We had ntl’s TV Drive installed today. The STB is a Scientific Atlanta – Explorer 8300DVB Spec sheet (PDF). which so far hasn’t exhibited any major problems. There’s a FAQ available here which explains a lot but my personal first impression is very good.
The picture quality appears better than the standard box with less pixelation on fast moving scenes, the guide is far better with none of the infamous “Searching for programmes…” more than 6 hours into the future (I set two series to record, the latest starting next Tuesday) and the interactive menus that I’ve tried have just appeared, none of the “Please Wait…” of the old box 🙂
The STB has 4 tuners, contrary to the FAQ, but one is reserved for data with ntl leaving 3 for TV. You can record up to 2 channels while watching a third but you can’t (as yet) record 3 together. This has yet to be tested by me but I’m sure it will before too long 😉
Anyway, as I said, first impressions are good. Let’s hope I remain pleased with it 🙂