First impressions: Bush's sub-£100 DS-BD01 Blu-ray player

Andy Clough — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:18:00 GMT

Argos is the first UK retailer to offer a sub-£100 Blu-ray player, with a special offer on its Bush DS-BD01 model which is on sale for £97.86 until the end of today (December 9th).

We bought one at the weekend, and have been running it in our test rooms since. We won't publish the full review online until later this week, as we're waiting to see what the new price will be tomorrow before deciding on a final star rating, but many of you have asked if it's worth buying one today at the discount price before the offer ends.

So here are our first impressions.

A bit buggy when loading discs
Build quality is OK for the price, but nothing special. Loading a disc takes a while, and intermittently we detected a small bug: the "loading disc" message sometimes remained on the screen even when the film started playing.

The Bush doesn't handle motion particularly well, and doesn't offer all the richness and detail that Blu-ray discs can offer.

It successfully outputted Dolby TrueHD in 5.1 via HDMI when we played Dark Knight, and multichannel DTS-HD Master Audio on Wall-E.

Reasonable HD audio for the money
High-definition sound quality is reasonable for the money, with more weight and attack than Dolby Digital 5.1, but it has to be said that the Sony BDP-S350 and Panasonic DMP-BD35 deliver a weightier, punchier performance and deeper blacks.

We also found the remote slow to respond to commands, and on one occasion the player had trouble finding the scene we'd selected on Wall-E.

Simple set-up and standard spec
The set-up menus are simple and clear enough, and the spec sheet is fairly basic as you'd expect: one coaxial output, one optical out, one component video out, one HDMI and one Ethernet connection, plus one phono analogue out.

Should you buy one? Well, at this stage we'd point you in the direction of the Sony BDP-S350 which is available from Amazon for £155 with three free Blu-ray discs. Yes, it's £57 more, but in performance terms it's significantly better and you get three free discs.

We'll publish the full review of the Bush DS-BD01 online later this week, with star rating, once we know what the new price is.

Humax Freesat HD PVR - first impressions from our test rooms

Clare Newsome — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:47:00 GMT

Forget all the blather about the long overdue Guns N' Roses album, the most eagerly awaited item in AV land has been a Freesat HD PVR - the first box that enables you to watch and record free-to-air high-definition TV, without a subscription (though with the essential addition/use of a satellite dish. Oh, and of course an HD Ready or Full HD TV).

The £299 Humax Foxsat HDR finally landed in shops this weekend, and in our testing rooms, too, where it's currently undergoing a thorough review. With such keen interest in the product - the first stocks of which have already sold out - we thought we'd bring you a hands-on online preview.

First, the basics

To recap, here is the full tech spec of the Foxsat HDR from Humax:

Freesat HD and SD channel recording
320GB hard-disk drive
Simultaneous viewing of one channel and recording another channel
Record 2 channels at the same time
Receive HDTV signals (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2)
Under 1W power consumption in standby
HDMI - digital interface for perfect transmission of picture and sound
Simultaneous playing of transmissions over HDMI, Composite or Scart
Easy installation and operation
Resolution format: 1080i, 720p, 576p, 576i
DVB-S2 and DVB-S compatible
Ethernet support
Full colour high resolution electronic programme guide
Dolby digital audio output (S/PDIF)
Automatic software upgrade via satellite
Upscaling Standard Definition channels
Audio description / One touch subtitle
Dimensions (Width x Height x Depth): 380 x 55 x 252mm
Weight: 3.1kg

What does that mean in real-world terms?

Let's put some flesh on those bare tech-spec bones. Firstly, that 320GB hard drive - that's enough to hold a maximum of 80 hours of HD content or 200 hours of standard definition TV.

Then there's the connectivity: the Humax is capable of outputting at a maximum resolution of 720p/1080i via the HDMI connection, while there are also two Scart outputs, a USB input for accessing other content, and an Ethernet connection for possible future upgrades (much as the Sky+ HD box offers the same, currently dormant feature).

Finally, we're delighted to confirm that not only will the Humax Foxsat HDR allow you to enjoy live programmes broadcast with surround-sound audio, it allows you to record that Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, too. All you need is a suitable receiver/surround sound system to plug it into.

Electronic programming guide and recording options

The Humax Foxsat HDR offers the ability to pause, rewind and record Freesat channels, an 8-Day EPG, series recording, schedule trackings – the box adjusts to time changes on the schedule – and split recordings – for when programmes have a break in the middle.

There are a couple of standout features, too. Should you try to record a programme that’s available in SD and HD – such as BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing – the box will prompt you to choose, ensuring you won’t miss any HD content.

Also, should you try to record three channels at once – one too many – then the Humax will helpfully inform you of any repeat showings at other times, allowing you to record that instead.

Usability first impressions

The interface is clean and clear, and navigation is fast and intuitive – a similarly simple but effective remote control only helps matters. Pausing and rewinding live TV is easy, while setting recordings, accessing your recorded content and skipping through chapters all prove utterly painless.

However, well aware that some usability issues only become apparant once you've lived with a product for a while, we're putting the PVR through its paces for a good while before we reach our final verdict on ease-of-use.

Read our full review from next week

For more feedback - including the crucial verdict on sound and vision performance, both with SD and HD viewing and recording - our full review will be published in the January issue of What Hi-fi? Sound and Vision, which will be posted out to subscribers next week and on sale in shops by 11th December.

Who knows, the Humax Foxsat HD PVR may even be back in stock at retailers by then!

In the meantime, we'll be adding to this blog with more pictures and comments.

What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - Notes from the listening rooms

First impressions: Bush's sub-£100 DS-BD01 Blu-ray player

Humax Freesat HD PVR - first impressions from our test rooms