Evesham iPlayer HD 80GB DVR
Extra definition for couch potatoes
Review Evesham's iPlayer is a Freeview box with a difference. With a built in hard drive, HDMI output and the ability to receive HD broadcasts it would be remarkable enough, but it also manages to fit an internet connection and network media player into the box too, making it potentially the only set-top box you'll ever need...
The original iPlayer was a very popular set-top box, combining a Freeview receiver with internet access, and the new model, sold by UK PC supplier Evesham, builds on that. As well as receiving the standard-definition Freeview broadcasts, the new iPlayer can decode High Definition using the H.264 codec, should the current tests in London ever move to a full broadcast service. And since HD isn't much use with a SCART connector, the box sports HDMI too.
There's an Ethernet link as well, so you can connect to your network and browse the web, or play back media files stored on your PC. There's also a USB port, a SECA2 card slot for pay TV and an 80GB hard drive for recording without messing around with tapes. In theory, it's a pretty attractive proposition, helping you go digital, giving you access to media on your PC and being fairly future-proof into the bargain - all in a compact box, too.
For £300 you receive the box, a SCART cable, remote control, a very long Ethernet cable and a CD with software and the manual. There's also a quick-start card included, though the initial setup is pretty much plug and play. I connected the iPlayer to an HDMI-equipped HD TV. I needed to press the HDTV button on the remote to bring up the display settings, but besides that, tuning in to Freeview was quick and easy.
Picture quality was excellent - at least on the main channels - and the upscaled HDMI output certainly gives a crisp display, though not even this box can rescue the abysmal quality of some terrestrially broadcast digital channels. Channel changes are reasonably quick, if not the fastest I've seen, and interactive works extremely well. In all, the iPlayer is one of the fastest boxes I've come across.
COMMENTS
I got one and it's great
James Aston. South London: I had one bought for me for Christmas and I have to say it is really first class. I know it would be great to have lots of tuners, but I don't find it an issue. I've got a tuner in my screen if I want to watch something at the same time as recording, and I have a tuner in my PC and the stuff I record on that plays across my network to my iplayer!!! Brilliant.
I also love the fact that I can export programmes from the iplayer hard drive to my external drive simply. I have started my own archive - mind you I am rapidly filling up my 600 GB NAS drive!
By they way, it does play my downloads from the states - I'm sure Evesham won't be saying anything about this, but I think this is the best feature of the lot.
Another thing they might not mention is the fact that it picks up the High Def test transmissions in London and they look well impressive. They should get rid of the crap channels on Freeview and free up the space for at least one High Def channel.
Reelbox - vapourware?
I am wondering whether Jeremy Hooks is a shill for Reelbox - according to their website half the features are still "in the works", even such things as regular DVDs with CSS locking don't work, neither do firewire, kodak photocd...
however, it looks very promising if and when it does achieve 99% functionality!
My Favourite PVR (so far)
The best PVRs I have seen so far are those from Reelbox http://www.reel-multimedia.co.uk
They have USB, Firewire, mini-PCI (so that you can add wireless), DVI-I(changable to HDMI), gigabit ethernet, IDE + 5.25 drivebay so you can add your choice of DVD-RW (or even Blueray). They support encryption cards.
The killer feature is that they support upto 4 tuners (most come with 2 and 2 empty slots), which can be of any type (i.e. Freeview, Satellite or Cable).
They are rather more expensive than the I-player (£550), but I reckon they offer better 'Bang for Buck'.
Overpriced, underspec'ed
Some supermarket stores have been selling twin tuner Freeview 160GB hard disk PVRs for 99 pounds - so that's double the tuners and double the hard disk space for one third of the price....Evesham don't stand a chance with their overpriced box!
HD capability is nice, but not much use if you don't have an HD TV signal to plug into it (clues here: Sky+ HD comes with a twin tuner PVR already, HD DVD/Blu Ray media and players are crazily pricey) and with HD Freeview transmissions being years away, this box has HD output with no free/cheap HD inputs available!
What we really need is:
* Twin-tuner Freeview built-in (or 3 tuners if you want to be greedy) - single-tuner Freeview PVRs are a complete joke in all cases now and should be removed from sale, IMHO.
* A large hard drive - hard disk drive prices are continually falling and capacities are going up, yet why do hard disk PVRs seem to have pitiful drive capacities? The entry level models should have at least 250GB now!
* Ways to record from and play back to a multiple of inputs and outputs, including wired Net, wireless Net, USB, Firewire and even SD cards. If you had all that, you could even forego a DVD player or recorder needing to be built in (i.e. use your PC to archive to DVD instead).
* No DRM restrictions! Including HDMI if you really must, but don't force it to be the only way to get HD resolution to your TV!
* Solid firmware - most PVRs on the market seem to have many serious flaws in their firmware (including the one in this review) and leave the public to be beta-testers for them. Example: Liteon's hard disk recorders have a fatal "hang entire unit at start of timer recording" bug that after 2 years and 7 or 8 firmware updates *still* hadn't fixed this massively critical bug.
I'd pay 300 pounds for a box with the above specs, but will we ever see such a beast here in the UK?
Shame it only has one tuner
I have to agree £300 is a lot of money considering it only has one tuner and only an 80GB harddisk.
Personally, I would be prepared to pay more for a box which had 3 or 4 tuners, particularly if I could have set them such that they tuned into default channels (so you could setup a few favourites and have rewind on them - even though you weren't watching them). The problems the article mentioned with regards some DivX and some MPEG files are a major turn off too.
I wonder if it would play ripped DVDs so you could create your own jukebox, given the dubious legality, not something that you are likely to cover in a review.
Does the box support a decoder card for encrypted Freeview channels (topup TV or whatever the latest name is)?
