Pctv HD Mini Stick

by Pinnacle

Product Details

• Item Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001G5LCEQ
• Item model number: 82301006561
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,332 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Hardware, Pctv Hd Mini Stick

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic little device!, October 7, 2008

By 

David E.Finley (Palm Springs, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pctv HD Mini Stick (Personal Computers)

When I first heard anout this product, I was a bit skeptical, because of some of the bad reviews that this product had recived over the internet.

However, I said what the heck, I can always send it back if it doesn't work out.

Save to say, this little wonder works great on my Vostro 1500, despite the bad reviews. I live in a podunk little town, and I got six very strong Digital and HD signals, and that was even without the use of the external antenna included, wich I would not use anyhow, due to it's magnetic base.

All my Digital and HD stations come in great, with very little or no breakup. If it does this well in a small town like Palm Springs, I am dying to check out what it can do in a major metro area.

However, it is not without some minor flaws; the bundled software it uses is slow, and to be honest , it sort of sucks. I would reccomend using something else, if possible, such as Windows Media Player, or Dell MediaDirect for the best results.

I would highly reccomend this to any college student who doesn't want to fight over waat they want to watch either in thier dayroom, or spending needless money for a tv set for thier dorm room. I would also reccomend it to travelers waiting on a connecting flight with nothing to do, and it would be great for campers who don't want to sink thousands of dollars into a sattelite system for thier rig. All you need is this little wonder, a decent laptop PC, and a few minutes of setup time, and you can have a truly portable entertainment system that rivals any HD Home Theater system out there, at roughly one tenth the cost.


It's also very handy when the local power goes out, as some of the newer PC's have up to 16 hours of battery life, even on full power settings.

So I strongly reccomend this product, despite it's small faults.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun little item to have for the laptop, February 17, 2010

By 

Thao "goldfish mommy" (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pctv HD Mini Stick (Personal Computers)

I saw this item for sale (almost 1/2 price) during Black Friday last year and didn't see great reviews on it so decided against purchasing it since I didn't need another gadget. My brother had one and loved it so he ran out and bought another one and gave it to me, so why not use it since it's a gift? Well, I'm pretty amazed that I was able to get about 50 channels in Southern California and it comes in great, I've tried it at home and in the office on the second floor (with no windows). I also have recorded a couple of shows for playback. This tuner picks up better than the indoor antenna I have hooked up to my tv in my bedroom, I get the stations consistently whereas the Philips indoor antenna in my bedroom goes in and out and I have to readjust it all the time. The software is a bit clunky, I can't run it very well without having my laptop plugged in, on battery it doesn't seem to get enough power (so you're better off using this on a computer that has processing power, mine is a little Asus netbook that I'm using it on). I think if you're a big TV watcher then this product is worth the purchase. I'm not a TV person but it's definitely a fun item to have during long rides or lunch hour at work.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst piece of hardware ever, April 7, 2009

By 

Aulton Ritch (West Coast, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pctv HD Mini Stick (Personal Computers)

This is without a doubt the worst and most buggy piece of hardware I have ever owned. 1/2 the time it just doesnt work, it will rarely scan for channels, often freezes when changing channels, is mostly completely useless. If youre thinking of using your laptop as a portable TV, even if it has a fast processor and plenty of ram this is NOT the device to try. You will end up angry and frustrated just as I have.