I know some people have been asking about these, including me.
Well today I picked up one in Asda for £30. It was a Pinnacle PCTV DVB-T Stick.
I know you can get cheaper online but they seem to have very mixed reviews. Then you have the hassle of sending it back if it doesn't work.
I plugged the stick into my laptop, installed the disc and was soon up and running. No problems at all. It can even record which I have tested.
The aerial that came with it is useless and found no channels. When warmer I'll give it a go outside. The rooftop aerial found 77 channels and we are actually in an area they say can't get freeview yet so not bad in my opinion.
Thought I would pass it on.
------------- If you see a family struggling to put up the tent then it must be us!
Just for the advice for other people interested in TV on your laptop, Pinnacle are by far the best choice to go for, there a German brand. You want one like surfspud has got a DVB-T model. They are more expensive than some but defiantly worth the extra cash, as picture quality is much clearer.
One thing is that you might go on a campsite and not get any channels so i recommend you buy a signal amplifier, but before you do that make sure the site you go to is in a digital free view area because until 2011 you will only be able to receive the standard 5 channels. See here to check availability http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/
Quote: Originally posted by rustyfrog on 02/2/2009
Sounds absolutely brilliant!
One question.
What the heck is a dongle?
A dongle is a smallish stick, like a flash drive that you plug into a USB Port on your laptop or PC.
It works like a freeview box and picks up TV signals. This means you can get to watch TV on your laptop or computer.
I did not know much about Pinnacle, so thanks for the info John. I'm also planning to get a proper aerial (any suggestions). Bit confused about the other info you give though. As the stick is like a Freeview box it picks up all the free to view channels. I think you can get these in most areas now.
We can only get the 4 channels here but with a freeview box we can get all of them even though the swap over is not until 2012.
------------- If you see a family struggling to put up the tent then it must be us!
One important fact is that your laptop matches at least the minimum requirements as set out by the dongle manufacturer. Oherwise it wont be up to processing the dvb signal and the picture will be poor.
Quote: Originally posted by rustyfrog on 02/2/2009
At the mo. we dont take a laptop with us on trips as broadband isnt yet generally available on most sites. When it is then I will reconsider.
You can get a usb dongel for broadband also. Got mine from 3 with a laptop to boot. About £30 a month for 18 months then the laptop is yours to keep forever. Works well in most places and have only had a few problems(slow internet)in hard to recive places.
A little bit restrictive with the small telescopic antenna but ok on normal antenna, and for the pricely sum of £10:99, I ordered 4 some for my son & friends at 13:15 Teusday and they were delivered by 12:40 the following day.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level then beat you on experience.
Land Rover Freelander 2 & 2014 Lunar Quasar 554
I have read this thread with interest because up until now I had never heard of a dongle. Now I am a self confessed technophobic and use my laptop for only the basic things - email, camping forums, and banking but it sounds as if I could use it as a TV when camping if I get one of these dongles, is this correct ? and are the broadband dongles different beasties to the TV ones ?
------------- It's only my outside that is geting older - my inside is 17 !
yes a dvb-t dongle will allow your laptop to play live tv (if it meets the recommended requirements)
Also the broadband dongles are different to the tv ones, I have one on pay as you go with three.
So if you get a DVB-T dongle & a Mobile Broadband dongle youd be able to watch tv, go on online banking, check your emails and ukcs until your heart is content lol
Your laptop needs to meet the requirements for the dongles but my laptop is a pretty basic one as it was what I got from the insurance company when my cheap Medion (with no internal hard drive) died. They would hardly give me a high spec in replacement of that!
------------- If you see a family struggling to put up the tent then it must be us!
You can also get a Pinnacle satellite TV dongle - bit bigger than a usb stick but a LOT smaller than lugging your digibox around. Of course it only receives the Free to View channels as there is no card slot (and you still need a dish!).
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Topic: TV Dongle/Stick
