Comment 2SHG Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input?

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What's next for tablets running Linux?

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Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 3, Interesting)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2014-09-17 20:08 (#2SHD)

Why don't tablet makers include HDTV tuners, and HDMI inputs?

For minimal extra cost, your tablet would be much more flexible, and have a vastly longer useful life-span.

Just imagine that your beloved tablet could double as a computer monitor. That would be a killer feature for any techies. Adding that capability to a laptop costs over $300, and people are happy to pay it: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CLKFTQ/

And once your tablet gets to be a bit out-of-date, instead of throwing it away, you can just mount it on a wall connected to your antenna as a (free) 10" HDTV. And a very "smart" TV it is, at that, able to integrate Netflix/Hulu/etc. streaming without needing an extra $50 Roku/Chromecast box attached to it.

Or if you don't have a need for a small TV, it can go on your desk, doing duty as an LCD computer monitor. Heck, you could use it as a computer monitor right away, and just have the option to use your monitor as a tablet for quick tasks without starting-up your noisy and power-hungry main computer.

And that's not even mentioning the benefit tablet users would get from having a handy HDTV tuner with them all the time. In most cities, an internal antenna is good enough to pick-up several TV channels, so you'd have lots of free content available whenever you wanted to watch, without the need for high-speed internet access for streaming the video. Of course there's always the option of connecting a larger external antenna, even if just a long piece of wire yu scrounged up, in reception-poor areas.

Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-09-17 20:44 (#2SHG)

Probably the cost of manufacturing, or the risk those components would interfere somehow. Good ideas though. My wife was just wondering how she could transfer what was on the screen of her ipad to the tv in front of us. I didn't know of any way. Guess on an Android device you could use Chromecast or something, but if something like that exists for iOS I'm not aware of it. Yes, a simple HDMI output would've saved the day. But I'm not holding my breath for it.

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