Home > Consumer Reviews > Daewoo DSD9503T - Freeview Set top Box With 160gb Hard Drive Twin Digital Tuner

Plugged it in and it works. Very easy to use. It has taken a while for me to make the jump from video and this is a good start. If you have a freeview box, then this can replace both it and the VCR.
So neat to be able to record two channels and watch a previously recorded programme all at the same time. The library feature is great; better than trying to remember what is on which tape! Plus it is a lot quieter than a VCR. And so easy to set up timer: find the programme in the EPG and press record. That's it.

My Sony IDTV's freeview tuner packed up (out of warranty!) so I needed a freeview box as the cheapest way to fix the situation. Thought of going for the panasonic dvd recorder with hd but the dual tuner in this unit sold it. And who knows - in a year or two Bluray might rule the earth and then a dvd recorder will be obsolete.
Anyway only received it today but my impression so far :

Good Points:
*Nice looking, compact unit
*Idiot proof setup (you only need to press 2 buttons to initialise it and start the autoscan)
*2 Tuners - watch one program, record another!
*Week long programme guide
*Not noisy at all - its on the top shelf of my Sony TV stand and you cant hear any whining or loud fan noise which seems to be a problem with some other makes/models.

Bad points:
*Remote a bit fiddly - channel up and down buttons tiny and hidden away
*Electronic Programme Guide is a ghastly lurid RED (not half as pleasing to the eye as my Sony TV's one)
*Picture quality worse than my IDTV. A bit more grainy but I managed to compensate for this by adjusting the brightness contrast on the tv. (now you can barely see the difference)
*Autoscan picks up more channels than my tv (My TV didnt get the BBC HD preview test channel - only available from Crystal Palace) and tells you where the signal is coming from.

So all in all very positive - loses 1 star on slightly reduced picture quality and poor remote, otherwise very satisfied!

This is a first rate bit of kit, i can't recomend it enough, does exactly what it says on the tin. It realy does record two different channels at the same time, I bought a more expensive one at first from currys, the advisor was adamant that all twin tuner pvr's will do this, They don't, so beware. its Quiet,with a visible clock, and you can save from pvr to Video/dvd recorder anything you wish to keep. Yes the remote is a little small and cluttered, but a price worth paying. Go for it

Loved this digital tuner from the moment I got it, it's in constant use recording and watching items from the libary, even my 9 year old picked it up in minutes. However for some reason unknown to me mine keeps freezing after using PIP (Picture in picture), which I hate, to stop it happening I have to turn it off at the wall, which is not possible if recording on another channel. I will ring the helpline when I get really annoyed with it, but because its so good I dont want to be parted from it so will probably put up with it. Reading over reviews no one else seems to have this problem, just me I'm so lucky with electrical items (not).
Buy it it will change the way you watch tv forever! ps I dont find the the remote too bad.

Price excellent. Ordered post free on Sunday and arrived here on the Wednesday. The machine seems very light. No scart lead provided. Design of PVR simple but attractive. Pity there was no black option though. Handbook excellent - one of the best I have seen - short, literate and in English only. Also comes with single A4 simple installation sheet. All connections made and auto tuning done in space of 30 minutes. First recording made that evening. Next evening recorded two programmes simultaneously. Picture in picture is a nice facility but not sure I'll need it. Picture and sound quality of freeview signal and recordings is fine. No freezes or glitches. OK you cannot record onto DVD but you can easily hook up a DVD recorder to the Daewoo. Remote control buttons and text a bit small but manageable. If you are into recording radio then this machine will cover that in addition t TV programmes provided the station is on freeview. One superb feature worth mentioning is the ability to use the 7 day electronic programme guide EPG to highlight and instruct recording of programmes up to seven days ahead. Really simple. EPG text is easily legible with good contrast.