Almost everything is better on a stick. Hotdogs, ice cream and marshmallows have benefited for ages from being put in stick form. Now TV is getting the stick makeover with the new VideoMate U890 from Compro. This USB TV Box has a silicon tuner and allows for analog TV viewing and recording by simply plugging it into the USB ports of your desktop or laptop.

Their ComproDTV software is bundled with the tuner and lets you watch TV shows in a window or full screen mode. It also lets you use the PIP/POP feature to watch TV and playback recorded video files simultaneously, setup live TV screen with Video Desktop in wallpaper mode, time shift, channel surf, and capture still frames. As an added bonus, they even include a remote control so that if you'd like to sit really far away from your desktop or laptop, it's no more difficult to control.

While I can't quite see myself sitting farther away from the computer to watch TV when my screen is small enough as it is, it's the thought that counts. The VideoMate itself looks like an interesting option for those who don't want to clutter up their space with bulky tuners. Now analog TV can be watched on a stick, at least until the government shuts it off.