Reg Hardware

Comments on: Philips sells set-top box biz to Pace

Crash and burn 

Posted Wednesday 19th December 2007 22:57 GMT

When I worked in broadcast TV, there were two set top boxes in the transmission area. At 6am, when the line switch to GMTV occurred, the Pace one would twitch, lose signal for a few seconds and then recover.

The Philips one would crash and have to be restarted.

It's no better now 

Posted Thursday 20th December 2007 09:19 GMT

the current crop of boxes are still incredibly prone to crash. It's been this way ever since the BBC told everone that a box could be bought for £40, without checking beforehand whether a stable and reliable box could be built for that little (it can't!)