Finlux T7655 500GB Freeview PVR HD Recorder Set Top Box - Black

Made by Turkish electronics and white goods giant Vestel, this simple Freeview+ HD PVR is ideal if pausing, rewinding and recording live TV/Freeview radio is all you need (there are no UK catchup players to speak of, so if that's what you want, go for YouView+ or the Manhattan T3-R, although most people probably have a smart TV or stick which means you don't need the catchup services in yet another device).Twin tuners mean you can watch another channel while recording (or record two things at once) and even watch a third if it's on the same multiplex (message on screen shows available channels in such situations - timers are never lost without the user confirming it).It has a clearly laid out, well-designed and simple to use interface although some of the text, such as programme descriptions, is too small (might be an issue for some). Everything is easily accessible through the menus and the large, well laid out remote control has direct buttons to everything you'll need. The menus are stylish and the unit is extremely quick at all functions.It’s possible to ‘zoom’ (yellow button when in Guide) the number of shows displayed on the Guide grid, though text size isn’t increased.Timeshifting (pause and rewind live TV) can be set to a 2 hour maximum 'buffer' (oddly, not by default. To change it, it’s in Menu> Configuration> Max Timeshift). You can’t permanently save 'buffered' rewind live TV content (only Manhattan's T2-R and T3-R do that).There's a crude, bright red LED front display which shows the channel number and other partial information. In eco standby (0.5watt power consumption, even with timers set), it goes off after a while, leaving a red standby LED in its place, but in non-eco mode (approx 6watts) you get an old school clock, like your old VCR or DVD recorder - good idea, shame about the high energy usage.Startup, even from eco standby, is pretty quick at around 10 seconds, although it's not always clear it's turning on (it is - there's just scant information). Mine has never frozen or crashed in any way.The remote control is clearly laid out with simple button names (although it’s a fingerprint magnet and has no branding or even the device name on it, which is typical of Vestel, who manufacture electronics for many brands)… so if you’ve got people round, you’ll have to tell them which device it’s for! Slight oversight - they could’ve at least printed ‘Freeview Recorder’ on it!No HDMI cable is included, but a 1.5m one is available almost anywhere for around £3.Overall, there's nothing better on the market at this price and it outclasses many Freeview recorders three times its price with its snappy operation, simplicity and well-designed interface.Currently, the only other decent options for Freeview recorders are YouView+ and Manhattan's T-2R and T-3R, and they cost much more (Humax and Panasonic are expensive software disasters, even if the hardware's great).

Purchased this for a good friend who was fed up with not having a record facility on her existing box. Selected this model based on other customer comments, and it's detailed spec. Item arrived within 2 days, very well boxed with detailed setting up and operational instructions. It can be connected to your TV by either a Scart or HDMI connection, but these cables are not supplied so you will need to get these if required.Very easy to set up with the instructions provided, and all in all took about 15 mins from pulling out the original box to having this up and running. The remote looks complicated, but again with the detailed instruction for the remote and just playing thro the function keys it became very easy to understand and use. The menu display on the TV was excellent and recording was a doddle. This version box came with the 500g build in hard drive, and was record 1 and watch 1 channel or a combination. Very compact unit with a useful function display, and also comes with a 12 month supplier warranty, which does not appear to be mentioned anywhere but I have confirmed this with them.But, please dont do what I did and connect both the Scart and the HDMI connections at the same time, it does not work, it is either one or the other, with HDMI being the preferred choice if your TV supports it. Sometimes in life you do something and think what a dingbat, why did I do that That was my dingbat moment.Our friend is very impressed with this purchase and is now a very happy Bunny. All in all highly recommended by us both.

If this was your first recorder it would be fine. If you have had previous boxes you may,like me, be disappointed. Firstly its annoying that when you are watching tv through the box and also recording there is no way of telling that it is recording the other channel. I had expected there to be REC either on the box display or a red light. Nothing. When replaying a recording and FF or rewind there is no time showing so you could for instance forward to 35 minutes in. The library doesn't show anything but the name and date of the show (previous box had short details) EPG shows only list of programmes with no details. Display on front of the box isn't really useful for anything other than telling which channel you are presently watching. It is an efficient recorder but you have to take on trust that it is actually recording . Another annoying feature is that if you are watching one channel and a recording of another channel starts the box changes channels to the one being recorded and you have to manually change back. Confusing if you had gone to make a coffee in the ad breaks when it happened so you come back to a completely different show!

This replaced my old video recorder and does the job well. Would have given 5 stars but the one setback is that there is no way of knowing from looking at the LED display whether or not there is a recording in progress.

Is this a cheap option to record TV yes . The questions and answers on this product are often incorrect. There is no WiFi on this model I have not been able to conect to any Internet with this device. I am unable to get a picture with the hdmi cable on my TV only with a scart cable. The TV guide is not to easy to view. My recommendationIs cheap option to record TV only.

Easy to use and the box itself isn't very big at all. You can record two programmes if you watch one of them. Pausing, rewinding and fast forwarding all work well. It has HD versions of the 5 main channels, the other BBC channels and a couple of others. If you connect it to the internet, you have access to the BBC iPlayer and the sport and news apps as well as a couple of other things I don't know. The cable for this isn't included. However, the remote control comes with batteries.

does the job well. No freezing of picture, which is an issue i seem to have always had with other products. Picture slightly pixelated but that may not be fault of box...