The Metronic Zapbox T2 Freeview HD Receiver is a little light on features, but for a bedroom or kitchen it's perfect and will sell by the dozen at under £70.

Metronic Zapbox T2 Freeview HD Box Summary

The Metronic Zapbox T2 is a straightforward Freeview HD receiver – no bells or whistles, no frills. It quite simply is a Freeview HD receiver, without other features such as internet connectivity or media playing that the other, more expensive models can perform. Currently available for under £65, this is sure to be a big seller this Christmas.

Metronic Zapbox T2 HD Freeview Receiver Best Price Comparison

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Metronic Zapbox T2 HD Freeview Features & Specifications

Physically the Zapbox looks like many other standard definition Freeview boxes – a black plastic outer, with a basic, red-on-black LCD display on the front showing the channel number you are viewing.

On the reverse, there are both scart and HDMI sockets, so even if Freeview HD isn’t in your area yet, you can still  use this box to receive standard definition Freeview and Freeview HD after it is enabled without having to buy new hardware. There are also RF in and RF out sockets, allowing you to loop-through the television signal to your TV.

Besides the standard Freeview HD tuner, considering it is a budget box, there are some nice features to this Zapbox HD receiver. Small touches such as a favourite channel list, the ability to re-order channels and a parental lock facility to prevent children from accessing the less-desirable channels on Freeview are welcome additions to this box which will find its way in to many thousand bedrooms across the UK.

Overall this appears to be a fantastic value way to get on the Freeview HD bandwagon. It may not have the features of the Humax or the Smartbox, but at under £65, this is a perfect box for the bedroom, kitchen or even living room.

Metronic Zapbox DVB-T2 Freeview HD Box User Guide & Instruction Manual

If you would like to see more about this box before buying, you can download the User Manual here:-

Metronic Zapbox Freeview HD T2 User Manual & Instruction Guide

Metronic Zapbox T2 Freeview HD Box Price Comparison

Goodmans GDB300HD Freeview HD Receiver - the first Freeview HD set top box under £50

The Goodmans GDB300HD is an entry-level Freeview HD set top box. It’s fair to say that it will never compete with the likes of the Humax HD receivers in terms of functionality or build-quality, and neither does it claim to. However what it lacks in these areas, it more than makes up for in value.

At the time of writing, Comet are selling this model for under £50 – that makes it the first sub-£50 Freeview HD receiver that we are aware of.

For most people, this model will be ideal. It’s a Freeview HD Receiver, not a Freeview+HD Recorder, so doesn’t have any of the pause, rewind & record live television features that you get with a recording device. But what it does do is add High Definition Freeview channels to your HD ready TV.

At this price, we wouldn’t be surprised to find people who were looking for a standard definition Freeview box for a bedroom or kitchen, to make this their first Freeview HD purchase, even if Freeview HD isn’t available in their area until next year.

Goodmans GDB300HD Freeview HD Receiver Best Price

Our price comparison engine automatically checks prices from leading stockists such as Comet, Amazon, Tesco, Dixons, Currys on a daily basis to ensure you can buy this model at the best possible price.

Tesco's entry-level Freeview HD Box does exactly what it is designed to do - receive Freeview HD channels - and is priced at just £100 to compete with the Bush DVB680

Technika STBDIS2010 Freeview HD Set Top Box Summary

Alongside the Smartbox 83200HD, Tesco have launched this budget Freeview HD set top box – the Technika STBHDIS2010. Available for just £100, both instore and available to reserve online, it is surely aimed to rival the entry-level Bush DVB680 which is now available for £99.99.

Best Price: Technika STBHDIS2010 Freeview HD Box

Technika STBHDIS2010 Freeview HD Receiver Review

While you shouldn’t judge a product by its name, I hope Tesco have put more effort in to creating a reliable, easy to use Freeview box than they have with the name – it hardly rolls off the tongue and scores 0 out of 5 for creativity.  STB – set top box, HD – high def, IS – well, maybe internet services, internet streaming – who knows, 2010 – the year it was launched. Put them all together and you get STBHDIS2010 – whoever at tesco looked at that and thought – “I know, that’ll be a great model name” should be thinking of getting a new job very soon.

That aside, you can’t really call this box anything but no-frills. It doesn’t have any of he features of the IceCrypt or the Technika Smartbox 8320HD, but it should do a good job of what most people buy it for – receiving BBC and ITV HD via Freeview HD.

It doesn’t have a built in hard drive so will not record programmes, but it does have a 7 day Electronic Programme Guide, 2 scart sockets, 1 HDMI socket (although no HDMI cable is included in the box) and is simple to set up.

This model is probably aimed to be in your kitchen or bedroom and for £100 you can’t go wrong.

Technika STBHDIS2010 Price Comparison

Our price comparison tool regularly checks stocks and finds the best price to buy this Technika STBHDIS2010 Freeview HD Box. However, as it is only sold in Tesco, it will always be the best price to pay!

Bush's first entrant to the Freeview HD market undercuts the comparable model from Humax by some £70 - almost half price.

Bush’s first entrant to the Freeview HD market undercuts the comparable model from Humax by some £70 – almost half price. However, with such a low price tag, don’t expect to the get bells and whistles and upgrade capabilities of devices like the Humax.

Bush DVB680 Freeview HD Box Cheapest Price

Bush DVB680 Freeview HD Box Review

Bush have launched this DVB680 HD Freeview box with an RRP price of £149.99, however it seems the price has come down even before it was released. The Bush brand is perhaps more commonly known for entry-level electronics and at first sight this appears to fit the bill. Not quite as visually appealing as the Humax Fox-HD T2, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a standard definition Freeview box. However, many people will argue that as long as the box does its job and outputs high definition pictures from the Freeview platform, looks are irrelevant – and to a point, we are inclined to agree.

This model comes with both scart and HDMI outputs, however why you would want to use the scart is a mystery as you would lose the benefit of HD. Maybe Bush are thinking that in time, all of the older standard definition Freeview boxes will be phased out, and even people without HD ready TVs will buy these set top boxes to use for the standard definition channels. Interestingly, neither scart or HDMI leads are included, so make sure to buy a cable at the same time.

Fairly standard is the 7 day electronic programme guide, subtitles and ‘now and next’ programme information. However, less standard is the inclusion of an network/ethernet port. There are no details as to why this has been included at present, however it could be used in future to allow internet connectivity and BBC iPlayer functionality as you can now get on the Freesat boxes.

Finally, it’s nice to see that manufacturers are considering the cost of leaving electrical items in standby mode. This unit uses 12 watts of power when being used, and under 2 watts in standby.

Bush DVB680 HD Freeview Box Specification

• Freeview HD receiver (not recorder)
• Single Freeview HD (DVB-T2) tuner
• 7 day EPG & ‘Now and next’ programme information
• Scart and HDMI sokcets (leads not included)
• Upscaling to 1080p
• Network/ethernet port
• 12 watts power in use, 2 watts in standby mode.
• Dimensions: Height 40mm, Width 170mm, Depth 295mm
• Weight 0.9kg

Bush DVB680 Freeview HD Box Price Comparison