Thomson DTI1000

Overall my Thomson DTI1000 is not a bad digi box - but don't loose the remote control as a lot of the functions cannot be accessed from the sets front panel.

I use mine to feed a TV capture card in my PC via the RF output and the scart output goes to the Phillips DVD recorder or my EMTEC 500GB media cube.

I've had this product now for over a year and I have to say that it's grown on me.

Initially I had problems with the original format. It didn't like the VCR we had and interfered with the play back of tapes. It had a restricted TV menu which showed "now and next". At the time of purchasing the model I felt I had paid too much for it.

I have to say that I'm glad we stuck with it. A firmware update cured all the old problems and provided us with a very useful freeview box. My daughter gets to watch CBBC when she wants (which was the only reason we initially bought it) and I get to watch Sky Sports News without having to pay Sky!

Top up TV is not an option with this model, but I understand Thomson have a similar model with this facility.

My only critic is with regard to the remote. It is also why I have written this review. I find that the box also freezes for no real reason. This puzzled me when it first happened. On changing the batteries I noticed the unit works straight away again. A small annoyance but one you should check before changing the entire set top.

I'd give this unit a thumbs up for the quality of the picture but a thumbs down for the remotes power consumption.

People who rely on subtitles are advised to stay away from the Thomson DTI1000 box because it won't give interactive services at all when the subtitles are activated.

If you want red-button services you have to turn the subtitle service off. Useless, eh?

FREEVIEW SERVICE/ DIGITAL TV

You may already have access to digital TV or have seen adverts for it on your normal analogue service. For those not yet aware, Freeview is a digital TV service which gives you access, free of charge, to over 30 TV channels and radio stations. The most popular channels are BBC3, BBC4, ITV2 - extra football, CBBC - childrens channel for over 5s, CBeebies - childrens channel for under 5s. Other channels available include ones for auctions, travel, gardening, radio, history and cooking.

The service offers teletext type information on the BBC channels which allow you to see extra broadcasts whilst a programme is taking place. For example, you may be watching the news and have missed the weather - pressing text will put up a menu, choose news and a selection of different broadcasts appears, so you would highlight and then watch the weather broadcast.

You can also particpate in some programmes interactively by pressing the red button on the handset.

I purchased my Thompson digital box as a half price offer for £46.00 from Comet, last year when I bought a new JVC TV, video, DVD package following the breakdown of my old TV. It seemed a real bargin at the time and Comet checked to ensure that the area in which I lived had reception for digital televison.

WHAT IS AND ISN'T INCLUDED

After setting up the TV package and then opening the Thompson packaging, my first niggle was that a Scart lead wasn't included. This necessitated a trip back to Comet to make another purchase. This done and the box connected as per the instructions, simple to follow, I pressed the ON button on the handset and nothing happened.

After a few frustrating minutes fiddling with the wires and contemplating another trip back to Comet, I discovered the two free batteries included with the handset were dud. So, another added expense purchasing some new batteries.

The saga continued once I had got the digibox working. I pressed the MENU button on the handset, as explained in the instructions, and up popped an option box on the TV Screen. Arrowing down using the handset buttons and pressing OK as AUTOTUNE was highlighted, I waited while the new channels downloaded.

RECEPTION PROBLEMS

Everything seemed to work well, but at the finish I discovered I only had half the channels which should have been available to me. The advice from Comet, even though they'd checked that my digital reception was OK, following this discovery was that I would have to have a digital TV aerial installed on the roof! I rang a contractor to get a price for this and was told it would cost £69.

By this time, I really wanted to have digital TV even though I hadn't originally set out to have it. I ordered a new aerial and had it installed and Hey Presto, up popped a full selection of TV channels. Another bonus to having the new aerial is that the televison pictures improved to almost perfection. Our reception has always been a bit ropey as we live in a dip and our analogue receiver is installed in the loft.

NIGGLES

Once everything was sorted out, I was very pleased with the service offered by freeview but a few problems still cropped up with the digibox. Perhaps the most annoying one was when the box seemed to 'freeze' and the only way to get it to operate again was to turn it off and then on - rather like you would with a computer.

Another problem, which applies to all digiboxes, is that you cannot record a digital channel through your digibox whilst watching another digital channel. If you want to watch something else you have to watch analogue channels only.

OTHER FEATURES

If you've linked up your video recorder to the digibox you can set programmes to record using the digibox handset and the menu options which pop up on the TV screen. This facilitiy seemed quite complex at first but after a few attempts the method began to sink into my non-technical brain.

Thompson DT1000 also offers Parental Controls should you wish to bar particular channels. Freeview doesn't offer any dodgy channels so I'm not quite sure why you would want to use this, perhaps they are thinking ahead into the future.

Occasionally a new channel comes onto freeview. If this happens a box will appear on the screen whilst you are watching TV giving you an option to either download the new channel straight away or leave it until later.

A guide button on the digibox handset allows you to put a menu of channels onto the TV screen which includes information on what's currently on and whats on next, which saves you delving through listings in the newspapers. The guide will show you all 30+ channels, but you can reduce this by nominating your favourites in the digibox's menu options.

RECOMMEND?

I think I have covered all of this product's features, so now it is time to give my opinion.

I could not really recommend this digital box as mine broke down after nine months - the auto tune facility stopped working and all the channels were lost and irretrievable. I took the box back to the retailer and was immeadiately given a replacement as the product was still within its 12 month guarantee. So far, there have been no more problems but the experience has rather dented my confidence.

