Technisat Airstar Telestick 2

Technisat Airstar Telestick 2 review

Technisat has a reputation for producing quality satellite products including PC tuners (notably the Skystar range) but is perhaps not so well known in the UK for its digital terrestrial offerings. The Airstar Telestick 2 is a USB tuner stick suitable for standard-definition Freeview reception on a PC. Roughly the same size as the average disposable lighter, it comes with a fly lead for plugging in an aerial. A sizeable portable antenna is provided, or you can connect it to a rooftop aerial instead. The remote is disappointingly basic and obviously intended to be used with Technisat products aimed at the German market. There are buttons for the SiehFern Info service – of no use here – and one marked Hilfe – Geman for help. Oddly, it doesn't have buttons for the PVR functions included in Media Center and DVB viewer. The stick is compatible with Windows 7's version of Media Center (it'll work with Vista and XP too) whose support for MHEG-5 interactive services has allowed Technisat to include the Freeview logo on the box. Alternatively, you can use Technisat's own DVB-PC Stars software bundle comprising DVB Viewer TE2 edition and Eve editing software.