Iamm NTR-S20

Important note: the HD TV tuner in this media centre is a DVB-T tuner rather than a DVB-T2 tuner. This means it cannot pick up HD Freeview channels in the UK. It should, however, have no problem picking up HD channels in other countries or SD channels in the UK.

A smaller version of the NTR90, the Iamm NTR-S20 HD digital recorder sits in the palm of a large hand. It packs a punch nevertheless: SDHC reader, HD digital tuner, video ins and network connectivity. It could well prove an excellent budget recorder.

The NTR-S20's inner workings are built on exactly the same software as used for the NTR90. We aren't going to repeat everything that we've already written on the NTR90 but simply tell you about the differences between the two products. The NTR90 review is in any case available for consultation.

Firstly, there's no space to insert a hard drive. You therefore have to store to an external drive. Nor is there any access to networked peripherals.

There's no aerial out here either, just an in. This means you have to use a "T" socket to share the aerial - with the TV tuner for example.


The fan in the casing makes a particularly high-pitched noise. Not nice on the ears if you're viewing photos, but if you've got any audio running (music or video) you won't hear it.

Unlike with the NTR90, the NTR-S20 comes with a mini remote, which we don't much like in practice. It's flat and this means it doesn't sit well in your hand. The buttons haven't been particularly well-positioned either. Worse still, they aren't particularly pleasant to the touch. Users certainly won't regret replacing it with a universal.


Finally, in spite of its size, this media centre still contains an SDHC card reader, two USB Host ports and even RCA ins (composite video and analogue stereo). For a description of the interface we refer you once again to the Iamm NTR90 review.