if you wanted to watch TV, what would you choose:
USB dongle VS set top box. or something else
USB dongle
+cheaper
+allows you to record TV out of the box
+very small
+can be used to receive other types of radio (SDR)
-requires some drivers and software, possible chinese backdoor and botnet
-uses your CPU a lot, can be expensive (power usage) and slow down other things on your PC
-shit quality, could be unreliable, destroy your PC, or just die
-only works when connected to PC, cannot be used with bare monitor
Set-top-box
+can be connected to any monitor, TV, etc you don't need a PC for it to work
+is isolated, you just connect output signal to monitor or PC, cannot hack your PC
+doesn't use your CPU power, it has it's own CPU, takes power from wall plug
+reliable, good quality, won't harm your PC
-more expensive
-if you want to record you need some additional device
-bigger, heavier
-cannot be used to receive other types of radio than the ones implemented