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Here at Remote Central, we don’t normally review things that aren’t remote controls – or at least directly related to remote controls. But when I first heard about Pinnacle’s PCTV HD Pro Stick, there were a couple of points that made it clear that this would be of special interest to me. First, it’s a $149 USD off-air HDTV tuner, and I’ve been using a large outdoor antenna to get HDTV since well before it was en vogue. Second, Pinnacle’s tuner comes with a miniature remote control accessory that, were it not also fully functional, would look perfectly at home as a fridge magnet.

The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick model 801e (which I’m now going to shorten to the “HD Pro”) is an external USB 2.0 television receiver the size of a pack of stick gum. Being so small and transportable the HD Pro is naturally marketed for use with laptops and folks on the go, however there’s nothing about the product that would make it unsuitable for a desktop system, and it would be ideal for swapping back and forth between different PCs as the need arises. read more...