written by on 26/06/2012
Lasted about a year, but now BBC channels drop out despite excellent reception. Off to buy a new one Avoid avoid !
written by on 14/06/2012
Bought the first of these, just over a year ago - it lasted 3 months before dropping channels, (mainly Ch4) and often losing sound when changing channels. Was replaced by Hughes (despite the salesman suggesting I was trying it on) and within 6 mths, the set was freezing, needing to be unplugged and reconnected. Poor reception compared with the other units I have in the house - pixelating when all the other brands coped fine. Then there is the software upgrade at 3am...it interupts whatever you are watching, Video, DVD, whatever. Frustrating as hell! Does this need to happen EVERY day? I just wish I had read these reviews before buying. Philips used to be great- I have crossed the brand off my buying list.
written by on 27/08/2010
I have 2 of the Boxes and one works fine and the over frezzes when you chang chanel about 2 times a day and you have to turn it of and back on and then it works again i only paid £20 for mine and the £20 works fine and was designed peace and the £40 one wasent wasn't and looked inside bouth boxes and the peace one looked better electricity designed so if you buy one by the designed by peace one. mine was £20 but was verry good offer.
written by on 23/08/2010
I bought the DTR 220/05 free view box in January and had no problems until the switch over. I lost most of the channels and could not get them back despite retuning: I phoned the Phillips helpline on 08003316015 and they were very helpful and I now have all the channels after restoring the factory settings and retuning from scratch.
written by on 31/03/2010
This is my second philips box within 6 months first one went bang withing 2 days and I foolishly exchanged it like for like. This one has now lasted 3 months but has got to the point where it is sending that much interfence to the TV in the form of crackles that you cant hear the sound. So another trip back to tesco to replace it is required. Wont be getting phillips again, very disapointed with there reliablilty previous box had been grundig and lasted for years before a power cut saw that one off
written by on 25/03/2010
Its utterly terrible, was fine before the switch over to digital however now i cannot recieve any BBC channels. Therefore its a bit of a con by Phillps. Avoid, Avoid!!!!
written by on 18/11/2009
PHILLIPS DTR 220/05
Near Bristol. Bought from argos 4 weeks ago. I was really pleased. Easy to set up. Using the remote not as easy to use as a previous Wharfdale model which burned out after 14 months. Anyway,the first week I had no trouble. Clicking up through the channels, banner displays, then goes off as it should after a few seconds, but with channel four when the banner went off, so did the picture. Great sound but no picture. All information displays. Only this channel had the problem. You could get around it by going to EPG and select 4 and it would be fine, until next time you channel hopped. I had taken a another model back to curry's and thought I could do without the hassle and this I could live with. Following week BBC3 did the same thing. The following week film for dissapeared for the night. BBC3 came back to normal and so did film 4. But Channel four remained a problem.CRAZY thing is, channel 4+1 no problems. Retuning and all that stuff did nothing. Took back to Argos, explained, got a same model replacement. Set up this very same one and yes channel four has the same problem. Its dissapointing and going back. Don't ANY freeview boxes work properly. It wasn't cheap cheap, £34 so you would expect it to work wouldn't you. Perhaps I am very unlucky eh?
written by on 17/11/2009
Having purchased a Philips set top box before (DTR 500) and had no problems with it for years I decided to get a newer version.
WHAT A MISTAKE ! This box is terrible within the first week the menus were disappearing, then the channels started to disappear and I would have to retune the box once or twice a day !!!!!
Buy something else .......
written by on 16/08/2009
Philips DTR-220 has a small control, difficult to use, have had it less than one year and cant find the receipt to return it. On the plus side, small unit that doesn't take up much space.
written by johnhrs on 15/08/2009
The Philips DTR-220 ran for four days, then literally went BANG. Lots of smoke and electrical burning smell. Household RCB unit tripped out! Lots of overly complex features and did not replace it with same brand or model.
Purchased at Argos who were most helpfull in replacing with an alternative unit.
written by on 17/07/2009
After owning an original ITV Digital freeview box and a Sagem digibox, this tiny Philips model (DTR220) is a pleasure to use, by comparison.
