Verdict

Infuriating? Yes, it can be, but with the right machine and a good signal, it has everything a set top box can deliver, in a far smaller shell. Without a decent signal, all hope is lost though. Even if you do not have the most advanced PC, you should still be able to receive TV and radio. While the ‘TV on the move’ idea is a bit far fetched- try moving the antenna at all and you’re likely to freeze the picture- this is as good a picture as we’ve seen, displaying in a full PC screen at 16:9 ratio widescreen.

However, even with a glass screen filter, the old adage about not sitting so close to a an ordinary television CRT goes double for a computer monitor- you’re supposed to sit well back and enjoy the show, to avoid eyestrain, something you only had to do when watching DVDs before (even when pushed up to 100Hz). This final catch - plus the fact you can buy conventional Freeview boxes for as little as £35 for the no-frills variety and £50 for the average - might be two factors that make you reconsider the Avermedia. If you’ve previously not bothered with a TV card though, it might as well have all the bells and whistles. Also if you’ve already junked the CRT for a TFT Flatpanel monitor, chances are you’ll get the best use out of the DVB-T. For certain programmes like soap, you can listen to them in the background while getting on with other things anyway - it’s not like you’ll miss anything.

Score