Pinnacle PCTV USB Stick

Plugging directly into a USB socket, Pinnacle’s PCTV USB Stick is aimed at those who want a portable digital TV tuner. It measures roughly the same size as a standard USB memory stick and requires no external power supply.

A small antenna with a magnetic base is included in the package, but unless you’re using it in a very strong reception area it’s unlikely to be of much use.

We tried using it in a variety of locations and it struggled to pick up a Freeview signal, leaving us to resort to a standard rooftop aerial.

If you don’t currently have a Freeview tuner of any sort, you can check out whether you’re in a digital reception area at via the Freeview website.

Pinnacle ships its TV Center software with the tuner. Although not quite as simple to use as Windows Media Center, it is able to playback and record mpeg1/2 formats as well as DivX.

You can also use this software to pause live TV, schedule recordings via the integrated EPG (electronic program guide), listen to DVB-T and Internet radio broadcasts, and perform other PVR (personal video recorder) functions. The small remote control lets you do all this from afar.

As a TV tuner for your home computer, the PCTV USB Stick works well. However, as a portable tuner the fact that the included aerial will have difficulty in picking up digital TV broadcasts limits its appeal.

This, of course, isn’t the fault of Pinnacle – all USB TV tuners would have the same trouble getting Freeview via a portable aerial, but a backup analogue tuner would have been useful.

What we can’t complain about is the price. Under £50 for a miniature TV tuner is a real bargain.

But before deciding to purchase the PCTV USB Stick, it’s worth noting that Pinnacle has also just launched the PCTV Hybrid Pro Stick, which can receive both digital and analogue signals and costs an extra £20. We’ll bring you a review of this soon. 

See also:

ATI All-in-Wonder 2006

A quality TV tuner and graphics card, but only if you're not fussed about gaming performance  23 Feb 2006

ATI All-in-Wonder X1900

Following on from the blazingly fast X1900 XTX comes ATI's latest multimedia graphics card  08 Feb 2006

Terratec Cinergy 400 TV

Great range of features including WinDVR  15 Mar 2005

Buyers' Guide: TV Tuners

Adding a TV tuner to your PC opens up a range of possibilities. Most of the tuners are easy to use but some offer advanced features, so it's important to consider the options before buying  04 Jan 2006

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