Freeview HD TV Set Top Box Recorder - August DVB400 - Watch Live, Schedule Over 8 Recordings, Play Pause Rewind in 1080p HDMI High Definition - Black

I decided to risk getting this STB despite some poor reviews and I am glad I did!After plugging it in (you need an HDMI lead) and connecting it to an external aerial and my Kogan TV it picked up all the Freeview channels in my area (50 or 60) plus the four HD channels and BBC Red Button HD on Ch 303.The lipsync issue has been sorted out so I didn't need to download the fix.Picture and sound are good on SD and excellent on HD.As Techie pointed out the EPG does not work for HD channels (SD only) and there is no Teletext/Red button service. These are relatively minor issues and you can still tune in direct to the Red Button channels usually on Ch 301-303.Pause/resume works fine.Record also works fine but if you want to rename recordings (from Channel/Date/Time) you should use the newer NTFS format in preference to the older FAT 32 format for your recording media. You can use either but if you rename a recording more than 500mb (about 10 minutes of HD) the size will be reduced to this amount.To format e.g. your USB stick see p 16 of the useful instruction manual: in the PVR menu press EPG, then Format. Use the side arrow key to switch from FAT 32 to NTFS and click Format. After a few minutes you should get a message that your storage media has been successfully reformatted. NB you will lose any data already on the stick/drive so be careful and if possible reformat to NTFS from the start.Conclusion:This unit is small and light (as is the remote which some may find fiddly). It is not perfect but at £32.50 it is as cheap as chips and at the time of writing you are unlikely to find a better Freeview HD receiver/recorder without spending a lot more. Ideal for a second set though you may want to spend more for your main set.

This must be the most irritating piece of equipment I have used.... EVER!Works fine in terms of getting the channels required. However every time I have tried to arrange the channel listings in some sort of sensible order, as one is supposedly able to do, it scrambles the order when next the tv is switched on. So, if I set BBC1 to channel 01, BBC2 to channel 02 etc. , these do not remain set. The next day BBC1 could jump to channel 29 or 106, or any other random no - which means I spend huge amounts of time in finding the channels I want each day.The programming simply doesn't function. After 30 mins of arranging the channels each time , it is infuriating when they randomly change for no reason the next day. It is quite ridiculous the number of times I have re-set and saved the channel order..I have asked the manufacturers if I am doing something wrong but no suitable response.Returned the box to the manufacturers after 3 months of frustration, and their engineers say that there is nothing wrong with it and it is out of time for a refund. Well, if there is nothing wrong with the equipment, why would I return it ? I have been told that maybe I have a poor reception in my area. However they checked online and found I had a good reception. Other set-top boxes have worked fine, so unable to understand why this does not.Also bought a high capacity memory stick to record programs onto. The only time I tried to record (a 1-hour programme) I had an error message saying the USB drive was full. What a waste of money and time for a hopeless product and unsatisfactory customer service. I will never look at August products again.

I was looking for a cheap way to get HD Freeview channels on my HDTV which only has a SD Freeview receiver built in, this unit is cheap and compact, connects via HDMI or Scart (you won't receive HD resolution through the Scart socket) and is a piece of cake to set-up, there is no HDMI lead supplied in the box so you will need to buy one, the remote control is small but works quite well sometimes requiring a second press before it responds, the unit also has a USB port on the front to connect a USB stick or external hard drive for recording.In use the menu system works fine, it isn't as polished as a high end unit but you wouldn't expect it to be, the electronic program guide has its limitations, you can only see one channels listing at a time and the HD channels only show times and not the programs, maybe this will change with a future firmware upgrade but more of that later, picture quality is very good as are the recordings, HD recording which uses approx 3gb of memory per hour of recording is excellent especially given how cheap this unit is with the bonus recordings can be transferred to a PC to be archived or easily edited with freely available software.The one problem that has occurred is that it occasionally drops a channel or two for no apparent reason, it might be fine for days and the next time it is turned on one or two channels are missing, the only way round it is to rescan.I looked on the August website to see if there was a firmware upgrade available, there was and the serial and SW numbers confirmed it was compatible with my unit, what was included in the upgrade I don't know as they didn't make that information available and it became irrelevant anyway as despite successfully downloading and unzipping the file, transferring it to a USB stick and the unit recognising the update file each attempt to update would fail despite it initially looking as if it was taking place, checking in the menu confirmed it was still the original firmware version, whether the problem lies with the file or the unit is uncertain at this point, I will keep a check on the manufacturers website, but apart from this one problem it is a good little unit that provides very good quality HD channels at a very low price.