What Hi-Fi? Verdict
For just £100 this Sagem PVR provides a decent level of all-round performance
Pros
- +
Low price
- +
decent capacity
- +
solid picture performance
- +
faithful recordings
Cons
- -
Some noise at times
- -
fussy, uninspiring menus
- -
drive sound can annoy
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
This Sagem Freeview PVR offers a decent 160 gigabytes of storage space for just £100. And that makes it the best-value device – storage-per-pound – we've seen.
So, a solid value base on which to build; but does the Sagem have what it takes elsewhere?
There's no HDMI output, so you'll be looking at component or Scart (there are two of these) to connect to your TV. Elsewhere there are digital optical and digital coaxial outputs, plus an RCA phono connection for audio.
We're impressed by the DTR64160T in action. There are some hints of noise and not quite the level of subtlety you'll get from the best TVs around, but the colour balance is natural, and there are decent levels of detail and smooth enough motion.
Provided you haven't got a TV with a class-leading tuner – the excellent Panasonics come to mind – this will upgrade picture performance.
Sagem gets the basics right
On to the PVR aspect of the Sagem and this box has Freeview+ certification, so you can expect a number of features as standard: pause/rewind live TV, series record, eight-day EPG and twin tuners allowing you to record two channels at once.
The menus on the box are a little stuffy and could be clearer, while controls are just a fraction sluggish to respond, but by and large usability is intuitive.
Recordings prove faithful, and whether setting timer records, recording a series or recording on the fly, it's simple to operate.
Our box did make a fair bit of noise in use, fidgeting away at a volume slightly too loud to ignore in quiet moments, but if you're looking to upgrade an average tuner on your TV and add PVR functionality, then for £100 it's hard to be too tough on this Sagem.
