How to Watch TV on Your Laptop

Watching TV anytime, anywhere is now possible. No, I'm not talking about Tivo. Instead, we're talking about watching Television on your laptop - that's right, the 8lb computer you carry with you to Starbucks. It's a lot easier than lugging your TV to a coffee shop to catch The Office on Thursday nights.

There are several options for watching TV on your laptop:

Downloads - This is probably the most ubiquitous TV timeshifting solution to catching your favorite TV shows when you want on your laptop. iTunes started the trend, offering downloads (currently at $1.99) hours after the show airs. The quality is good, the show selection is good, and the technology is easy. And of course if you want to see your favorite shows really small, you can always put them on your video iPod!

Amazon followed the trend by recently adding TV shows to their download store. Amazon has an advantage over iTunes by now having the shows of NBC, of which Apple will no longer carry new episodes after the current contract expires. So if you are interested in seeing My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, ER, and other NBC favorites, head to Amazon.com.

Online Streaming - Several networks now offer shows for online viewing. NBC, for instance, offers several shows (including the Thursday night lineup) right after the West Coast airing. NBC, notably, offers shows with only one "made for the internet" commercial between segments, earning them advertising dollars and saving you time (the one hour season premire episode of The Office clocked in at 41 minutes online). Missed Dancing with the Stars? It's on ABC.com. Check the network site of your favorite show - most of the more popular shows are online after broadcast, and more are added all the time. My question is when is House going to be offered online? Only watching it one time isn't enough to catch all the good lines!