The Cinergy T USB XE is slightly smaller than a highlighter pen, plugs into a USB port and gives you access to free-to-air (Freeview in the UK) digital TV channels on your PC.

Setup and installation is simple – you just plug it in and install the drivers and software from the supplied CD. Terratec Home Cinema provides the TV console and you also get a free time-limited (60-day) subscription to the TVTV web-based electronic programme guide.

The speed and ease with which installation and setup progressed was highly impressive, until we started auto-scanning to search for channels. The device is supplied with a small antenna aerial that looks neat and has a magnetic base for easy attachment to a PC, filing cabinet, fridge, or whatever happens to be conveniently located for good signal reception.

It was stretching the bounds of optimism to hope we would get good results with the 12cm antenna in a notoriously bad signal area and, true to expectations, we didn’t pick up a single channel. Plugging the Cinergy into a wall-mounted socket connected to a roof aerial achieved better results, but still fell well short of the full complement of available Freeview TV and audio channels.

In use the Cinergy’s performance was choppy. Even without time-shifting engaged during normal TV viewing, CPU usage was averaging well over 50 per cent, which rules out the idea of watching digital TV while rendering 3D models, doing video or photo work, or basically anything that requires your processor to break sweat.

If you're in a strong reception area and want to add TV to your PC’s media repertoire, the Cynergy T USB XE provides a simple, inexpensive and unobtrusive option. However, if you run anything more onerous than, say, instant messaging, your PC will start to struggle.

Also consider:
Pinnacle PCTV USB Stick
A solid TV tuner from a major player in the video-editing software market

KWorld DVBT-350U
Basic features with this TV tuner, plus some editing and burning software

Kworld Dual TV Tuner DVB-T 220
Receive digital and analogue TV signals, but not simultaneously

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