The hard drive is one limitation of the box, in that it can only hold around 25 hours of recordings (depending on bit rate). This is a lot more than you'd get at full quality on a separate HDD recorder, but it's still not enough to archive a full series of 24 or The Sopranos, and you can't drop the quality to fit more on. If you find the hard drive size isn't adequate, you can always whip it out and drop in a larger capacity one in - a 120GB one will triple the storage capacity and will only cost around £50. However, as it involves opening the box we wouldn't advise it unless you have some technical confidence. We hope that Thomson itself will increase this limited size in time, only without charging the £280 price tag that Panasonic is demanding for its 80GB TU-CTH100 PVR.
Performance
This feature-packed box also performs very well. It's the best out of any of the FreeView boxes we've had at picking up a signal -- grabbing absolutely everything first time even with a small portable area. Recordings are also indistinguishable from the original broadcast. If you're watching on a digital screen (LCD, plasma, or projector-based) the artefacting can be quite severe but this is a Freeview resolution issue, rather than the box itself. Regular CRT owners will be treated to a picture that's detailed and artefact-free.
Audio performance is particularly good though, thanks to the options offered by digital outputs. When you connect through to your receiver or home cinema system in this way, most will process a Dolby Pro Logic II soundtrack, which processes the audio to create surround effects. Although you won't confuse it for a Dolby Digital soundtrack, it works rather well with most systems, and if Freeview ever starts to broadcast in the latter, the box will at least be able to support it.
Additional editing by Tom Espiner
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User reviews8
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Liam Moloney 10 January 2007
Good: The large number of features, the great software updates which have improved the product further and the connectivity.
Bad: Limited storage space, and a lack of editing abilities
Comment: Apart from the small 40GB hard drive and the lack of editing options it seems to be pretty much perfect, i have had it now for about 8 months and apart from running out of space and it freezing up rarely, I love it. All the features you would want are there and the picture and sound are super.
chris rogers 30 December 2006
Good: Excellent software - receivers etc
Bad: Runs too hot - premature failure of electronics
Comment: Good design of software, epg and DVT receivers. No cooling fan for electronics - I know there is a fan under the hard disc. My box has just failed after two years.
Anonymous 8 November 2006
Bad: Its continuous crashing/freezing
Comment: Had one for about a month, but slowly it's been getting worse and crashing more and more often. I've set recordings and have come home to see that it's been frozen in standby all night and not recorded anything. I’ve had it actually record but then the recordings playback skipping and freezing like watching DVD streaming through a 28k modem. TV channels will regularly go black, requiring a re-power to see any picture. And this week's problem is that pressing play causes it to go black, requiring (as with most crashes) for it to be unplugged at the mains and re-started. Oh, and also, it takes about 40mins every night to update program guides (at which point it’s off and you can’t use it or watch any TV).
See all 8 user reviews