You’re an HDTV snob and the thought of living without a personal video recorder is not an option. So what happens when it’s time for your next business trip or vacation?  Will you have to forego pristine high-def images and return to your old TV-watching ways?

Not if you have the RCA MPC4000 Laptop Teleceiver.  A 2007 CES Innovations winner, the MPC4000 plugs into the USB port on your laptop or desktop PC and turns your computer into a PVR-equipped entertainment center capable of receiving and recording off-air HDTV as well as analog (NTSC) TV programming.

In addition to serving as a TV tuner, the MPC4000 adds PVR functionality to your PC, using its hard drive for program storage and providing an electronic program guide (EPG) to help manage your TV viewing. You can pause “live” broadcasts, schedule recordings of your favorite shows for future viewing, scan through those recordings in forward or reverse at up to 16X speed, preview up to eight “live” channels at a time, create a favorite-channels list, and more.

Parental controls are also available, allowing you to assign passwords to channels you want to block. There’s even a Snapshot function that lets you capture stills from the TV program you’re watching for later viewing or emailing to friends.

• $199
• Available in April 2007
• Minimum processor speed of 1.4GHz required
• 256MB of RAM needed
• Supports Dolby Digital sound
• Provides video resolutions up to 1920 x1080 (1080i)
• MPEG2 DxVA accelerator capability

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.