Pinnacle PCTV HD mini Stick

The gadgets that a Science Fiction Romance author can't do without.

Sigh.
I lurve this little gadget. The Pinnacle PCTV HD mini Stick.
Reviewed here: http://www.coolest-gadgets.com
and here: http://www.engadgethd.com/

Pinnacle has a nice USB tuner that allows a person to get HDTV up and running on their PC with a minimal amount of fuss.
This is a sensitive tuner that picked up more stations than my console HD tuner did. Very nice. Small. Easy to install. BUT, the software and remote that ships with it, not so great. Not to fear, I'm using Vista/Media Center, and I already have a Firefly remote, which we're using. If you don't have Vista, this little guy, sadly, may not be as easy an install.

**update** The Firefly doesn't work with Vista without jumping through more hurdles than I'm willing to deal with. so... we're using a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Not as elegant as a remote, but it's working fine.

The tuner works great with our HTPC (Aspire X3200) as well as our laptop. Why would we want it on our laptop? I'm not sure, yet, but I'll let you know if I find a use for it. I can't imagine live TV would work on a long vacation drive with the kids, but recorded TV would. If we want HD while camping? Good to go. Well, maybe not, but you get the idea.