I rarely give a product a second chance to prove itself worthy of getting a review in this column, let alone give it a third chance. But I did give Hauppauge's WinTV-HVR-950Q three chances. The product is not quite as complicated as its name, and when you figure it out, it provides a significant benefit: the ability to record and play broadcast TV and cable stations on your laptop -- both high definition and standard (ATSC) TV signals (at least until February).

If you already have a Windows Media Center PC, the only reason you might want the 950Q is so you can record and play different shows at the same time. But if you don't have a Windows Media Center hardware in your PC, the 950Q allows you to plug the required hardware into your USB port and use your PC like a digital video recorder (DVR). The differentiator of the 950Q from other media hardware devices is its portability, making it ideal for laptops.

I gave it three chances because I felt my first two tries were under inferior conditions. First, I tried to receive over-the-air TV signals from New York City TV stations while riding in my car (not driving myself, of course) just across the Hudson River in New Jersey. After about an hour of trying to receive normal and high definition signals, I gave up.

Then I tried again from a hotel room not far from a major TV market, but that didn't work either. In both cases, it took an hour to try to tune in the stations, and after it was over, I got only a fraction of the stations that I would have received with an aerial antenna. Both times, I used my laptop, with the 950Q attached to the small broadcast antenna that comes with the device -- trying to change the position of that antenna to optimize signal, although to no avail.

My third try was in more controlled conditions -- in my own home, with my laptop attached to our FiOS TV signal via coaxial cable. Just like on the first two attempts, I used the included software to set up my signals, and after a half-hour, it found a number of stations -- local broadcast stations, a couple local access stations, and several music stations. It did not find the upper frequency stations from the cable or the movie stations.

According to Jerry Fox at Hauppauge technical support, you can't expect to receive any signals from HDTV stations unless you subscribe to the cable vendor's HDTV packages, which explains why I did not get some of the stations. Those I received were extremely clear, making a nice viewing experience. Then, once I got them into the system, the DVR controls worked fine.

Those controls include a simple interface to play, pause, record and change modes, as well as a more complex interface to help you set up your system, find stations and troubleshoot.

When it comes to recording, you can use an electronic program guide application or set up the system to record the same way you did with your VHS recorder -- picking a channel, day, time and how many episodes to record. Then you can watch your favorite TV shows at a time that you're ready to watch, instead of the time it is broadcast.

The key to using the 950Q is to give yourself plenty of time to install it, and to make sure that you are within reach of the proper TV signals that you want to watch. It costs $99 at www.hauppauge.com.