"Freeview on a Stick"

I've seen a similar Freeview device but even smaller - looked just like a USB2 flash drive with an aerial stick on the end of it - on QVC last month. It cost about £50

advantages compared to standard freeview devices.

1. doesn't need a power supply
2. doesn't need a normal tv for viewing , works with pc.
3. works with laptop and desktop
4. slightly more portable

I've got a USB Freeview decoder (not the one you're discussing) and it works fine on a 6" stick aerial in my house, no problem. I'm about 8 miles from CP and can just see the top of the mast on a clear day.

I picked up the Freecom variant the other week, and tried in my office at university (which is a metal framed building and in which we can't get any analogue reception with a portable aerial). Using the little aerial that came with it I was able to pick up most multiplexes in watchable form by dangling out of the office window into the atrium next door.

At home I was unable to get any signal from the internal aerial, but it pulls in a superb signal from the TV aerial -- better than any of my freeview boxes.

Just waiting for mac drivers for it now, so I can use it with my laptop out on the road :)

Steven

I've always found it rather amusing that cell phones have so much difficulty getting good signal quality inside buildings. When I worked in the PO Research Station at Dollis Hill in the mid 60s we had an underground lab which was a Faraday cage for testing instruments. The funny thing was that you could take a transistor radio (very new then) in there and listen to the test match.

Cheers, John