Digi-Fun Freeview Set Top Box Digital TV Receiver for DVB-T Compatible with SCART

An excellent product, all around. No complaints at all. The enclosure is metal, not plastic like so many others, feels robust and well-made. It picks up all available channels except, it seems, Talking Pictures. The 'live' picture quality is excellent too and comparable with the best. Recordings made to USB flash are indistinguishable from the original, so excellent too. The operating software is clear and straighforward to operate with multiple menu choices one might expect on a top-of-the-range product. Of particular merit is the fact that, if you set a time-schedule recording via the built-in programmin app you can edit the default start and stop times. TV programmes occasionally start earlier than advertised and end later, so I manually edit those defaults to start a minute earlier and end a couple of minutes later than the advertised times. It's a very useful feature you don't always get on far more expensive Freeview boxes and which I miss on my LG TV's built-in hard drive recording facility. This is the cheapest Freeview box you can buy on Amazon, but it turns out to be of a quality comparable with the best and most expensive.

happy with product

Freeview receiver/recorderIt set itself up with no problems.Connection to TV is via Scart or HDMI (although I couldn't test the latter as my TV is old and only has Scart). There is also a ”coaxial" port for sound although I'm not sure what use you would put that to.Usefully the device has a front panel display that tells you which channel it is on. This means that, even with the TV off, you can switch channels to initiate a manual recording and know you are on the correct channel. Perhaps not quite so usefully the display does not indicate whether or not it is in recording mode (so I would recommend that you get a USB stick with an activity light so you can tell it's recording when the TV is off - the USB stick's light will flash when it is recording but stays off when nothing is going on).It records in a file format with the extension *.mts. This is not as common a format as the likes of AVI/MPG/MP4 so other basic playback devices might not be able to recognise it. The format plays successfully on my tablet using several different video playing apps and also on a PC using VLC player. Another useful thing is that the recording includes the broadcaster's subtitle track which you can optionally turn on on your playback device. It also recorded the audio description track where there was one.The size of a recording per hour in GB varies depending on the channel. Channels with higher bit rates used up more. On the BBC channels 1 hour was tending towards 1.5-1.8 gb. On some other channels 1gb was more typical.The USB port is behind a fold down panel on the front although this seems of little practicality as you'll probably have it down all the time. Unless you don't plan on recording with it and just want to use it to watch.As far as I could tell it doesn't support teletext (red button BBC) services. There is a text button on the remote but when you press it on a BBC channel a message says that there is no teletext service even though I know it works fine on another older Freeview box. You can still view the red button channel itself by changing to its designated channel number (601).Interestingly, it provides an ability to watch one channel while recording another. But only one on the same MUX group as the channel being recorded. So for example you could record ITV while watching C4 which is on the same MUX group, but you couldn't watch BBC1 which is on a different MUX group.The unit has a button on the front to turn it off into standby (or use the remote to do same) from which it will wake itself if you have set a recording - but also it has a hard on/off button at the back if you want to turn the unit off completely . If you turn it fully off it remembers the channels and general settings (as you'd expect) but it also remembers any unfulfilled timer settings.The unit comes with the remote and its batteries. But you'll need your own Scart or HDMI cable.The remote operation seems somewhat particular about being in just the right line of sight to operate which might get frustrating.There is some contradictory information in the manual with regard to the supported USB capacity.At the very start under ”Basic Instructions ” it very clearly states that the maximum size USB memory stick you can use is 32mb.However at the end in the technical specifications under USB 2.0 it states ”Supported Capacity: Unlimited"Also elsewhere under Notes it states it cannot guarantee bus power to mass storage devices.So maybe you can use an external hard drive if the 32mb thing is a strange misleading error. But if so perhaps one that is mains powered rather than relying on getting power delivered through the USB would be preferable. I have not tested using a HD and I have no USB stick over 32mb with which to check if there is such a limit.It doesn't have a memory card slot but I suppose using a USB memory card reader might work.I noticed a previous reviewer said the EPG is an hour out when in BST. I concur but there is an easy solution to this. On the settings menu change the time setting from Auto to Manual and then choose the offset you want (i.e. +1) and the EPG time will readjust. All this means is that every six months when the clocks change you will have to adjust the offset up or down.

Works as it should

As a tuner, it works fine - easy set-up, easy operation. It works infinitely better than the previous digi-boxes I have had.The case design is very ... square, with quite an old-fashioned look and feel.The display developed a fault within a few days (I don't really care about this - OSD tells me everything I need to know).The "manual" is absolute rubbish - a single sheet with a few diagrams covering how to connect the box up. No instructions on how to actually use any of the features - so i still don't know how to record/play back using a USB stick. There is nothing, seemingly, on-line by way of help.When it breaks down, it will be replaced with something else, but in the meantime it serves.

Oh dear! This box is not worth the bother as reported by lots of other buyers, in all fairness the seller was great. The first box out of packing was dead as a do do when plugged in. I contacted the seller and he sent me a replacement box, this worked for a few hours then packed up and become unresponsive and made my new UHD television crash as well. The seller quickly gave me a full refund which i thank him very much for. The product, give it a miss! It really is not up to the job and has a very erratic way of operation. Save up and buy something more reliable.

If you are looking for a basic box to boost an old tv this might serve. All I can say is reviewers here are very forgiving. This box struggles to handle HD. You need a strong signal, and even then you get drop outs. Some of the weaker HD channels are prone to freeze up and stop. A 2.5 hour film in HD can produce a file in excess of 3Gb (it looks as if no compression is applied) which the box is then not powerful enough to play back without freezing! (I pulled the stick and managed to get the file to play back on my computer so I know it made the recording.) But for HD, frankly, this thing is more trouble than it's worth. The remote is fiddly and unresponsive, the box does not work with the freeview stop/start signals for recordings (so you need to pad the times and hope there are no delayed starts), there's no series record, and definitely no internet connectivity chose what other reviewers might say.

The converter box has made my TV work well.