Ferguson: FDT600

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Comments (9)

Eric, Perthshire on November 19th, 2005
I was very disappointed with the performance of this box. It seems very slow and I occasionally get a blank tv screen for a few seconds for no apparent reason. Also the 'up/down' programme buttons no longer just move one channel at a time and the 'down' button leaps to Progamme 1 (BBC1). The picture itself is good enough but BBC4, E4+1 and ITV3 are not functioning. I miss not having a button on the remote with which you can go back to the last programme you were watching (while the ads are on!). I would not recommend this to anyone looking for a Freeview box.

Graham, Hertfordshire on December 12th, 2005
Previoulsy tried 2 different Phillips boxes. Both very unreliable, full of bugs and so got a refund. Only recently purchsed the Ferguson but played with the box all weekend and so far so good. Picture quality very good, menus very good and easy to use. Would have liked a 'Favorites' button on the remote to make it quicker to find programmes. Best of all the timer will automatically switch on my DVD recorder so I don't have to programme the box and DVD. Not many low to medium priced boxes have this very useful. The timer also allows up to 10 programmes to be stored - great for when you are away for a long time.

Stephen, Sheffield on March 10th, 2006
Well having looked at all the available boxes at Dixons, and I really wanted to get one with a HDD inside as I used to have Sky +, but have moved house and can't get a dish to planning regs. Anyway, this box is attractive to look at as it matched my Panasonic DVD Recorder & Panasonic Surround DVD player system. The picture quality suprised me, it is so much better than I thought it would be. The picture in the program planner guide is a nice touch, but then there are some things I really don't like. First off, the remote is horrible, it doesn't even look as though it's made by the same company to go with this box, it even has a couple of buttons on the controller that don't even do anything and don't even have labels on it ! It certainly comes under the catagory of TOTALLY generic. Next the times for the menus to load up and for some channels it either doesn't show the info for the planner or if it does it's very wrong, usually C4 is wrong most of the time on the planner (I rely on the radio times website as it's far more acurate). Yes I have had the occasional blank screen for a moment but I think it's when it's just lost the signal slightly, happened loads with Sky but that was useless on a cloudy day ! and u get the best channels off sky on freeview anyway ! But I would say that considering the VERY small cost of the box, it's already payed for itself for the hours of extra entertainment. I may well have to see if there are other decent Ferguson products out there !

Paul, Glasgow on July 2nd, 2006
A very disappointing product, and very much designed down to a price. The remote, as Stephen from Sheffield says, looks like a generic model: very plasticky, the navigation keys are fiddly, markings are poor, it can't be trained for the various TV manufacturers, and even the volume +/- on the remote isn't recognised by a Ferguson TV, assuming the control functions at all. The manual even says, "buttons on the remote control which are not listed in this manual have no function for this model." That's just pathetic. I get my signal from Black Hill (Central Scotland) and the Ferguson couldn't get anything at all from Mux D. Picture quality on the channels it does receive is quite acceptable. You get what you pay for. It's going back for a refund.

Gonash, Befordshire on August 7th, 2006
These comments have led me very confused, so far I can tell the remote is rubbish, however I will be watching the screen not the remote, thus the remote is not a problem. Load time, if I'm watching tv then I have all the time in the world anyway. Blank screens due to bad reception yep, im sure recpetion is a problem for all boxes. However it looks good and picture quality is good. Considering someone that used to have sky+ s saying it is a good box it cant be rubbish or need a refund. I have also found that this site is full of bad comments for every freeview box. very misleading. I will be purchesing this box and will reply with a proper comment

Gonash on August 10th, 2006
I have the box it is up and working and I am very pleased. It finds all the channels in about 1-2 mins, good picture quality, gets all the channels, good epg, for which is all correct. Easy set up. looks good, smaller than expected, doesnt get too hot. all in all a very good box. ok so the remote isnt top-quality nor does it match the box, but it does fit the hand nicely. I reccomend this box to anyone.

Pilkers, London on November 15th, 2006
Collected from Curry Digital today to try out at home as they could not demonstrate any of their Freeview receivers in the shop. I have never seen Freeview before so I don't know how the Ferguson compares with others. I cannot find a quick reliable way of turning subtitles off. How do you get rid of the annoying "Press (i)" message in top right corner during BBC news? I agree the remote control is nasty. Is there no way of training it to adjust sound volume and mute sound on my Sony TV? No mains switch to eliminate standby power consumption. What alterntive Freeview sets should I look at?

Nick, Edinburgh on January 8th, 2007
This product spontaneously died a few days out of warranty. Support from Ferguson/Thomson is shocking. Buy something else.

Oliver, S.E. England on December 22nd, 2007
Bought the Ferguson FDT500 in Dec 2004 from currys, not only it has worked without any problem since installation, but it is still working today. I returned the remote a few months later and I got a new one. I don't know about the 600. Have no problem of any sort and all channels available are working. I am visiting this site trying to find out about the latest ferguson boxes as I want to buy a 2nd box but I won't trust any bad comment.