The P2000 is one beautiful looking box. Silver, plastic front, metal cover, all very firm in handling and no tacky bits or shaky buttons.
On the front of the receiver we have an alphanumeric vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) with a row of indicator LEDs to the left and IR receptor to the right. A little bit further to the right of the VFD is perfectly fitted little doors covering the PCMCIA and card slots. Below the VFD are three buttons - power in the middle and channel buttons to the sides. Unlike earlier Xenas, P2000 (Xena 1800) is manufactured at the moment only in a silver metallic color.

Receiver has four SCRT sockets at the rear, which is somewhat uncommon for satellite receivers. Unfortunately only three of them are operational. The P2000 is designed to serve as a SCRT switch between two external devices, one socket is a loop-through to a TV while the second one is bi-directional and can be used for VCR recording. The third socket is for connecting your TV of course. Last SCRT is marked N.C and is disconnected. The number of serial ports is also atypical. Aston fitted two separate Sub d9 RS 232 connections - one for a modem and the other for external monitoring and OS modifications (new software uploads or settings editing). Both sockets serve, in a manner of speaking, honorary functions only as there seem to be no support for a modem (used most often for Pay Per View or interactive shipping) inside the OS and also there is no settings editor for the Xena series as of yet. Next you have RGB connectors paired with digital audio output (coaxial mini-jack), two F type sockets - antenna and loop through, and finally SVHS (or S-video as some say) output. Interesting thing is that all our attempts to get a picture via SVHS cable from this output failed miserably, producing unacceptable black and white, overdriven picture full of yellow bleeding. Missed feature?

Inside the receiver every single module is labeled by Aston, one more time proving who stands behind the very Digiquest marketed product. P2000 has very good air cooling for the internal parts but it also runs quite 'cool' on it's own. We got used to boxes sweating heavily when stuck on the shelves between other HiFi components, but Aston's case is very different. Even after the P2000's ventilation holes were obstructed and the unit was squeezed between a VCR and DVD units, we found it barely warm after a few hours in operation.
The remote control has a classic, long shape with proper access to all buttons and nearly all functions within the reach of your fingers. Buttons are firm and responsive to presses with no sign of slack. IR response is absolutely great, as the receiver would respond correctly to tests from eight meters with the signal bounced off the wall at 45 degree angles.