Home > Consumer Reviews > Thomson Top Up TV - 160GB Freeview Digital TV Recorder - With Free Top Up TV Trial

I had been thinking about buying one of these for a while. To be honest, I had read so many poor reviews of this item that I was slightly put off. But the area where I live does not have cable, and I didn't want a satellite dish on my wall so Top-Up TV plus seemed the only choice.

The unit does make a noise. It reminds me of the noise that the old VHS video players used to make- except it's there all the time of course. The noise is not as much as you'd get from a desktop PC, but it's a similar type of noise. We got used to it- well, you have no choice really. My friend has an identical unit which he keeps in a glass fronted cabinet. The glass stops the noise completely.
As for the unit itself, it is very easy - "intuitive" to set up and it is remarkably easy to use. We do have had a couple of problems with "skipping" ( where the picture jumps) but nothing too serious. In the main things have been OK. Let's face it- It was made by Thompson,, it only cost 79 quid so what do you expect? I'd say it is a very easy piece of equipment to get the hang of, and it does change the way you watch TV. It is delightful being able to "fast forward" through the adverts.

We have had to "re-boot" this recorder on occasion, because it freezes up. Strangely, I don't get annoyed by this- I just think that the machine is "quirky". It's actually quite a fun item to own.

And now for our new friends, "Top up TV Plus". The call centre is in Scotland and I phoned them a couple of times when I was setting up the account. They are very helpful indeed. As for their program content, well it is pretty poor but you can usually find SOMETHING you'd want to watch. There are no children in our house so we didn't activate the childrens TV- thus reducing the program content by about 25% right away. Not having a mental age of 8 or nine puts you at a disadvantage too, as the comedy channel consists of old American re-runs which don't seem particularly funny. I would say that Top-up TV plus' programme content is of marginal value, and I have recently cancelled the subscription.

In particular, I'd say that the "picture box" channel- (which downloads 1 movie a day, for a price of 5 pounds per month) - just simply is NOT worth the money. All the movies are 10 or 15 years old. In fact they're the type of movie you'd find in a cancer research charity shop for 50 pence each.

So what are you left with? - A slightly noisy 160 GB hard disc recorder which is very easy to set up. HOWEVER TODAY ( 17TH MARCH 2008)I NEED TO AMEND THIS REVIEW. THE MACHINE HAS FROZEN UP OVER 20 TIMES IN THE LAST 4 DAYS AND WE CAN NOT ACCESS ANY OF OUR PREVIOUSLY RECORDED PROGRAMS. I WILL BE RETURNING THIS AS "UNFIT FOR PURPOSE". I CAN NO LONGER RECOMMEND THIS HEAP OF ATROCIOUS TATTY JUNK. SORRY BUT THERE YOU HAVE IT.

This has to be the biggest heap of junk I have ever had the misfortune to use! Firstly it will make your living room sound like there is a jumbo jet taking off in it! This I could just about deal with but the most annoying thing is it doesn't record! Out of the 10 recorings I tried to make 9 of them became corrupted and were automatically deleted (which you only find out once you check your messages). Dont be fooled by all the fixes available, I spent a week trying to get the thing to work but gave up and got my money back. This is a cheap, tacky piece of junk and the only reason I gave it one star was because that was the lowest it could go!

I purchased this to upgrade my older Thomson model DHD4000, this one had twice as much Hard Drive space so thought It was worth the upgrade.

I have since purchased a Sony RDR-HXD870 which is basically the same thing but also includes a built In DVD.
What the Sony has done is shown how poor the Thomson box is.

The Thomson box signal was always hit and miss with the picture breaking up, this is not the case with the Sony, I had always assumed I would need a new aerial, It was obviously the Thomson that had a poor tuner.
It was also slow in erasing the previous recording, and on one occasion it would not erase a previous recording its still on the hard drive.

The box is very plastic, the remote is good and looks a lot like the Sky remote.

I never had a problem with the older Thomson, my mother still has one, would I buy another one of these models, No I won't, I'm happy with the Sony I have and have also reinstalled the older Thomson in another room, I have put this one in cupboard ready for the skip.

(Updated in May 2009) We have now had one of these PVRs for nearly two years and find it essential to get the most out of Freeview digital terrestrial TV. We don't need the Top-Up-TV faclities themselves, but these can be disabled to give more space on the hard drive for free-to-air recordings.

Originally we required an aerial and installation update and, as with all PVRs, good local reception is critical so if you are not sure about this it would be advisable to consult a local TV installer. PVRs are complicated and none is immune to problems but overall we have found reliability to be good and TUTV has continued to improve the box.

Latest (April 2009) software has addressed several remaining issues and this required resetting the box. Some 6300s have also needed resetting again later as advised by the Help pages on TUTV's website.

The total recording time is up to 70 hours and the 14 day programme guide is excellent for quickly and easily setting programmes for recording. The 'series link' function allows subsequent recordings to be set automatically, and 'Chase-play' allows you to watch a current recording from an earlier position. You can watch one programme while recording another, or record two programmes while watching one from the library. Each recording is labelled with a title and a synopsis, and can be resumed from the same position. Earlier problems over reliability of fast-forward and rewind and speed of deletion of recordings have been solved by the major software upgrade, and text access is very quick indeed. There is now also the option to use the 8 day Freeview + epg with so-called 'accurate recording' but we have found the TUTV epg to be more effective. It is also a definite advantage to be able to look ahead for two weeks.

The handset is both comfortable and effective, and has the facility to work most TVs. The Thomson is now even better with the latest software and my wife and I found it particularly easy to use. I think it represents excellent value.

TUTV alternatives: The DTi6300-16 is a first generation (G1)'lozenge-shaped' box which is now available with 250GB hard drive Thomson DTi6300-25 as well as 'square-shaped' Dti6021 (G2) and other variously badged TUTV Vestel manufactured boxes (designated T845) with up to 500GB; they use similar software but, in case this might be a problem say in a bedroom, they are quieter in 'standby' because they do not employ a cooling fan.

I purchased one of these units as I thought it looked very stylish in the shop and seemed a good solid looking unit.

The first one I had started to 'crash' and I would have to pull the power lead out the back of it and then plug it back in to reset it. This happened on a few occasions. The other problem I noted was when you use the fast forward button on the remote control. The picture would fast forward on the screen and then it would freeze. Again, I would have to unplug it from the back of the unit and repeat the process.

I took it back to the shop and they replaced it with a brand new unit. Guess what? Within 24 hours of setting it all up, the same thing happened again. It freezes, the unit doesn't seem to recognise the command from the remote control despite the small red LED flashing on the unit to acknowledge that it has picked up the signal.

So, it has gone back to the shop and I have changed it for a completeley different brand which now works perfectly.

Some people on here have purchased one and they seem very happy with their unit. So, it may just have been a very large faulty batch. But once you read all of the negative reviews, I think you will find that they far outweigh the positive ones. Make up your own mind!