Home > Consumer Reviews > Alba STB2 Freeview Set Top Box

If you're thinking of buying a cheap, robust and fairly reliable Freeview box ... then keep looking. This is perhaps the most patchy and frustrating Freeview set-top box I have ever come across. Now, I'm not saying it warranted a refund when I first purchased it - it worked fine for a couple of months. Yet, eventually, problems began to arise. These problems centred around the remote control, and the tendency of the device to randomly reset itself to 'first-time installation' mode, or, on occasion, to simply stop receiving channels.

The problems with the remote control were many. Keys on the remote began to stop working, and over time I could only manage to work the channel changer and 'ok' button (which allowed me to go through the 'first-time installation' menu when it reset itself for some godforsaken reason). Eventually, however, those keys also broke on me, and I was left for about a week with manual channel changing.

That in itself was frustrating - however, when, ONCE AGAIN, the device reset itself, I could no longer use it. It had, effectively, fallen to pieces in front of me.

Worst. Spent. Money. Ever. Where's the 0 star button?

My girlfriend received this unit as a gift, and it is the most frustrating electrical item I have ever used. The signal from the remote is so weak it is useless, you need to be on top of the unit and still press each button twice for the command to register!
The unit constantly turns itself off, frequently it seems upon pressing the Program Guide button.
This is yet another example of why not to buy the cheap electrical items, while they do fit the task, it is only barely, and are very frustrating to use.
I have the Sony VTX-D800U, which is truly excellent. That unit has plenty of extra features, easier to use, and has proved very durable.
I emplore the reader to spend the extra bit of money- you will not be disappointed.

Off to a promising start. Very simple to set up and use and once working gave excellent picture resolution. Unfortunately I had a similar experience to another reviewer and the unit packed in after a very short time. Unplugged it and it only lasted for 5 minutes before giving up again. Repeated this until finally gave in and returned the set for a refund

After persevering with this piece of under-performing junk for 6 months, I have had enough and will be returning it to the shop for a full refund.
Don't waste your time or your money, I have experienced all the faults other reviewers have enjoyed. The mysterious non response to remote commands, the sudden sound drops and most enfuriating of all, the way that it just refuses to do anything at all unless you turn off all the power, unplug it, wait for 5 minutes or so and then power-up again.
Some fundamental hardware and software problems I think, but it is cheap. What do they say about getting what you pay for, next time, I will be buying Sony or Panasonic or some other brand with some sort of a reputation for performance.

I bought this to replace an old Sagem box that was getting unreliable, it worked OK for a couple of hours then refused to obey commands from the remote. Fitting new batteries had no effect.
Came downstairs the next day to find the box dead, unplugged it & plugged in again, had to go through the whole set-up again. Worked OK for a couple of hours then started playing up again.
The Sagem has been OK since I put it back!
The Alba has been returned.