Pure are known for their music players and digital radios, well now they have entered the digital TV set-top-box market with the Pure Avalon 300R Connect, and here is our review.
Avalon 300R Connect is a high-performance, easy-to-use Freeview+ HD digital TV recorder with a unique, state-of-the-art user interface, the most advanced versions of BBC iPlayer and YouTube and full integration with Pure Connect for all the music you’ll ever want.
Watch live
Avalon brings you all the Freeview standard definition and HD TV and radio channels. While you watch you can view a full 8-day on-screen programme guide, a pop-up info bar with ‘picture in picture’ preview, and customisable channel lists. If you’re interrupted you can pause live TV or rewind for up to 2 hours to see something again. With Dolby Digital Plus and digital audio outputs, you can also enjoy amazing sound quality through a home cinema system, with up to 7.1 channels.
Record
Avalon’s large hard disk (1TB or 500GB) means you don’t need to worry about storage space. It’s easy to record a single programme or a whole series, from the 8-day on-screen guide, instantly with one-touch record or even using the Green button on a programme trailer. Dual tuners let you watch one channel and record another or record two programmes simultaneously. Avalon’s intelligent record scheduling detects clashes and will let you know if an HD version is available instead.
Watch on-demand
Connect Avalon to the internet using the built-in Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection and you can watch on-demand programmes from BBC iPlayer in standard and high quality*, browse videos from YouTube and login to access your saved favourites. More on-demand services are expected to be added soon via a free software update.
Listen on-demand
Connecting Avalon to your network lets you access Pure Connect for thousands of live internet radio stations from all around the world, play listen again programmes and podcasts. Subscribe to our Pure Music subscription service and you can stream millions of music tracks from one of the biggest cloud-based catalogues covering almost every conceivable artist and genre.
Personalise your viewing
Avalon lets you customise a number of features to make it easier, more convenient or more fun to use. Choose from a number of smooth transitions used when you change channel. Enjoy your own content by streaming pictures, music and videos from your PC, Mac or other media streaming device or plug in a USB stick or USB hard drive. Rename the four HDMI inputs to match your connected devices. Create your own personalised channel lists for quick access to your favourites.
Features
- Dual tuners – record one channel and watch another or record 2 channels simultaneously
- 1TB or 500GB hard disk models available (1TB records up to 600 hours of SD video or 250 hours of HD video)
- Freeview+ HD for free HD TV channels from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, plus up to 50 standard definition TV channels 24 radio stations
- Advanced interface with 8-day on-screen programme guide (EPG), ‘picture-in-picture’, unique channel transitions and more
- Built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet network connection for access to on-demand services
- On-demand video services from BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
- On-demand audio from Pure Connect and Pure Music subscription service
- Pause and rewind live TV for up to 2 hours
- One touch or scheduled recording of single programme or a whole series
- Play videos, music or pictures from your home network or plug in a USB storage device
- 4 HDMI inputs for games consoles, Blu-ray players and similar
- Dolby Digital Plus for immersive surround sound with up to 7.1 channels
Who are Pure?
From their website:
Pure is the world’s leading manufacturer of wireless music and internet radio systems, the number one supplier of digital radios in Europe and Australia, and the creator of the Evoke-1S, the world’s most popular and iconic digital radio. Pure leads the way in wireless music systems and cloud services with the Pure Connect portal.
Pure radios support all the broadcast standards in the DAB family used across all key markets in Europe and beyond. Designed and engineered in the UK, all of Pure’s products are manufactured with the environment in mind and at ethically audited facilities. Pure is a division of Imagination Technologies Group plc.
Specifications
Tuners: dual digital TV (Freeview HD) tuners
Frequency range: 470Mhz to 860MHz
Network connection: Wi-Fi 802.11n a/b/g, 2×2 MIMO supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, or Ethernet
Disk storage: 1TB and 500GB models available
Display resolutions: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 576p
Display formats: 4:3, 16:9
Power supply: 240V AC @ 50/60Hz, 1.2A
Power input: 12V DC (via supplied adapter)
Batteries (remote control): 2 x AAA
Media container formats: AVI, MPEG-TS, ASF, MKV, MOV, MP4, M4A, Ogg, 3gp,WAV
Video codecs: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (e.g DivX) , H-264, VC-1
Audio codecs: PCM, MP2, MP3, AAC, AC3, FLAC, Vorbis, WMA
Audio formats: Stereo, Dolby
What’s in the Box?
