DVICO TViX R-3300 set-top box

The DVICO TViX R-3300 is a competent personal video recorder and set-top box with a built-in tuner for digital and analog TV that also excels at streaming multimedia files from computers on a network. The interface is simple rather than flashy and some aspects of it are awkward. You'll need to install a hard drive to record TV, but overall the DVICO TViX R-3300 is a well-rounded product.

The DVICO TViX R-3300 has a footprint roughly the size of a DVD case (although it’s several times thicker). We prefer our home entertainment products to be as small as possible; that way they're to hide in the nooks and crannies of a disorganised home theatre setup. All necessary cables are in the box, including a 1m HDMI cord.

The satin black finish and faux-chrome plastic buttons aren’t particularly refined or high quality, but unless you’re examining it closely the DVICO TViX R-3300 looks to be reasonably stylish. Once turned on, the buttons are lit with blue LEDs and the soft backlight of the PVR's screen glows pleasantly.

The DVICO TViX R-3300’s on-screen interface is a simple one, with easy navigation to the main television, video, music and picture viewing sections. It’s not as good looking as some other media players we’ve tested, such as the TiVo HD or the Foxtel iQ, but navigating between the main functions is trouble-free.

The settings menus are slightly harder to understand, with myriad options which may catch out those unfamiliar with home entertainment tech. Our main concern was with the DVICO TViX R-3300’s electronic programming guide (EPG), however. Despite being quite well laid out, the guide was exceedingly slow to navigate and often failed to show critical information such as show names.

Television picture quality from in-built tuner is among the best we’ve seen, with consistently good reception. We couldn’t find any compression artefacts or distortion on our test recordings when we used the high quality mode. You will need to buy a 3.5in SATA hard drive to put inside the DVICO TViX R-3300 if you want to record TV broadcasts, as it does not ship with one preinstalled.

Streaming digital media from a networked Windows PC was a trouble-free process. The DVICO TViX R-3300 found our networked folders with ease, though navigating more than two folders deep proved to be impossible. If you’re a compulsive organiser and have your home movies categorised by folder, you may find this somewhat troublesome.

If you can find them on your PC, the DVICO TViX R-3300 is able to play video files in a wide range of formats, including VOB (raw DVD video), XviD and DivX.

If you can work around the limited network access and aren’t bothered by a buggy EPG, the DVICO TViX R-3300 is a capable media streamer and digital television video recorder.