StarHub Smart TV

By Philip Wong
Jun 19, 2006

Not all A/V boxes are made equal, digital video recorders being are no exception. While DVRs are renowned for their near-lossless digital recording, only a handful are able to capitalize on this potential with a noise-resistant digital feed. One of the first available in Singapore is StarHub's Smart TV DVR settop box. Leveraging on its digital cable network, the telco has been able to roll out a full digital recording solution that not only operates in pure bits and bytes, but also brings to the tables a suite of value-added functions.

Design
Compared with the sleek Pioneer and Panasonic DVRs, the design of the Smart TV is nothing to shout about. Featuring a boxy form factor measuring 360 x 240 x 75mm, the all-silver box has an uninspiring look and is reminiscent of the company's past offerings. On its arced front panel, you will find a strip of black acrylic running across, an LCD display, a set of LED status indicators and control buttons. The latter comprises eight squarish and tiny keys laid out in a rather unusual plus-shaped arrangement.

	A full-featured keyboard for messaging functions. (Click for larger image)

The settop box has neither cooling fan nor a highly perforated chassis to keep heat under tabs. While this approach minimizes noise leakage, the resulting high operating temperature is a concern that does not go down well in our books. In fact, our review unit ran surprisingly hot even in standby mode and this was despite efforts to ventilate the set in an open TV console with adequate cabinet clearance.

If you are a hardcore Nokia Communicator fan, you will probably not bat an eyelid over the chunky remote control. Measuring 220mm long, the pencil box-sized remote bristles with keys which are, nonetheless, well-labeled and easy on the fingers. The clamshell controller also folds open to reveal a full-featured alphanumeric keyboard designed to facilitate SMSing and emailing with a simplified text input capability.

The Smart TV's user menu is a potential love-hate affair for some, especially for techies like us. On the one hand, it displays comprehensive firmware and hardware information such as reception strength and available disk space. On the other hand, it offers very limited tweakable settings for home customization. You will get to fine-tune language and recording buffers, but not the usual A/V parameters which are customary in most--if not all--DVRs.

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