Freeview Receivers from NetGem

A summary of NetGem Freeview boxes, including the i-Player Interactive Freeview Digital TV Receiver

What is a NetGem Freeview box

NetGem is a France-based manufacturer of digital set-top boxes.

The NetGem iPlayer Freeview set-top box was launched in the UK in November 2002, and has proved to be one of the best value and most flexible boxes around. It provided Internet access from a connected TV set, bringing Internet into the front room.

In 2004, a re-badged version from BT became available in 2004 (adding caller display, and a card slot for subscription services).

Between 2006 and 2008, versions of the NetGem iPlayer appeared, containing hard discs and support for high definition TV.

The NetGem range of set-top boxes

The following table contains details of the digital TV set top boxes from French manufacturer NetGem.

	NetGem I-Player+ Features: Internet and email access from your TV via built-in 56k modem, built-in games and optional QWERTY keyboard. Output: 2 SCARTs and RF loopthrough. Optical audio out and USB socket. Availability: Discontinued. Last seen at BT Shop in Dec 2006. See our iPlayer page for updates More details on our iPlayer page
	NetGem 7680 / Fetch TV Smartbox Fetch TV launched towards the end of 2008. The service combines Freeview, a 40 hour hard disc recorder, and video content on demand over broadband. The Fetch TV Smartbox is made by NetGem. Box specs: 80Gig hard disk, 8 day EPG, Freeview receiver, hard-disk recorder, pause/rewind live TV, USB connector Internet browser. Availability: Available Now! More on our Fetch TV page.
	tvMax iPlayer 6640 Broadband webhosting firm Namesco launched tvMax in April 2006. They were offering a NetGem box that's capable of receiving the 50 Freeview TV and radio channels, has an 8-day EPG, and has a built-in PVR disk recorder (up to 30 hours on the built-in 30gig hard disk). Availability: Discontinued. The 6640 was available for £199 from Webstore at Simply.com, but it's no longer available. For more details, see our TvMax page.
	Evesham iPlayer HDTV PVR Released in November 2006, the Evesham iPlayer 80GB HD Media Centre is a revamped, powerful iPlayer that receives Freeview, has a hard-disk recorder, and gets TV content over the 'net. Here's the summary: 80 Gig Hard-drive (PVR) for ~ 70 hours recording Pause live TV TV-over-Internet (IPTV) Freeview Onboard High-Definition upscaler HDMI (High Def) socket 2 x SCART , 1 x USB sockets 1 x Ethernet Supports MPEG and WMV video formats Availability: Discontinued. As of July 2007, no longer available. Last seen for £240 from Misco.co.uk.
	NetGem I-Player Mini As far as we know, this box isn't available in the UK, but here's what we've discovered: Aerial loop-through - standard aerial plug Two SCART sockets - one for the TV and one for a video recorder 3.5mm Stereo Jack socket audio output S/PDIF optical audio output RJ-11 Telephone socket USB1.1 master socket Availability: Not released in UK
Sorry - No pic	NetGem NetBox HD NetGem announced a new product believed to be called the NetBox HD, at the IPTV World Forum in London at the start of March 2006. Here's what was public knowledge: Box spec: High-definition MPEG4-compliant ADSL (Broadband) / DTT (digital terrestrial) terminal. Availability: Not released in UK. The product was apparently due to become available between April-June 2006 - As far as we know, it didn't materialise.

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iPlayer Review

We reviewed the NetGem iPlayer in 2004. This can be found on our NetGem iPlayer page.

Frequently asked questions

The NetGem iPlayer FAQ has been moved: See the NetGem iPlayer FAQ