Product Description

With the Freecom DVB-T USB Stick, you can watch and record Freeview digital TV and Radio on your computer without monthly subscription. The Freecom DVB-T USB stick is characterized by amazing compact dimensions of only 28 x 15 x 86 mm and an ultra-light weight of 25 grams. This minute digital receiver is therefore perfect for mobile, cordless TV and radio reception. The only equipment required is a laptop or desktop with a USB 2.0 port. An IEC connector is also included to connect to a normal aerial to get better signal. The Freecom DVB-T USB stick offers much more besides convincingly sharp picture quality; in combination with the hard disk, it becomes a digital video recorder. In this case the user has the choice between "live" recording and convenient programming by means of the timer function. This is where the EPG comes into its own, which lists the complete TV schedule of all broadcasters, and provides brief descriptions of the individual programmes. Accessories Included Freecom DVB-T USB STICK External DVB-T antenna Remote control USB extension cable Quick Installation Guide Freecom warranty registration form Freecom manual & application CD 2 Years manufacturers warranty and unlimited helpdesk support

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19104 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Freecom
• Model: 25451
• Released on: 2005-07-25
• Platform: Windows XP
• Dimensions: .39" h x .39" w x .39" l, .6 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The Freecom DVB-T USB Stick brings you into the Digital World of TV Programs, without monthly subscription! You can now receive and watch FREE Digital TV Signals directly on your computer screen. The DVB-T TV standard sends Digital Signals (TV and RADIO) FREE to AIR.With the Freecom DVB-T USB Stick, you can decode,watch and record Digital TV and Radio on your notebook or desktop. The Freecom DVB-T USB Stick frees you from television network programming schedules and allows you to easily record television on your PC so you can watch shows when you want to. Then you can burn them to disc and watch episodes of your favourite show over and over again. You will be amazed how such a small stick allows you to access free digital TV and radio signals wherever you are. Turn your notebook or desktop into a digital entertainment center and live the digital life. Keep it Simple!

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Excellent !- Believe it or not
I got the item today. quite easy and trouble free installation initially. (You need to have DirectX 9 installed in the system). Connected initially to the roof top antenna and the software auto scanned most of the channels. I was initially able to hear sound, but not picture. The picture window was showing lines and dots only. Thinking in terms of incompatibility with my display adapter, I tried to change some settings. I reduced my laptop display colour depth from 32 bit to 16 bit and also disabled the display adapter hardware acceleration (my laptop has S3 prosavage). Voila! I was able to see all channels clear. Next thing was even surprising. I tried various positions for the antenna supplied in the kit inside my room. On the wall positioned horizontally and perpendicular, it was picking up all the channels. My area has good freeview reception.
I don't agree to all the negative points in some of the reviews.
1. It is a good piece of kit, you may face some sort of hardware or software incompatibility depending on your PC spec.
2. If you are in a poor freeview reception area, you may not get any channels or you may need a roof top antenna.
3. The small antenna is working,but definitely needs some tweaking with regards to its final position. I did not get any better using an amplified indoor antenna.
4. The software shows the RF signal strength and quality. Both has to be high for reception.
5. You get either full quality picture or none. If reception is poor, you may see intermittent scenes and sound and not poor quality pictures.
6. Video recording is much smooth and not heavily CPU dependent. It is directly in mpeg2 format and has nearly DVD quality.
Hope this helps.

Only if you have an aerial
Easy to set up and install. Neat and impressive for the money. There is a problem with the serial number which you need to set up the software but a trip to the FREECOM website's FAQs gave me the solution.

BUT, and this is a big but, it does require an external aerial if used indoors. I live in a good signal area (South London) and the supplied aerial was useless. I plugged into my roof top aerial and it worked really well. Cracking picture and sound.

Is this for you, only if in an incredibly good signal area.

Excellent product - Depending on your needs
After some initial scepticism as a result of other reviews, I thought the £30 price tag on this product was worth the gamble and ordered one. Within 10 minutes of receiving it, the software was installed on my laptop and I was receiving every channel perfectly from the aerial that was supplied with the product.

However, when I took my laptop to my girlfriend's house - the supplied aerial picked up precisely 0 stations (although I could get them all using her roof mounted aerial).

This product will not work if you wanted to use it as a means of watching TV on your laptop while on the move (i.e. on the train). However, if like me you want to use it as a means of recording television at a high quality (I use it mostly to record Channel 5's baseball which is on at another time due to the time difference in America) it is excellent and well deserves 5 stars. The only issue is whether the supplied aerial will pick up the channels you want or whether you will have to use a roof-mounted aerial - this however, will purely be a gamble on the signal strength in your location.