On our desk this week - 5

Leadtek Winfast DTV Dongle

Do you head out with your notebook and regularly pine for a bit of BBC? Do you have a small form factor system without room for single, let alone dual tuners? It could be that you're hankering for a USB TV tuner that's appropriately portable, and they don't come much more portable than this.

Leadtek is well known for its graphics card range - we have reviewed several in recent months, but they also produce other video products as well. This TV tuner supports DVB-T so that users in the UK can get the full range of Freeview channels. It comes bundled with a mini aerial which might allow you to pick up a few channels on the move, but isn't ever going to win any awards for supreme effectiveness. Assuming you want the full gamut of digital channels, there's also a converter to plug into a proper coax aerial. You also get a credit card type of remote control for channel up/down, volume etc.

Check it out! It really is insanely small. The aerial connection plugs into the bottom of the stick. The side of the stick has a little IR spot on the side for the remote control to work with.

The software itself comes on a separate CD. Installation is a little troublesome: it rather looks like it's been put together by someone with a very bad understanding of how a user interface should work, and because it's a generic driver disk, you've got to work out which product you've got and then work out which driver to install.

The viewing software, however, is pretty good, although a little obscure in places. Once you've loaded it up, you can tune in to see which channels you can find - assuming you can find the option to tune in buried underneath lots of menus. With a few pleasantries dealt with, you can get on with the serious business of recording to disk, scheduling shows etc. The software offers recording to MPEG-2 as well as standard time-shifting stuff. There's also access to an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), which allows you to schedule recordings. It's no Media Center, but it's not bad, the odd bit of Engrish aside.

Speaking of Media Center, the Leadtek dongle is fully compatible - meaning you can stick a couple of these in the back of your small form factor box and happily get access to the full range of digital channels via the awesomeness that is the Microsoft interface.

All in all, a stunning product. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and it comes in at a great, low price. The software is good enough for you to use it on the go, or you can integrate it in Media Center for minimum-hassle dual-tuner functionality. Pick one up now!

Name: Leadtek DVB-T Dongle
Buy it from: NovaTech
Cost: £32 +vat
Verdict: Great form factor, decent functionality, Media Center compatibility. A good price too.