Freecom DVB-T Stick review

There are few things more annoying than missing the last episode of a good TV series because you're stuck on the train or have to be away from home for a night.

You could buy a USB TV tuner, but many of these are rather bulky and need lots of cables. Who wants to lug all that around? Freecom's DVB-T Stick is a tiny USB digital TV card. It's actually the smallest we've ever seen, and at first glance we mistook it for a USB Flash memory drive!

Getting the Freecom working was pleasingly straightforward. You just install the drivers and software from the CD-ROM supplied, plug the Freecom into a spare USB 2 port, and you're off. The first time you load up the TV software it's necessary toallow the Freecom to search for all the available channels. The bundled portable antenna picked up some channels, but not all of them. If you're going to be in one place for long enough, we would recommend a decent amplified indoor antenna as an absolute minimum.

Once connected to our external aerial, all the channels appeared present and correct. We were soon happily channel-surfing through all our favourite daytime TV programmes. Pausing live TV worked flawlessly, allowing us to pause Murder She Wrote and resume watching as we returned with a cup of tea - what a treat!

Clicking the EPG button on the player software brings up the Electronic Program Guide, which tells you what's on each channel and when. This looks a little basic, but information for each program is clearly presented. You can see what's on in the coming week, too. Double-clicking a program allows you to set a recording timer if you wish. Best make sure your Windows clock is correctly set, though!

The Freecom is tiny, works well and is sensibly priced. It's not perfect, but its flaws are few and don't detract from the central achievement of making a workable, watchable TV tuner this small. If you need a digital TV card that you can easily carry around with a laptop, the Freecom is ideal.