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

After eighteen months of a perfectly usable STB from Thomson, it failed and was replaced by this Sony unit. A well made, usable box with excellent performance.

What makes it better than most - and worth the highish price-tag - are the audio-out options. Both a stereo 3.5mm Jack (although phono sockets would have been better) and S/PDIF optical out for use with a home cinema. Coupling the audio out into the hi-fi provides very good sound indeed. I compared the Radio Three on freeview with a £250 FM tuner (fed with a five element outdoor aerial) and it was a closer run thing than expected.

Why only four stars? It is expensive compared to the competition and it would be hard to justify for most users. However if you want digital radio services, this could be a practical alternative to a DAB tuner.

After tearing my hair out for 18 months with my Nokia set top box, I decided to take the plunge and buy this Sony unit from Amazon. All I need say is "money well spent"!! The Sony model is a joy, easy to operate, great build quality, fantastic sound and picture and super fast interactive features such as text and EPG.
This model is more expensive than most, although a great low price from Amazon, but it is worth the extra.
The only gripe I would have is that it doesn't have a RGB shift adjustment but it still makes me smile every time I switch it on.
Go on buy it, you know you're worth it!!!

It may not be the cheapest on the market but I'm very impressed. The box came with all the cables and plugs required to set it up. It took 5 minutes to set up and hey presto, up, running and all channels found and stored. It does want I want it to and more besides. I'm not an anorak on gadgets but this gets my vote. If you're looking for a freeserve box this is what you should buy.

This is the fourth set-top box I've had and by far the best. Of course as time progresses boxes get better, but this one seems to have made a quantum leap forward. The sensitivity of the tuner is excellent (I'm in an area that the FreeView web site says isn't covered). One of the most impressive improvements is in the area of interactive services, the speed of text is very quick - no longer do I have to wait after pressing the red button.

The EPG support is also excellent, as it appears to gather information in the background unlike one of my other boxes. A neat feature is being able to list only Films (or other categories) on the EPG, so you can easily see what films are on over the next week.

One thing to note is that there is no modulator in the box. There is an RF loop-through, but you need a SCART connection.

To sum up: small, stylish, quick, high quality - It's a Sony.

Got fed up with being ripped off by Sky so decided to go Freeview. According to various reviews, the SONY XTX-D800U is one of the best so decided to try it and I wasn't dissapointed. It came within 2 days of ordering using the free delivery option; well done Amazon!
To set it up was simplicity itself. I live in what was a poor reception area for UHF TV but the SONY XTX-D800U found all the available digital TV (and Radio) channels with maximum signal strength and maximum picture quality: the strengths are indicated by 2 bars in the picture menu.
If you want to go Freeview then you can buy another make of box for less money but is it worth the risk? Spend a few quid extra and get the best together with the peace of mind that comes with it.