The unit measures 120 x 218 30mm which makes it a fairly chucky chap, styled all in fake silver its main feature is a backlit LCD display which is capable of 2 lines of text normally used to channel number or on DAB the station name.  The GDB5 comes with a single SCART lead and RF cable enabling the basic set-up of the unit but not much else, the SCART is also of very poor quality and any viewer that interested in quality would be advised to buy another lead in order to preserve as much of the signal as possible.

The feel of the both the remote control and the front panel is not up to the standards of Sony but then you are paying half the price for twice the features, the remote is pretty utilitarian with small keys that are easily pressed. firing up the unit started an auto scan during which the Goodmans GDB5 found 40+ TV channels and 30+ radio channels which are all under the "TV" function, the menu system is acceptable if not the best bit of UI design we've seen. The EPG ships as a now next style but the current software update being broadcast will upgrade your GDB5 to a full 7 day EPG which is a big bonus and a step up on many Freeview receivers.

Picture quality is very good and the Goodmans is a tenacious little chap making the most of even the weak signal in our offices, in our tests it hasn't hung or crashed once and seems to be a very reliable device. Switching to DAB is a slightly different story, while the sound quality is good and signal strength is comparable to many stand alone DAB units its major let down is the odd operation.

For a start your have to go via the on screen display (OSD) to get to the DAB radio, so operating the DAB without a TV plugged in is very tricky, we find this weird as you can easily cable up the RCA audio outputs and see the status of the GDB5 on the front LCD screen. Also when hooked up to our HiFi system there is a definite hiss even when the unit is on standby mode.

Operating both the Freeview and DAB features with a TV is easy enough and overall the Goodmans GD5B makes a good job of Freeview and DAB reception, perhaps we are being a bit hard on a unit costing under £70 that's has both digital TV and radio capabilities.

If you are prepared to be a little frustrated but ultimately rewarded with good pictures and reasonable DAB radio then the GDB5 is worth £70 of anyone's money.

Published - 29/06/2005

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