Hauppauge WinTV Nova-t USB plus ShowShifter V3 

First the Hauppauge part, the Nova cards have been around for a while but I have never looked at a USB offering so with a recent notebook (HP nx9110 11/5/04) I installed the software. This is in several parts but they are linked and needs very little intervention, a good time to make a coffee. Next a reboot and then connect the aerial lead.

It can search the whole country for signals but if you know you can only get info from a single transmitter then select that it will of course be quicker. Providing you do not move then this is a one time job unless new stations are added.

The USB box is 15x19x3cm with cables inserted. I found a total of 46 TV channels, yes this is digital TV and while watching some would require an extra subscription a lot are available free of charge. The basic five that most can get on any TV and others that you cannot. I especially enjoyed watching 17 days worth of snooker live and not just when the BBC thought it would be nice to show it. Weekends are a time when they show little live snooker however both tables were available on either channel 701 or 702. Other events such as Wimbledon are also covered by the interactive service. I was also able to view the Celtic v Rangers game live last Sunday.

This particular model also has Teletext and can be activated independently, or from within the TV package. TV can be watched in a window within Windows and this can be forced to stay on top or you can even view full screen.

In my case using the notebook in my office required two extension aerial leads to be linked to the normal outlet and I was very pleasantly surprised that there was no apparent picture quality degradation.

Being digital TV you have the now and next programming info for most channels and this Hauppauge unit can allow you to have PVR capabilities however while the setup of recordings is not difficult it is not foolproof nor does it have the full features. You can also listen to 23 Digital Radio stations this is not DAB radio but some of the channels such as Five Live Sports Extra are normally only available on DAB but are also available here.

The ShowShifter offer applies not only to the USB offerings but also to PCI cards. I will firstly state that the price for ShowShifter is quoted in US $ and I could find no one to state why £ were not used for this component. This offer is also available to other Hauppauge PCI and USB card owners both Digital and Analogue.

ShowShifter is the Rolls Royce of TV recording software and while the Hauppauge element is functional using the full ShowShifter has ease of use and I suppose luxury to offer the user. The Hauppauge offer allows you to save $20 on the normal price of the ShowShifter software.

The stated price of the WinTV Nova-t USB is £109 with PCI equivalent model at £99 while for a full (version 3) copy of ShowShifter you need a further $39.99.

Link : http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/products/data_nova-t-usb.html