Remember that oldie? Well, for this column I’m going to tell you about how you can kinda do a similar thing with a couple programs and a really large capacity flash drive that will easily fit in your pocket! So, with a tip of the fedora to Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance who wrote the song that begins, “Catch a falling star an’ put it in your pocket, Never let it fade away! Catch a falling star an’ put it in your pocket, Save it for a rainy day!” here’s how:
As most of you know, the era of analog television is fast coming to a close and next February all stations will broadcast HD digital signals. This means that right now, if we want to record TV shows we need a special tuner because not every station is digital yet and Cable TV is still analog. The solution is to get a tuner that supports both ATSC and NTSC. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick, is a small thumb drive-sized tuner that does just that, along with time-shifting and scheduled recording straight to DVD, iPod, and PSP.
This shows the stick attached to a laptop via the antenna that is designed to receive HD signals that stations send via the airways. I tried it with my laptop at home in Kailua and could receive 4 channels that broadcast from Kailua and Kaneohe. I would imagine the same would be true in Honolulu if I were in the right spot as I have read a lot of reviews from big city testers that report picking up lots of stations. BTW, the picture is really good as is usually the case with HD transmissions. How about the regular cable channels? Works just fine and the picture is also very good. Only difference in the setup is you attach your cable to the stick instead of the antenna. The other option that’s available is a PCI card which plugs into your desktop. I tried that also and got really good recordings.
The package sells for just under a $100 and includes the stick, antenna and cables.
Here’s what the stick itself, looks like:
The Pro Stick package also includes the PC software that turns your Windows computer into an HD digital video recorder. BTW, Pinnacle warns that you may not be able to pick up HD broadcasts in a moving vehicle, in case you were tempted to channel-surf in a car or a 747. I’ll be in San Antonio TX and San Diego CA later in the month so I’ll take the antenna with me and see what it picks up there.
You can do lots of neat things with the PCTV HD Pro Stick; here are the features for this nifty system from the company:
- Watch SD and free HD TV on your PC - no service fees
- Includes remote control and high-gain telescopic antenna
- New: supports both digital over-the-air (ATSC1) and unencrypted digital cable (ClearQAM2) HDTV
- New: stereo sound for both digital and analog TV
- New: stereo FM radio reception
- Turns your PC into a PVR with Time Shifting: pause, rewind TV
- Electronic Program Guide (EPG)-Sorry, but I wasn’t impressed with this…I am still using my TV Guide!
- Compatible with Windows Media Center3 (Windows Vista and XP MCE; remote kit sold separately)
- Bonus: Video Spin editing software
- Capture from your cable/satellite set-top box or camcorder with the included A/V adapter cable
- Automatically record shows to your hard drive in MPEG-1/2 or DivX4 formats, or direct-to-DVD
NOTES:
- ATSC, the new digital broadcast standard, is now available in many areas of the United States. ATSC reception is dependent on many factors. The provided antenna will allow reception in areas where there is a good ATSC signal. In regions or rooms where the signal is not strong, an amplified rooftop antenna will be required. It is generally not possible to receive an ATSC signal while en route (e.g. in a car or train). Please consult with your local reseller or go to www.antennaweb.org for more information on areas covered and optimizing your reception.
- Internet connection required; free 1 year trial.
- For the use of Pinnacle Studio QuickStart, Windows XP is required.
- Requires free Internet activation.
BTW, keep in mind that recording TV shows, unencrypted and FM music for your own use is generally legal, but be careful of copyright laws if you want to share with someone! For lots more info, Visit: http://tinyurl.com/jgcgo
That’s the “catch a falling star” part, or in our case recording TV shows, movies, etc., but what about “put it in your pocket”?
The answer is the Corsair Flash Voyager, now available in a 32GB capacity. It's a small HDD in your pocket. With that file size you could even partition it, split into two partitions, and make one encrypted as the product supports EAS-256 bit encryption technology. Great stuff to store movies, MP3, work related files, classified stuff (encrypted) or use it as a backup drive. It’s tough, water resistant and easy to use.
It's a flash USB stick with:
- Plug & Play functionality in Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, Linux 2.4 and later, Mac OS 9, X and later
- Durable and Price/performance leader 32GB USB drive
- Includes the True Crypt security application (Windows Vista/XP/2000 compatible only) allowing for a virtual encrypted drive using AES-256 encryption
- Water Resistant, Shockproof & Plug-n-Play
Would you believe these sticks have been laundered, baked, frozen, boiled, dropped, and even run over by a SUV in some third party reviews? Yup, it’s true and…after all the punishment they received, these sturdy little fellows continued to work. Keep in mind you now have a tremendous capability to keep not only recorded TV shows and music but files which can also be encrypted, 32 gigabytes worth, that’s a lot of stuff you can carry around in your pocket. Just think back a year or so and remember that flash drives were maxed out at around 8 gigs and were pretty expensive…the good news is that the price keeps coming down and for this little must-have gem the price on the net (Apr 14) was $153, pretty amazing when just a short time ago flash drives were selling for almost a $100 per gigabyte! It’s specially amazing when Amazon carries a 64gigabyte flash drive for over $3000…yup, that’s THOUSANDS.
I found this flash drive to be exceptionally easy to use and the encryption program equally simple to setup. Be sure to start by checking that feature out and perhaps even copying to your hard drive so that you don’t-oops-by mistake…delete it! For lots more detail visit: http://corsair.com/products/voyager.aspx
I bet you're wondering how I plan to cover the “save it for a rainy day” part of the song…well, wonder no more, I don’t plan to advise you to wait for a rainy day, but as you may already believe, saving your files is important. So, I have been trying out a really good program that lets you synchronize your files between computers. This program, GoodSync, also allows you to backup files.
This program works really well with the Voyager. However, while flash drives are very useful for transporting information, it can be confusing to remember which files are the most up-to-date.
GoodSync solves this problem by making sure that the latest copies of files are automatically copied between different computers.
Multiple jobs can be created so it is possible to use this for simple backups as well as keeping on top of multiple file versions. Jobs can also be set to only work in particular directions so the original files are untouched.
You can download a free version, which is fully functional, and then, after 30 days you can have three synchronization jobs set up, each with a limit of 100 files at any one point in time. Visit: http://tinyurl.com/6hf72h
Setting it up and using it with the Voyager was pretty easy; here are some screen shots to give you an idea of how it works:
In this screenshot the left panel is the folder/file on your PC/Laptop you want to Synch and the right is your Voyager Flash Drive.
As you hover over each selection in the options menu, a description shows in the bottom box of the window.
Auto works the same way; as you hover over the various auto settings, a descriptions shows in the box at the bottom.
That’s really about how easy it is to use and perhaps the best news is the price: The manufacturer offers it for $29.99,a good value for a very powerful program; give it a try with the free download listed above.
Have fun with all these gadgets and with all the great places you can go on the ‘net, but as always, be careful out there and be sure to keep your programs updated for your protection.
Aloha, Lou
