Goodmans Set Top Boxes
Offers
Reviews
Goodmans Set Top Box Reviews
 |
Goodmans GDB6
by Swarfega This is a model that is no longer produced but as they are still in operation and being sold second hand, I thought I'd type a few words about my experiences. I moved into a new flat, not wanting to shell out for Sky or cable tv but also wanting to have more than the standard five analogue channels. So the option was to buy a ... freeview set top box as my tv at the time was a rather elderly CRT type without the fancy inbult freeview tuner. I knew I was trying to be frugal so I knew I didn't want a totally all signing all dancing model. I didn't need recording facilities etc. And I wasn't all that precious about massively crystal clear picture quality and all that. Just so long as it worked and got freeview. I bought mine for approximately £25 at the time (maybe 4 years ago), which wasn't the cheapest but I did decide there was a line to be drawn. Sometimes buying cheap is buying twice. Upon opening the box and taking out the contents you'll notice that it's got all you'll need. So no extra shopping trips to get batteries for the remote control or a scart lead. It also comes with the rf cable (co-ax) required to get your aerial signal from your roof to the box. To look at it's fairly non-descript, which is good as I didn't want anything flashy. From above it's about the size of an A4 sheet of paper and silver. It sits about 2 inches tall and nestled happily just below my tv. Across the front of the device you won't find very much at all. Simply a central led light telling you when it's on standby (red) and when it's on (green). So, to the set-up. Really, nothing could be much easier. Simply plug the machine into the mains and connect it to the tv using the supplied scart cable and also the aforementioned co-ax cable needs to connect your aerial input (usually in the corner of the room next to the tv) to the set-top box. Now, you're good to go. As you're now getting a digital signal rather than analogue, unless your tv automatically senses this new input you'll more than likely have to find the appropriate 'source'. Your tv remote will have a button on it saying 'source' or 'av'. Push it until you get the appropriate channel. Now simply locate the 'menu' button on the remote control and it will give you a list of options. Find 'first-time installation' and it will go through all the channels it can find (at the last count including radio stations and whatnot, there's over 100 on freeview). It will depend on how good your signal strength is but I know my local signal is atrocious, but it still managed to pick up all channels. So I know the tuner is sensitive, which is great in such a cheap model. As I said, this model is cheap. Not the cheapest, but one shouldn't be hoping for anything too special in the features department. The remote control itself is small and basic with rubber buttons and aside from the buttons you'd normally be expecting to find on a remote (numbers, volume, programme up and down etc), you also get a 'subtitle' button which fairly obviously turns on subtitles, should the programme you're watching support that. It also has a 'back' button, which I took to assume was the advertised 'previous channel' function - however either I was using it wrongly or it just didn't work. The EPG (electronic programme guide) is ok, but not great. It does the basics is the best thing to say. I did however use the 'reminder' feature fairly often - find sometihng a few hours ahead you want to watch, press 'reminder' and it will turn over to that channel at the appropriate time. However don't try and be clever and set up some reminders for a few days hence, it won't work. Yes you can use the 7-day EPG to see what's on during the week, and yes it will allow you to set a reminder for that episode of Poirot you wanted to catch - but for whatever reason it forgets them. It may be over night or when you put the box into standby - either way, those reminders don't remain. Another gripe and one which used to wind me up no end (however clearly not enough to bin it as I used this box for a good 3 years) is the fact that every so often the sound drops out for a second. Personally I wouldn't have said that would be that much of an issue, but seriously, it happens with surprising regularity when you least want it (or perhaps you only notice it when it happens at the worst moment). I lost track of the number of times I turned the air blue after the sound dropped out just as the punchline of a joke was being delivered. The frequency at which this happened changed but I'd say it probably happened once an hour on average. So yes, that's negative point against the box. One more negative issue (although one which is less of an irritation and easier to fix than the last one) is that the sound will lag after a while. If you've been watching the same channel for a bit (and I mean several hours), gradually the sound will lag behind the picture. However, this is easily remedied by flicking the channel up and back down again and it's all reset. Over all, it served me well. It was cheap and had a better freeview tuner than my current all singing all dancing tv does. Aside from the sound dropping out, causing me to swear at the tv occasionally, I liked this little box. Recommended? Yes if it's for a back room or bedroom perhaps, and it's free or very cheap. But other than that, no. There are plenty of other options out there nowadays. Read the complete review |
