Pioneer DBR-TF100GB

Pioneer DBR-TF100GB has been a very good buy. Easy to use and host of facilities.

It's a simple unit and seems to pick more channels then the cheap unit that I bought for the spare bedroom, also allows subtitles and programmes your TV to record when your'e out...a definite unit to buy...

I previously had digital TV from NTL, so I had something to compare against (I got rid because I wouldn't pay for the extra channels, and I was effectively renting the box to receive the Freeview channels, plus the box kept overheating).

I wasn't expecting too much from the Pioneer DBR-TF100GB Freeview box, as I had researched the transmission bitrates etc... and they are not as high as they should be. Many reviews I had read about Freeview, complained about the effect this had on picture and sound.

But fear not! This is a great little digibox. Quick and simple to set up, quick channel changes, quick interactive facilities, remote also works the TV. I have been pleasantly surprised by the picture quality, with even the ITV channels being OK.

The ultimate test was from the RGB out socket to my projector. If there were any flaws they would show themselves here. I have watched 2 movies (Reign of Fire and Beautiful Mind), general stuff like the news, and some football. Overall I'm impressed at what the pioneer produces from the meagre bitrates it receives. Colours are strong without being overblown, and digital artefact's are hard to find on the main channels. Detail is not up there with DVD, but nevertheless a very watchable picture. Sport tends to require higher bitrates, and the picture suffers a little, but no more than it does on NTL, and it is still watchable.

I have the sound routed through a home cinema amp (analogue from the scart, not the optical out). Again it's not as good as DVD but OK. If your just using a TV you won't be disappointed. I briefly tried the radio channels, and through the TV it's what you'd expect, but don't bother putting this through your hifi, as it is flat and occasionally sibilant (very low bit rates).

In summary, Freeview would be great if the BBC consortium had got rid of some of the channels and increased the bitrates for what was left. However, the pioneer does a great job with what it receives, and is definitely recommended.

Well I think overall the Pioneer DBR-TF100GB is a very good box as you can see with all the good points I have given it. If you buy 1 enjoy it!

I bought a Pioneer DBR-TF100GB as I was unhappy with the detail in the picture from a less expensive, competitor's box. The Pioneer's picture is marginally better but it's not really obvious. Will this be the future of all TV...really clear, no interference or ghosting but with faces devoid of much of their texture and detail? If so, this is a retrograde step from current analogue picture quality.

I set up the remote to control the Philips TV too, and system control became really, really easy. It also made it easy to switch directly between analogue and digital channels and see the loss of detail!

This remote control programming makes using DVB channels a doddle. Using the previous box and two remotes now feels like a real hassle.

I'd wanted the TV modulator to pipe DVB round the house. The modulator had been preset to a low channel number that destroyed 5's picture on Ch37, but the DVB tuned-in picture was fine. I reset it to Ch68, but then the TV's tuned-in DVB picture became unwatchable.... full of horizontal white line jaggies. Fewer appeared at Ch58 and even fewer at Ch49, so I settled for the low 40s where just a very little line shake was visible. Maybe this is just a fault with my equipment but right now it's good enough. Anyone not needing this feature would find the complete installation very quick and easy.

The LED is b-r-i-g-h-t even when the box is on standby. This could be an eco-friendly design to force you to turn the box off instead of to stand-by, but as it arrives it's no good for an insomniac's bedroom. Two layers of duck tape cures this.

Despite these criticisms, I like this unit and, as it's so easy to use, it'll actually get used.

Got a Pioneer DBR-TF100GB as a birthday present last month to replace my old Pace Adapter which just died for no apparent reason. I was glad, despite the very reasonable quality of sound and picture they both used to go out of sync very easily and as for the stupid connection on the back requiring a splitter which reduced signal strength and increased popping.. pah. The Pioneer on the other hand oozes class. Looks-wise it's fine but nothing special but it does a great job. Quick and easy to set up. A doddle to get your favourite channels lined up too (unlike the Pace which would suddenly bring back chanels you didn't want.. and it looked like a slice of cheese). Using BBCi and changing channels is fast and easy. Sound quality is great and there's an optical out for you AV amp/PC/minidisc users. Picture quality is great and though you can specify a default aspect (wide, cropped, letterbox) in the menu you can also scroll through these using the handset. You get 2 scarts and an RF through (at last!). Menu is easy to use though info and guide could be slightly better organised (and when do we get the 24hr EPG?). There's a nice screensaver to save TV burn when 'watching' radio channels and, must have one of these, a fun if useless gimmick.. video captures! Simply hit the left arrow while watching anything and you see your capture and have the choice to keep or delete. Later you can scroll through them... if you like that sort of thing.

