Goodmans GDB4
Ease of Use
Features
Value For Money
Goodmans GDB4
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User Reviews
Value For Money
Features
Ease of Use
Unfortunately The Company We Purchased From (mille
Unfortunately the Company we purchased from (Miller Brothers) has gone out of business so I am trying to contact Goodmans direct to see what they can do!
Value For Money
Features
Ease of Use
I Was Given The Goodmans Gdb4 As A Present And Was
I was given the Goodmans GDB4 as a present and was immediately impressed by the picture improvement over analogue (using the same aerial). It is very easy to set up and use and has good connectivity to other equipment (audio, 2x scart etc).
The remote control is frustratingly unresponsive: you really have to push the buttons hard and aim quite carefully.
Unfortunately after just over 1 year (guarantee period) it stopped working - the picture and sound break up and become un-watchable. The analogue picture has not changed so it can't be the aerial.
Also, the set has always run surprisingly hot - maybe there was something wrong with it from day one. The technical support line don't seem to answer the phone and definitely do not 'reply to emails within 24hrs'.
So I am off to buy a new box today!
It's a great box in many ways but 1 year is too soon for it to pack up. Had it not done so I would have given it 8/10 overall.
Update from the reviewer: I never managed to get through to Goodmans technical support on the phone but they finally responded to my email after 3 weeks. I guess they'd been busy! Anyway, the point of this update is that they offered to repair the unit free of charge, even though it was about three weeks out of guarantee. I posted it off on a Tuesday and a brand new box arrived exactly a week later. It works fine so top marks to them for that. The new box also swaps the old transformer, which was about 15cm x 5cm and ran quite hot, for a transformer built into the plug, which is much more convenient.
In the interim, I had bought a GDB3 from Argos for £44. This is the same hardware but is in a bigger box and an internal transformer. It also has updated firmware that provides a (somewhat clunky, but useful nonetheless) 7 day programme guide.
So I now have two Freeview boxes - one of which I use for watching and one for recording a different channel onto video. The only problem is that the remotes are identical so I have to find a way to stop block the sensor so I don't inadvertently change channel on the one I'm recording from (the sensor is very sensitive on the new box). Thick cardboard just about does it.
I'm very pleased with my new box(es) and was surprised how much I missed Freeview after about three weeks of analogue grainy-vision :)
I'm now happy to recommend either the GDB3 or 4. Quite a bargain from Argos at the moment (though they may substitute it for other models, such as a Thompson, which I believe are, again, just cosmetic variants)
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