TVonics DVR-FP250 review

Free-to-air digital TV in the UK has been promoted by the Freeview brand since 2002.

This is now being used to promote a range of Freeview hard disk recorders featuring the Freeview Playback logo. The recorders will be available from a range of manufacturers and will have to support a basic set of features. The idea is to raise the profile of these devices to compete with subscription-based systems such as Sky+.

The TVonics DVR-FP250 is the first Freeview Playback recorder we've seen. It's a rather unusual design with a curved black metal casing. It can sit horizontally or vertically in the supplied stand. There are no buttons whatsoever, so losing the remote control would be disastrous.

On the rear are two SCART sockets for connecting your TV and a video recorder if desired. There's also an RF input, as well as an RF passthrough should you wish to connect the aerial signal to another device. There are no separate audio outputs, though, so you'll need a special SCART lead with phono outputs to hook it up to your hi-fi.

Setup was completely automated, and it found all the expected channels. Television and radio channels are sensibly separated, with a button on the remote control switching between the two sets. The menu system is easy to navigate and reacts instantly to your inputs, and the remote is comfortable to use and easy to understand.

Video quality is good, and colours look natural. It certainly matches up to any of the tuners we've seen built into digital TV sets.

Unusually, the DVR-FP250 has no mute or volume control, so you can't control volume levels on the set-top box itself. However, the remote can be programmed to control your TV directly, but this means you have to press the TV button on the remote every time you adjust the volume.

The electronic programme guide is clearly laid out and easy to use. The big 250GB hard disk means you can record around 135 hours of programmes. As a Freeview Playback device, scheduled recordings will automatically move if there are schedule changes, and you can record an entire series with one command. However, not all broadcasters fully support these features.

There are twin tuners, so you can record one show while watching another. The hard disk instantly starts caching any programme when you change channels. This fills up to a two-hour buffer, so you can rewind the programme if needed. Disappointingly, you can't record one show while timeshifting another or record two shows at once. This makes it a lot less flexible than our favourite hard disk recorder, the Top Up TV DTR.

With a well-designed interface and a big hard disk the DVR-FP250 is very reasonably priced. However, its inflexible recording and timeshifting options are a major drawback and mean we can't award the DVR-FP250 top marks.