Overall a class act, solid, hardly a blip so far using a Ch 5 aerial, I thoroughly recommend it.

Found the Pioneer DBR-TF100GB system simple to install against my TV, DVD and TV setup. TIVO controlls channel switching effortlessly. Get a few blips/breaks in trasnmission but I do live almost in a wood in a well, and normal RF reception was almost unavailable, so transmission breaks i was expecting.

I'm not sure if this is normal or whether I'm just having a run of bad luck but not only did my TV blow up recently (see review of replacement Toshiba 36ZP38) but my Daewoo DS608P freeview STB quit quite unceremoniously in the midst of Tweenies or suchlike.

Maybe not so unlucky after all as it did so 11 months and 20 days after purchase. Hah! Should be replaced under warranty.

Trouble is that the Daewoo was no longer available and the alternative Setpal equipped box (Labgear) did not meet my 'established manufacturer' criteria.

I was worried about reception as Setpal has been touted as having a far more sensitive tuner than other receivers yet, as a year is a long time in electronics, I felt that I may as well give a non-Setpal equipped box a chance.

It was a toss up between the new Pioneer DBR-TF100GB (don't try saying that in the late hours of a Friday) and the newish Sony (can't recall the model). What swung it to Pioneer was that:

a) it was cheaper and didn't involve any cash changing hands

b) the Sony's good looks could be the sort that fade out of fashion rather quickly.

Got the Pioneer home, plugged it in, mucked around with aerial cables, wall socket, VCR, TV and Scart leads and set the box to scan for new channels.

Scanning took around a minute and a half which, as I recall, is about the same that my old Daewoo took so that's fine. It found all the channels easily.

In operation, the picture is clear with excellent colour depth and 3-dimensionality with only the occasional smearing due to either lowish signal strength or inadequate transmission bitrate from the broadcaster (mostly on the ITV channels where I live).

Sound is good, only the occasional pop for the same reasons as stated above.

For a Freeview box this works very well. It is a pity that the broadcasters seem intent on restricting the quality of what we see, and not just through blocky pictures but also through those CRT killing channel identifying logos and a horrible mishmash of aspect ratios from 4:3 through to 16:9 with very strange cropping of pictures along the way too.

It's as if they are just soooo insecure and think that if the viewer doesn't have a constant reminder of what 'side' they're watching then they'll switch over.

Well, sorry to have to break it to you broadcasting meisters out there, but what your viewer wants is good quality programming, broadcast in top quality vision (HDTV anyone?) with the latest sound technology (DD/DTS please) and no channel logos.

That was a bit of a diversion from the Pioneer receiver I know but it's important to realise that however good a product is, if the environment in which it operates is flawed then the product itself will be seen in a lesser light.

Think Sark, Channel Islands and a resident reviewing a Ferrari against a Mini for example - cars are not allowed.

This is a shame as the Pioneer is seriously well equipped with:

2 scarts (1 outputs RGB for connection TV, t'other goes to VCR if you want to make that link)

RF cable loop through

Digital audio out (Optical)

and its performance is better than the Daewoo Setpal that it replaces.

This is a very difficult product to give marks to. It performs much better than I expected and retails for £100 which is a very good price for a good quality product from a top manufacturer.

BUT, it doesn't have a chance to show what I believe to be its true mettle as the signal it receives is too seriously compromised.

On balance, as I would still rate the Ferrari highly on Sark for its obvious design excellence so I will this Pioneer. It IS a top quality product at an effectively bargain price and any output shortcomings are, in my opinion, all down to what is being input to it by the broadcasters.