Freecom DVB-T Stick

Advantages: Small, portable, cheap
Disadvantages: Supplied aerial is effectively useless, temperamental

...I got this DVB-T stick as the one of the cheapest digital receivers for my computer so that I could watch and record TV in my bedroom. Installation and setup are relatively straight forward, with autoscanning for all available channels being one click away. However, reception was not great, and there were a few problems. First, even though I brought and installed a brand new Digital Aerial for weak reception areas, although my reception isn't that bad (it works with other normal set top boxes perfectly), when watching certain channels the video and audio froze and restarted multiple times making the program unwatchable. Also certain channels were not available, such as channel 5 (some would say no great loss there), and some tuned in but when you turned over to them they didn't play the video, only audio. Second, installation...

pte22 10.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of freecom dvb-t digital tv stick

Compro DVB-T200

Advantages: Internal card, picture quality.
Disadvantages: Weak channel scanning, EPG

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donley 05.09.2007 (24.09.2007) · Read review
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Review of Compro VideoMate DVB-T200

freecom dvb-t stick, good kit, bad software

Advantages: greay hardware, easy to set up, very portable.
Disadvantages: software bundled is dier

...This is a product that I have had for about 1/2 a year now and I feel that it is a very good product but can be improved in some ways. I feel that this TV stick is a great product and turns any computer into a digital TV on minutes. It picks up a range of channels on my households Ariel and I haven?t tried running it on the Ariel provided. It is extremely compact, I use it in my very small room where I have a computer and there is not room for a TV, this is a very good solution, it costs very little at around £30 and provides good television however there are some things that can be improved. Improvements needed: The main improvements that I feel need to be made are not to do with the product itself but with the software bundled with this item. I feel that this has too many limitations, it is great for watching TV itself but there...

kirkyjj 15.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freecom DVB-T Stick

Going Digital

Advantages: Watching several channels at once.
Disadvantages: You may need a new aerial

...and running I decided to try my old computer with the DVB T stick and lo and behold it worked. Still don't have a clue why this one never worked but anyway it was working. The device is no larger than a cigarette lighter and comes complete with driver software and a tiny digital aerial which frankly is just for show since you really need a decent signal for the USB powered DVB T stick to work. Using the aerial provided I kept getting the No Signal message. Installation and usage of the DVB is simplicity in itself, simply load the drivers plug it into a vacant USB slot and the viewing software automatically starts up. The next step is simply to scan and save channels and view at your convenience. The picture is quite good now although I may need to re-position my digital aerial for optimal picture quality. I can now work with my Office...

donf18 14.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freecom DVB-T USB stick DVB terrestrial receiver / radio input adapter

Nice Card, Rubbish Software

Advantages: Digital TV, Very good picture quality, Aerial included
Disadvantages: Remote Control looks cheap, Software rubbish

...The JetWay DTV DVB-T PCI card is a Digital TV Tuner card for desktop computers. This means once you have installed it and its accompanying software, you can watch Digital Terrestrial (i.e. Freeview) TV on your computer. A USB version is also available but the one I have is the PCI version, which is installed inside a computer. I bought it for £54 including delivery off eBay but later found it at Ebuyer for just over £40. INSTALLING Installing it was pretty easy. I just turned off my computer, pulled out the power for safe measure, removed the back plate at an available PCI slot position, slotted the card in and then screw it down. That was the hardware installation done with. The rest was just to plug the power back in, fire up the computer and lastly install the drivers and software for the JetWay card from the CD provided...

Deru 17.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of Jetway DVB-T Digital PCI TV Tuner Card

  Watch Digital Terrestrial Freeview TV on your PC

Advantages: Digital TV, Good picture quality, Excellent remote, User friendly software
Disadvantages: Can't pay for some listed channels, No video editing software, Long recordings freeze the program

...one could get started right away without having to buy one. I bought a 2 way booster previously to use with my TV set antenna. SOFTWARE & PICTURE QUALITY Once I've scanned for channels and so long as DVB-T is selected as the source, you can watch TV. You can press the up or down buttons, the hidden number-pad in the main menu interface, or use the remote. The main menu slides open to reveal the number pad, which I think this looks really clever. There are navigation buttons on the screen window as well, which hides itself when in full screen mode until you move your mouse to the bottom to bring it back up. The interface looks nice and is laid out clearly with appropriately sized buttons, which have easily identifiable icons. If I forget what the icons mean, I can hover my mouse over a button to display the button function. I get...

Deru 10.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of AVerMedia AVerTV Hybrid + FM DVB-T PCI

Great digital TV tuner for laptops

Advantages: Excellent picture quality, compatible with Windows Media Center
Disadvantages: Supplied software is buggy, internal fan produces a bit of noise

...I had been looking into TV tuners for a very long time to watch TV in my room on my laptop and convert VHS and camcorder tapes to DVD. After extensive research, I decided to buy the LifeView card. It has a good range of connections (dual coaxial aerial, composite and s-video) and receives Freeview digital channels. Information from manufacturer: "The FlyDVB-T Duo CardBus is the world's first and only CardBus TV solution with both digital and analog TV functionality." Features: Digital and analog TV Supports worldwide TV standards (PAL, NTSC, SECAM) S-video and composite imputs Watch analog and digital TV at the same time (picture in picture) Recording function Timeshifting Scheduled recording Still image snapshots Before it was due to be delivered, I installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 to make use...

wicker_man 14.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of LifeView FlyDVB-T Duo Cardbus

He shall have telly wherever he goes

Advantages: Convenient size, usb connection for flexibility, good range of channels
Disadvantages: Stick antenna neeeds to be well placed to get a good signal.

...have stopped for lunch and not fancied a walk. you get the full range of channels that are available on Freeview, I won't list them because there are so many and they vary from place to place, the scan takes a minute to update in a new location. When I am not travelling I use it on my home PC, being a slob at heart it means that I can do my work and have TV on in the corner of the screen. It is reckoned ot be the world's smallest TV receiver and at the size of a USB flash drive I can beleive it. Picture quailty is excellent on any of my laptops or PCs, the sound quailty depends on your computer's sound card and speakers. with the 5.1 surround sound speakers on my desktop PC it is quite impressive. if you want a tv for the bedroom and already have a PC there, this is a really good option to consider....

JeffFromPoole 09.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Freecom DVB-T Stick

Like Sky+ but Freeview!

Advantages: MCE compatible, good reception, good quality, cheap
Disadvantages: A lot of initial problems

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triplex999 13.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freecom DVB-T Stick

  TV on your PC

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

...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/KLiteCodecPack.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...

orrin31 07.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freecom DVB-T USB stick DVB terrestrial receiver / radio input adapter