Genius TVGo DVB-T02Q MCE review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 19 Sep 2007

Price when reviewed: £30

Supplier: http://www.microdirect.co.uk

Reviewed By: Seth Barton

Our Rating 1 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Genius's TVGo costs £8 more than KWorld's tuner. It comes with a simple cap to protect the connector, and the RF input needs an adaptor to connect a standard aerial lead. Losing either of these could be a real pain.

The supplied software comes on an 8cm DVD, so those with slot-loading optical drives may have trouble. For everyone else, installing the drivers and software is easy, and the TVGo is compatible with XP, Vista and Media Center. It found all the available channels, but the TV and radio channels were all mixed together and had to be sorted manually. Picture quality was acceptable, with only the usual MPEG2 artefacts visible.

The interface is rough round the edges - literally, in some respects, as the control panel has a pixellated edge. Changing channel is slow and the channel controls work unconventionally, so you have to push the channel-down button to go from BBC1 to BBC2. A seven-day EPG is provided, but it is frustratingly slow to download the necessary programme information.

There are no controls on the TV window, so you have to return from full screen to a windowed display to access them, or left-click and use a text menu. The mini remote control is a better alternative, but it has no timeshifting controls due to the limited space.

This tuner has little to recommend it. If you're looking for a cheap DVB-T USB Tuner, the KWorld PlusTV is a much better choice.

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