 |
Goodmans GDB11
by chickiepoo I purchased this box from Asda living for £19, which in my mind is very cheap. I did want to buy one that recorded programs too but I found them too expensive and were over £100 so I just went for this cheaper one. What was in the box. ----------------------------- Freeview box aerial ... lead instructions The only thing that I found not to be in the box that you do need to be able to use is a SCART lead, luckily my sister had plenty of spares ones, so if you do not have a spare SCART lead at home you will need to purchase one before you can use the box. The design ------------------ The design of this box, is really very basic, and very small too which is good because it just sits nicely on top of your TV. Its just a plain black box, with your SCART lead socket at the back, to plug into your TV. Then you have the arieal socket also at the back, that plugs into the aerial socket in your wall. There is nothing much to the box at all, on the front you have a light that is green when its switched on, and shows red when its on standby. The box has no buttons on the front to change channel or volume, so unless you have the remote the box is useless. Which I do find this quite off putting, so I always make sure I have a spare set of batteries in my house, just in case they run out. If your like me then you cant get normal channels on your TV so without the remote I am left with no TV. The channels -------------------- You get 102 channels on this box, although you cant watch all 102 of them as some are pay per view. You have your basic 5 channels, then you have your channel 4 + 1 which is the same as channel 4 but its showing the programs that were on an hour before. They have also just brought out an ITV+1 which I was really glad about, as I do have a tendency to be running late for my favourite soaps. There is really far too many channels to mention, you have Dave, bbc3, ITV2, Film4, Sky 3, and E4. They also have several music channels too, like smash hits, viva, heat, magic plus more, although unlike sky on most of these channels you only get the music and not the video to go with it. You also have 3 children's channels, cbbc, cbeebies and citv, which I think are the main 3 children's channels available anyway, and keep the kids entertained on a weekend. You also have a few news channels, and some adult channels. Not that I have really looked but the adult channels are all pay per view loll. There is plenty of channels but I think that a lot of them are pointless and there is only a selection of the channels I watch. But I suppose some people might find the other ones useful too. The picture quality. -------------------------- I have never had much problems in way of the picture of this box, although I have known the box to freeze once or twice. But a quick change over of the channels it returned back to normal. The picture is of excellent quality, as long as you have all the leads plugged in properly. There is no fuzziness or any problems while watching the TV, the picture is perfect. Sound quality. -------------------- The sound is very good, you have a volume control button on your remote, so you can turn the volume up on your TV, then turn it down to your own liking on your Freeview box. The sound is very clear with no muffled voices at all. The remote ----------------- now considering this is the only thing you can work your box with it has to have everything on it and it does appear to. The remote has the following features: Power on/off- This will turn your box on standby or turn it back on. To turn the box off completely to save electric you will have to turn it off at the plug. Mute button- Click this to turn the sound completely off, I find this useful if I think I hear someone at the door ect as it turns it all off rather than using the volume controls which takes longer. Then click again to turn the sound back on. Number pad- You use this to go straight to a channel, just click on the numbers you need to go to a channel and it will switch straight to that channel for you. Wide - This changes your screen between the different ratios depending on the TV screen size you own. Info- This brings up the information on the current program that you are watching. Menu- This is where you can set up your Freeview box, in this you have channel organiser, where you can organise all your channels. System installation, this is where it auto scans for all your channels that are available to watch on your box, you will need to do this if a new channel becomes available, and does not take too long to do, its approximately 5 minutes. System set-up is where you can set up your parental controls, so you can lock certain channels. Then finally you have the information which includes a helpline number and all the specifications on your box. Epg- This is your program guide, this has all the channels available with the times and programs available for the next 7 days. This is also where your directional pad is used this is the only thing the directional pad is used for. You just move up down across to go to the time you would like to view. On here it also gives you a brief run down of what each of the programs is about. You use your colour keys here also to go to