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PVR

The T2400 is the first product we've seen from Icecrypt, a UK-based company that sources its PVRs from Korea. As you'd expect from a modern Freeview PVR, it has two DVB-T2 tuners for watching the full range of Freeview broadcasts, including the four HD channels.
Although it's no looker, the T2400 has a useful click wheel on the front which allows you to navigate through menus and change channels if you accidentally lose the remote. To the right of this is a display which shows the current channel and other information and, hidden behind a flap is a USB port and a blanking plate for what would be a TopUP TV slot.
To the rear are two Scart ports, an HDMI output, another USB port, a network socket, stereo phono audio out and an optical S/PDIF. The latter, plus the HDMI output can now output Dolby Digital surround sound thanks to the latest firmware update which enables transcoding from HE-AAC.
There's no fan, so the only noise you'll hear is a faint whir when the hard disk is running. Installation is simple, although the channel search takes a little longer than other PVRs we've tested. Once that's complete, you'll find the interface is straightforward and easy to use.
Unfortunately, the EPG isn't a strong point. There's a video/audio preview, but the actual programme guide is crammed into a quarter of the screen. It shows only five channels but you can set whether to view one, two or three hours' worth of programmes in the space. You can search by keyword, but not by genre.
When watching live TV, you can pause and rewind as normal, but there's a configurable skip time so you can jump past adverts, for example with just two button presses. This also works when watching recorded programmes. Oddly, you can't pause live radio, and there's no option to save what's in the time-shift buffer if you decide you want to record the programme you just watched.
You can watch a third channel while recording two other programmes, as long as the third is broadcast on the same multiplex as one of the two being recorded. Alternatively, it's possible to watch a recorded show while both tuners are recording.
The T2400's network capabilities are unlike any other PVR we've seen. Once connected to your LAN, you can establish an FTP connection to the box and view the media partition of the hard disk (you can choose how much space is allocated to media versus TV programme recordings). You can then transfer files to and from the T2400, but you can't see the partition containing the TV shows.
If you connect a FAT32-formatted USB device to either USB port on the box you can play multimedia files directly, or copy standard definition TV recordings off the internal hard disk. It isn't possible to copy HD programmes, sadly. As well as JPEG photos and MP3 audio tracks, we were able to play most files with .avi, .mkv and .divx extensions. Oddly, it isn't possible to stream media via the network.
The biggest drawback, compared to the similarly priced Humax HDR-FOX T2, is the lack of internet services such as BBC iPlayer. The T2 may have only a 500GB hard disk, but it supports DLNA media streaming so you don't need content to be stored locally. Factor in its better EPG, remote and interface and it's a much better choice.

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