Durabrand: CG5660-M

Your Views

Comments (11)

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!

Alan Audley, Stafford on September 11th, 2008
Best set top box you can buy however much you pay I have bought three for different people all excellent simplicity itself to operate.

bourne87 on June 30th, 2008
whats with it just letin gme get bbc bloody channels wheni can get them for free without paying for a box!!!!!and no its not my area because in other rooms i can receive more channels!!!!!!!!!!

Marc, Cleethorpes on April 17th, 2008
Its A Good Set Top Box I Use In My bed Room And Am Only 13 The Only Faults Is The Remote Plays Up And Channels Go Missing

Robert Carnegie, Scotland on February 9th, 2008
I have two of these boxes attached to different complex TV setups. Service seems stable except for stereo sound which seems to be non-existent or erratic - I think it did work one time - once I plugged my hi-fi straight into a SCART-phono adapter into this and then into another box tuned to the same modern music TV or radio station - and it doesn't say stereo on the cardboard box, so if you want the full digital media experience, give this one a miss, I think. Or I'm just unlucky, or insane... As a second or standby box it's fine, and full EPG is adequate if your favourite box doesn't have it. (Two presses to get the full guide, which also loses audio and TV picture, and no details of programmes that you just missed!) I'll give it 3 because there are worse things than no stereo sound - unless you want stereo sound. I'm now looking for a box that says on the outside, "Stereo sound! Rarely crashes or loses channels!" Unlikely, but in these respects I've found the remaindered(?) Echostar T-101 FTA satisfactory - although it has other limitations (EPG).

Robin Bradfrod on January 4th, 2008
The set top box is fine, but the problem I have with is the single s/pdif audio output. i am not able to put the audio signal through my amplifier

Peter, Welwyn Garden City on August 24th, 2007
I used to have a Tevion set top box, which I was very happy with, but, alas, water got into it through the aerial lead and I had to replace it. I went for the Digihome DV940B from Argos, but found I could no longer get ITV & a few other channels. Having checked on the Net I realised that despite a poor signal I might get my channels back with a different freeview box. This is one of three, so far that I've tried (Asda have been very accommodating). The three were: Onn Digital STB01 - Got my channels back, though some were a bit poor. Main problem was the massive blue LED onthe front of the unit. I don't know what the designers were thinking. It's about 3 inches long and very bright. Not ideal if you want the set top box on top of your set. Alba STB8 - I was influenced by one review I saw which said the tuner was excellent. Well, not for me it wasn't. It was no better than the Digihome. Durabrand CG5660 M - this time I read lots of reviews (on this site) saying how good it was, but my reception was rubbish & once again I couldn't get ITV/Channel 4 etc at all.

Dooster, Wirral on May 28th, 2007
I must have tried at least 6 different boxes before i settled on the older Duraband. Unlike the others it just works, doesn't freeze and gives a great picture. As it's no longer available, i just bought this little beauty. Apart from missing a SCART socket, it odes exactly the same. Highly recommended.

Andrew, Milton Keynes on May 13th, 2007
I had been looking for a cheap Freeview Box for the Kitchen and wanted one that was quite small and took up little space. Saw the reviews here and went to local ASDA and picked one up for less than £20. I have an internal loft aerial (Triax) that points to Sandy Heath and distribution amp (PROreception). I attached the 5660 to the TV in the kitchen a 17inch LG LCD TV (another bargain £136) and powered it up, it went through its auto installation and found all the channels on a signal strength that looks around 60%, gives excellent picture adjusting to the TV's 4:3 format. EPG although just Now and Next has all the info just there no problem unlike my Humax Fox 2 which never seems to be able to populate its EPG properly. A Brilliant little box, and for less than £20 you cannot quibble. If you want something cheap and easy to use without loads of features I would recommend this unit without hesitation.

William, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales on March 30th, 2007
I've been toying with the idea of trying to pick up Freeview for some time, but I'm in a poor reception area. I thought that for under £20 and £4.50 for a contract aerial I'd try and pick up a signal from Wenvoe, Cardiff 30 miles and some hills away. Surprise surprise, this little box detected a digital channel, only the BBC1 group, but that was a major achievement. Next step, a high gain aerial £50 and mounting mast, signal strength not above 20% to 30% but all channels picked up, no sound loss or pixilation. Brilliant! Formalized the wiring, and punted the signal around the internal coax system, all corners worked. Researched on Digital Spy about a decent STB to go for, some branded names looked as if they were signal fussy etc., so I thought why not stick with what I know is working, so off to ASDA and buy a couple more for the other tellies. Very pleased, I have 3 TVs, 1 VCR and DVD-R all Freeviewed for £130 (all in), and in an area where it is not available. Brilliant little box, and with them all being the same remote and menus, no re-training of users between TVs :-)

Maxwell, Midlands on March 23rd, 2007
I have seen this bit of kit reviewed on this site under a different name and model number but can't remember where; it is the ASDA single SCART, rectangular beauty that stands on its side and retails for less than £20. Having spent 3 days reading every review of every bit of kit on the market, I went to ASDA yesterday and bought the cheapest they had, as I always knew I would! It looks very smart and takes up hardly any space next to the bedroom telly, matching its silver finish. It has a convenient standby/on switch with red and green LEDs on the front so you know where you are, and doubtless its vertical position aids cooling. I don't need a second SCART connector as I record from my lounge TV if I need to. Fortunately I had a spare SCART lead as one doesn't come with the machine, but ASDA sells them for about £1.75 anyway. When I began the setup procedure the box automatically selected the RGB1 channel on the telly and off it went, installing the channels in about 3 minutes. And that was it; I was viewing. The signal strength here is not particularly good, indicating only about 20-25%, but that doesn't stop the picture being excellent on all channels, with Channel 5 being better than ever. The EPG is excellent too, both in Now/Next and Extended Schedule modes, although returning to the full picture requires different button selections in each case, confusing my pea-brain. The instruction booklet is typically quirky; in the 'Getting Started' section, for example, para 1 is called Switching On, para 2 is System Setup and para 3 is Automatic Search, but the automatic search gets carried out - automatically! - in para 1. I also liked being told: 'Do not please the receiver in a position where it is exposed to moisture or water hazards'. The remote is good and comfortable to hold, albeit with rather small annotation. Overall, then, the CG5660-M is an absolute little cracker and I wonder why I wasted 3 days of detailed research before buying it. It's definitely worth a shot, particularly as ASDA are very good about exchanges/refunds.

Paul on March 22nd, 2007
It has a small footprint, comes with only 1 SCART socket (and no lead), and I'm sure is the model reviewed by MSB, Wembley on October 28th, 2006. Easy to connect, but then there will be a learning curve. On Digital, it appeared that the screen lost an inch top and bottom to accommodate a different television ratio. No problem ... when I switched off the Digibox the Analogue Television functioned as it always has done. Thus, and for example, the Breakfast Program on BBC1 can be viewed with or without the signing for the hard of hearing. Without the experience of having tried any other box, I would certainly give it ****.