next day, or plus two hours. It does tell you at the bottom of the screen what each colour button will do for you. Back - This does just what it says, it goes back to the last page you was on, in the program guide. Exit - This exits out of all the menu or program guide rather than going back page by page, it just takes you back to the full TV. Volume - This turns your volume up or down. Channel - This changes to a channel up or down, you cant just flick through the channels it only turns them over for you, so if you just want to browse what's on your best using the program guide, as while this is up you can still watch TV. Swap - This changes from the last channel you had on, to the previous one you are watching, so for instance if I was watching Film4 then went onto watching ITV, then wanted to return to Film4 I would just click swap and it would go to Film4 then I would click it again to return to ITV. Text - This is for your text if you want to look at any news pages ect, I myself have never really bother but its there if needed. Subtitle - This turns subtitles on or off, I find this button useful to be there if needed, as with most thongs you have to go looking in menus for it. So as you see the remote really does come with everything on it, but as I said it did need to as without the remote you can not do anything with the box. For the night owl ----------------------- I have noticed with the box, at 2am everyday it does a scan which totally takes your TV channel off, this can be quite annoying if you are in the middle of watching a good film, but its easy to get rid of it, you just press exit and it cancels the scan, so remember to have your remote at the side of you at 2am if your watching something good. Installation --------------- This is really easy to do, you just plug your SCART lead into the box then the other end into your TV. Then plug the aerial into your wall, and into the back off the box. Then insert the main plug into your mains and switch on. When the box is on, go into your menu and do an auto scan, then all your channels are there ready to watch. Is really is that simple and takes as little as ten minutes. The instruction manual --------------------------------- this is just basic and easy to read, but if I am honest the box is so easy to follow I found no need to use the instruction manual, but it is there and basic to follow if you do need it. My overall opinion ------------------------- I would recommend this box, in all aspects of it, the price is really good, the picture and sounds good. I have not had no problems at all with this box and its so easy to use. The only thing I did not like was that you have to have a remote to be able to use it. Whether a universal remote will work I am not sure as I still have my remote, but I am sure that on the Goodman site you may be able to buy a spare remote, or find one somewhere on the internet Read the complete review |
|
|
Goodmans GHD1621F2
by darreng1976 This Freeview recorder offers fantastic value for money when you consider all the features you get with it. The fact that you can simply record onto a hard drive is enough for me. Gone are those days of having to use blank tapes/DVD's and worrying about whether you were recording over something or you had enough space on it. ... It's so convenient and saves on storage space and money as you don't need all those blank tapes. And I find that 160GB is plenty of storage on the hard drive. I think it roughly translates as 80 hours of recording (that's a lot of blank tapes) and I've only used a fraction of that (as I ofter delete programs after I've watched them). Add to this the fact that that you can pause and rewind live TV, record 2 programs at once and record entire series at a touch of a button. All these features are incredibly useful and at the price it really is fantastic value for money. It looks great too. I think a lot of these set top boxes are ugly but this one is in my opinion the best looking. It's very easy to use and generally it is a reliable unit although on the odd occasion it does fail to record. My only real complaint is picture quality. When compared with watching the built in Freeview through my TV the quality really is not as good. The picture isn't dreadful but can get quite pixelated and it's the same whether watching live TV or playback from a recording. Because of this I tend to watch Freeview through my TV and only turn this box on when I want to record something. This of course renders the pause and rewind live TV feature redundant. Read the complete review |
Goodmans Set Top Box |
||
|---|---|---|
|
1 review Brand: Goodmans / Set Top Box / Type: Receiver |
|
|
2 reviews Brand: Goodmans / Type: Digital Set Top Box |
|
|
1 review Manufacturer: Goodmans / Set Top Box / Type: Freeview Recorder - The BBC and ITV bring you freesat, a brand new digital satellite TV service offering FREE HD programmes at no extra cost. freesat has no monthly subscription, just a one-off payment for a Digital Box, satellite dish and installation. And b... |
|
|
2 reviews Manufacturer: Goodmans / Set Top Box / Receives All Freeview Channels and Radio Stations / Digital Text / 7 Day EPG / Automatic/Manual Channel Search / RF Loop Through To Allow Analogue Recording While Watching Digital / DVB Compliant |
|
| Goodmans Set Top Box Recommendations 1 | ||
| dooyoo Results 1 - 4 of 4 | ||
