Technika STB9001 > Reviews (1)

Despite the low price this product isn't worth buying.

Apologies for this brief review. I noticed nobody had submitted one, and thought it worth just adding a few comments in case it prevents anyone else from wasting their money.

I've bought 5 set top boxes and this is easily the worst. It suffers from three main problems:

1) The remote control unit chooses when, and how, it will operate. Sometimes it works fine. 10% of the time it works in a delayed mode that takes 10 seconds to change channel. 10% of the time in changes channel but doesn't display the new channel ID. 5% of the time it won't work at all and forces a reboot of the box to start again.

2) From time-to-time the unit will loose track of the correct time, and will operate around two hours ahead of the actual time, displaying program details that are to come, rather than currently playing. Re-setting the unit requires unplugging and plugging in again. On the underside there is a small cut-out marked "reset" but no such button seems to have been installed. As there are several solder points visible, one hopes that these are connected to the low voltage side of the circuitry and hence unlikley to prove fatal if provoked with a paper clip.

3) The onboard software will only allow one function at a time - eg, if you have just changed channels, and the new prog info is being displayed, you can't even alter the volume.

Although it might be that my unit may just be faulty, it gives the impression of a product that has simply been built down to a price - and hang the consequences.

Given the short comings of this product, and with so many better and cheaper devices available, a full in-depth review seems pointless. Although it is compact and has a small footprint, a consequence of this is that parts of the casing become alarming warm during the course of normal operation.

I'd avoid it at all costs - there are far better products around.