The box contains the Avalon 300R Connect, a manual, power supply, remote control and an HDMI cable.
A Closer Look
The power button is located on the front left of the Avalon Connect 300R:
There is a USB port on the front which is hidden under a flap on the right hand side.
There are also a number of connections on the rear of the Avalon 300R Connect:
- USB input
- RCA – LR Audio Out
- S/PDIF – 1 x optical out, 1 x coaxial out
- HDMI – 1 x out (to TV) 4 x pass-through
- Data port – Ethernet RJ-45
- Power – 12v input for external power supply
- Tuner – 1 UHR loop=through
The remote control is fairly standard and is easy to use. The buttons are well placed and I didn’t have any problems using it and it felt fine in my hand. There are also a number of shortcut buttons which are very useful and save a lot of time when navigating the menus.
Using the Avalon 300R Connect
Once you have connected an aerial to the Avalon 300R Connect, performing the initial setup is simple. You just press a couple of buttons and sit back while it scans for channels and pretty much does everything for you.
The EPG is large and clear with all the information you would expect from an EPG. You can also instant record anything straight from the EPG. My only criticism of the EPG is that there isn’t enough channels displayed at one time as a large portion of the screen is taken up with information and PIP.
You can also watch a program, whilst moving through the channel selection and viewing another channel in the PIP (Picture in Picture) window. This is a useful function.
You can select your own transitions when changing channels if you like too!
You can easily see what you have recorded, how much space is available, delete something and so on.
And viewing Scheduled recordings is very simple too – its nice to see just a list rather than the full EPG with a notification.
The menus are very clear and when you select left or right there is a slick transition.
There is an On Demand menu which gives you access to the HTML5 based versions of BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
Pure Connect enables you to connect to the Pure Music subscription service and listen to internet radio, on-demand content and podcasts. You need a subscription though, but its a nice added feature.
To see the Avalon 300R Connect in action, check out the video below:
Final Thoughts
Freeview+ HD recorders are nothing new, there are a few out there and you might think that Pure are a little late to the party. However that would be wrong! The Avalon 300R Connect isn’t just a normal Freeview+ HD recorder – it’s so much more and has a very good interface to boot. And the fact you can get a 1TB version and 4 HDMI inputs also makes it stand out from the rest.
The Avalon 300R Connect itself looks like a normal piece of AV kit – it looks a lot like a DVD player but without the DVD drawer. It’s fairly slim (considering it’s got a Wi-Fi adaptor and 1TB of storage inside, along with all the other electronics and parts). Everything you want to do to control the Avalon 300R Connect is done using the remote control.
I was happy that Pure had included an HDMI cable in the box. I know it may not sound like much but the number of devices that I have either reviewed or purchased that didn’t come with a cable is high, so well done there Pure!
There are a number of connections on the Avalon 300R Connect, pretty much everything you need. It’s great to see multiple pass-through HDMI ports as well, which will be very useful for some people.
One thing that really impressed me was the inclusion of Wi-Fi built into the Avalon 300R Connect. Normally these sorts of devices will only work on Wi-Fi if you have a dongle, most of the time which you have to buy separately, so well done for not only providing Wi-Fi out of the box, but for including it inside the device and not using a precious USB port. Oh, and did I mention the Wi-Fi works on the 5GHz range?
The initial setup of the Avalon 300R Connect was very simple and very quick. In fact this was probably the fastest setup I have seen so far.
There is also a hidden feature that most people don’t yet know about, and it’s called “stick PIP”. Basically when you see the picture in picture when scrolling through the channels you can now move the picture in picture around the screen and watch two channels at the same time. If you select ‘ok’ you then tune to the second channel. A new remote control will be introduced with a special picture in picture button and customers who do not have this remote control will be made aware of this hidden feature.
