Philips DTR220

I bought this because it is relatively cheap, small and sleek looking and I am very please with my purchase. The size and weight make it almost invisible on the shelf below my TV and it is intuitive to set up and use. Easy to programme and plug in and get started straight away it is not a convoluted set top box to use like some of the previous models and makes I have owned previously. Once you are set up it also has a 'favourites' function on the remote in order for you to place your favourite channels on the list and access more easily than remembering which channel they are programmed to or scrolling through the whole list of channels. The one drawback of ...  Read the complete review

With the impending digital switchover looming over the horizon, I decided to be well prepared and looked into getting a reasonably priced Freeview box for our bedroom TV. I wanted a well known make which was small and compact. As I wanted to find one on a relatively small budget I wasn't expecting to find one with a built in recorder. My only stipulation was that it had to have a 7 day electronic TV guide. So off I went to do my research. Having scoured the market for what seemed like weeks and weeks, I decided upon the Philips DTR220 as I had read fairly decent reviews on a few sites and as it wasn't all singing all dancing, came in at an ...  Read the complete review

I inherited this Philips digi box with a second hand Sony television that I purchased from a friend. As for the problems of the last reviewer when trying to record programmes I haven't experienced this only because I haven't tried to record anything yet. As for the basic functions of this top set box, it manages to receive all available Free view channels which is quite good considering I live in an area where the TV signal is not very good. In fact it has improved the picture quality greatly compared to the normal analogue signal that we used to receive. Mind you that wasn't difficult! The cheapest I have managed to find this set box priced at is £25.04 from ...  Read the complete review

Judge for yourself. I bought one of these and wrote this to Philips..

"My recordings are being spoiled as your "an update on the channel lists was detected..." box appears and doesn't go without me pushing OK - fine if I am watching live TV but it renders anything being recorded unwatchable.

How do I stop this box appearing please?"

and I go this useless response from Philips.......

"With regards to your query we can advise that the automatic update cannot be switched off and is a feature on the DTR220/05.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Should you require any further information please contact our Customer Care Centre (details below) quoting customer reference number xx-xxxxxxx."

So, given Philips very helpful reply, beware if you ever need to record anything...