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gadget — Episode 060 – Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick
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Take a HDTV reciever — cool… Now shrink it to the size of a flash drive — neat… add the ability to place and time-shift your favorite TV programs — groovy… now package everything into a tiny little unit that can also monitor and record any analog video source that you throw at it — awesome!
Pinnacle wants to give you all this… and they want you to have it for less than $100. — Their new line of USB HD tuners gives your desktop or notebook computer the ability to display up to 1080i HD programming, easily connect your video camera, DVD player or game console to your monitor, and place/time shift your TV shows in HD goodness.
On this episode of ‘gadget’ we take a look at the midrage Pinnacle HD miracle: The PCTV HD Pro Stick — it might be just what the HD doctor ordered.
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The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick is the midrange model of Pinnacle’s line of USB HD Tuner products. Compatible with Windows XP or Vista, this diminutive device is not much bigger than a large USB flash drive and yet can deliver high-quality HD programming to your laptop or desktop. It supports both analog (NTSC) and digital (ATSC) signals either over-the-air or through a dedicated cable. If you use the ATSC options, you can get up to 1080i resolution :: great news for those who have been yearning for HDTV. Out of the box, the Pro stick has everything that you need to get your computer up and running in HD. That includes the USB Pro Stick HD Tuner, a remote control, the breakout cables, and an antenna for picking up broadcast TV signals in analog or digital. The ProStick has the ability to accept video from three different inputs: there is a standard Coaxial cable port on the bottom of the unit, for use with the included antenna or your cable system. On the side of the ProStick there is a breakout port that allows you to plug in external video sources. A breakout dongle includes RCA and S-Video ports as well as a single mini-stereo plug for audio. The top of the unit sports a standard USB plug for interfacing the unit with your computer and the included antenna is comprised of two parts, a magnetic base and a screw-on extendable aerial. The remote is quite possible one of the cutest little controls we’ve ever received with a piece of gear. It’s about the same size as the Pro Stick, and is powered by two triple-A batteries. It has all the buttons that you need to control your Pro Stick, including power, volume, channel, and the recording functions. Setting up the Pro Stick is simple. Install the included Pinnacle TVCenterPro software on your Windows machine, then plug the ProStick into a USB port. Upon startup, TVCenterPro will automatically determine the type of system you are connected to and start a channel scan. You can also do this setup manually if you are a more advanced user or if you have difficulty with the auto detect feature. When you do scan for channels, the software will automatically setup internet Radio, log your available analog and digital channels, and setup the preferences for your Electronic Programming Guide. When using the ProStick software, you are given a screen that matches your programming with the EPG and gives you a signal-strength/signal-quality meter. |
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When we connected the included Aerial antenna, we found that there were some really bad channels, and some really good channels — no surprise there. However, when we did find a strong digital channel we were BLOWN AWAY by the quality of the HD signal. When we connected the ProStick to our digital cable system, the quality only improved.
The recording feature of the Pro Stick is well implemented. TVCenterPro can download an Electronic Programming Guide that will give you a program schedule for your area up to 14 days in advance. You can then choose which shows you want to record and customize options like preroll and postroll. You can also choose to record manually by clicking the button in TVCenterPro or pressing the record button on the remote. TVCenterPro can record in a variety of formats including MPEG-2 Direct to DVD, VideoCD, SuperVideoCD, DivX, PSP, and iPod files. This means that you can easily record your favorite shows and build up a stable of high-quality recordings for your own personal library, in whatever format you choose — It’s like a TIVO, but much, much better! You can also use this same interface to record video from the S-Video and RCA inputs on the breakout cable. You can use these inputs to connect the ProStick to dedicated cable or satellite boxes, as well as any analog video source that you might have. Using the ProStick on our Gateway M-151X notebook we were able to play a few rounds of Smash Brothers without any discernable lag, stutter or video distortion. The ProStick is also fully compatible with Windows Media Center, this means that you can integrate the recording ability of the ProStick with the rest of your Media Library. — This works especially well if you are a Vista user and have your music, movies and video clips already indexed in your Media Center. For those who want a few more editing options, the ProStick also comes with Pinnacle Studio QuickStart – This basic software suite allows you to easily trim and edit your recordings. It’s not the most advanced package on the market, but it is more than enough for those who are just looking to edit out commercials, throw together a few YouTube-able videos or otherwise use the input to put together a few clips. The Pinnacle PCTV HD USB ProStick is available now online for ~$100 |
