Looking for a cheap yet good HD freeview box

just wondering

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Hi , i have a ps3 , but the freeview is not hd ! which is a shame , so i'm looking for a cheap H.D freeview box , i dont need a harddrive , but perhaps something with the option to record to USB , i've read about a few different ones....but alas most of the cheapie ones seem to lock up a lot (based on reviews read)

my budget is £30-£50.... maybe a tad more if it makes all the difference :)
 
See this thread http://www.avforums.com/forums/freeview/1456748-adb-i-can-box-tescos-42-a.html

Tesco's appear to be doing the I-Can Easy HD receiver for only £42 at the moment if you can find a local store with stock, best chance would be a big Tesco Extra store.

Great little box with fast EPG, has BBC iPlayer built in, and can also be used to get Sky Sports & ESPN from TUTV. Can't be beaten at the price Tesco's are currently doing it for.
 
The Tesco Technika STBHDIS2010 is being discounted to £30 but you do need to update the software to make it a very stable box. It does not come with an HDMI lead so you have to add £2.50 or so.

If you can stretch another £10 to £60, Tesco are also selling the Icecrypt 2200 which will record to an external hard drive. Again you will likely have to update the firmware in the box. Recording also means having to purchase an external hard drive at some point (budget about £35-£45 depending on capacity).
 
The Tesco Technika STBHDIS2010 is being discounted to £30 but you do need to update the software to make it a very stable box. It does not come with an HDMI lead so you have to add £2.50 or so.

If you can stretch another £10 to £60, Tesco are also selling the Icecrypt 2200 which will record to an external hard drive. Again you will likely have to update the firmware in the box. Recording also means having to purchase an external hard drive at some point (budget about £35-£45 depending on capacity).


I bought the Icecrypt T2200 from Tesco last week, and it's now shipping with pvr functionality out of the box. First impressions are that it's a fairly decent box
 
Mentions of the Icecrypt T2200 have gone a little quiet but it is a good box for the money. I find the tuner sensitive, the IQ good, the front panel clock useful, and it's silent, built by Topfield I believe.

The supplied 1.04.00 firmware already supported recording from the EPG and pausing/rewinding live TV. Playback of 1080p MKVs with DD5.1 audio is great - just make sure the version of mkvtoolnix used is no newer than 3.4.0. A 1.5TB WD USB drive can be had for under £50.

You will notice random channel freezing on change but the fix is simple - just turn off Interactive Service from the Menu->Misc if you can bear to lose the BBC Red Button.
 
See this thread http://www.avforums.com/forums/freeview/1456748-adb-i-can-box-tescos-42-a.html

Tesco's appear to be doing the I-Can Easy HD receiver for only £42 at the moment if you can find a local store with stock, best chance would be a big Tesco Extra store.

Great little box with fast EPG, has BBC iPlayer built in, and can also be used to get Sky Sports & ESPN from TUTV. Can't be beaten at the price Tesco's are currently doing it for.


hi any ideas whether this offer is still on?

cheers
 
hi any ideas whether this offer is still on?

cheers

Like their own Technika STBHDIS2010, they have moved all their remaining stocks out to their stores so you have to try you local larger stores to see if they have any.

They have now reduced the Humax HD Fox T2 back to £90 on their site and that can be adapted to USB recording to hard drive and now has iPlayer using the very latest update released this week. It will also stream from your home networked computers to play movie, music and photo files. The Portal used to access iPlayer also has Flickr and internet radio apps. The update activated "trailer booking" so you can reserve programmes for recording or viewing from the trailers shown on BBC and Channel 4.

Sainsbury's have also reduced the price of the Humax HD Fox T2, this time to £69.99 on their web site
 
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I'm in a similar boat, but am looking for a Freeview+ HD Recorder. It's for the grandparents. They've just purchased a spangly new TV and are looking to get a simple Freeview HD setup with recording functionality.

I have a decent budget, and would appreciate some recommendations. Anything up to £200 is OK.

Many thanks in advance.:)
 
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I'm in a similar boat, but am looking for a Freeview+ HD Recorder. It's for the grandparents. They've just purchased a spangly new TV and are looking to get a simple Freeview HD setup with recording functionality.

I have a decent budget, and would appreciate some recommendations. Anything up to £200 is OK.

Many thanks in advance.:)

Depends where you are but Richer Sounds still have a few of the Pace made Philips PVR on clearance at £150. Everybody ignores it because it was a real clunker when it first came out but software updates appear to have made it useable. Tesco do it for £220 and they have the Toshiba which comes in just under your budget (not heard much of them) John Lewis do the Philips for £199 as do Dixons.co.uk. Note that the other sites and stores in the Dixons Retail Group (DRG) - Currys and PC World - may be more expensive!

Tesco's own Technika HD+ is on sale at £150. Apparently made by Fetch so has some extras but has had an indifferent reputation.

