Technia Smartbox 8320HD Freeview HD Recorder Review For some time we have been waiting for the 3View Freeview HD box, boasting not only Freeview+HD but also ‘home media server’ capabilities, but this hasn’t (yet) arrived. In the meantime, Tesco have put their foot on the pedal, moved in to fifth gear and pipped them to the post.
The Smartbox 8320HD is actually manufactured by IP Vision and has been snapped up by Tesco to add to their Technika range which is usually aimed at the budget end of the market. However with this device, they could be stretching their target audience a little further.
The Smartbox 8320HD boasts twin Freeview HD tuners and a 320Gb hard drive, allowing you to record two different Freeview HD (or standard definition channels) at the same time. It also offers HD upscaling, taking those standard definition channels and ‘digitally enhancing’ them to make the most of your HD TV set. You also get the usual Freeview+ features – pause, record and rewind live TV, series link, 8-day on screen EPG (TV guide) etc etc.
In addition, the Smartbox has 2 USB ports, allowing you to transfer recorded programmes from your Smartbox on to your USB pen or removable hard drive to play on your PC at a later date.
Freeview & BBC iPlayer Where the real interest lies is with the ability to view content from online on-demand and catchup-TV services such as the BBC’s iPlayer and Sky Player. The Smartbox 8320HD comes with built-in ethernet port and WiFi (unlike other Freeview boxes that have ethernet port as standard but where WiFI requires an optional adapter).