I have been with sky for a number of years and am looking to move to Freesat+, as I am getting fed up paying money each month for pvr functionality, and most of TV I watch is on BBC. Is this a good time to get a FreeSat+ box? I see a lot of threads discussing upgrades and issues to the Humax pvr. Are these mostly minor issues? Also, are there other boxes for FreeSat+ getting released soon. Also is the price tag of £250 pounds about to fall? Although a price of £250 would be about the same with 12 months subscription to sky for me.
Thanks for any advice

If you mostly watch BBC then I'd say go for it. I have the Humax PVR. It's not perfect but I've not encountered the serious issues that many here have described. However, so far I've been an unadventurous user (since mid-June). I've had two failed recordings and one lock up that was cured by switching off and on. The second failed recording coincided with the lock up.

Of course, there are alternatives to Humax now but I've no idea what the verdict is on them.

If you're not desperate it might be worth waiting a few months for the Humax firmware updates and then seeing how people respond here.

also if you leave your sky box connected up after they have switched your card off you will have freesat anyway just no recording function unless you pay sky £9.75 a month for it

Actually its probably a good time to move to Sky if you can afford it.

It seems HD PQ on Freesat is being dumbed down.

That and channel choice means I'm finding myself no longer an advocate for Freesat having been a staunch campaigner in favour and in persuading people to join since before the launch.

Err Freesat boxes gets the same transmissions for BBC HD as Sky, it's now't to do with freesat it's the broadcaster. Any dumbing down on channels on both epg's will apply equally

I wasn't talking about Freesat though Graham. I'd advocate those who can afford to to move to Sky subscription.

I believe they're killing Freesat and I can no longer recommend it to anyone.

This is from someone who was on Ian D's site (amongst others) advocating people to join Freesat from long before it was even launched as a service. Just shows how far we've fallen.

Hi Neil
I have recently swapped Sky for Freesat and to be honest do not regret it.
I used to pay £40 for all channels except movies and I owned a standard sky NON HD box.

I got tired of SKY and paying out big money coupled with the thought of helping pay for some massive transfers and wages of footballers so instead of keep moaning I quit SKY.

Do I miss it...not yet (4 months so far).
I like the HD content of BBC HD and with me purchasing the HDR I like the ability to record TV as and when. I watch less and less live TV now. I suppose so many factors are involved in each persons decision as regards what kit you have at present and what kit you will be trading up (or down) to.

White Knights thought that if you can afford it go with SKY is not always the case as I can afford it yet I feel, as described above, detached from this cost issue being the overriding factor.

It depends on how much TV you watch and if your viewing is mainly "main channels" then it really is an easy decision, hence the reason you are asking the question.

The only thing I truly miss is the easy and well thought out ability to pass the SAT signal throughout the house with ease-ability of changing channels.

Not really sure what your problem is.

There is masses of stuff available on Freesat just from the BBC/ITV/C4 channels and C5.

Freesat was never going to be for people who demand the hundreds of channels of repeats that Sky provide.

Nor for Sport fans or people who want the very latest films on TV.

I love my Humax HDR, it does everything I ask of it, and probably some things I haven't discovered yet.

I left Sky in January, saving £10 a month so the box is slowly paying for its way.

To me, the picture quality is superb especially on HD. In general I am really pleased, but above all my wife likes it much better than the Sky box we replaced.

Not much to fault really - except the manual

My problem is:

- lack of growth

- lack of HD

- ever reducing picture quality

The level of HD has increased since freesat's launch.
Not sure about ever reducing picture quality as it will match sky?

I *think* what he means is that the HD channels for Freesat are being ruined whereas the Sky HD channels are continuing to broadcast at decent bit rates.

At the moment I'd agree. I've always said that the only successful HD platform in the UK is Pay TV. I have tended to class BBC HD in there since it is not dependant on advertising and is paid for through the license fee. C4 HD is/was helped by Sky.

