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Thomas Haring
TELE-satellite
Test Center
Austria
56
TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine
— 04-05/2012
— www.TELE-satellite.com
Very sophisticated and well-conceived
receiver targeted to both average users and
reception pros.
Perfectly suited to all current and future HDTV
offerings thanks to 1080p video output.
Brilliant ease-of-use with logical user inter-
face.
Even though two tuners are available it is not possible to
record two events at the same time.
Expert Opinion
cast, and for the informa-
tion hunters and collectors
among you the latest news
are downloaded from RSS
feeds.
The impressive range of
features of the AMIKO STHD-
8820 CICXE PVR is complet-
ed by three integrated video
games (Snake, Tetris, Othel-
lo) which can spice up seem-
ingly unending commercial
breaks. The box’s firmware
can be updated by using a
USB storage medium, with
the RS232 interface on the
back panel or – even more
conveniently – directly over
the Internet.
Apart from revised firm-
ware versions the manufac-
turer also offers new chan-
nel and transponder lists for
download from time to time.
Your personal channel list
can also be backed up on
an external storage medium
and can later be restored to
your receiver or transferred
to any other AMIKO receiv-
er. Electronics dealers will
love that feature as it allows
to them to provide current
channel lists to their cus-
tomers at any time.
Environmental
aware-
ness has become one of the
catchwords of our times, and
AMIKO has focussed on the
environmental impact of its
products as well. In stand-
by mode the AMIKO STHD-
8820 CICXE PVR consumers
less than 0.5W, even though
this means the front dis-
play stays completely dark
and does not even show the
time. In addition, the receiv-
er takes some moments to
power up from deep stand-
by.
If you expect your set-top
box to be up and running in
a blink, you may select ‘Fake
Standby’ in the menu, which
does not save energy, but
keeps the receiver alert for
any commands you might
throw at it. In case you can’t
live without the current
time on the front display but
still want all other functions
in standby this can also be
adjusted in the main menu,
even though the standby
power consumption will
then increase to 2W.
The AMIKO STHD-8820
CICXE PVR sports all fea-
tures we have come to ex-
pect from a modern receiv-
er. Thanks to its two tuners
it is capable of processing
all DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-
T channels available where
you live. What’s more, this
receiver is capable of find-
ing out the antenna configu-
ration all on its own, which
adds even more fun when
using it. Both tuners have a
very low threshold, so you
can be sure not to miss a
single channel and to get
the max out of your antenna
equipment.