Take Your High-Def TV With You

Ah…the joys of business travel. Once again I was grounded at DFW because of thunderstorms after three days of meetings in New York City. I could have done my trip reports, but I simply wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to let my brain unwind, but watching the CNN repeats on the airport monitors wasn’t on my wishlist. Having two hours to kill, I decided to test the new notebook add-on I had bought for my son at Best Buy for his return to college. He had put in his request for a flat screen TV and stereo system, but I found something that seemed to be just the ticket for his school apartment and a heck of a lot less expensive.

It was Pinnacle’s PCTV HD Pro Stick, the packaging claimed it would do it all – anytime, anywhere. Standard and high-def TV viewing; DVR time-shifting; pause, rewind, fast-forward functions; even the ability to grab area radio stations. About the size of a standard USB flash drive, it seemed difficult to believe that the little device, plus the telescoping antenna and mini IR remote, could turn his new notebook computer into a complete entertainment center.

I fearlessly opened the box and wondered where all the TV parts were. The complete package included the USB 2.0 stick, USB extender cable, antenna, AV input adapter, remote, quick start guide and two CDs – one for the PCTV installation, and one labeled QuickStart. The HD tuner for my plasma TV at home cost $500 and needed a technician to connect it to our cable system. This unit cost less than $130 and had everything I needed, including its own antenna and ability to connect to cable, dish, or outdoor antenna. Hard to believe that the little package could capture any TV signal over-the-air.

Figure 1 - All-In-One – The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick package includes everything you need to set up your desktop or notebook computer to receive and watch TV thru-the-air. Initial set-up takes about 20 minutes. After that you can connect the components to your well-powered notebook and watch your shows in minutes, including next generation ATSC digital TV, ED and HD TV as well as standard definition TV and even local radio.

Figure 2 - Choose Your Source – While you’re on the road you simply plug in the USB SD/HD TV tuner stick to your notebook, connect the collapsible antenna, and get TV channels over the air. At home you can use the A/V input adapter (shown below) to connect to cable, dish, or outdoor antenna.

What better way to test the product than during a thunder storm in the middle of Texas? I connected the PCTV HD Pro stick to one of the USB 2.0 ports, connected the collapsible antenna, and loaded the PCTV MediaCenter installation CD in the laptop. Set-up instructions were easy to follow and took about 20 minutes. I let the unit scan all of the available TV channels it could find and was surprised to see more than 15 SD and 10 HD channels on the list. By double-clicking on the channel I was able to preview the show in a small window.

For the next hour-and-a half I toggled between five different channels just as I would do at home. Just when I thought I would try out the timeshifting feature – the ability to watch one show and record another – my flight was called, so I would have to wait until I got home to see how that feature worked.

On the flight home I read the quick start guide more thoroughly and poked around the software. It was hard to believe I could put a notebook computer and a TV receiver in my backpack, but it was all there! The next evening I set up in my home office and focused on turning one of my other PCs into a complete, all-in-one, entertainment center.

Figure 3 - MediaCenter -- The included software instantly turns your notebook or desktop system into an all-in-one entertainment center, delivering TV and radio entertainment as well as easy access to all of the music, photos and video stored on your computer. The buttons on the top navigation bar let you choose the features – TV, radio, playback, EPG. The buttons on the bottom bar provide timeshift control – channel up/down, stop, play/pause, record, volume, view advanced timeshift features and channel name/number.

I tried the collapsible antenna again and I was surprised to receive more than 30 stations thru-the-air. When I used the device that came with the product and connected to our cable I was immediately able to receive/view shows on my monitor in HD.

The EPG (Electronic Program Guide) was remarkably easy to use. Instantly I had a DVR (digital video recorder) without any monthly contract fees. I accessed the channel list and clicked on the channel, it was just that easy.

Figure 4 - Timeshifting – After choosing the TV stations you want to watch with the online EPG (Electronic Program Guide), you can also use the PCTV HD solution to timeshift programs, like a Tivo. You can record shows for later viewing, it is a full DVR, without the high initial cost and monthly charges. While I prefer to move the shows to my notebook when I'm on a trip, my boys also use it to record shows they can download to their video MP3 players, smartphones, and PSP.

The infrared remote controller is smaller than the one I use for my family room plasma, but it’s great for giving you complete TV control without having to be sitting at the desk or keeping your notebook at arm’s length. The only downside we found in turning our home office computer into an all-in-one entertainment MediaCenter was that we had to visit Best Buy again. My son insisted he had to have the unit I had bought for him to take to college, and I wanted one myself.

Why don't you check out the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick? Visit www.pinnaclesys.com.

Davidson Lentz