Freecom DVB-T USB stick DVB terrestrial receiver / radio input adapter

Author's product rating:   

Compatibility	Good
Speed	Average
Reliability	Satisfactory
Ease of Installation	Simple
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	watch tv without a tv
Disadvantages:	the software, weak reception

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

* Introduction *

Many years ago, I was one of those unfortunate people who decided to subscribe to the, now defunct company, OnDigital. I had a rather nice set-top box next to my TV in the living room, and I could receive and watch channels that weren’t normally available – and it was great! Now its gone, and in its place is FreeView, a new digital service that provides digital channels.

* Free Who? *

FreeView is an organisation, managed by DTV Services Ltd, a company owned and run by the main TV companies, BBC, BSkyB Channel 4, ITV and National Grid Wireless (I’ve no idea who they are either). It was launched in October 2002, (trying hard to not sound like a BBC advert) the service provides free-to-air digital TV channels, radio stations and interactive services through an aerial. Essentially, this means that once you have the hardware (set top box) and a compatible aerial, you get lots of free channels to watch (apart from the TV licence, of course).

Contact details:
Email: info@Freeview.co.uk
Web: http://www.freeview.co.uk
Telephone: 08701 111 270
Write to: Freeview, DTV Services Ltd, Broadcast Centre, (BC3 B6), 201 Wood Lane, London, W12 7TP

* My problem *

Since my computer is in the spare bedroom upstairs, and I have no TV in the room, having the ability to watch normal TV on the computer sounds like a great idea. I bought an analogue TV card for my computer many years ago, which worked fine, though once XP was installed and I upgraded the machine, the TV card had compatibility problems and I removed it and it now resides in a box in the attic.

Six months ago, I had the urge to watch TV on my computer again, and decided to see what was available. There were lots to choose from, sadly mostly too expensive for me. I noticed that FreeCom had a cheap USB FreeView receiver for around £25 – great, I thought, so I bought it.

* The package *

I got the USB stick, which included a CD (for the drivers), USB cable, and a tiny free standing aerial that I can only assume is for decorative purposes, as it didn’t work (well, I think I may have got a few channels if I held it whilst standing on one leg on a chair with my left little finger held out). Let’s just say you need an extremely good reception for it to be any good.

I installed the drivers and the TV software (a third party program called TotalMedia by ArcSoft – see my rant about this below). I plugged the coaxial cable, that was connected to the aerial on the roof of my house, into the USB stick and plugged in the USB stick into the computer. After Windows recognized the stick as a USB device and setup up the drivers, I started the TotalMedia software.

As it was new, the software asked to scan for channels, which after around 5-10 minutes, found just over 20 channels – not as many as I hoped. The software shows you a green coloured gauge to give you an idea how strong the reception is like, which is nice. Mine was 4 bars, around 60%.

* Watching TV *

Once I got it plugged in, scanned for channels and mastered the software, actually watching TV was pleasant and enjoyable, though the picture froze now and then and the sound occasionally made loud clicking noises. This seemed to say that the reception was low, but the little green gauge lingered around 3 or bars (50-60%) - surly that should be enough for a good picture?

You can watch the current channel as full screen, or at quarter screen, with the controls at the bottom (volume, change to next/previous channel, etc). At quarter size, there were menu buttons on the left to change to various sections of the software.

* Recording Programmes *

One useful facility was to schedule the software to record programmes automatically. You simply state which channel to record and the program you want and it records it for you at the set time – nice idea – as long as you keep the computer running of course. It’s similar to a VHR or Sky+ type of thing, though it doesn’t allow recording the series of a program, just the single basic scheduling like a VHR. It allows you to record multiple programs on any channel available, as long as they don’t clash with each other. It records in MPEG 2 format, similar to a DVD, though it stores as a single movie file. I heard on other web sites that some people have had problems viewing these files on other programs like Media Player, though I haven’t had this problem. I think it may be down to the type of CODEC installed (CODECs are software drivers that describe how to play the movie files). If you have this issue, try installing free CODECs packages like:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm
The MPEG2 format is a standard, well known format, so you shouldn’t have this problem, but I don’t trust ArcSoft and their TotalMedia program.

* ArcSoft’s TotalMedia *

This is mostly a rant by me but I’ll try and write it on a practical level.

To make the USB DVB TV Stick (or any TV-related hardware) work, you need software to run it to receive the TV signal. FreeCom gives you TotalMedia developed by a company called ArcSoft.

Let’s make this clear – I HATE THIS SOFTWARE. It is annoyingly bad. I find it very frustrating to use. I think it was designed for computers where people watch TV from quite a distance. The TotalMedia program starts off wrong. It gives you a menu showing you the different types of hardware to choose from (TV, Photo, Music, Video and Setup). Since I only have the TV hardware, the other menu items are completely irrelevant. Clicking on the TV button activates the USB DVB TV stick. The LED on the stick changes from orange to green and we get other menus to access the TV. After a few moments, we get a tiny TV picture of the current channel, which is one of the few nice things in the program.