C4 HD has never carried much HD material.

Now it appears that BBC HD has reached the limit of the license fee.

Right now I think the message is clear. If you want HD content you need to sign up with Sky or Virgin. Preferably the former since the HD pack gives you access to the most HD.

Another factor though is very much what you watch. If you're a 'traditional' viewer (ie;BBC/ITV/C4) then Sky is waste of money. OTOH if you are prepared to experiment and look at the 'weird' channels you might be surprised. We typically record seven or eight hours a day and over half of that is currently HD. I expect it to tail off a little over the coming months but so far intriguingly it shows no signs of that.

Having said that though:HD is not the 'life changing' experience that broadcasters would have you believe. For most people it is-at best-an improvement. If you watch programmes with lots of outdoor shots and/or colour you will appreciate it. For the average drama, comedy or soap though it adds little.

Agree 100%, it was the same at Freesat's birth and still is.

HD is fantastic for programmes like Planet Earth where the experience is largely visual. With dramas and the like to a degree the picture quality adds little to the experience. HD with distracting high contrast dog, SD without. - No Contest

I agree. I don't have an HD TV yet but OTOH I don't understand why people here keep moaning about lack of HD. Having one and a bit HD channels was never going to be a compelling reason to switch to Freesat. I could have gone for Freeview or Freesat but went for the latter because I felt the channel line-up was more to my taste.

Mine has been pretty stable, the bugs it has I'm able to live with

but I'm becoming more frustrated at missed recordings, to the point were I'm actually checking the box to see if its started.

I'm gutted I forked out £300 because its not worth anywhere near that price, I would say between £120 - £160 because it lacks many humax features to other box's.

As soon as there is another freesat PVR box I'll be moving over to it.


** = Features
**** = Stable
* = Ability to record
***** = Power usage
* = Bug Repairs Time taken to repair
**** = Pic Quality

The only issue I can see with freesat is the future channels, with no more room it could be a problem, but if you just watch ITV and BBC its great.

Its missing some of the channels on freeview (Dave, Virgin), I have a DVD Recorder with a built in freeview receiver so able to view them.

I got can't fault the Humax foxsat PVR and would recomend it to anyone.

For me the only thing on pay TV is the football but I am not paying £40 a month for it even though I could afford it.

To be honest Sky got to be overkill for me as I support my local team and the BBC & ITV football coverage is enough for me.

Maybe £12- £15 a month for Sky sports would have been good value but not £40 as I never watch any of the other Sky stuff.

Firstly the price of the PVR is unlikely to fall in the near future, most of the below recommended retail price sellers of the Hunax non PVR have raised their prices to near the RRP.

As to suitability if you want a subscription free PVR and can make do with the fewer channels then yes Freesat+ is for you. As to the bugs issues of the PVR it may pay to wait for the forthcoming update to see if Humax manage to clear them up to the satisfaction of most forum members - we will soon hear whether they succeed or not on here.

I bought the freesat pvr so that I could spend £300 on a box and record programmes without being mugged for £10 every single month. The HD was a welcome bonus.

Got my Humax freesat PVR for £249 from Richer sounds.

Richer Sounds.

They are doing the HUMAX HDR for £249.95 and for £24.95 extra you get a 5 Year warranty.

If warranty not used you get your £24.95 warranty money back.

Mikembe

I would double check that, Richer have previously stated that it only applies to certain products, not everything.

I bought one two weeks ago from Richer. So I know it is true.
But agree with you not all products have the extra warranty available.

Mikembe

Yeah I had the warranty as well. Very good value.

Sorry, I perhaps wasn't very clear - it's the 'money back' part which is only available on certain items.

I agree with those who say that there is visible reducing picture quality - I was watching the MGM musicals prom on BBC HD yesterday - it was a repeat - but I could swear that the picture quality wasn't as good as before - the initial transmission was of sensational quality.

Patrick