Tom Doyle :: TALK

I got a chance to have a look at another one of these so called “dodgy boxes” the other day. The latest and greatest offering from the the Starview creators is The Box Super USB.

My instant reaction when I saw it being turned on was the huge improvement in the graphics and interface. It really has come along way from the first Starview box. Additionally, with it came a USB stick, branded with The Box logo which can be inserted into the newly added USB port of The Box for backing up channel data and of course doing firmware updates.

The firmware update is a million times easier than the laborious R232 cable scenario. You simply copy the files from your computer to the USB stick, insert it in the USB port on The Box, hit menu, go to USB and select the file that you’ve just copied. It updates in seconds and no need for wires everywhere!

The Box Super offers the pause live TV and record functions that a lot of other devices are offering now. I unfortunately didn’t see this in action as the external HDD didn’t work with it for some reason. From what I’ve heard, unlike the Eurovox, it has two tuners, so you can view one channel whilst recording another.

Other than that it does all the usual stuff. Is it worth the upgrade? I would have to say yes, for sure!

Related articles

• http://www.tomdoyletalk.com/2008/07/07/how-ntl-upc-can-beat-the-starview-box/
• http://www.tomdoyletalk.com/2007/07/19/starview-2-aka-thebox/
• http://www.tomdoyletalk.com/2008/09/29/eurovox-ex5000-pvr-review/

Ever since I posted a review on The Starview / The Box this site gets at least 300 unique visits a day for starview related queries.

Since I’m no expert on the subject, I avoid answering any questions and simply leave the comments to grow as long as there is nothing illegal going on.

One question that I’ve got a lot of personal emails on recently is how to get missing channels back on The Box. Apparently Channel 4 and Sky 1 have disappeared.

So if you are looking to get these channels back, you should check out David McGettigans Blog, in particular his post on the latest channel dump for Dublin - http://www.davidmcgettigan.com/?p=169

I hope this helps all those who have been in touch!