This external USB tuner can receive it all, from off-air high definition to basic FM radio... and it even has a mini remote!
Posted by Daniel Tonks on March 23, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Regular readers of Remote Central will know that we don’t normally review things that aren’t remote controls – or at least directly related to remote controls. But when I heard about Pinnacle’s PCTV HD Pro Stick, I knew that this was something I had to take a look at. First of all because HDTV is of interest to me: for many years I’ve been using a large outdoor antenna to receive high definition signals. But also because Pinnacle’s tuner comes with a pint-sized remote control that I just had to get my hands on!
Today I’m pleased to present my review of the PCTV HD Pro Stick, a compact external USB 2.0 device that’s capable of receiving HD ATSC from antenna, HD or SD ClearQAM from digital cable, analog from both antenna and cable, stereo FM radio, and it can even capture footage using composite or S-Video inputs. On top of that they managed to pack in an infrared receiver for the remote control.
In this review I’ll be looking at the HD Pro’s capabilities, its bundled TV timeshifting software, comparing its ATSC reception performance to my big Sony HDTV DVR, and I'll even give that little remote control the full rundown.
We take a look at Sony's economy DVR control as well as their speciality big buttoned unit.
What can you get for under $30? How about control of 8 devices, full IR learning, macros and 63 DVR-optimized buttons?