A quite popular cheap alternative is to get a Humax HD Fox T2 and update the software to the version that allows recording to an external hard drive. This comes in the about the cheapest - £90 fpr the box from Tesco (you may find them in store at Sainsbury for £70 but they are sold out on their site) and from about £45 for a 1Tb. The setup allows you to watch one HD channel while recording another (you can record any channel and watch another channel on the same mux). Of course it s a single tuner PVR but if you are "not allowed" to watch say, an SD channel, they can always use the main TV tuner. The latest software is due to be broadcast in the next couple of weeks (available for download to a USB stick now) and this has added BBC iPlayer and "trailer booking" where you can preset the schedule from an on screen prompt when BBC or Channel 4 show trailers for upcoming shows, even if they are to be shown beyond the current EPG. Disadvantage of course is that it is a "two box" solution but the hard drive can be tucked away at the back of a shelf.

The Icecrypt T2200 HD box at £59.97 from Tesco also allows recording to a USB drive and I believe also allows the "record one, watch a second on the same mux" viewing as the Humax. I am not that familiar with it but I think the USB socket is at the front, making a slightly less neat solution, but it does have slots for Top Up TV pay services.

Personally I would avoid the "Threeview" PVR as it is not approved by Freeview. It has its ardent supporters.

You may also like to browse the threads on the specialist PVR secton in Digital Spy

If you are shopping around on web sites, Richer Sounds are among the cheapest and offer a 5 year warranty for an extra 10%. They have a good deal on the new Sony at the moment (looks an interesting unit that may eventually become a YouView box as it has the required 2 USB sockets) but over your budget. RS have been voted best electronics shop in Which?

John Lewis have a better selection and can be among the lowest costs as the Philips illustrates. Tesco and Sainsburys have specials that are very cheap (worth looking in store this weekend for the Tesco Technika STBHDIS2010 - note the IS - at £30 if you are after a non-recording one soon).

Avoid Argos/Home Base (same group) who are consistently the most expensive on Freeview HD boxes, there are examples where they have been over 2 or 3 times the price of their cheapest competitor for the same box (current example - Argos Grundig GUD300HD = £169.99 as opposed to Comet Goodmans GDB300HD £69.99; same box and Harvard distributer although the differently cased Tesco Technika STBHDH2010 is believed to be the same electronics at £30 and including an HDMI lead)


.
 
I'm in a similar boat, but am looking for a Freeview+ HD Recorder. It's for the grandparents. They've just purchased a spangly new TV and are looking to get a simple Freeview HD setup with recording functionality.

I have a decent budget, and would appreciate some recommendations. Anything up to £200 is OK.

Many thanks in advance.:)
If it's £200 max, there's only one choice in my opinion :
DigitalStream DHR8205 £185 at JohnLewis.
It's based on the same hardware as the more expensive Humax HDR-FOX T2.
Buy Digital Stream DHR8205 500GB Freeview+ HD TV Recorder online at JohnLewis.com
 
Agree with the two posters above.

If 200 quid is your budget, there's only one choice. The Digital Stream works pretty much out of the box and if it doesn't, their product support is excellent and they'll get any problems you have sorted. This cannot be said for the Philips or Fetch boxes, not at all. These have been out over a year and still suffer from irritating faults. There is new software due out for the Philips, which may change things, but it hasn't been released yet as far as I know. And with their track record, I'm highly dubious they'll fix that box without introducing a new problem.

Digital Stream for 185 notes is your best option.
 
Agree with the two posters above.

If 200 quid is your budget, there's only one choice. The Digital Stream works pretty much out of the box and if it doesn't, their product support is excellent and they'll get any problems you have sorted. This cannot be said for the Philips or Fetch boxes, not at all. These have been out over a year and still suffer from irritating faults. There is new software due out for the Philips, which may change things, but it hasn't been released yet as far as I know. And with their track record, I'm highly dubious they'll fix that box without introducing a new problem.

Digital Stream for 185 notes is your best option.

I gather the new software for the Philips (v,21) is now on the support site for download and the box is £149.97at Asda (out of stock on their web site but may be in store). The problems are highly unusual for Pace who otherwise have had a good reputation.

Maybe they have been too busy on their other markets now they are the biggest set top box makers.
 
The problems are highly unusual for Pace who otherwise have had a good reputation.

Maybe they have been too busy on their other markets now they are the biggest set top box makers.
The problem is development was done by the ex-Philips STB division based in France that Pace bought a couple of years ago, this development group have a reputation for poor software.

The division responsible for past Pace Freeview products is based in Yorkshire and now seems to concentrated on their OEM models for providers such as Sky.
 
I gather the new software for the Philips (v,21) is now on the support site for download

That's version 6.21 though, that's been out since last year.

The one folk are waiting for is 7.21, which it's hoped will iron out the glitches. I didn't wait, I got rid when they released their 7.20 software, which rendered the box useless as a PVR.
 
I gather the new software for the Philips (v,21) is now on the support site for download and the box is £149.97at Asda (out of stock on their web site but may be in store).
The new firmware is not on the website yet, but apparently v7.21 will be out soon.
My local Asda superstore had an HDT8520 in stock for £149 a couple of days ago, so yes always worth checking in person if possible.
I'd still pay £35 more for the Digitalstream though as their tech support responds very quickly to any issues users have.
 
Many thanks for all of the replies and information.

I've decided to go with the crowd's opinion, and take the DHR8205.:)
 

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