And even though the T3-R doesn’t have a full “Google Play” app, there’s a nifty workaround – you can use the YouTube app to watch content you purchased on Google Play. When you play recorded content, you can of course fast forward and rewind, and by pressing the “Right” button you can also instantly jump 30 seconds ahead – which is great for skipping those annoying adverts. The significance of this will, to a certain extent, be determined by the size of screen with which you intend to partner this box.

A Freeview Play box that also serves as a (limited) streaming device, but with no recording capabilities – the Manhattan T3.Note, however, that once you switch to a different channel, that two hour ‘buffer’ is deleted and recording starts again – for the new channel you’re on). Just reporting in, no issues so far, it's so much faster than my old Panasonic, and the novelty of being able to set up recordings, delete old ones, etc while there's a recording already going on is still enjoyable. I have had theT3-R for a couple of weeks and have been surprised I have not found it a problem even though I previously had the 3 tuner Humax 5000.

Yes - the T4 box needs the internet to access the great range of On-Demand services they offer and take advantage of all of their features. Freeview Play is a way of accessing all digital free-to-air TV channels in the UK without spending anything beyond the cost of a set-top box. For example, I’ve just started watching Casualty 15 mins after it started recording, and it began from the start of the recording.I haven't been able to check what the Manhattan itself reports, but I assume the cables are fine as it goes to the Manhatt and then to the TV. Pause and rewind live TV, record two programmes at once and record entire series at the touch of a button. Looks like a unit I’d be interested in to replace my Humax at some point, if the manual timers and padding time to recordings were implemented. Watching your recorded content is easy – you press the “Recordings” button on the remote, and jump to the dedicated screen, where you’ll see all the content you recorded. It’s fun to use, works fast and is thoroughly future-proofed, and yet there’s something that prevents us from getting too excited about the Manhattan T3-R.

Its 500GB of storage holds up to 300 hours of content, smartly organised into categories and series. The home-screen provides access to catch-up players, shortcuts to the TV guide, and your recordings library. The catch, of course, is that you get far fewer channels and streaming options than those competing boxes.Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. But to be fair, I haven't had any failed recordings due to unforeseen clashes, or any clipped recordings so far (touch wood etc). Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.