The build quality of the Thomson DTI 2300 stands out from the crowd. It is presented in a smart silver box with gold plated rear panel phono sockets and is solidly constructed. Installation was a breeze and the Thomson worked fairly well in poor signal areas.
In use the DTI 2300 produced excellent picture quality and whilst the tuner wasn’t quite as sensitive as the Humax F2FoxT, it managed to receive some channels with a very poor 38dbuV DVB-T Freeview aerial signal. Access to radio channels was more difficult with the Thomson receiver as there wasn’t a separate radio station button on the handset. However, the Thomson did receive all the digital radio channels and these could always be added to user programmable Favourite lists if required.
Guide Price: £30
Main Features
1 Technical help menu where reception problems are experienced during installation
1 Top Up TV compatible card slot - of limited use due to the changes to the Top Up TV service.
1 Support for all 4:3 picture modes and 16:9 aspect ratio screens
1 VCR Scart socket for easy recording of digital TV channels and VCR playback
1 VCR timer changes channels automatically for recording
1 UHF loop through and modulator (which can be disabled if not required)
1 8 Favourite channel lists
1 Internal mains power supply for a neater installation
1 Fast, 7 day EPG with access to digital text and interactive services
1 VHF and UHF tuner, suitable for use in mainland Europe for DTT reception
1 Low power standby (1W) conserves energy
1 Good quality Scart cable (screened pairs)
1 Handset also provides control for a Thomson TV, DVD and VCR.
The default banner timeout was rather long when changing channels and this gave the impression that the EPG was slow. The on-screen display took 5 seconds to disappear, but a “terminal” option allowed the timeout to be reduced easily. When we tried to automatically retune the Thomson box to another transmitter after first installation was completed, it seemed to have a software bug which prevented it from receiving even local DVB-T transmissions during any subsequent re-installation attempt. Fortunately, this was rectified by carrying out a full STB reset from the on-screen menu, but it left us wondering how stable the software would be during everyday use. To confirm our fears we did some digging on the web and found out that we weren’t alone in witnessing software bugs on the DTI2300.
Conclusions
There are quite a few disgruntled DTI2300 owners on various web forums complaining of system lock ups and problematic EPG operation. Overall, this left us reluctant to recommend this product. With the changes to Top Up TV, this product will probably be discontinued soon. Originally priced at £80, it has recently been on sale for as little as £30 from Comet.
