Philips DTR220 - Ultra Compact Digital Freeview Set Top Box
Philips DTR220 - Ultra Compact Digital Freeview Set Top Box
Customer Review: Why do all Digital Boxes seem to have problems?
This one is better than the previous PACE box I had, for some reason that needed to warm up before being usable and froze up and crashed all the time.
When this Phillips box works it’s excellent - BUT occasionally the on screen graphics (telling you info about the programme etc) completely corrupt and become little green meaningless blobs. Turning the unit off and on clears this though.
Also, and this one is bizarre. Occasionally when a BBC2 show is broadcast the screen goes black and all I get is sound. When the next programme starts, the picture comes back. Only affects BBC2 (so far). Annoyingly this problem is not sorted by switching off and on.
From what I’ve heard most Digi boxes have numerous glitches so I should be grateful this only has some minor ones. I do wander though if such a thing as a fault free Digi Box exists.
Customer Review: Aggravating on turn on and no better than any other freeview box
I accept that alot of the problems with this are down to the lack of an outdoor aerial but it isn’t any better than the cheap box I had before and alot more annoying due to it going through a loading screen when you turn it on rather than just going straight to the channel it was on when turned off. The epg etc is clear and set up easy but that palaver when you turn it on (which no other box I’ve ever had has done - and I have had a few, believe me) is just annoying, as is the big updated firmware announcement box that comes up after it has done an update and which shows in anything you may have been recording at the time. The box is attractive to look at, and lovely and small, but that doesn’t make any difference to the performance of it. I found that it isn’t any better than the previous box I had even though I also spent ?30 on a better aerial. Sorry, until the broadcasters do something about sending a decent flaming signal out none of these damn boxes will be that good. I know someone who had to change their rooftop aerial because their box didn’t like the one they had so even some rooftop aerials don’t do the job. Just buy the cheapest one you can get and you’ll probably get just as good as this - or any other one.
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The stunning LC-42XD1E is one of the very few LCD TV?s which is True HD. Incorporating a 6.2M (sub) Pixel 7th Generation LCD panel this Aquos model displays 1080p lines (interlaced) of vertical resolution with amazing clarity and detail.
Customer Review: Worth the money
If you’re thinking of buying this, don’t hang about. The picture is fantastic. The onboard tuner(s) picked up everything at first attempt, both analogue and digital. I’ve hooked up a PC to it (DVI-D to HDMI at 1920×1080) resolution and it’s stunning. I have a few minor quibbles but nothing to justify docking stars. 1) The button for cycling through different aspect ratios is not on the main remote control panel, but under a little panel at the back of the remote. It’s something I change a lot and it’s inconvenient. 2) The OSD (on screen display) is a bit large and chunky for something which has such high resolution capability. As a result the text is often hard to read because there isn’t enough room to display much of it. If anyone can tell me how to alter the resolution for this, I’d love to know, but I suspect you can’t. 3) It’s slightly slower at changing channels than I would like - not enough to be a nuisance, but enough to be noticeable. Overall though, it’s got everything I wanted from a TV, plus many extras, and at 42″ it makes my old 32″ widescreen CRT look like a portable!
Customer Review: Overall very good, a couple of minor quibbles…
Great screen, decent sound, nice styling of the outside. Setup was straightforward, giving some good results out of the box. Colour fidelity is excellent, although I have to say I’ve found my Sony HD recorder does a marginally better job with the SD upscaling when connected via HDMI. There’s some good options for controlling dynamic sound range which I like, and several different preset settings for screen and colour intensity. The virtual surround sound is pretty good, and there’s access to the digital radio channels too. One issue I did notice was with the dynamic backlight stepping down a notch on a few (very rare) occasions where it shouldn’t - on some deep space scenes in Star Wars for example, the average brightness of the screen dims down a fair bit when the Millennium Falcon zips off into the distance. The EPG on the TV’s digital tuner is functional but looks a bit ancient and unloved, which is not a problem since I hardly use it. On the whole, I’m very happy with it.
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also with S-Force sounds giving surround sound effect
Customer Review: Jon D
I took delivery of this item on last week and I have to say that I am more than pleased with it. I chose this set as it is 100hz having previously had a CRT 100hz which definitely made a difference to the picture quality and response times. The picture is exceptionally clear on normal digital Sky and I am seriously looking forward to viewing the HD Sky I have just ordered. I watch quite a bit of .avi stuff through a Philips DVD player and the quality is fine. DVD quality is superb, particularly using the upscaling DVD player. I spent a lot of time researching HD TV’s and I can honestly say this is seriously good value for money.
Customer Review: Wow
This is my first LCD panel, upgrading from a CRT. Did a fair bit of research first and then bought the newly released KDL40D3000. The picture is fabulous on anologue, digital and DVD; really sharp, no funny fringing effects around moving objects, colours are vibrant. The EPG is really easy to use. Easy to setup and search for channels. The panel looks great. Images even from my old 2.1megapixel camera look crisp; how does it do that ! I expected them to be blocky on a 40inch screen. Thought the remote wasn’t working too well but then found that the receiver is on the right hand edge of the panel….much better now! All in all, fabulous LCD panel. Picture with non-HD broadcasts is great (much better than others, even other more expensive SONY LCDs). Drawback is no 1080p but what’s the likelihood of broadcast transmissions in that format for many years to come? I happily traded the loss of 1080p for better non-HD pictures and can still see HD in 1080i if I ever get an HD DVD player. Buy one, you won’t regret it !
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The new HD Ready 40 S series is High Picture Quality Digital LCDTV which can be realized by BRAVIA ENGINE and high performance LCDpanel.
Customer Review: Sony KDL40S2530U
Initial setup was very easy as the setup guide did everything itself. Howevere I did have to fine tune one analogue channel but that was fine afterwards. The default picture settings gave a poor grainy picture. Playing about with the contrast, brightness and other picture settings I was able to achieve something more acceptable. Picture and sound is good. The only and biggest annoying thing about this TV is that I noticed a blue stuck /dead pixel in the middle area of the screen. Sony says its within the spec so they wont do anything about it. It does leave a sour taste in your mouth after spending all that money on a new TV only to find a flaw with it. Now I know its there I’m constantly looking out for it. Would have awarded 4 or 5 stars but that stuck pixel really lets it down. Follow up: I complained to the supplier (not Amazon) and they exchanged it at no extra cost. Delivered and picked up old one. Hence would give this TV 5 stars now. If you buying any LCD TV then check with supplier to see if they willing to exchange TV (at no extra cost to yourself) should you find at least 1 dead pixel. Even 1 dead pixel will detract you from your full attention of whats showing on the screen as you’ll always be watching out for it.
Customer Review: Fantastic - best ever buy
I’ve only received this tv yesterday and i’m already in awe of it. This TV can do anything and the resolution it produces while playing ps3 is amazing. It’s also perfect when you connect it to the pc. So far, i have not found a single weakness. The only downside is that it is quite heavy rough 34kg. But, hey,i am just naive…you are not going to get a lighter 40″ widescreen tv.
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