The Cinergy Piranha is a USB device, no bigger than a thumb, that effectively turns a PC into both a digital TV and a digital (Dab) radio.

It also allows the user to pause and rewind live TV and record broadcasts to the computer's hard disk. These recordings can then be burn copied to CD or DVD, or edited on the computer.

They can also be transferred to a portable video player, such as a video iPod – which makes it possible to watch last night’s episode of The Simpsons or Newsnight on the move.

Installing the device was simplicity itself, but while using it we found the software to be fiddly and unintuitive. Scanning for channels on first starting the program requires you to delve into the options dialogue box, and switching between TV and radio isn’t as clear as it should be.

In addition, there were too many anonymous looking buttons for our liking. A better option would be to use the Windows Media Center software, if you have it (it's included with Vista). The Piranha's antenna picks up digital radio stations, but sadly it's useless for picking up digital TV, so connecting an external one is a necessity. Another annoyance is the absence of a remote control.

Once up and running, the picture quality was acceptable, if not quite up to the standard of a digital set-top box connected to a TV. We were able to see some stuttering in the picture, but we put this down to the specification of the notebook we were using – on a reasonably fast computer, less than two years old, say, it should be fine.

The TV picture can be integrated into the Windows desktop so its always visible, which is useful if for keeping one eye on a programme while browsing the web. The Piranha also comes with a 12-month subscription to TVTV, which allows you to schedule recordings remotely from a web site or mobile phone.

Overall the Piranha works well, provided your PC is up to the task and especially if you have access to Windows Media Center.

Vista compatible: Yes