Review: Smart Rapido 3 - DVB-S Receiver
Since setting up the indoor satellite dish, I’d been using a SkyStar 2 card to view and record satellite TV from Astra 1, 2 and Hotbird. This is alright, but quite uncomfortable and cumbersome - especially if you have a spare 10 minutes to flick through.
I’ve been thinking of a Technomate 1000D, or 6800HD, but without an exterior dish at the moment didn’t want to spend too much on something which might not be used. The Smart range of satellite receivers are all over eBay.de, or through eBay UK with “Available to UK” enabled on a search. It’s a basic, cheap satellite receiver with two USPs for me… a front display with the channel name and Component output for a HD TV. Total price new and delivered from Germany was £45.52.
An old analogue satellite receiver with front display. They don’t make them like they used to!
Unboxing was similar to most cheap DVB-S boxes; a small box made from thin cardboard, some packaging, cheap batteries and a black and white manual. Being from Germany, the plug is a two pin one, but whack it straight in a 3 pin converter (60p odd at Asda) and it’s ready to go. The manual is entirely in German, but it’s fairly straight forward to use, so this isn’t a problem.
Switching on for the first time was an acceptable experience. I’d wired up using Component and at first the TV (a Samsung 19″ TV / Monitor which does HD, but has no HDMI port, but was sold as HD Ready - another post for another day) didn’t find anything on the input. I pulled out the Scart lead from a Freeview box and got into the menu. This was fine, and allowed for the change through the menu to output “YUV” and change the menu language to English. I then plugged in the Component leads again and all was well.
Flicking through the channels proved a little strange, as the remote control appears to send commands to the Freeview box as well. The channel up button turns on the Freeview box (a £20 model from Asda), which the TV picks up and switches to the Scart input. To continue on I just unplugged the Freeview box from the wall.
There’s a few hundred channels already programmed in for satellites including Astra 1, Hotbird and Turksat. Das Erste is on channel 1, RTL on channel 4 and so on. They’re sort of grouped, with the MDR, ZDF, news and music channels together.
Day-to-day use is fairly good. There’s a rocker switch on the rear of the unit, as well as the standby mode. Changing channels is fairly easy through channel up/down, the EPG or favourite lists. The onscreen menu’s and EPG are about right for a receiver in this price range.
Connections are good - IF loopthrough, RF modulator, Scart, audio l-r, digital audio out, Component and Composite.
The EPG and channel browsing is very nice - and best demonstrated in this video on YouTube.
Picture quality is surprisingly good for a cheap receiver like this. Comparing the input via Scart and Component didn’t reveal any huge differences (the TV is pretty good - it never looks pixellated or grainy), but the Component input really shines on news and sport programmes. I’m yet to try it with a film, but expect it to be good too. Another observation to make is that the blacks are far, far cleaner than they are via Scart.
The pros definitely include the Composite output which looks phenomenal, and the quick response when changing channels. There’s a lot of neat features, and overall it’s a good satellite receiver. Another pro is the price - I’ve never seen a DVB-S box with HD output for under £50 in the UK.
The cons unfortunately include the front display and overall feel of the box. The picture on eBay, the literature on the Smart website and even the cardboard box indicate a front display like the one on the Pace box above. Unfortunately it’s more of a segment display, and this is unclear most of the time. The two large red and green LED’s let the front display down, which otherwise looks smart with the hidden buttons. The flap behind which those buttons sit is very difficult to open.
The front display in use at night
Overall this is a great little box for under £50. I’m a little underwhelmed, but channels like Das Erste and NRJ Hits look excellent through Component. I’m pleased I bought it and would look at spending a few quid (literally) more on the next model up from Smart.
More Photos: Smart Rapido 3 Photoset on Flickr
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