TV tuner.

cianclarke

I want to watch the TV on my computer, in windowed viewing whilst doing other things. I have a cable running into the room for the cable modem.
Can I split this cable in two using a splitter and run one end to the TV tuner and the other end to the cable modem, or will it interfere with the modem?
Will a TV tuner PCI card allow me to watch telly on the PC? I don't want to capture a whole pile, mainly just watch.
Will a TV tuner like this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-TV-BOX-TUNER-With-Remote-Control-For-Laptop_W0QQitemZ8799531163QQcategoryZ3761QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Work in Ireland?
How about this simple little one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PCI-TV-PAL-PC-TUNER-CARD-MPEG-VIDEO-RECORD-w-REMOTE_W0QQitemZ8803218248QQcategoryZ3761QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Many thanks for any help given.
Edit: Do I need a TV licence for this if there is already a TV licence('s) in the house? And if so, do I need need one? Don't know if I could afford another..
Also do these things only work with the software they are supplied with, or can you use other software to watch TV?
If so, is there any generic TV watching/capturing software? A bit like "Microsoft TV" or something, you know what I mean!

DublinWriter

I've used either the Hauppage or ATI All-In-Wonder cards over the years. Both are great, but I prefare the ATI AIW series cards because the are a graphics card with the TV recording built in, so you just need the one card.

All the software you need is supplied, you can even use them to receive Teletext. The later generation of cards also let your PC act like a Video recorder.

You don't need an additional licence if you've already got one for your main TV in the same house.