Technika SmartBox 8320HD

Bland appearance hides a very capable piece of equipment

This Tesco-sold exclusive is part of FetchTV’s SmartBox family. These Netgem-made boxes act not only as Freeview recorders, but off er VoD (free and pay) and networkable media playback too.

Design-wise, it’s rather bland, lacking a display but is still compact and a good match for most modern TVs. Connections include HDMI, a DIN socket that connects to Scart inputs using a supplied cable, Ethernet, USB and an optical S/PDIF. The remote feels a little cheap too, but buttons are sensibly arranged.

One favourites list can be created and seven-day EPG data viewed as a six-channel grid from which recordings can be scheduled with series links (you can also do this remotely via the net). Across the top is a nav bar showing the FetchTV options, though selecting them currently takes you to a diff erent interface entirely (a superior, more integrated GUI is coming soon).

It sports twin tuners and a 320GB drive, so you can record two channels while watching a recording or stream. Recordings can be fast-forwarded or rewound at 100x normal speed or an impressive 600x when timeshifting and you can watch a show from the start while still being recorded. You can also export them to USB drives from which it’s possible to play media including photos, MP3, AVI and MOV fi les. The latter can also be achieved over a network including wirelessly (WiFi is built in).

That VoD functionality not only includes iPlayer and Sky Player but movies (some in HD for £5 a night) and TV shows (from 99p a night) some in HD. These are progressively downloaded using your broadband connection but can be watched while this is in progress. Picture quality is excellent, though some downloads err on the bland side. The box occasionally froze and lost sound when watching downloads, recordings or streams.

Ratings
PLUS
■ Good PVR functions
■ Huge range of features
■ Great price
MINUS
■ Current interface lacks finesse
■ A few playback glitches
■ VoD offerings could be
improved
Build ★★★★★★★★
Setup ★★★★★★★★★
Performance ★★★★★★★★
Features ★★★★★★★★★
Value ★★★★★★★★★★

87%