The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds
45%
Bush DVB680

Bush DVB680

  • print
  • alert

Review Bush, once a noble British brand, is now a house brand for Argos. Whether that explains the DVB680's low-quality feel, I can't say, but this box certainly seems cheaply made.

Bush DVB680

It's a metal box with holes punched in the rear for the sockets, and a plastic panel clipped to the front. The front panel sports a very bright red LED display that's looks like a part designed for an alarm clock. And the DVB680 is the only box here with no USB port.

The remote is even more shocking. The numbers aren’t arranged in the usual phone keypad style, with four per row instead, and the navigation keys have the OK button below them, instead of in the middle. It’ll be confusing to anyone who’s used a TV in the last decade.

Bush DVB680

While the box certainly works, its on-screen interface is nothing to write home about, and for anything more than now/next on the current channel, you have to dive into the full EPG, which needs an extra button press to see any programme details.

Really, the sole redeeming feature is the ability to transcode to Dolby Digital.

Bush DVB680

Verdict

With it’s shocking remote, and clunky interface, the only real saving grace of the Bush is its Dolby transcoding. ®

DVB Grouptest

Next: Goodmans GDB300HD

Latest Comments

Not much in it, frankly

When it comes to picture quality, I think you'd be hard pushed to spot any significant difference between these boxes, frankly. I worked through all seven of them in quick succession when I was testing the surround functionality, as well as longer periods individually, and I honestly don't think any one stood out as better or worse than the others.

In terms of picture quality, you will generally be much more at the mercy of what's being broadcast then of the performance of your box, and so when it comes to choosing between them then it will fall far more to those other points on which I concentrated.

0
0

Seriously?

So you hate the EPG and the remote - right, OK, but you seem to have missed out picture quality - probably the most important feature of a new HD set top box!

For the record, I bought this Bush box for £90 and I actually don't mind the interface, but the remote is dire, and the LCD display is awful. Having said that the picture quality on the HD channels is absolutely fantastic. I was really unsure about the box when I first got it because let's face it, it's Bush, but I was genuinely blown away when I saw the HD channels in action. Thumbs up from me.

0
0

More from The Register

Microsoft reveals Xbox One, the console that can read your heartbeat
Upgrades Live service – and no always-on requirement
 breaking news
US boffin builds 32-way Raspberry Pi cluster
Beowulf cluster built for the price of a single PC
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
HTC woes prompts 'leave now' tweet from former staffer
Chief product officer latest to bail from sinking mobe-maker
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner
Fairphone goes on sale to all
The Android handset that's PC can be yours
Nintendo throws flaming legal barrel at YouTubing fans
All your walk-through vid revenue are belong to us