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Netgem i-Player
Price: £129

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 11/07/2003
Featured in magazine:
Issue 51, page 48
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Netgem
Web Address: www.netgem.com


From Freeview to BBC3, you can't have failed to notice the push digital TV has been given. But there can be more to your set-top box than a red button and a bunch of niche channels – why not go the whole hog and connect it to the internet as well? Netgem's i-Player is ready to sit under your TV, supply you with all the free channels your aerial can provide and link your goggle box to Google.

As you'd expect from a digital set-top box, you can get all of the channels available from the BBC's Freeview system, which requires nothing more than this box and your existing aerial. This includes all the free-to-view digital channels, including the likes of the new BBC3, along with the BBC's digital radio channels. The i-Player is also an internet box and provides you with a number of specially constructed 'interactive channels', access to the wider internet as a whole, and an email address (you@mailbox.tv) with the means to send and receive messages.

Setting up the device is easy, as long as you don't already have a lot of devices sitting underneath your television. Once you're all plugged in, turn the box on and it will set itself up, finding all the channels for you. Channels are then simple to browse and you can get programme information at your fingertips. The internet and email sections are also organised as individual channels, so are as simple to connect to and use as the TV itself.

It's no great surprise, but the digital TV performance of this device is fantastic, while the internet option is not quite so impressive. The email function is fine, though if you're likely to use it a lot, it will probably be worth investing in the wireless keyboard for an extra £30. Web browsing is a full-screen affair, so you have to keep pressing the Back button to type in a new web address. It fairs surprisingly well with any site programmed to display in a 640 x 480 pixel screen and the choice of font is excellent, producing clear and crisp web pages. The downside is that it can't handle advanced web technologies such as some types of streaming audio and video (those used by the BBC, for example) or plug-ins like Flash. A number of channels have been set aside as a kind of directory though, with links to sites and shops geared up for viewing over a TV, listed in categories such as music, entertainment and education. This is a little like a 'walled-garden' approach to the internet but is a useful way of browsing for content you know will be displayed properly.

Walk out of the shop with one of these under your arm and you can be up and running as soon as you get home – there's no subscription to pay or connection lines to call. Standard digital boxes cost around £99, so you're paying an extra £50 to get the internet access. Internet calls are charged to your phone bill at a local rate.

Update
Netgem tell us that you can now connect your TV to your ADSL broadband service with the addition of a compatbile USB device. See Netgem's website for more information.

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