuner so I am using that from my Thinkpad via 802.11g to my wireless router and slingbox is connected to wireless router. You could also connect the slingbox to a TIVO... but it seems that you can only be connected to either TV or TIVO (or other device) not both. Since I don't have a TIVO type device I just use the tv-tuner in the slingbox. They seem to be updating the software/firmware fairly frequently as well. And the software is available for download which is nice. Like the LocationFree PC software only one computer can be connected at one time. But unlike the LocationFree PC software it doesn't have latest computer to connect grab the connection, instead it displays that its already in use.

You can muck with the quality/speed settings by hand but it will also figure out what it thinks is the best setting.

[Orbitz]

I have a Sling box also...and it does work very well. I actually split off a separate cable feed for it to use...but I switch machines a lot and it got to be a little bit of a nuisance. I actually wind up using Orb now more then anything (can't recall if I saw it mentioned on this site...it is a free service and will allow you to watch TV, movies stored on your hard drive, pictures etc.) In fact, I use my 6600 pda phone on Sprint to play cartoons from the cartoon network alllll the time when we are in doctors offices or other boring places for the kids. Of course, you need to have a TV tuner installed in one of your machines which is what feeds the tv signal to orb. Not a day goes buy that I don't use it either my X40 or my pda...and I am always amazed how well it works and that it is totally free. The picture quality is not as good as the sling box but more then good enough for the backyard or on the run...for me anyway.

And I concur with JHEM on one thing...I would never buy another Sony TV...ever. I had horrible problems with repairs and found their after sales support to be horrible. Could just be my bad luck tho

[yukit]

For people who care about audio more than video, let me plug my favorite device. Squeezebox from SlimDevices. It allows you to play your audio files on a PC to a home stereo system connected through Squeezebox. Squeezebox can be connected to the PC by a network (wired or wireless)

There are several of these types of devices available on the market. Squeezebox is not the cheapest, but it works really well. I also like the fact that the server component is an OpenSourse project that is being improved continuously.

This device allows you to transmit digital signal directly from the PC especially if you are using lossless formats, to the digital input of your home audio system. You can also stream mp3 from the server to a client PC's (T40p in my casse) mp3 player like WMP or Winamp.

It is a cool gadget for techgeeks that AirTunes is just not good enough.

[yukit]

I actually kind of got to see LocationFreeTV in action tonight.

I am visiting my parents in Canada. My father just came back from Japan wit h the LCD TV unit (called Airboard).

He had my cousin setup the BaseStation in Tokyo with a dynamic DNS so the Airboard in Canada can connect to it.
I plugged it in the cable modem router. I had to skip through the first 140 pages of the manual to get to how to make it connect, but it worked.

They can now watch several TV programs from Tokyo in Canada.
I do notice the typical streaming video artifacts in fast-moving scenes, but that is still pretty cool.

Now I have to figure out how to make the Airboard connect to the wireless router so they can move the LCD into living room. I suppose I can always get a wireless bridge or game adapter.

I also need to get the software to show the TV on PCs.
I hope I can get this done before I return to USA.