Advantages: It is good value for your money Disadvantages: It some times cuts out and the channels are messed up
I bought this Echostar box about 3 months ago, It looked like a decent freeview box, The box is grey with a black front display, and is about 30cm in width. But what the hell they all do the same thing! It comes complete with the freeviewbox, Scart lead, figure of 8 lead(power lead) and your remote control and manual to get you started. First off I skimmed throught the manual as it was very understanding and looked simple enough. I plugged in the power lead from the box to plug socket, then connected my scart lead and aerial to the back of it, this is simple as it has little diagrams to show you where to plug everything into (and tells you in manual). I got the startup screen for the product, Then it will start to automatically scan for channels in your area. Scanning will take approx 5 minutes depending on your aerial and where it is ...
skottic 15.08.2005 (11.10.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Echostar T101FTA
Advantages: cheap, very easy to use, good tuner Disadvantages: very slow, ugly user interface, picture blacks out occasionally
also provided to directly access the subtitles on/off menu.
However the remote control lacks the volume buttons I've seen on other receivers' remote controls, so that's something of a minus in my book, as you will need the tv remote control at hand for that.
Onto the actual user experience then..
The Echostar began with its automatic setup screen on first use, which tells you to ensure the aerial is plugged in and to press "ok" (I'm just using an indoor aerial). Scanning takes several minutes and feels somewhat slower than other boxes I've used. You might think that's not really a problem as it's not something one does often but in the last month new channels and radio stations have been added to freeview (and more to come I believe) which necessitates rescanning, plus as you will read, slowness does unfortunately appear to be ...
Advantages: Basic and cheap Disadvantages: Not very powerful, lack of support, sluggish
The Echostar T101 FTA is amongst the many digital freeview boxes available in the UK, aiming to provide the most basic freeview features at a very low price.
The device itself is silver and rather small and can fit comfortably onto your hand, or more likely, the TV. It has 5 connectors on the back - power, RF in, RF out, and 2 SCART sockets for the TV and VCR. The front of the device includes a simple black display with a single, solitary LED that blinks RED or GREEN depending if the device is on standby or operating.
In the package comes a remote control (with batteries), and is about as simple as a digital box needs.
Set up is quick and painless - it includes a SCART cable and an RF lead so you can add it to your existing setup. Once connected and operating, it automatically prompts to do a scan to find all available channels ...
