PCTV HD Pro Stick USB2 HDTV Tuner for Free HD
- Package Contents – USB 2.0 TV tuner for ATSC/NTSC reception; Mini remote control including batteries; Telescopic antenna; A/V adapter cable
- Watch live high quality digital HD and SD TV on your desktop or notebook PC
- Break free and PlaceShift with the sleek USB 2.0 powered portable PCTV device
- Take the ultra-compact tuner with you wherever you go
- Full support for both NTSC analog and ATSC digital TV reception (ATSC available in many areas of USA)
Product Description
Bring digital HDTV with full DVR functionality to your laptop with Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick. Enjoy all of your favorite shows in high quality HD anytime and anywhere.
PCTV HD Pro Stick USB2 HDTV Tuner for Free HD
Popularity: 1% [?]
La instalación del producto fue bastante simple, la configuracion y operacion tambien los son, solo he observado un problema con el control remoto, en ocasiones deja de funcionar, no controla el volumen ni cambia los caneles de cable, solo despues de oprimir el boton de apagado y luego de vilver a activarlo es que regresa la funcionalidad de los botones de control de volumen y selector de canales; otra observacion en el funcionamiento es que al seleccionar en forma progresiva canales estos saltan al siguiente.
Rating: 4 / 5
Well, here it is, less than a year until the USA goes totally HDTV. Probably you are much like myself and concerned that you should be purchasing some method to convert to the new ‘mandated’ audio format. From my experience with the Pinnacle solution which uses TotalMedia software, I’d say that if you don’t have cable… you are about to be completely screwed. What does my description of totally screwed mean? It means possible loss of most access to over the air broadcast programming.
Am I an analog television fanatic, much like some people suddenly became vinyl fanatics after the introduction of compact disc audio recordings? No, I wouldn’t say that. I just want to receive my basic television programming without outages and with a clear signal. The reality of the matter is that it is much easier to tune into an analog television signal than it is to tune into an digital television signal. At least with an analog signal, a lower level broadcast signal level will be watchable (this description to be, well, sort of defined by user taste and tolerance) while a digital signal will probably be simply… impossible to even tune into. Which would you rather have if cable was not an affordable option? Where I live Warner Cable offers prices in the area of $99 a month for their ‘bargain’ options. With the Bush administration’s love of corporate interests and hate of regulation, you could rapidly imagine why we have been mandated to move to hdtv because it is ‘better’. Obviously having to pay $99 a month to watch tv is ‘better’ for someone. Perhaps like me, you will agree that it is not better for you. This could be a great time to buy stock in cable services!
Now we get to this Pinnacle Extreme HD USB stick equipped with TotalMedia software and the primrose path starts to appear even darker.
If you bought a television and found that everything it was attached to would lock up until you pulled the plug out of the wall, would you continue to try to use it? Or would you take it back to the store? This is exactly what happens if you are not in absolutely perfect conditions to receive an HDTV signal. Get ready for a lots of cold shutdowns on your computer. In my case, I have switched to the analog television mode so that I could use my extreme HDTV USB stick without locking up my computer which runs much faster and contains far more memory and hard drive space than Pinnacle has marked as required to use it’s hardware device with TotalMedia. The antenna supplied with the unit broke within an hour of my attempting to install this USB HDTV solution by Pinnacle. Instead of complaining I plugged in my Terk Yagi antenna which helped with reception a great deal, but apparently not sufficiently in Kansas City’s metro area to be able to watch more than the religious channels without locking up my computer. Since I would not quite define myself as a bible-thumping missionary it is clear that this situation will not work very well for me.
The future of television looks bright… Unfortunately it appears to require a $99 a month cable subscription.
P.S. For those that find themselves wondering if I am one of those technologically hopeless people that couldn’t set the clock on their VCR… My job resume includes broadcast engineer… of a radio station.
Rating: 2 / 5
I was not able to hook up the product to cable or a satellite box. The attachments for these don’t really work. Also, the fact that the antenna has a magnetized base is not made clear, making it hazardous to computer hard drives. Finally, you need a really fast computer on the order of 1.7 Ghz minimum with at least 1GB memory for it to work smoothly.
Rating: 2 / 5
This is to all the women out there who need gadget gifts for their husbands. Bought it for my husbands birthday and he loves it. I have actually used it too to watch TV in bed on my laptop. We get best reception with our antenna on the roof but the little antenna which came with it works just fine where we are. I’d recommend it to anyone who needs a really cool gift, I love the small size. Not sure why it comes with a remote, I tend to sit right in front of my laptop when I use it, but batteries are included just in case.
Rating: 5 / 5
It does keep things organized in your purse. I had hoped some of the pockets would be deeper, but for the price, it’s a great edition to keeping your things organized.
Rating: 3 / 5