11 September 2008 10:30 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

If you’re looking to add TV functions to your notebook, then the most logical and cost-effective step is to add a USB TV tuner.

This unit from KWorld is typical of those on offer, being slightly larger than a USB memory stick, having a standard connector at one end and a socket for a TV antenna at the other.

The difference with this tuner is that it allows you to view two channels are once. So, you can be watching one programme while recording another. It supports 16:9 aspect ratio, as well as a notebook's more typical 16:10

The HyperMedia software is fairly intuitive and installing and setting-up the device straight-forward. It supports standard analogue channels as well as free-to-air digital channels.

Once installed, we found it took 15 minutes for the scanning process to track and fully set-up the tuner. As with similar devices, the best results are when you plug in a rooftop aerial instead of the supplied mini-aerial.

The website claims this latest version is now compatible with the Asus Eee PC. However, the new drivers only work with the Windows XP version and not the more popular Linux version, which is disappointing. Another disappointment is the lack of support for Teletext in the UK.

Verdict

At £35, it’s hard to fault this tuner. There are no faults with the KWorld PlusTV Dual DVB-T Stick that aren’t inherent in the technology and if you take these into account, you’ll be happy with the results of this TV tuner. Dual channel support works well and the supplied software offers reasonable quality.

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Review Recap

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KWorld

Price as reviewed

£35

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The good

Dual tuners, easy to set-up

The bad

Reception can vary, software can drop-out

Quick verdict

A rather large USB TV tuner that offers two channels at once with good results, making this good value for money

Score

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