Amstrad: DRX-280

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Comments (16)

What are your views on this product? Tell other Digital Spy users what the strengths and weaknesses are, and don't forget to include your rating out of five!

Bart, Nottingham on August 17th, 2006
Noise from Fan like an aeroplane, slow at changing channels, over heats all the time

Tony, Wales on August 31st, 2006
Oh dear, another product by amstrad following the same pattern as it predecessors. The one thing you you will become accustomed to with this product is the freezing image it leaves during recording and the fact that no matter how many epg software variants sky sends it will always have problems. Trust me I'm an engineer.

Roland, Romsey, Hampshire on September 7th, 2006
I have had three new boxes in nine months and problems include failed and lost recordings, Picture breaking up, Locked out of the planner, Noisy boxes and sound problems. I have asked Sky for a new box from another manufacturer but without success. I am seriously thinking about buying myself a box from another manufacturer but the latest box has been an improvement.

Chris Fearn, Earth on September 13th, 2006
Lasted 21 days before 2nd input tuner packed up. Sluggish operational response. Vertical lines visible on playback. Occasional sound drop out. Froze when asked to do too much too quickly. Very quiet when operating.

Will Griffiths, Wales on September 22nd, 2006
Ghastly because of all the air vents. It crashes and overheats all the time. Seems silly when Pace can make a box with no top air vents and never overheats and Amstrad put more air vents. So many in fact it looks like a winkled box and it STILL overheats!

David, Welwyn on December 21st, 2006
Recording dropouts on picture and sound (about one in three recordings ruined by this), noisy fan, not as responsive as previous Pace, slow-motion only freezes on every few frames (Pace worked on each one). Generally I hate this Amstrad and have done since the day it came out of the box ( a refurb replacement for the Pace that froze up after about two years of working perfectly).

N, Hants on January 31st, 2007
No Problems, v.quiet, perfect picture, perfect recordings, a bit sluggish when cycling favorite channels.

John Smith, Edinburgh on March 12th, 2007
Very Good and so far extremely relable box. As good as the Pace PVR3 it replaced, (Pace packed in after 14 months).

Colin, Bucks on March 13th, 2007
Great product. Excellent picture, fast response, absolutely silent in operation, no failed recordings.

Hassan, London on June 2nd, 2007
A more impressive product than expected. Whisper quiet operation. A bit slow when it comes to channel changing.

Rich, Leeds on June 4th, 2007
After a self install of this PVR3, I can't understand what all the fuss is about. Works a treat, hammered it all weekend with recordings and no problems at all with recording or playback. Anytime is in the menu, so no issues there, just waiting for content to be downloaded. Hard drive can be heard when recording, but no louder than the average laptop HD, only audible when TV is switched off!

Marcus, Cornwall on July 26th, 2007
My first sky plus box has just been replaced due to picture and sound problems. The amstrad box certainly looks better, but seems very hot and there is an annoying high pitched electrical hum, which I can't tell if it is the HD or power supply, time will tell.

Paul, Cheshire on November 28th, 2007
Had this box fitted 5 days ago to replace a Pace PVR1 that has been moved to another room. Had problems from day one. Sky+ features took 2 days to finally work then I couldn't access sports or movies saying wrong card fitted. Yesterday the Sky+ functions stopped working, had to turn it off at the wall and rebuild the HDD. Picture froze today. Will be calling sky tomorrow (more cost to me)to demand a replacement!

Geoff, Hexham on March 29th, 2008
Only had this device for a couple of days and while all the functions seem OK I don't like the heat coming off it, or the pungent smell of overheating capacitors, which causes me to gasp when I enter my living room. I see that there is a cooling fan in the back, I keep looking but so far I don't think it has kicked in, unless it only needs to work during recording or playback. Other forums reckon that the smell will fade away after a week or so. I sincerely hope so; may be in the interval I should buy a gasmask! Have any other readers experience of this?

Andy Miles, Bournemouth on March 29th, 2008
What appears to be a software problem won't sort by all normal means!!!! I've used a lot of net methods without success. It's not right that if I was on cable equipment it's replaced foc, whereas use the yank Murdoch's stuff you have to pay

Tee Eff, Walsall on June 10th, 2008
DO NOT BUY O OF THESE AMSTRAD BOXES!!! Ihave had 3 since Friday (now Tuesday) and al are faulty Faults include: A high pitched whistle, incorrectly spelt text (VIEWAD not viewed), 4 second loss when pausing live TV, loss of sound when playing back recorded TV, burning smell, hot unit, 10 second loss of sound when playing recorded TV, big delay when uising remote etc etc. I must have been on the phone to Sky for at least 5 hours since Friday .... ALL AT MY EXPENSE!!!! Will be using the 30 DAY COOLING OFF period if net box is faulty again. AVOID THIS AMSTRAD JUNK!!!!