Here's the things I came across when I was trying to find a decent way to watch TV on the computer. Some of them seem so far fetched you'll think I'm making them up.

Software that hadn't been properly tested

A number of tools I tried just didn't work. And I made sure I had the latest players installed and everything else that was recommended on the website. There's nothing more frustrating than having to continually restart your PC TV software. If my computer wasn't so heavy, it would probably have been thrown out of my office window.

No software at all

There were numerous services that seemed to offer software from their sales page. But when you pay your money, all you get is a really bad page telling you what you could download, install and tweak in order to watch TV on your PC. A guide rather than a real tool.

Hey, if I wanted that, I'd have searched GOOGLE! When you buy a product, the hard work is supposed to be done for you. I re-read one such 'member's area' from a cheap product over and over again and then gave up in frustration. It's no wonder people are so skeptical about buying online. There's a lot of junk out there.

Channel listings in a different language

While my French isn't too bad, I'm not too hot on my Chinese. One tool I bought gave be a list of Chinese symbols and expected me to figure out what each channel was about. I'm prepared to try a few channels where the title doesn't give away what they are, but imagine having to try out over 1000 channels whose name was all in a different language. More wasted money.

Low quality / low numbers of channels

You want your video to be in a decent enough quality to watch online. OK, this is the Internet and I accept that it's still too early to expect DVD quality video. But on some programs I installed, the people looked like wax figurines that had been left too close to the fire.

Another major thing to consider is how many channels you're getting. Some packages were offering less than a hundred. And when you think that some of those will be inoperable, or not to your taste, or a radio station, you're not getting very much for your money.



I hope you haven't been ripped off like I was with most of the products I bought! (Sorry if I sound a little bitter!) OK lets stop being morbid here. The good news. I did eventually find two bits of software that weren't a rip off. One is much better than the other. Firstly I'd recommend:

Online TV Network

This tool is really years ahead of what the others are offering. There's so many sites promoting bad products without actually testing them. You won't be disappointed with this tool though because it's just so good. There's around 1000 channels - all of which worked - and a great interface that lets you do important things like organize channels, find what you're into, add favorites and much more. This is the best by far.

I also recommend you look into:

Satellite TV For PC

The reason I like this tool is because of it's serious BULK of channels. I've spent many happy evenings and days flicking through the stations to see what's on them and to get to find new favorites. It's not as good as the previous tool I mentioned because it doesn't sort or remember favorites. But it's definitely a good, solid way to enjoy TV on your PC.