usb tv tuner

[mollymoo]

hi i want to buy a usb tv tuner for my laptop...i was lookign at the freecom one but some sites seem to give it bad reviews if you are using it without a roof ariel...does anyone know if this is a rare occurence, or infact the best one to buy that allows you t oget a good signal with digital freeview...thanks

[Ethel]

As far as I know the tuner will have to be plugged in to either the aerial or the freeview box, so take your pic.

[wideboy]

Most of these need a good aerial signal (a booster might help but might also boost noise). I'm lucky in having a roof aerial available for my desktop. I've used the Freecom one on the road with a laptop with varying success using the portable aerial. You may get a signal but not all the stations! Keep reading the reviews (I think Micro Mart magazine reviewed some a while back) until you find one that has got a good signal reception.

[Ammy]

I have the �80 DigiTV from Nebula to watch freeview on my PC. It is USB powered, and you pug it into your ariel. I haven't needed to plug it into the roof ariel (though this may be because I live in the attic!), and it works fine.

The reason I went for this is because it also records, pauses, time-shifts etc.

I did lots of research regarding these tuners and there seems to be many factors involved in the quality of your reception. E.g. proximity to local transmittor, computer spec, weather, height etc. The problem is that these are all individual concerns i.e. just because it works fine for me does not mean it will be ok for my neighbour.

I was orignially told I would probably need a booster, but in the end I didn't need it. Although it did go a little crazy when there were lots of rainstorms- though thats expected, even with regular freeview set-top boxes.

All I can say it that you buy a tuner and try it out. Thats the only real way to know if it will work in your environment. Depending on when you buy it from I'm sure you could still return it

[wideboy]

Hi again mollymoo. Just came across this review:-

http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/compare/2153973/miniature-usb-tv-tuners

and also found one of the cheapest being offerred by Evesham:-

http://www.lowestonweb.com/products/displayinfomain.asp?e=A98A7A7F-22E4-46A9-B633-3EDCEBF10330&td=1

[mollymoo]

wideboy...thanks very much for the links to the reviews...