Small and cheap (£23.50 from Tesco) but super picture and great signal quality.
We are in a low signal area but it pulls all channels in with a good strength.
(No more blackouts, dropouts, or pixellated blockiness).
Remote control works well and is reliable - easy to use with no sticky keys and is still on original batteries.
We are so pleased with it, we bought another one for ourselves & two as gifts for others.
Had previously bought a very similar Philips model (also from Tesco) for a friend, and were impressed with quality, so bought what we thought was the same one.
Turned out to be different model (this DTR220) - smaller in size but just as good.
Our Sharp Aquos tv has freeview built-in but Philips digital quality is better, so we run the DTR220 thru a scart into tv.
Only one slight annoyance...
Film4 picture disappears overnight and requires that you turn box off and back on again. (So you cannot set it up to record films while on holiday, as you will just get a blank screen).
written by grahame987 on 30/04/2009
Very easy set up. First set top box I have used but did not have to resort to the instruction manual all very intuative. Very good array of features, in a good looking unobtrusive unit for a bargin price. What more could you ask?
I was almost put off by some of the reviews, but decided to give it a go as it is a Philips. Very glad that I did.
written by on 14/01/2009
Output is significantly delayed in comparison with other set-top boxes I have used - as a result where I have two analogue tvs with Freeview boxes in adjacent rooms they must both or neither be Philips DTR220s, otherwise the echo effect is as bad as viewing the same channel on analogue and digital on sets in close proximity.
The EPG takes an inordinate amount of time to download.
Apart from the above, not a bad box apart from the annoying on-screen warning about new channels when channels are changed. Why do they make kit that does daft things like this?
written by on 01/10/2008
I had seen mixed reviews for this . However I have found it to have exceeded my expectations. It was incredibly easy to set up, has not let us down at all, has a wider range of channels than expected. Strongly recommended
written by MMBR on 21/08/2008
Having had serious problems with both 'Pace' & 'Bush' boxes this is great, pluged it in and is working prefectly. easy to use easy to load
written by on 16/06/2008
My Philips DTR-220 unit freezes when changing channel. second replacement also froze when changing channel and volume control did not work. Do not buy.
written by on 28/05/2008
Lets face it, the Philips DTR-220 has significant software bugs.
I contacted Philips and they directed me to the retailer (Tesco).
Tesco have been helpful.
Since purchasing the unit, I have discovered lots of similar problem reports on various forum sites.
I know its difficult when you have built a lemon, but I think Philips need to consider taking problems like this seriously rather than just ignoring them and hoping they will go away.
written by ArmitageShanks on 23/04/2008
I bought the Philips DTR-220 unit at John lewis for about 38 pounds. It's small black glossy unit and took about 3 mins to setup. No hassle. So far no problems and it's size it prefect for my living room setup.
written by Dataman on 21/04/2008
I have used Sagems on our spare TV's for the past two years and we have become accustomed to sudden restarts, frozen units that had to be switched off and switched on again, less than helpful "EPG" screens, no text and the weekly need to re-program all the channels when the Sagem lost them.
I finally became fed up with fighting the losing battle, threw the Sagems in the bin and bought the Philips. What a breath of fresh air - I just wish we'd bought Philips at the beginning! They are faultless.
written by freddy123456 on 28/03/2008
The Phillips customer helpline were utterly useless, not only did the individual know less about the product than I did, but they tried telling me to perform the most basic of tasks that I'd tried hundreds of times!
To add to my frustration it took them over a week to sort out my details for an exchange, by this time I asked for a full refund, which I did eventually receive.
A friend of mine has had a similar problem and has ended up sending his back for a new one aswell.
My advice is not to purchase this product as it is useless at the best of times, and the hassle of exchanging / returning your goods is just not worth it!!!!!
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Grahame987's Comment
Written on: 30/04/2009
I agree with this review because...I am very pleased with the performance of mine. Glad I wasn't put off by the bad reviews.