Rate Your Freeview Box?

[pmk]

I am struggling to find a good value replacement Freebox box that works well with TiVo.

Thought it would be a good idea to see what everyone else is using and have it as a resource of good and bad boxes.

Obviously just fill in what you can.

a. Name of Box (Manufacturer and Model):
b. Cost (£):
c. Place Of Purchase (Shop Name):
d. Date Of Purchase (Date):
e. Still Available To Buy (Yes/No and Where):
f. Works With TiVo (Yes/No):
g. Channel Change Reliability (1=Bad, 10=Brilliant):
h. General Reliability/Suitability (1=Bad, 10=Brilliant):
i. Speed (1=Very Slow, 10=Greased Lightning)
j. Special Features
(Turn Off MHEG, Turn Off Channel Updates, Turn Off Box Updates):
k. Clones Of Same Box (details of same box under different brands):

[woody]

Sagem IDT58, from argos a couple of months ago. about £30, and seems to be very reliable, 100% channel change, at a fast(ish) speed. It has rebooted once, but not while tivo has been recording, i don't know why, apart from perhaps a software update when the box was new. I think this can be turned off if thats what network monitoring means in the menus. MHEG can't (or I haven't found it) turened off, but doesn't cause any problems with the opertaion of the box by tivo.

I bought it as a replacement for my toshiba DTB2000 which died,.

[rwtomkins]

I recently got the Sony box but it's giving me a few problems. Twice in the last two days, when the TiVo has switched channels using the infrared dongle, it has switched to the correct channel and recorded the programme with all the sound there but with no picture, just a frozen image of a sort of grey and white swirl very much like a monchrome close-up of a woman's hair. The first time it was with BBC3 and the second time with CBeebies. I know it's the Sony box, not the TiVo, because the second time I switched to live TV and it was still like that. I had to switch channels down and up again to get the picture back.

Anyone else had this?

[Foxy]

I recently got the Sony box but it's giving me a few problems. Twice in the last two days, when the TiVo has switched channels using the infrared dongle, it has switched to the correct channel and recorded the programme with all the sound there but with no picture, just a frozen image of a sort of grey and white swirl very much like a monchrome close-up of a woman's hair. The first time it was with BBC3 and the second time with CBeebies. I know it's the Sony box, not the TiVo, because the second time I switched to live TV and it was still like that. I had to switch channels down and up again to get the picture back.

Anyone else had this?It has been discussed here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=258779&page=1&pp=30&highlight=sony+freeview)

[rwtomkins]

Many thanks for the link, Foxy. I remember reading that thread before but didn't associate it with my problem because the other Sony owners complained of red mist. However, re-reading the thread, it seems clear it's the same problem in another guise, because it keeps happening on the time-shared channels - BBC3/Cbeebies and BBC4/CBBC.

You'd have thought Sony would have fixed it by now, but I can vouch for the fact they haven't.