TV and Radio Accessories

Spend a lot of time in front of your PC? Why not watch TV from your PC?

Plug a small box into your USB hub, or a card into a PC slot, and watch TV from your PC. Some of the models allow you to record TV onto your hard-disk, dub video onto your PC, listen to radio, or receive Freeview or Sky.

See our On Your PC page for more on PC TV and radio cards.

Just how many remote controls do you own? If you've lost or broken a remote control, or you'd like to keep your coffee table clear by reducing the number of remote controls, consider an all-in-one controller. We've found that one online store stocks a huge range of remotes, with prices from £15 to £700.

Take a look at the range of replacement remote controls at eSpares or Partmaster

Failing that, consider a universal controller, that can handle multiple remote control devices. Our favourite is the Kameleon, below... otherwise Argos or Maplin Electronics carry a good range.

DAB, standing for Digital Audio Broadcasting, represents a wider choice of radio listening with a range of extra channels not found on FM, including BBC7, BBC 5 Live Extra, TalkSport, Planet Rock, Capital Life and theJazz

DAB offers digital quality - signals that are less prone to interference and hiss.

Find out more about the DAB revolution on our DAB page. We have a list of handheld, tabletop and hi-fi DAB radios on our DAB Receivers page.

Who needs an iPod when you can get a Creative Zen Vision M?

It holds 15,000 songs, has an FM radio and recorder, and PC connectivity! Video playback, FM radio and voice recording further extend its versatility.

More on our Zen VISION:M page

Forget spending money on weekly TV listings magazines, and stop struggling with your electronic TV guide. Whether you have the standard five channels, Sky, Freeview or cable, keeping track of the stacks of available channels can be tricky. Consider using an electronic TV listings service, to help make sure you don't miss out on upcoming shows. Electronic Guides are available for:

• Internet
• PC
• Pocket PC
• Palm OS
• Mobile phones

See our guide to electronic TV and Radio guides

Own a DVD, Video, Tivo and Satellite receiver? Chances are, they've all got SCART sockets, and you're forever plugging and re-plugging SCART leads. Take a look at the four-way SCART switcher . For the power-user, there's a six-way remote controlled switcher available too. These, plus more basic SCART splitter boxes are all available from Maplin. See under their "Sound & Vision, Audio/Video cables and accessories, Switches and splitters".

The Bluedelta Smart-SCART

If you're running out of SCART sockets, it's well worth taking a look at this product from Bluedelta. This one allows you to connect four SCART leads to one TV... Unlike many of the SCART switchers on the market, this one is fully automatic - it detects which socket to switch based on signals sent from your equipment - and there's a little red light to indicate which SCART is active. There's also a record loop - so you can get your video or DVD recorder to record from one source, whilst you watch another source. If you happen to have a Sky box, or a suitable Freeview box, you may be happy to know that this box works well with the PhantomPLUS (well, it's made by the same people).

The Smart-SCART comes with a mains adapter, and is available direct from the manufacturer Bluedelta, as well as from Maplin (£34.99 - cat number L08BJ)

If you want to receive TV or video on a second TV in the house (from say a Sky TV box or a video recorder), the normal way of doing this, is by running a cable from one room to another. If this sounds like too much hard work, or you want to be able to move between rooms, then a wireless TV link is a good option. It transmits pictures from your video/DVD, satellite, Freeview or Cable TV box over-air to another TV elsewhere in the house. These are supplied as a transmitter and receiver set, and are mains powered. They can transmit over short distances, through walls, although if you're trying to transmit through several walls, or over a long distance, they can be less effective.

Take a look at:

• There's a basic video sender, the Ferguson AV3030, available for £29.99 from Currys.
  
• The Argos website carries a range of TV and video senders, prices from around £28. It's worth looking at their DigiSender range, which also supports remote control and stereo.
  
• If you're getting interference from a wi-fi wireless network, we've heard that that the AV sender from Gizoo might be worth a look, as it has 4 selectable channels.

