Europe television question
 

My new Dell Mini computer has a HDMI output jack. What are the chances of staying at a four star hotel in Europe and the hotel television having a HDMI input. If I bring a HDMI cable and the hotel has Internet, I can watch television on the Internet and see what is going on back home on a bigger screen.

Better question: "Why watch it?" European TV is almost as pathetic as American. Lots of game shows and bad singing.

I would think most hotels wouldn't have new TVs unless they advertise that the rooms have been newly refurbished. Most likely the big chain hotels have a better chance of modernizing their stuff. Why not e-mail the hotels(s) before you go?

Hi wally34949,

You can't watch many American (if that's where you're from) television shows over the internet if you use a European-based isp while in Europe. I'm always getting excited about new "watch American tv" sites, but then I get the message, "you cannot watch this program outide of the US."

Have fun!

s

NBC has a great website. One can see video news clips from all of their news shows. Last year I was on Gran Canaria Island and I was finally able to get CNN. Unfortunately, they talked about Michael Jackson all evening. Then last December I was in Phuket, Thailand and I was able to get Fox News. They talked about the underware bomber and how Obama was weak on terrorism.

Getting one's news from the Internet is a better way to go.

You won't be able to view the majority of NBC's programming on the internet if you're in Europe. As Swandav mentioned, you'll get a message stating that this content can't be viewed in your current region. Hulu doesn't work in Europe either. Trust me on this as an American living in the UK who misses out on the occasional funny SNL clip that the whole internet raves about.

Yes, exactly. I've tried CBS, NBC, ABC, Versus TV (for the Tour de France), and Hulu. All no go. I live in Germany.

s

We bought a proxy US server ($35) which allows us to download iTunes movies from the US site but we've never tried it to watch US television channels (internet transmissions). It might work; I don't know. I'll ask my DH as I am a techno idiot.

Most of the US television shows that interest me originated in the UK, so now I see them first!!

Most modern LCD & Plasma TVs have a VGA input even if they don't have a HDMI input. You'd also have to carry a separate 3.5mm stereo to stereo audio lead

But you still have the problem of actually finding content that is viewable outside the US - and working out how to change the "channel" to the HDMI / VGA input for the TV

a) I would not count on HDMI inputs, even in nicer hotels. The rush to flat panels in European hotels has not matched the rush in the US market, and this includes the nicer hotels.

b) You can't use the NBC site or the likes of Hulu anyway. You will get a message saying that the content is blocked for foreign addresses. You will have to use an IP-masking service. If your goal is just news, then I believe you should be okay watching clips on the various sites.

c) FWIW, iTunes does not restrict based upon IP address. They only restrict based upon the credit card and billing address. So, Cath... You don't need the US proxy server for iTunes.

For those interested, a friend of ours during their 2 year stay in Spain did the following, which I hope to be able to explain.

From his home back in the USA, he had a system set up where he was actually pulling the TV off that connection through his computer. TBo? He then cabled it to his large screen TV.

Not sure what he said he did, but you need to transfer the signal from someone's TV that has the system's box to your computer.

I was toying around with the idea from my mom's house.. it was really cool how he could see the games he wanted. Not sure if they were real time or replayed.

(If this is common knowledge, forgive me as I am obviously no techie)

I am easily able to download US iTunes onto my iPhone and laptop using a US credit card...i think that's probably the trick, not the proxy server.

When I was in Ireland in March, it took some searching but I was able to see Lost here: http://watchloststreaming.com/
They also have other shows, and I was able to find the Academy Awards online too. It's a big search effort but just going the regular old Hulu route doesn't work at all.

While I believe that holidays do not involve keeping up with back home...I will contribute with one product: Slingbox.

You can't watch u.s. content in much of europe!

Note: The HDMI cable will do sound and video, assuming the television is not a monitor, here in the United States. Will Europe be different?

How does that work, downloading movies in Itunes in Europe?
I do not have a US credit card; I assume you would need a US billing address?
On European Itunes accounts you cannot download movies (for now at least).

Slingbox!
I remember sitting on the beach in Texas while watching yet another sunday night "Columbo" re-run from Austrian TV (ORF 1) on my netbook.

HDMI is the same everywhere.

I used to watch CNN on the internet in Paris, I didn't have any trouble. I wanted to keep up with the Presidential debates or something that was going on when I was there. I was renting an apt that just had a computer I could use and just went into the CNN website.

CNN (international version) is the most commonly available English-language satellite TV station available in European hotel rooms. If you just want to watch the news from a US perspective, you'll most likely find that CNN is already provided as standard.