If you want to use the tv wonder with your standard
DirectTV/Dishnetwork/Digital Cable, you have to tune the channels manually.
That is, the tv wonder could tune the channels on your pc with your mouse
with standard cable. There is no need to "decode" the regular cable
channels. It will work just like a normal television in that respect. If
the channel is scrambled in any fashion, you need something to unscramble it
(like HBO on your cable for ex.). Its not that big of a headache to tune
your directtv reciever to the channel you want to record/watch and use the
composite connection to view it on your tv wonder. If you plan on recording
what your watching, you will want a pretty decent computer with enough
horsepower to capture the video decently.
SL