Easiest to use set top boxes

Most likely, first thing you’ll do is decide how to get a digital signal into your home – see going digital . Here we have ordered our recommendations for set top boxes by those different options.

Bear in mind, though, you may not actually be able to specify what box you want with satellite or cable.

Through an aerial
If you are after an easy to use set top box, start by looking at TVonics products. Their own brand and Logik boxes keep topping our terestral STB ease of use scores. There's the Logik LDR V2, costing £49.99, the Logik LDR V3, £39.93 and the TVonics MDR-300, £79.99. All were intuitive and simple to use and their remote controls were well laid out, though the V2’s was small. You can get a larger, universal remote for an extra £14.99 from TVonics – see links. None of these boxes offered a favourite channels option, but you could hide unwanted channels. They had some extra features. They could handle audio description – see audio description and could be connected up through the aerial socket of a TV with no SCART socket – see connecting up. All three have the ‘digital tick’ and are amoing the lowest power users of set top boxes we have tested so far. The V2 has the Energy Saving Recommended logo.

The Humax F2-FOX T, £65.99, was fairly easy to use and had a good range of straightforward features. It had a versatile TV guide, though it lacked some prompts and accessing the different favourite lists was fiddly. It also could be connected up to a TV with no SCART socket – see connecting up - and has the 'digital tick'.

By a satellite dish
If you go for FreeSat from Sky or a Sky satellite subscription service, an authorised engineer will install the satellite dish and digital box, configure the remote control to operate that and your TV and connect to a phone line for the subscription service. Sky supply boxes by different manufacturers. We have tested the Sky Amstrad DRX550. In the Sky mould, it’s a complex and versatile product, made simple to use by a well laid-out remote control and intuitive TV guide and on-screen menu. It could handle audio description and could be used with a TV with no SCART socket, but used a lot of power in standby and in use. Check deals and services with Sky – see contacts.

By cable or phone line
If you plan to subscribe to cable or the telephone-based system, Virgin Media and Tiscali products we tested got similar overall scores to each other. They all had good points and some niggles. Check out our summaries for their performance and check subscription deals and services with the companies – see contacts.

For test reports on products that are no longer manufactured see discontinued products.

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