Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony VTX-D800U Freeview Digital TV Set Top Box

I bought my 1st freeview box well over a year ago. It was a Daewoo (model number DS608)..I had heard of some cases where people needed a new aerial inorder to get a decent picture with a freeview box. Well, I paid about £20 more than many others were priced at. I had no problems with getting a great picture with my existing aerial. However, a month or so ago, I decided to buy one more freeview box. I "confidently" bought another Daewoo, it was a lot cheaper than my 1st one..(it was their newer model..the DS700)..Guess what? I couldn't get a decent picture..it was either pixelated or saying no signal. I rang Daewoo who told me, their newer model was not as good as their earlier model in poor signal areas. So I returned it & bought this Sony, (because of the reviews I saw about it on Amazon) ..Yes, it did cost a fair bit more, but wow, my picture is now brilliant! I say all this because I now know that not all freeview boxes are similar in their ability to pick up a signal. So, if you live in a poor signal strength area & your priority is to get the best possible chance of a good picture, I recommend that you pay a bit more & try this Sony..it even works with my "One For All" indoor aerial!

This is a truly excellent digital terrestrial television receiver. Setting it up is simplicity itself, and the picture and sound quality is first rate (I had previously tried a Grundig box on the same aerial and it came up with precisely nothing).

The Sony's feature set is impressive: individual "favourite channel" lists for TV and radio, parental lock, and a very clever timer mode for selecting channels in advance, for feeding to a VCR/DVDR over the SCART cable (9 events can be set). If you're lucky enough to have a recorder with Smartlink, the box will instruct the recorder for you. If you don't have Smartlink, you'll need to set the receiver timer and recorder timer independently of each other.

The remote control can be programmed to operate basic functions (volume, channel up/down, standby) of most modern TV sets, and the control interface itself is nicely intuitive.

Want more? 16:9 or 4:3 viewing mode, automatic software upgrade, EPG, it's all there. There's also a detachable stand for the box, if you prefer to place it in a vertical orientation (how very PS2).

The only downside is that it has no card slot, so it can't support Top-up TV or other subscription services.

It's not the cheapest, but as a basic Freeview receiver it's absolutely outstanding.

After reading many, many reviews about various freeview boxes, I recently purchased this Sony digital Freeview box. I have been using the box non-stop for the past two weeks and am very glad I made the purchase.

Set-up was very simple and took about two minutes - basically, a case of plugging in the leads then letting the unit perform a quick auto-tune scan then off you go! Reception quality is outstanding (as you would expect) and if you have other Sony devices (tv, video,etc) they can all be operated from the single remote control supplied.

The Electronic Program Guide is clear and simple to use (similar to the Sky system) and includes the facility to set up favourite channels, to save time scanning. Both the digital tv and radio stations give onscreen information about what you are watching/listening to.

The unit is small, light and stylish and comes with a vertical stand, so you can stand it next to your PS2 should you have one! This freeview box is the usual top quality/design from Sony and at a good price too. Highly recommended.