Safe to use a laptop as a WMC PC?

[foxwood]

If you want to watch live TV on other devices than your HTPC, a network tuner that can be grabbed on demand can be useful.

If you've given up on live TV and only watch recordings anyway, the main advantage, especially for OTA/Terrestrial TV, is the ability to put the tuner where it can get the best signal (upstairs, at the back of the house, for example) while your HTPC is where somewhere else (downstairs, at the front of the house, maybe). If you live in an apartment, only watch TV when you're sitting on the sofa, and you connect it to cable/antenna behind the TV anyway, there isn't any real benefit over an internal or USB dual tuner.