It's also worth looking at the Maplin site, searching for the word 'sender'. You'll find a unit similar to the one from Currys, you can buy senders and receivers separately, and you'll see details of their four-way video sender product.

Control your TV and digital satellite system from other rooms in your house wirelessly from up to 75 feet away.
Composed of two units - infrared signal transmitter and infrared signal receiver. Infrared signal receiver senses infrared signals from any AV equipment remote like VCR, Digital Sat/Satellite receiver and cable box HiFi remotes.

Take a look on Amazon for 'Remote extenders', or consider the One 4 All Remote Blaster.

Kameleon availability. Since our initial review of the Kameleon, there are now quite a few Kameleon products in the range, with prices starting from around £30. Here are a few places to try for a cheap Kameleon:

• Sendit.com
• Maplin
• Pixmania
• Play.com

Sennheiser PXC 250 noise cancellers - Awesome headphones. Powered by two AAA batteries, these headphones from the specialists Sennheiser, cancel out ambient background noise. They can silence an office, filter out train, tube and plane noise, and add clarity to music while listening in a noisy environment. We've heard noise-cancellers before, but these are truly impressive. They are lightweight - fold into a supplied carrying pouch, are comfy, and have a great dynamic range.

Priced from £65, the PXC250 headphones are available from online mail order stores including Empire Direct, Play.com and John Lewis


If you're looking for a quality set of inner-ear headphones, stick with Sennheiser and go for either the MX500 or the MX550 - They're available for around £18 from Empire Direct , Amazon & Argos - Not noise-cancellers, but they offer great sound and have an inline volume control.


If you're after something more serious, try the Shure E3C noise isolating earphones (pictured). These have WideBand MicroDrivers, and come with a range of earpads to let you choose the ideal inner-ear fit. Available in black or white from Play.com , Amazon or AdvancedMP3players for under £100 - Amazing sound and great isolation from external noise.

- In the radio and TV industry, having accurate clocks in every studio is essential. Until the 90's, stations used expensive systems for getting the accurate time, but now radio controlled timepieces are available for home use. Radio-controlled clocks are accurate to the second, and self-correct when the clocks go back or forward due to summertime adjustments. For more details on radio-controlled clocks and watches, see our dedicated Radio clocks page. Here are a couple of products to take a look at:

Standard white clock for £24.99 from Maplin Electronics

This basic silver and black watch comes with alarm, backlight, date display, and it's water resistant. Watch face measures 20 x 15mm. Available for £29.95 from Gadget Stuff

This portable radio uses a wireless connection to hook into your Internet connection, to stream Internet radio stations to wherever you are in the house, so letting you have access to more stations than any other portable radio around. This open up the possibility to listen to radio stations from other regions in the UK as well as from around the world.

The BT Internet Radio can also allow you to play other media from your PC, such as MP3 files , providing an affordable way of accessing music from your desktop and around the world.

For more details on the BT Internet Radio, visit the page at BT Shop.

The Sky Gnome

The Sky Gnome became available in October 2005, and is a wireless device that receives audio transmitted from the Sky digibox wirelessly. This lets you listen to the Sky Digital radio stations from around the house. Details are a little unclear at the moment, but it looks like the box has a range of about 30 meters, and allows remote channel switching of Sky and Sky+ boxes. Available in Blue and Orange, it runs from rechargeable batteries for up to 8 hours of remote playback of sound. These are available direct from Sky.

Know another online supplier? Please tell us

£5 off Voucher: Enter the code VOFF8 for £5 off purchases over £20 at iwantoneofthose.com.

Next time the phone rings when you're watching TV, there's no need to get up and miss your favourite show only to find it's someone trying to sell you double-glazing.
The TV Messenger connects your video and telephone and, if you have a caller display phone, it will display the caller's name and number on your TV. The Caller Directory can store up to 40 names and numbers, the Caller Log will store up to 99 calls, and it's even compatible with call waiting. See who's calling on your TV screen - you'll need CLI enabled (a small charge by BT)

Last time we checked, these were priced at around £35 from Sharper Edge and Prezzybox. Know a supplier?