Sure, you can watch free episodes of 30 Rock on your laptop via Hulu.com, but what if you want to catch Sunday's NFL action (minus a pricey DirecTV subscription, that is) or dip into a local newscast? Never fear; help is here. About the size of your typical USB memory stick, the AVerTVHD Volar MAX plugs into any desktop or notebook USB port; just install the tuner software (both Windows PCs and Macs are supported) and attach the bundled antenna, and you'll be able to watch local, over-the-air TV stations (yes, even after the recent conversion from analog to digital broadcasting) right on your laptop, including any stations in HD. The Volar MAX also lets you record shows for later viewing and compress your saved programs for playback on an iPod.
Price: $69