Competing at the budget end of the digital satellite market has never been harder, but when the BBC and ITV finally launch their Freesat scheme to complement the success of Freeview, there will be a big demand for cheap, free-to-air satellite receivers.

Topfield is the current king of satellite PVR, and we've seen some good budget receivers as well, but the TF6500 FTA is a full-frontal attack on the lower end of the market, with a price of just £65. We've always been impressed by Topfield quality, so how has this been achieved?

The receiver doesn't look obviously cheap, with the standard metal case and plastic fascia - featuring a fake flap that's firmly glued down (there are CI models in the TF6500 range). The remote's a little plasticky, but is responsive and clearly labelled.

Something's obviously missing on the back panel; there's only one Scart socket, but it does support component video, as well as RGB and composite - which is sometimes better for flat-panel LCD and plasma displays.

Digital audio output

A digital audio output is also supplied, which isn't bad, either. Most satellite receivers can support both PAL and NTSC TVS via the Scart but, unusually, the TF6500 can also supply an NTSC signal via its modulated UHF output.

The serial port can be used to upload software from Topfield's website, and edit channel lists on a PC. Software updates are also provided by satellite on Astra 1 and Hot Bird.

User menus are clearly laid out in colour scheme, and we didn't come across any confusing menu arrangements.

There's no instant setup wizard, but the Installation menu is set up as a step-by-step process. Each satellite is set up independently, with its own LNB configuration (including a selection of LNB types).

Fixed dish multi-sat users can go with up to 16 LNBs, using tone burst, DiSEqC 1.0 or 1.1 commands. Motorised users can have either plain DiSEqC 1.2 or smarter USALS mounts; there's a full range of stepped and continuous dish movement commands, although if you've got a USALS motor you should set the movement limits first in DiSEqC 1.2 mode.

There are signal strength and quality meters on all of the setup and search menus, although you can only change the reference transponder on the search, DiSEqC and USALS menus.

The automatic search can be enhanced with a Network search to look for NITs directing to other transponders outside the database.