Watching TV has become a means of relaxing after a hard days' work for many people. I do it the moment I get home. OK, I'm lying, I turn my computer on first, but the next thing is to turn on the TV.

Remember I wrote a review on Chris TV Professional a while ago? Well, now it is time for the online version. Yes, you can watch TV online, with no TV set and no cable or antenna. Just get yourself a software like Chris TV Online and you can watch TV stations and even listen to radio online.

The software costs $20 and is developed by Chris P.C. Srl. The installation file is 1.75MB large and when it is on a roll it uses about 37MB of computer memory (not bad I say).

The interface is nice and easy to use. The skins it brings will allow you to change it so that it gets in tune with the desktop settings you use. There are seven skins to choose from and the themes they cover range from Light Silver and Vista XP to Longhorn Blue and Light White.

There is not too much to say about this software as the options are not too numerous and the developer preferred to keep it simple so that every type of user, both beginner and advanced, should be able to use it.

One thing should the user keep in mind before (or after) installing the software: in order to run, the software needs to detect Real Player 8.0 or above or Microsoft Windows Media Player 8.0 or above installed on your machine.

Some other minimum system requirements the user should take into consideration are a CPU of 350MHz or AMD equivalent, 64MB of RAM (for Windows XP you will need 128MB) and a bandwidth of at least 64kbps.

The recommended configuration for the software to run properly are a 500MHz CPU or higher, 128MB of RAM and a broadband Internet connection of at least 512 kbps. The operating systems it runs on are strictly Windows (98, ME, 2000, XP and Server 2003).

Chris TV Online is simply an intermediary that provides you links to the highest quality broadcasted streams of the TV and radio online stations.

In the right side of the application window there is the channels list. You can sort them by country (default), category, station type, station type and category, station language or name. If you have found some stations and you want to save them as favorites there is no problem, just right-click on the desired station and choose Add to Favorites from the context menu.

In order to access the favorite channels press F key and you will see the channel list change and display only your stations. Also, if you want to search for a station, press the S key and a search menu will popup; type the name of the station and in the window below there will be displayed the results of the search.

If you right-click inside the video window you will be able to access options like the display mode (Frame mode, Compact Mode and Full Mode) and the window size (from 800x600 to 160x120). In Settings the options are not so many as one would think. Here you can only choose the skin and the side you want the channel window displayed on. You can also update the channel database or set the Chris TV Online window to stay always on top.

All these options can also be accessed by the user by means of the keyboard shortcuts. The channel data base comprises a total number of more than 800 TV channels and over 600 radio stations.

The Good

The software does not require any other hardware component save those mentioned in the system requirements.

The database is large enough for you to find interesting channels and stations.

The Bad

The software does not have a recording option or a scheduler like its older brother Chris TV Professional.

The Truth

The software is a little ahead of its time and it is going to take some more time until it will be able to replace the regular cable TV.

The major drawback is that not all the TV stations are broadcasting online so if you come to think of it, choosing 800+ TV channels that have nothing of interest for you is not too great. But that is not because of the software.

Try the software for 14 days (trial period) with no restrictions and see what the benefits are for you.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:


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