Use TV as a computer monitor

i want to watch movies on my computer and play them on my television. kinda what the PS3 can do; play movies from a computer onto a TV.

the gripe is i dont want to buy a 400$ ps3 just for this. are there any cheaper alternatives?

I have the older version of this:
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_usb2.html

i think i have seen people do it but im not sure.

any ideas?

any decent video card should be able to do it. A tv tuner is a different matter, but if you have an actual TV you wont need a seperate tuner.

If your tv has dvi/hdmi in you can just plug it directly into your computer as is (assuming ur computer has dvi out). Just treat your computer as if it were a VCR. You will have to change input modes to view actual television. If you dont want to change input modes then yes you need a TV tuner card (but it wil llikely be useless come the switch to digital tv).

You will also need some sort of audio out (via sound card) if you are not playing sound through your computer speakers. This can be done via either a dedicated port f oyu have one or a wire splitter.

Depends on your situation and A/V setup.

If your television is anything less than HDTV, don't bother using it as a primary computer monitor of any sort, it'll be so blurry, you won't be able to read any print or titles.

Anyway, you probably just need a new video card with the correct outputs

Situation 1) SDTV with composite/s-video/component inputs. Use as a secondary display, either in clone mode or in extended desktop mode. Find a vid card with S-video out and use an adapter if needed.

Situation 2) HDTV with VGA/DVI/HDMI inputs. HDTVs offers 'real' resolution sets, unlike an SDTV which scans (NTSC). This means an HDTV will display as clear as your regular computer monitor, just as long as you set the resolution proper. Make sure you have a video card that supports the correct inputs, and you're good to go.