High Tech

I am living in a high tech world I realize and sometimes I grudgingly accept it. Recently, two things have come to my attention and I thought there wasn't enough places out there that mentioned it so I wanted to share...

How can I connect my computer to my TV?
Yes, I have cable and yes, I have a DVR. However, that doesn't mean that I still get to watch as much as TV as I really want so I have now developed a strong relationship with Hulu.com. I hate to cheat on my TV and watch shows on the internet, but it is so easy! Actually, because of ease of watching TV shows on the internet, I know a person that dropped their cable service entirely! For me, I am only bugged by 2 disadvantages:

1. I actually have to watch commercials. There is no skipping through commercials on Hulu, however, I have noticed that the volume will drop when a forced commercial starts so at least I don't have to listen to it at normal listening level. Plus it is just one commercial that lasts at the most 90 seconds. I can handle 90 seconds.

2. My laptop will get heavy and hot on my lap! Which finally brings us to the answer to the question: how can I view Internet TV on my actual TV? The answer - a VGA cable. Just a cable, that is all you need! This cable connects to my monitor output on my laptop and the VGA connection on my TV (note: I believe only HDTVs have this VGA output). Oh and then once you connect you can save on your laptop screen by switching to an external display. For my Dell that means I hit the Fn key plus the key that has the picture of a monitor on it (F8) at the same time. If I hit that sequence once the picture is displayed both on my TV and laptop, if I hit it again the picture is only displayed on my TV.

Now, there is the issue of sound... this VGA cable is for picture only. So the sound is still coming out of my laptop. Which, yes, that is annoying, but I figure I could get better speakers for the laptop or get a sound cable to output the sound from the TV. I haven't tried either option yet.

I got my VGA cable on clearance for $25 (I notice most run about $40-$50).


Roku
I am a little ashamed to admit I first heard about this through my 60-some year old co-worker. I personally haven't tried it myself, but stay tuned, cuz I think I am going to have to get me one! I am a NetFlix.com subscriber, but constantly feel like I am wasting away my membership because I am not using the "Instant Movie" feature. The thousands of "free" movies we have access to and play on the computer at anytime we choose. I have been meaning to do it ever since I got the VGA cable, but for some reason a 2 hour movie sounds like such a bigger commitment than watching a 50 minute TV show via the VGA cable.

So this tiny device streams Netflix movies directly to your TV. The Roku connects to your TV just like a DVD player would. It also needs to connect to the Internet - if you are wireless, it does have Wi-Fi built in. You access Netflix's site on your computer and fill up your instant queue with all the movies you would want to watch. Then, this device comes with a remote that you use to access your Instant Queue on your TV and you make your selection. And viola - you are watching your movie! The remote also allows you to pause, rewind or anything you would do with a DVD. So you can think of this Roku device as a digital DVD player, really. And it is only $99!

~Posted by Ann