Second review of the Netgem i-Player – posted 26/11/03 by Barry Flynn

Almost a year to the day after my first review of the Internet-enabled Netgem i-Player, a new one has landed on my desk with enhanced software. The attraction of this new package is partly the price: for a recommended cost of £129.99, the keyboard is now thrown in for free (Reviewer's Note: as of March 2005, price down to around £100). Considering it was launched in November 2002 at £149.99 (and that didn't cover the keyboard), this is a pretty hefty price-drop.

But the software is also billed as a major attraction, allowing a number of new functions. For instance, you can now:

• Filter TV channels to create a personal favourites list
• Enter your own ISP parameters for Internet access
• Use you existing email address
• Connect to a home network and share a broadband ADSL connection via a USB-Ethernet adapter.

My initial attempts to set up the box proved problematic, however. What I didn't know was that my review box had already been used in a part of the UK where the Freeview frequencies were different to those in my area. Thus it didn't attempt to auto-scan on startup, and all I got was the menu overlays without any pictures behind them. After some fruitless fiddling around, I decided to phone the helpline number on the back of the manual. Problem Number 1: the phone number had changed, although there was a message giving the new one (what does that say about how recently the manual was updated?). Problem Number 2: the helpline was swamped (at least, that was what the automated voice system told me). This didn't exactly inspire confidence: either i-Player owners were ringing in with lots of problems, or there weren't enough staff in the help centre. I hung on for five minutes, but rang off after it suddenly occurred to me to try a channel rescan. That solved the problem.

It's true this isn't a fault that many i-Player owners would encounter unless they moved house, but it would surely not be too difficult to engineer a software routine that looked at the signal level when the box was powered up, and if it was zero, offered the user the option of a rescan.

Anyway: putting the box through its paces demonstrated a bright, clear picture, whose aspect ratio was automatically adjusted, and a volume control that actually worked (many boxes I have tested in the past have conflicted with my TV's widescreen settings, and - just as often - their remotes have failed to influence the volume). So full points on that score.

Also, no problems with the Web access feature. I dialled up this website just to check it could cope both with the use of frames, and the fact that there is lots of text-heavy listings info on it, and the browser performed commendably. The text was easily legible on screen.

Off to BBC News 24 to test the other interactive features - i.e. the MHEG ones. Here I ran into Problem Number 3: although the box displayed the BBC's interactive 'bridge' screen as soon as I press the red button, it balked at the multiscreen feature (according to which you can choose from one of two different news stories), putting up the following error message: "Sorry, your box does not support the News Multiscreen service. Please press text to exit to BBC News 24."

Perhaps the box wasn't carrying the latest MHEG software? I opened up the menu screen and navigated to the software updates section. 'Yes', it said, 'there is a new software update available for you. But it will take about 20 minutes to download.' It turned out, of course, that the reason for such a hefty download was that the update in question was the one which offers all the new features listed above! Again, it seems to me the interface should be more pro-active: if a software update is available, it should tell you so immediately, not wait for you to hunt around for it.

The new features worked fine, although it's worth pointing out that this is not an over-the-air download - so you tie up your phone-line for 20 minutes. In any event, it proved an easy matter to set up your own email and Internet parameters (although I elected not to try the broadband option). Unfortunately, however, the software upgrade failed to solve the BBC News 24 issue. Just to make sure, I powered the box on and off again, and tried to a access the multiscreen application again. This time, it crashed the box...

Verdict: There is no doubt that the i-Player is a much more flexible beast than it was a year ago, with all its various connectors, the new software can make it act as a mini home-hub if you want it to. With a broadband connection, it even offers the possibility of watching streamed video on your main TV receiver. No other device currently matches it for connectivity, which makes the £129 price-tag entirely justifiable, in my view.

But if Netgem really wants to maintain its reputation as a manufacturer of premium Freeview product (it already has the cachet of a deal with BT and the fact that the i-Player is to be used in a forthcoming e-government trial by the London Borough of Hillingdon), it also needs to offer premium customer service. Out-of-date manuals and under-staffed call-centres are simply not good enough. And as for MHEG updates - well, Netgem should be at the head of the queue, not at the back. Other boxes I've tested (from manufacturers who've been in the market for a much shorter time than Netgem) have no problem with the BBC's multi-screen function.

It sort of gives the impression that the i-Player is getting a bit long in the tooth. One year on, isn't it time Netgem brought improved hardware to market, rather than just a new software version?