The difference between streaming and downloading
If your going to watch TV on your PC live or in ‘real time’ then the data has to be sent to your PC over the internet fast enough so you can watch without any hold ups. If your connection isnt up to it and cannot stream the video quick enough, the end result will be freezing screen, and patchy viewing quality whilst your computer waits for parts of the program to load up.
However already downloaded content does’nt have this problem as you download the entire video file before you start viewing. The downside with this is that the files are very large so if your broadband connection is on the slow side, you could be waiting for hours or even days!
These big files can also use up any capped broadband package allowance if you have it. You need to keep an eye on how much you are downloading as a single episode of 24, Grays anatomy or Desperate Housewives, for example, will use up several hundred megs of your data allownce.
