Last night saw Echostar introduce their newest digital tv recorder, the Ultra Slim Box, and we were on hand to check it out!
The Freeview+ HD Ultra Slim Box offers consumers subscription free TV with access to 50 high quality digital channels plus 4 in HD (BBC One HD, The BBC HD Channel, ITV1 HD and Channel 4 HD), features include the ability to pause or rewind live TV and record a complete series at the touch of a button using Series Link.
Despite a compact form factor, the Ultra Slim Box’s feature set is uncompromised. Underneath the hood is a high capacity 500GB hard disk drive which allows up to 300 hours of recording space+, a twin tuner to ensure that consumers can watch one channel whilst recording another and an HDMI connection for crystal clear picture quality. Internet connectivity provides access to Smart TV features including catch-up TV from BBC iPlayer, on demand* content through the BoxOffice365 service and the ability to upgrade to the latest software and features online.
EchoStar has partnered with The Connected Marketplace to bring on demand services to the Ultra Slim Box platform through the BoxOffice365 service. Kids’ favourites including Thomas the Tank Engine, Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder, plus a great collection of movies from PictureBox, are all available for a monthly fee with more choices to come.
The Ultra Slim Box (HDT-610R) ships with EchoStar’s award winning user interface and a set-up wizard to ensure easy installation. Intelligent software will search for HD versions of chosen TV recordings, ensuring that consumers get the best quality programming; additional show times will even be sought out should any recordings clash. A handy trailer booking feature enables recordings to be scheduled directly from programme advertisements. Dolby® Digital Plus audio is supported for home theatre enthusiasts and an infrared sensor extension lead can be purchased and used to conveniently place the unit out of sight.
Here is a look at the Ultra Slim Box:
And here it is in the palm of my hand, it really is small, slim and lightweight.
And here is the remote control:
And it is so slim that from across a room it was difficult to make out the Ultra Slim Box against the TV stand (this picture shows it better).
I was very impressed with the Ultra Slim Box. It really is slim! It is also very quiet and even after having been running for several hours it was still pretty cool to the touch, which isn’t something you can say for a lot of other boxes.
The Echostar Ultra Slim Box will be available by the end of this month. Pricing has not yet been finalised, but expect it to be between £250 and £300, from Amazon and John Lewis. Amazon are currently showing it as a pre-order for £259.99.
I have already got my pre-order in!
