The Eurovox EX8000 HD+ from a newcomer to satellite is compatible with digital terrestrial (DVB-T), and both variants of digital satellite (DVB-S and DVB-S2 for HD).

It's PVR-upgradable if you've an external USB hard drive to hand, and supports playback of some multimedia file types.

For pay-TV services it boasts a card reader for use with firmwares that can emulate CAMs, plus two CI slots for any hardware CAMs you might have.

But the PVR upgradability is scuppered by the lack of independent tuners; you can't record a DTT channel while viewing a satellite one, or vice versa. Eurovox is working on this.

Construction

It's smart-looking, with a glossy front reminiscent of some Samsung products. A couple of prominent control discs are provided for menu control – these will also adjust volume and step through channels.

We're impressed with the 12-character fluorescent display with channel name, basic menu information, various status icons and a standby clock. But it can't be dimmed or extinguished; the 'front display setting' options menu described in the manual was not present in our review model's firmware.

The right-hand section of the front panel hides a convenient USB terminal, the CI slots and a single card-reader (you can be forgiven for believing that there are two, but the lower slot is sealed off ).

Rear panel

The rear panel is a cornucopia of connectivity. Both the satellite and terrestrial tuner have a loopthrough output as well as an input, although the EX8000 lacks the UHF modulator of the Technomate TM6900 HD Combo Super – to which this receiver is otherwise similar. You also get VCR and (RGB-compatible) Scarts, composite and S-video outputs. For hi-def video we're served by both component and HDMI.

These will go from 576i (standard def, interlaced) to 1080i. If you have a DVD recorder you can have the RGB Scart output active at the same time as the HDMI port, even if the latter is in hi-def mode. Note that component and RGB Scart are not allowed simultaneously.

Next we have eSATA and USB ports for external storage devices and PVR use, plus an Ethernet port that has yet to be harnessed. The final connections are a RS232 serial port, analogue stereo and optical digital audio outputs.

Simple setup

The EX8000 is easy to install. The installation menu's 'dish setting' option allows you to specify the satellites you can receive. For each, DiSEqC – 1.0/1.1 or motorised (1.2 or USALS) – can be turned on or off . If you've specified the latter then a further motorised setting menu is available.

From here, you can move the dish continuously or in steps, change satellite/transponder or save position. You can initiate a basic auto-scan from the dish-setting menu, but more options are available from the installation menu's associated 'channel-search' option.

The searching options featured include full auto-scan, manual-scan of a single transponder, PID scan or blind search. For each mode you can tell the EX8000 if you're after free-to-air and/or encrypted channels. As searching proceeds the found channels are listed against the background of a skyscape with cutesy animated-dish icon.

Multiple satellite searches can also be conducted, the birds you're after being selected from a list. For DTT channels the tuner is treated as a 'satellite' and when you choose this one in the channel search menu it changes to the relevant parameters (search the entire band or a single multiplex, bandwidth and so on).

System management

Other menus look after conditional access hardware, channel management (deleting, moving or renaming channels plus favourites lists) and system (parental locks, AV output, Ethernet and for some odd reason manual timer programming).