Pinnacle’s portable USB High Definition TV tuner and PVR

Given the size and quality of desktop and laptop displays these days, it’s no wonder more and more people are using them as another television for the home and office. Pinnacle has released a USB High Definition TV tuner stick complete with Personal Video Recorder (PVR) capability and remote control. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Stick actually allows you to grab a free HDTV feed out of the air using the tiny antenna included in the package and watch, record and save in formats compatible with DVDs, iPod’s, DivX and Sony PSP, meaning you can time-shift, fast-forward, pause and rewind all your favorite shows in high quality HD.

The USB HDTV stick has full support for both analog (NTSC) and digital (ATSC) reception, and if you happen to find yourself at home, you can connect this TV tuner to the outlet in your wall, receiving all the channels that you normally would through a conventional cable or satellite set top box. It basically transforms your computer into a TV through a coaxial cable. The TV tuner from Pinnacle has full support for Microsoft Media Center Edition environment (MCE upgrade kit including a Microsoft compatible MCE remote, IR receiver and IR blaster is available separately).

Pinnacle USB HDTV Tuner retails for US$129.99