by Jennifer Kennedy

Created on: August 07, 2008   Last Updated: August 10, 2008

I decided to invest in a freeview box for my bedroom as I was sick and tired of having a fuzzy picture all the time, that and the fact that I was bored of the usual five channels.
I was`nt after anything to expensive as it was just for upstairs, so I went to Argos and choose the Clarity CDVB1 which was 29.99 and had been reduced to 14.99. (an added bonus) However the product does not come with a scart lead, but you can buy these in Argos for a few pound extra.

What's in the box?
In the box you can expect to find The CDVB1 set top box, which is black in colour, a remote control,which is also black in colour, a user guide, a quick start guide and two AAA batteries, as I mentioned earlier the scart lead is not provided with this item. The set top box is quite small and compact and can either lye flat on a surface or it can stand.

Getting started with your box
The set top box is quite easy to set up and takes approximately half an hour , the instruction manual provided gives easy step by step instructions. Sometimes you may need to upgrade your aerial according to what it says on the packaging, although this depends on what aerial you are using, in my case I had previously bought an aerial from Argos costing around 10 and this works fine, although this might be different in some cases.

Some of the channels I have now are :
ITV 2,
ITV 3,
BBC 3,
UK HISTORY,
C BEEBIES,
FILM 4,
DAVE,
E4,
Sky news,
More 4,
E4,
SKY THREE and many more,
You can send a text message to 83331 with your postcode to check that you have freeview coverage in your area or visit www.freeview.co.uk before buying this product.

One thing I have came across is that a few of the channels are locked and I have not figured out how to unlock them yet.

Some other things that you can do
Once the set top box is up and running and you have a clear picture you can then create a favourites list, change language or add parental control, also there is a 7 day tv guide, again there are step by step instructions on how to do these things.

Conclusion
For a one off payment of 14.99 I no longer have a fuzzy picture and have went from having the normal five channels to having around 40 channels, although There is certain channels that I tend to watch more often than others, so all in all I am extremely happy with this product and I am planning to get my kids one for their rooms as a christmas present. Highly recommended!

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