PCTV NanoStick T2 review

We reviewed our first Freeview HD box, the Humax HD Fox T2 back in March 2010. At that time, we were expecting PC tuners supporting the standard to follow on quickly. Weeks stretched to months, TV manufacturers launched HD compatible sets, but there was still no sign of PC tuners. Finally, eight months later, we get our hands on the world’s first Freeview HD tuner: the PCTV NanoStick T2.

One reason for that delay is simple, the world as a whole isn’t too bothered by the DVB-T2 standard used for Freeview HD. It’s broadcast in certain parts of the UK, and Finland, but most countries are sticking with DVB-T for now, or are only performing trials. This makes the potential market for such a tuner rather small.

The T2 is a USB stick with a single DVB-T2 tuner. You might be familiar with the PCTV brand, it used to be owned by Pinnacle, but that company was bought out by Hauppauge earlier this year. Hauppauge is using both brands now, with PCTV products being the more feature-rich and consumer-friendly offerings. Hauppauge-branded DVB-T2 product, including internal tuners, should be upcoming, but with no release dates scheduled we wouldn’t hold your breath.

The consumer friendly aspect is immediately apparent in the stylish design of the stick itself. The gloss black finish should complement most modern laptops, plus it has a sliding mechanism to keep the connector out of harm’s way when not in use. Also in the box is a USB extension cable, the usual pointless mini antenna, a tiny remote control, and the install disc.

Plug in the adaptor and load up the disc, and you’re instantly given a range of options. TVCenter is PCTV’s main viewing and scheduling software. Alternatively, you can just install the drivers to make the T2 work with Windows Media Center. There’s also DistanTV, which lets you stream TV from the tuner over a local network (or the internet) to another PC or device.

We initially tried to test the T2 using Media Center under Windows Vista. Despite our best efforts, reloading the drivers and scanning twice, we couldn’t get our test PC to find the HD channels. We’ve contacted the manufacturer about these issues and will update this review once we hear back from them.

UPDATE: Hauppauge has now confirmed that Vista Media Center has no support for HD channels, and so they aren’t displayed. Vista users will need to upgrade to Windows 7 if they want to use the Nanostick with Media Center

Using Windows 7, however, everything worked fine. It recognised the T2 as a simple DVB-T tuner, but when we scanned for channels it also picked up the four Freeview HD channels. These weren’t marked as being HD in Media Center’s guide, but there was no problem watching the HD feed or scheduling recordings.

Windows 7 can also be set-up to work with multiple tuners, so it’s possible to simply add this HD tuner to your existing dual-tuner Freeview set-up.

Switching to TVCenter we were rather disappointed. For basic viewing the application works fine, with window showing the programme and a small floating toolbar for changing channel and volume. However, the EPG is poor, opening in separate window and using a convoluted set of programme listings rather than the usual timeline format.

DistanTV is far more promising, with a simple web based interfae that lets you choose which channel you want to watch. It’s perfect for streaming TV within your home to mobile devices, such as tablets. However, you’ll need incredible upload speeds to appreciate the extra quality of HD channels if you plan on streaming over the internet beyond your home.

£80 for a single USB tuner is a lot of money, but then you don’t have a lot of choice right now. We can’t help but be a little disappointed that the initial DVB-T2 product isn’t a more enthusiast-friendly dual-tuner PCI-Express card – which would have been ideal for building a free-to-air HD media centre. However, for those who want to watch HD TV for free, this is an excellent product – just make sure you use Media Center.