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Not having to install a card in a PC is a bonus, in a notebook it is normally not possible. This is a USB unit consisting of a small black box 14x11x3cm, a USB lead is hard wired into it and there is an Aerial socket. It is designed to be used vertically and a small stand is provided.

The installation is a little confusing as it all goes from the same front end and I assume the company also do a PCI version and installation for that is on the same menu. However once started all went okay, in total it took 100MB of hard disc space. This is not only for the TV/Radio software but also the PVR stuff.

See also: TV Tuners

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There is a small Getting Started Guide that should probable be enough, however there seems to be no manual, not even the PDF type on a CD. I found the back of the box a little confusing – if I was being generous – I would say it was written by someone whose native language was not English. ‘Watch and Record TV on your computer’ Aufnehmen und ansehen von TV auf PC – my German! is terrible. I somehow got the idea that you could watch one channel while recording another, I have had it confirmed that this is not possible.

It found 51 stations, 25 TV (three ‘scrambled’ that you need to pay for) and 26 Radio stations. The default listing is to mix them together with just a music symbol for radio stations. However a drop menu allows you to select just TV, Radio, Free to Air or even Scrambled only should you wish.

There is a remote control and also an on screen remote control. The viewing window can be manually resized, watched in default size or even full screen but this latter option will certainly foul up the aspect ratio.

One test I ran – that may initially appear of little use – was to see how using the unit affected a notebook run on batteries, I ran if for 105 minutes before it went into hibernation, this is great for those who cannot bear to miss a certain TV program even if there happens to be a power cut.

I successfully recorded a number of programs on a variety of the channels, however for playback using the onscreen remote you need to search for the recorded file I found ‘2005*.*’ always worked for me and then play them back using Media Player.

Having provided a nice easy front end for the ‘PVR’ recording you expect that the replay function would be a lot easier, even a list of the recorded programs and a double click to open into Media Player would be better than nothing.

I found the Teletext function worked well on stations that transmit it. A nice feature was the ability to capture still images ‘snap shots’ from TV screens, this is certainly something that cannot be done with a number of similar packages. The likely price is around £129.99.

Link http://www.adstech.com/products/PTV-333/intro/PTV-333_intro.asp?pid=PTV-333