Bush internet.tv

Bush has made a brave attempt to enter the internet marketplace with its internet.tv and Internet Surf Set. This is a joint venture between the company and Virgin Net, which produce most of the internet content.

Aimed primarily at those of you who want internet access but don't want or need a PC, and those put off by their lack of technical knowledge, it may also be appealing to a larger audience, purely for matters of convenience.

To cover all bases, Bush has developed both an integrated television (£169.00 inc VAT), currently available in three models - 14 (reviewed here), 21 and 28-inch models - and the cheaper alternative, the Internet Surf Set (£78.00 inc VAT), designed to add the internet to your existing television. Whichever solution you choose, the content and functionality remains the same.

It couldn't be any easier to set up the TV. You simply connect the telephone line, plug in to the mains, answer a few personal questions (as you would to register with any ISP), and you're off. The whole process takes a maximum of ten minutes, whether using the television or Surf Set.

Unlike accessing the internet through a PC, however, you have no choice over your ISP, having to register with Bushinternet. This is a free ISP, though, so you only pay for the cost of your calls, and you can have up to five email addresses per account - all standard ISP offers.

Receiving the internet on your television is a little like surfing the internet on your mobile using Wap - although you get access to the internet, it's in a different format. For web pages to be displayed correctly on a TV they need to be specially formatted, otherwise you end up with an unsightly mess with half the content missing.

Bush has teamed up with Virgin Net to tailor-produce an impressive array of content for its portal, which is expanding all the time and includes many familiar brand names. Whenever you access the internet, you are presented with this portal, neatly arranged into categories.

Should you wish to visit a web page not included in the portal, you can, but you will have to be content with a poor representation of how the web page is supposed to look. In its rush to get to market, Bush has provided users with only the very basic internet technology - there are many aspects of the web not accessible to Bushinternet users. You are unable to view anything created with such technologies as Flash or JavaScript, for example, sound is a no-no, online banking is out, and you cannot send or receive email attachments.

vnunet.com has been reliably informed, however, that these problems will be absent in future versions, along with add-ons, such as a hard drive, being made available. There are no plans to allow upgrades to existing models, though, so it's probably wise to wait and see how this technology develops before parting with your cash.

Navigating around sites is done through an infrared remote control or infrared keyboard (optional extra). The remote control is massive - you certainly won't lose it down the back of the sofa! It does double as both the TV remote and computer keyboard, however, and houses a miniature qwerty keyboard under a flip-lid.

I did find that due to its size it can be a little unwieldy to use, often requiring the use of both hands. It may have been better to have two smaller remote controls, or simply a remote for the TV, and lumped the infrared keyboard in the price.

The infrared keyboard is much easier to use, and is fairly similar to a standard PC keyboard in both functionality and layout, although it will confuse regular PC users to begin with.

ContactBush: 0845 666 2222