If you want to listen to your own music or look at some pictures, you only have to plug in a USB stick and that works well too!
Streaming is another feature that works very well. Any networked DLNA device on your network automatically appears in the Media section on the main menu. Depending on how well Wi-Fi works in your home you may want to connect up the Avalon 300R Connect via Ethernet if streaming is something you are going to do a lot of.
One really nice feature is recommendations. What this does is tell you if there is an HD equivalent channel when you select an SD channel. So for example, on a Saturday night, if you are going to watch Doctor Who on BBC 1, the Avalon 300R Connect will recommend you watch it on BBC HD. The same goes for recording content. This is a really great feature and means you always have the option to watch and record content at the best available quality.
And talking of quality, the Avalon 300R Connect has amazing picture quality. It even upscales SD content very well. Obviously it’s never going to be perfect, but it does an excellent job none the less.
While both BBC iPlayer and YouTube work well on the Avalon 300R Connect, it’s a little disappointing that these are the only two services offered given the large pool of possible On Demand services. Hopefully Pure will rectify this quickly.
All in all this is a fantastic box that enables you to watch, record, stream and do all sort of cool and clever things with your content with amazing picture quality. The only downsides at the moment are the lack of On Demand content and the price, but hopefully both will change soon enough.
The Pure Avalon 300R Connect 1TB retails for £349.99 and 500GB for £299.99. Our advice would be to pay the £50 extra and go for the 1TB model as it doubles your storage capability. And as usual, check around for the best deals as these prices are the suggested retail price.
I have been following the progress of the Avalon 300R and this review with images has been very helpful. Something that I have not been able to understand is why you cannot record two programs and watch another live. Now to do this, all the programs must be on the same Multiplex such as the four HD channels and I do this on my present basic twin tuner PVR’s. Why is the 300R so different?
John
The Avalon has a dual tuner so only two things can be done at one time – so either record two, or record one and watch a different one.
Some freeview PVRs like the Humax range with two tuners allow you to record two and watch a third if on the same MUX as a channel being recorded.
That’s exactly what I have been saying in my previous posts, I have a Digital Stream PVR and a Samsung PVR both with two tuners so I still cannot see why the Pure 300R cannot do this.
Perhaps they will add it on in a future software update…
If they can do that then that would be a plus, it is still a decent PVR with a lot going for it if they can add more on demand. Price has to come down a bit to compete in the present market place.
Surely you can record two and use your TV tuner to access the third programme?
The Avalon only has 2 tuners, so if you are using the Avalon to provide the TV signal to your TV you cant access a third programme. In this scenario I would use an aerial splitter to connect directly to your TV so you can bypass Avalon on those times you are already using both tuners.
I’m sorry but I just cannot understand why the 300R is so different to most twin tuner PVR’s on the market today. Once again let me explain. For example: the four HD channels are all on the same Multiplex, therefore you should be able to record two of them and watch a third live as I do at present on a twin tuner PVR. But if I was to choose a live program that was on another Multiplex then I would get a conflict and that is the norm for most twin tuner PVR’s.
Something that hasn’t been mentioned in favour of this PVR is the fact that it is a UK company and the support is here and not overseas. My experience so far in asking questions about the product has been very good.
Thanks John – I have always had a great experience when dealing with Pure and would recommend them
Hoping to get a reply from them this week regarding what their immediate plans are in adding more on demand. It is the only thing holding me back at the moment.
Let us know how you get on
Got a reply this morning regarding the on demand question. They are hoping to implement more but cannot give any dates but advised me to keep watching their web site
Thanks John – I will be meeting with them soon so will bring it up.
That would be great Andrew. They must realise that potential customers like myself are not prepared to pay the asking prices for the 500GB or 1 TB models in their existing form. When something happens either on price or ‘On Demand’ then I will make my move.
Hi Andrew, Did you have any luck with your meeting with PURE ? I did email them again but they are not giving out any information on what they are working on at the moment or what their plans are for the future.
Hi John, unfortunately nothing that I can share just yet – but watch this space!
Do you think that I can go ahead and buy with confidence in the hope that there will be additions?