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Any decent Freesat PVRs on the market yet?
Grand Dizzy
Posts: 7,369 Forum Member
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I bought the lousy Poo-max Foxsat 4 years ago. Words can't describe how much I loathe that machine. The worst PVR I have ever used. Total piece of junk. Though for a while it was apparently the best of only about 3 models on the market.
Now today I decided to have a quick look around and it seems we finally have a few new models on the market. So can anyone tell me, are there any decent Freesat PVRs on the market yet?
Features that matter to me (in order):
Very important
Quite important:
[list=7]
[*]Large EPG with plenty of channels/time on screen at once, as well as on-screen Programme Info (instead of having to press "Info" to see what a programme is, as with the Poo-max)
[*]Controls to easily select, move and delete multiple files, so you can keep everything in a tidy place (without having to go into a special file management area, as with the Poo-max).
[*]A delete button! (Instead of having to press like 5 buttons to delete something, as with the Poo-max)
[*]Good remote with comfy, distinctive buttons that you can find without looking at them.
[/list]
Would be nice:
[list=11]
[*]Is there anything with channel logos in the EPG yet? (Or is that privilege still exclusive to us Topfield+MyStuff owners?)
[*]A box that wasn't full of bugs and maybe had the occasional software update? (No names here but take a guess!
)
[/list]
Now today I decided to have a quick look around and it seems we finally have a few new models on the market. So can anyone tell me, are there any decent Freesat PVRs on the market yet?
Features that matter to me (in order):
Very important
- Two tuners (or more)
- Fast controls/interface that responds instantly. (The Poo-max was nightmarishly unresponsive.)
- Ability to re-order and delete channels. (No way I'm scrolling through hundreds of channels I never watch, or having the channels in some random order.)
- Fast and responsive playback control/fast forward/time jumping.
- Automatic programme searches (for automatic scheduling of programmes that have no series link data, or you just want to tell it to record anything containing certain words)
- Ability to connect to a USB device to back up recordings to PC.
Quite important:
[list=7]
[*]Large EPG with plenty of channels/time on screen at once, as well as on-screen Programme Info (instead of having to press "Info" to see what a programme is, as with the Poo-max)
[*]Controls to easily select, move and delete multiple files, so you can keep everything in a tidy place (without having to go into a special file management area, as with the Poo-max).
[*]A delete button! (Instead of having to press like 5 buttons to delete something, as with the Poo-max)
[*]Good remote with comfy, distinctive buttons that you can find without looking at them.
[/list]
Would be nice:
[list=11]
[*]Is there anything with channel logos in the EPG yet? (Or is that privilege still exclusive to us Topfield+MyStuff owners?)
[*]A box that wasn't full of bugs and maybe had the occasional software update? (No names here but take a guess!
)[/list]
0
Comments
It seems Humax are still going with their "dark and gloomy" colour theme (see the suggestion I made a while ago for a more attractive Foxsat colour scheme or this). But still, it's an attractive design and I am thrilled about the channel logos.
Have Humax have finally provided the option for an HD interface? From what I've seen it looks that way.
Still feel it's a shame that they don't make use of HD to display more channels on the EPG (as I have previously illustrated: pic 1, pic 2, or pic 3).
Sometimes a programme to be recorded is shown as such in the programme guide - but not in the list of planned recordings. In such cases the recording may or may not happen, or be incomplete. I'd sure like to know why this is.
Sometimes I'll try to watch a third event simultaneously, or overlapping - which I believe cannot always work successfully. Perhaps I'm not paying full attention to the clash warning messages?
Many thanks for your interest.
Surely everyone would prefer to see, like 30 channels on screen at once rather than only 7?
No not really, there would be just too much on screen.
At a push, maybe just to see what's currently on each channel now, but for myself I'm someone that's not even too keen on the Now & Next menu that's currently on the <free time> boxes as I much prefer to use the full EPG as it's easier to see at a glance as to what's on and how long it's got left and what's coming up etc.
As the phrase goes, 'Less Is More' and the <free time> boxes have got that just right.
Before anybody says you can't use you $ky card, yes you can.
Never heard of "free time" boxes before. I will have a look at them, thanks.
Hmmm. I wasn't really aware of any FTA boxes aside from Freesat ones but from what you say they sound perfect. But presumably FTA boxes don't have an EPG? (Otherwise why would anyone buy a Freesat PVR?)
The Freesat website is SO unhelpful! I really have no idea how Freesat think anyone will be interested in buying a Freetime box without any kind of images or graphics to illustrate what it is and what it does. All they give is a pretty boring, vague list of bullet points.
But from what I can gather, Freetime seems to be a kind of on-demand TV service which uses your Internet connection to allow you to watch a library of TV programmes that have been on TV recently. So a bit like iPlayer only for all channels and in your living room. I think?
Not my kind of thing in that case. I just like to tell the box what I like and let it sort out all the recordings for me. I'm a planner. Don't think I've ever wanted to watch what I missed. (Plus, I don't have Internet in my living room and don't want to install it there.)
Hmmm. I wasn't really aware of any FTA boxes aside from Freesat ones but from what you say they sound perfect. But presumably FTA boxes don't have an EPG? (Otherwise why would anyone would buy a Freesat PVR?)[/QUOTE]
I cannot for the life of me understand why people would buy a 'Freesat' box with all its inherent restrictions.
Also, I did say that FTA boxes have ( IMO ) a better EPG which is updated automatically from either a transponder or the internet. The ability to add/delete or put channels in any order is a big plus.
http://youtu.be/TMXgNrZG6j0
You're telling me you can get a box that views FTA channels, with an EPG… and it isn’t a Freesat box!?
Oh my goodness! Where do I get one! Why have I never heard of this before? I would never have bought the Foxsat if I’d known you could get FTA boxes with an EPG. I thought the EPG was what made Freesat worth getting.
I hate Freesat! I hate it so much. I just want to watch all the Free channels. I don’t want stupid Freesat and I don’t like it. Freesat is evil.
I am now asking myself the same question as you. Why on earth would anyone, ever buy a Freesat box? This is a serious question. Why are people buying them? How is Freesat making any money? Is it just suckers like me who didn’t know there was anything better?
I am in shock, and SO glad I made this thread! Thank you sealion!
Thank you very much for that
There are a considerable number of FTA boxes on the market and I have personal experience of about 6 after I too was dissapointed with the Humax.
I have, after extensive research, settled for a Vu+ of which there are a number of models to suit any pocket. I can direct you to one of the many reviews of their machines but here is just one example. http://www.avforums.com/forums/satellite-tv/1720292-vu-solo2-review.html
There is a dedicated Forum to the OpenViX image (operating system) that I have settled on again after trying out a few different offerings. The main reason being the look and functionality of the EPG.
One other major advantage to me is the ability to choose the software and total look (skin) of the menus/screen to my own choosing.
I could go on all day but YouTube has many reviews as does the numerous Forums on the Internet.
Anyone know?
They contain information only used by the Foxsat - Programme position (for resume), programme info etc. Other files can be also present one for each bookmark (generated by housekeeping) which are contained within a folder with the programme name prefixed with a full stop.
Simple. It's for ease of use. FTA recievers have their place but are mainly used by enthusiasts who like to tinker and customise things.
The majority of people don't want to do that and want a seamless system that gives them a decent EPG, makes it simple to record programmes and automatically updates any changes that occur with channels and frequencies.
Most people simply want to plug a box in and be watching tv in minutes and don't have the time nor the enthusiasm to be bothered with all the other stuff.
That's where freesat comes in and does an excellent job.