The issues I have with it are (in no particular order):

[ ] The program takes up the entire screen. If you want to watch TV whilst web browsing or doing some office work – tough! You can’t! There is a facility to make it into a window but the size is static at three quarters of the screen. The TV picture is even smaller.

[ ] The text is way too big, and there is no way to change the size (or anything else for that matter).

[ ] There is way too much ‘white’ space. Lots of screen space is empty - that do absolutely no useful purpose – Why?

[ ] The menus and buttons are automatically selected as the mouse pointer moves onto them. So, as you move onto the space inside the buttons they are partially activated. This, for me, is the most frustrating aspect of the whole software.

[ ] Finding and selecting channels and/or programmes are extremely cumbersome. The list of channels only takes up a small area of the screen and you must use small up and down arrows to change the listing, again its cumbersome and frustrating.

I’m sure you may find aspects to this software nice or irritating depending on your temperament. I have found many people who have published online comments about this software have similar views. Sadly, despite looking around the net, I have found little other choice except to use this software. I am planning to buy another USB DVB TV device (not FreeCom) hoping that this software isn’t bundled with it, as I cannot stand using it after a few minutes.

One important note to make, which is not made clear; the teletext feature is only available as a separate channel in this country so the Teletext button in the software won’t work. You will need to find the teletext channel (good luck getting to it).

* The Help File (rant continues) *

The help file is a simple Windows help file that can only be accessed when you move the mouse to the top of the screen and click on the question mark icon. This icon only appears when you are in the main menu and the mouse moves to the top of the screen so it is hidden from view – making it difficult and confusing for people who may not know this exists – but that’s not the only issue I have with the help file. Amazingly, the help consists of just 6 pages (for the TV section), which consists of blazingly obvious statements on how to use it (most of it is about scheduling). Some of it you need know anyway to find the help icon in the first place. It is one of the least helpful help files I have come across in the 25 years of using computers – 6 pages – and I am being generous as I am including the index page in that count.

(ok, rant over)

* Technical details *

General
[ ] Device Type: DVB terrestrial receiver / radio input adapter
[ ] Enclosure Type: External
[ ] Interface Type: USB 2.0
[ ] Width: 2.8 cm
[ ] Depth: 8.6 cm
[ ] Height: 1.5 cm
[ ] Weight: 25 g
[ ] Colour: Black
[ ] Compatibility: PC

Video
[ ] Type: TV tuner
[ ] Form Factor: External
[ ] Interface Type: USB 2.0
[ ] Digital Video Format: MPEG-2, DVB

Connectivity
[ ] Interfaces: 1 x TV antenna
[ ] Connections: 1 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 PIN USB Type A

Miscellaneous
[ ] Included Accessories: TV aerial
[ ] Compliant Standards: CE, CSA, UL

Software
[ ] Software Included: Drivers & Utilities

System Requirements Details:
[ ] Windows XP SP1 or later - Pentium 4 - 2 GHz - RAM 256 MB - HD 1 GB
[ ] Windows XP Media Center Edition - Pentium 4 - 2 GHz - RAM 256 MB - HD 1
[ ] OS Required: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition, Microsoft Windows XP SP1 or later
[ ] Other hardware: CD-ROM/DVD drive

* Summary *

For what it is, it works. It lets you watch TV on your computer. If you do not have access to a TV near your PC, then having one of these is nice to have. The hardware works well, though the reception needs work. I recently bought a signal booster that amplifies the signal. The software tells me that I have excellent reception (all bars were green), but the picture still freezes now and then and the sound sometimes makes clicking sounds, though not as often as it did without the booster.

No matter what FreeCom or any other company selling these DVB TV sticks, you need a very good aerial to make this work. The flimsy free standing one that comes with the stick does not work – don’t even bother using it. I doubt very much you would get a good signal if you were ten feet away from the mast broadcasting the TV channels using this aerial. If you’re looking for an easy way to watch TV on a laptop whilst away from home get yourself a portable aerial – but don’t bet too much money on getting a good picture and lots of channels.

Despite my bad remarks on the receiver software (TotalMedia), this software does a good job of giving you a TV picture and the scheduling of programmes to be recorded for you automatically works well. It’s such a shame that the software is badly designed in so many areas (the user interface mainly).
Word of caution: Don’t unplug the USB stick whilst the software is running – it will totally freeze and you will have to restart your PC. I’ve done this a few times. It really doesn’t like it.

I hope you enjoyed the review.

Ian