One positive comment to make is that I do think it provides an extremely good, clear picture. Probably a slightly better picture than that given by some of the cheaper digiboxes on sale. We borrowed a neighbours spare digibox for a day and the picture provided was slightly inferior - according to my husband who has always been slightly obsessed the the quality of his television pictures!

The products other little niggles, although easily overcome, really need ironing out by Thompson. Was this product developed in a bit of a hurry? It seems so to me.

I will certainly continue watching digital TV but when I get a bit of spare cash I just may be tempted to find a more reliable digibox than the Thompson DT1000.

FURTHER INFORMATION

To find out if your area had digital reception got to http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/coverage.html or ask your retailer to check for you using your postcode.

Box size: 252mm x 43mm x 153mm (light weight)

Connect up using Scart Connections or with Thompson DT1000 you have the option of connecting up with RF (Coax) connections should you have an older TV and video without scart sockets.

Digital box handset is also compatible with Thompson TV and DVD.

Available from all major electrical retailers for a cost of around £86.00 or online at cheaper cost.

Please note Thompson have now bought out Ferguson.

I got off to a good start with setup on my Thomson DTI1000 DVB. Picture and sound quality very good. Found that box would not respond to handset and could only be cured by switching box off at mains. The program identification for the channels frequently got muddled up. Channel 4 RF out had strange noise bars that could not be fixed by changing RF output frequency, or re-routing cables. Ended up taking it back and changing it for a Sony VTX800U, which has not given any trouble at all.

I have had one of these units for about 2 months now & can recommend that they perform very well.

Auto setup works a treat & seemed well though out. Channels are automatically sorted & user defined favourites can be easily chosen. The OSD & menu options are quite comprehensive & also easy to use.

Like most other units, it is a single tuner version so it should be made clear that you can only watch or record one digital channel at a time. There is no problem viewing analogue whilst recording digital or vica versa.

Provision of twin scart connections is most useful for multiple scart device setups.

The timer facility allows you to control your video recorder for useful programmed recording.

Front panel controls are minimal with just buttons for channel up/down & standby on/off.

One point for my wish list would be a channel display on the front as the only way of knowing what channel is selected is by monitoring it on the TV. I occasionally record programs without needing to see the picture, so this would have been useful.

I also have a Thomson TV & the remote is a dual STB/TV version, which saves space.

I understand that a dual tuner version may be in devlopment, so this should be great news.

The DTI1000 is a recommended purchase in my book!

I am not a Stranger to Set Top Boxes having Bought a ON-Digital Box when it was first released - long before they started giving them away.

I now have four Boxes - Phillips - Goodmans - Panasonic { Rubbish } and the latest is a Thomson DTI1000.

I was lucky to buy it During the Argos Special offer - £72 On Sale until Monday 26 May.

It has everything anyone would require - Note Software is the 2.1 version.

A Ten Event Timer which even allows you to Record Subtitles if Desired.

Seeing the Designer of the Panasonic TUCT20 Decided not to even Include a Timer they should hang their head in Shame.

Two Scarts - Audio out Phonos - RF Loop.

As I write this I have had no problems unlike the Goodmans GDB2 which has a tendency to Switch itself Off { for no apparent reason} every so often - In fact I am sure they have a built in detector and it waits until I go out and then Switches the unit off so that my video will record Hours and hours of Snow.

The Thomson DTI1000 Has a very Clever way of re-sorting favourites and has a Super Now and Next system.

Its also very quick locking on Channels which is a vast Improvement from the Phillips ON-Box.

Of course nothing is perfect - there is a few minor quirks but Really It would be very petty if I listed them.

My only Major complaint is that I cant use two in the same room - If Thomson can bring out their Unit with a Frequency Switch for the Remote then I would by a Second Unit Today as it beats all the other units Hands down.

I just got this Thomson DTI1000 receiver from Comet for the kind sum of £99.95, Very nice and well made, the first thing that strikes me is the lack of a scart cable or a aerial cable - this is tight in my opinion as most other manufacturers seem to supply them.

Connectivity.

This is very good, there is:

() Mains (8) Input

() Stereo Phono Outputs

() VCR Scart

() TV Scart

() Mouse Connector (optional)

() RF Loop-through

() Aerial In

On initial power up the auto setup doesn't start automatically but is very simple to start, the whole process takes less than 5 minutes and I was reported as having 50 Services, which I found rather surprising but then i found out that some of these aren't online yet!

The remote control sits comfortably in the hand and also controls a TV and DVD Player, providing that they are Thomson.Which naturally mine aren't! Batteries ARE supplied!

The MHEG (interactive and text) is rather quick to load and there has been no problems with this, the channel changing speed is also quick, a lot faster than the old ondigital boxes!

There are a lot of features in the main menus, the scart has the option of RGB and there are many settings for Widescreen tv's, there is a parental control feature and also a signal meter.

This reciever supports OAD (over air download, updates in other words) this came with version 1.5 but there is a planned update for the 10th of February which will update the reciever to version 1.9, it is not know what bugs will be fixed with this version as I am yet to find any!

Overall, I find this box very good and simple to use, i definitely think that it is worth the £100 that I paid but would have liked to have got a Scart lead supplied.

There is a Quick Start and an Instruction Manual that are both very simple to understand!

VERY GOOD!