Sagemcom RTI90-320 Freeview+ HD recorder

Rare breed

Sat 3 Jul 2010 // 08:02 UTC

The manual states that audio can be set to output in stereo or multi-channel but hooking up to a home cinema amp using the digital audio conduit shows that the RTI90-500 T2 HD cannot transcode from AAC – which the HD broadcasters are using to carry audio descriptions – to Dolby Digital. Sound quality is actually pretty decent although I did experience an ITV HD broadcast that needed the volume cranking artificially high.

Does the job, but lacks finesse

Picture quality is certainly up to snuff. HD and standard definition recordings and live broadcasts are a match for my plasma’s built-in Freeview HD tuner and my Sky HD box. In the most important aspect, the RTI90-500 T2 HD at least lives up to expectation.

Verdict

The RTI90-500 T2 HD is a royal pain to use with its sluggish (and rather ugly) menu system. And with its slightly cheap build it doesn’t exactly have the hallmarks of a cutting-edge piece of home entertainment. That said it does deliver the Freeview HD goods (and standard def ones too) both as a tuner and a recorder, which is ultimately the most important thing. ®