REVIEW
HEAD
MINERVA SAT5000
INTRO
Competition is hotting up at the budget end
of the market as Grundig weigh in with yet another sub-£100 system
COPY
This year independent satellite dealers have
been justifiably miffed by the raft of headline-grabbing deals offered by the
high-street multiples. Pace’s well-specified Apollo system -- distributed only
through independent outlets -- helped level the playing field, but now it has
been joined by the Grundig Minerva SAT5000 which will also be selling for
£99.99. That price is conditional on the customer signing up for a year’s
subscription to BSKYB’s full movie package, and paying a compulsory £40
installation fee. This will be carried out by Tele Aerial Satellite (TAS), who
also process the subscription and handle warranty claims.
The compact, curvy styling is bang up to
date, maybe a tad derivative of recent Nokia designs, but it’s uncluttered and
importantly for newcomers to satellite TV, it looks simple and unthreatening.
There are four front-panel controls, a single (exposed) smart-card slot plus a
pair of on/standby LED indicators. Around the back there’s a solitary SCART AV
socket, one dish input, stereo line-output phonos and the aerial bypass
sockets. The wideband tuner and LNB are fully compliant with Astra 1D but the
100-channel memory is only barely adequate to cope with existing Astra TV and
radio channels. Nevertheless there’s a good range of convenience features,
these include a 20 favourite channel memory, on-screen display, parental lock,
2-event/28-day VCR timer, 23 audio modes (13 preset, 10 user-definable) and LNB
tone switching.
The on-screen display is very easy to use,
menu selections have been well organised and basic channel change functions are
readily accessible. The only minor gripe concerns the unconventional button
layout on the remote handset, which takes some getting used to. The factory
defaults will suit most users but there’s plenty of opportunity to fiddle
around with the favourite channel selection list and the tuner programming.
Options include changing the frequency, polarity LNB settings, audio mode and
6-character channel idents. The parental lock is reasonably secure, it’s
protected by a 4-digit PIN code, which can be used to restrict access to individual
channels.
PERFORMANCE
In spite of the fairly basic specification
tuner sensitivity is good with fewer than usual sparklies on weaker channels,
moreover there’s enough in reserve to cope with poor signal conditions. Channel
change is fast, with minimal disturbance. Colours are clean and picture noise
is well within acceptable limits. Overall a very creditable picture for the
price. Audio quality is fairly average though, the lack of Wegner Panda 1 noise
reduction is evident from the ever-present background hiss, though apart from that the soundtracks have
a reasonably flat and uncoloured response.
SUMMARY
Whereas most sub-£100 receivers are older or
poorly-specified designs that have reached, or passed their sell-by date, the
Minerva SAT 500 appears to have been designed from the ground up to compete in
this increasingly competitive segment of the market. In that respect it’s a
success and ideally suited for undemanding Astra viewers, attracted by the
headline price. However, beyond that market it doesn’t have a lot to offer, the
single SCART socket will almost certainly entail some compromise with picture
quality if the receiver’s connected to a VCR, and the 100-channel memory is
only just sufficient.
SPECIFICATIONS
Make/model: Minerva
SAT5000
Typical price: £99.99 inclusive of 60-cm dish but not mandatory
BSKYB subscription and installation
Features: 100-channel
tuner, 20 favourite channel memory, on-screen display, parental lock,
2-event/28-day VCR timer, LNB tone switch, 23 audio modes (13 preset, 10
user-definable)
Sockets: 1
x SCART AV, stereo line audio out, 1 x LNB F-Connector, RF/aerial bypass, mains
supply
Dimensions: 348
x 79 x 230mm
Contact: Grundig
Satellite Communications. Telephone (01443) 220220
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Ó R. Maybury 1995 2609
PS.
I’d appreciate getting on the mailing list, my address is:
Rick Maybury
73 Penrith Road
Thornton Heath
Surrey
CR7
8PN
Cheers!
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