Product Description

• USB 2.0 digital TV receiver
• Watch over 30 channels Freeview digital TV on your PC or laptop
• Plug & play, powered by USB port
• Universal and regional channel scan
• Real-time and schedule recording
• Support playback of DVD disks
• Support HDTV reception
• Dimension: 86x27x14mm, Weight: 23g
• Requires Windows XP or 2000
• Includes portbale antenna, remote control, software CD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2659 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: August
• Model: DVB-T201-S
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Dimensions: 3.94" h x 1.97" w x 3.94" l, .44 pounds

Features

• Support DVB-T Protocol
• Watch Live Digital TV and Listen to digital radio
• Time-Shifting and Scheduled Recording Functions
• Support Still Image Snapshot
• Support Channel Surfing

What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision
4 Stars...very good pictures and sound, easy to use, an intuitive recorder

What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision
4 Stars...very good pictures and sound, easy to use, an intuitive recorder

Manufacturer's Description
August USB Freeview TV Receiver is a "magic wand", it turns your PC or laptop to a high definition personal multimedia centre which allows you to watch over 30 free digital channels, listen to over 20 digital radio stations, record your favourite TV programs on a hard drive or burn it onto a disk.

It comes with a professional and user friendly software interface, mini antenna and remote control. All you need to do is to plug the device into a USB port of the computer, insert the CD and install the software by following the instructions. Your computer will start working immediately as a TV and recorder. You can watch TV programs live or record onto the hard drive to watch later.

A mini antenna is provided for watching Freeview where the signal is very strong, an amplified antenna may improve reception and a rooftop aerial should be used in some regions. An aerial adapter is also provided for connecting the device with a rooftop aerial where the signal is not sufficient for the mini antenna included.

Please note that there may be difficulty to receive Freeview TV using the mini antenna in some areas. This is due to that the Freeview (www.freeview.co.uk) service in the UK is yet fully operating. The reception will be improving along with the progress of Digital Switchover Program (www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk). A signal amplifier or booster may improve reception capability in regions where the signal is marginally strong. Reception capability may also be affected by various factors such as proximity to Freeview TV/digital radio transmitters, tall building structures, thick walls, ceilings and etc.

Customer Reviews

Such a great product my colleagues are buying it too !
Knowing reception for Freeview services in my area is poor anyway (Poole) I was relieved when it discovered 9 channels first time; BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, ITV2+1, and a few others. (I use non-Sub Sky so not sure what Freeview provides generally in my area). However, I had read on here (prior to purchase) recommendations about placing on a metal plate. So I put it on a baking tray (!) and got 19 channels, but ITV1 and C4 were still elusive.
Resolved to take it to work (Bournemouth) and try again where reception may be greater. Not too good in the office at first, so went into the car park and stuck the aerial on a lead (metal) watertank the size of a transport container. 53 channels !!!! Now getting Sky sports news, E4+1, Sky Three, Five, Five US, CBeebies, Hits TV all those TV shopping channels (!!!), All the BBC digital stations, Radio Clyde all sorts.
Came back to the office and stuck the aerial horizontally to my (metal) desk drawer. 32 channels, lost a few Five related ones... no ITV1 or C4 though.
The HDTV software is really good for a bundled offering, being quite feature rich and simple to use, and once the signal is locked pciture quality is easily good enough for the larger laptop or monitor screens. The push-fit connector for the supplied aerial is a little weak in design IMO and would benefit from some form of bayonet fitting to ensure a good connection.
That said as others have, it is reception sensitive and the aerial is very much affected by objects around it, including people.
If I could get ITV1 and C4 in addition to the others my evaluation would have been complete, but Freeview often states that all channels are not available in all areas so there's a case for buyer beware.
But at this price I thought it was worth the risk, and I believe it is a top gadget/product if you appreciate it's limitations.
And now I've shown my colleagues they'll probably buy up the rest of the current stock.

This is a great device... probably
As i live in the middle of the countryside the small ariel provided obviously had no effect. So, i hooked it up to the main arial, and although it's freeview aswell, it could only find about 10channels. So, I then connected it to a signal booster aswell, and it managed around 30 odd channels, but still not the amount that i was used to with freeview connected to a normal tv.
The channels that i did get where really clear and actually very good quality. But, the really annoying thing was that i only got two of the terestrial channels, bbc 1 + 2, and just a lot of the annoying channels like shopping etc instead.
On the plus side, the recording feature and being able to pause the live tv works really well. But, and there's always a but with this, if you do plan to record a programme, make sure you've got a huge hard disk. Because although it records at a very good quality, to dvd standard so it states, it also takes up a lot of room on your hard disk and slows your computer right down.
So all in all this is a good idea, but probably best for people who live in cities and have very high spec computers with alot of ram and hard disk space.

In the Forces
If you are in the forces you can quite happily watch BFBS in Iraq/Afghanistan with this item. It is a bit cheap and cheerful, to be honest I will keep it during my time in theatre but at the end of tour I will be selling it on. I would recommend you spent a couple of quid more and bought the freecom verson which has an extendable antenna to improve reception.