Looking to but a Freesat + box, which is the best out there, and what can i expect to pay for Installation.
Already have 2 Sky Boxes, so will need an Octo LNB.
Thx
HW
Already have 2 Sky Boxes, so will need an Octo LNB.
Thx
HW
Freesat+ Recommendation
Originally Posted by HavenWarrior:
“Looking to but a Freesat + box, which is the best out there, and what can i expect to pay for Installation.
Already have 2 Sky Boxes, so will need an Octo LNB.
Thx
HW”
“Looking to but a Freesat + box, which is the best out there, and what can i expect to pay for Installation.
Already have 2 Sky Boxes, so will need an Octo LNB.
Thx
HW”
Very difficult question to come and ask on a Forum like this, as people will generally give you opinions based on what they own (unlikely, but not impossible, to own two different Freesat+ boxes).
Look on the left, underneath my Forum Name, and you can see where my experience, and recommendation is
Go here as a start, and look in the Right Frame for Freesat+ boxes http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/.
The Humaxes have been established the longest, the Panny's next (although expensive and contain a DVD or Blu-Ray Recorder), and then the Sagem. One user on that site reports problems with the Sagem. I believe only the Humaxes can record 2 channels at once, and watch a third.
Once you've visited that site, search the forums for opinions, faults, good points, etc.
HTH.
Les.
Originally Posted by savvy:
“... and then the Sagem. One user on that site reports problems with the Sagem.”
“... and then the Sagem. One user on that site reports problems with the Sagem.”
Be aware that people who are fanatical about one product sometimes buy another just so that they can rubbish it.
Most people on this forum who have bought the Humax are very happy with it.
Unless you suffer a lot of power cuts (It will often fail to record after a power cut) or want to view channels that are not of the Freesat EPG (you cannot set a timer for these), you are unlikely to be disappointed with it.
Day 3 of using mine. Sacking Rupert Murdoch's lot was a sublime moment.
Impressions so far:
[LIST][*]EPG ok but a step down from the elegantly simple Sky Guide[*]Like Sky+ but unlike a TiVo, the EPG takes you out of the channel you're watching. TiVo has the edge here with its transluscent EPG - though this can be hard to read sometimes[*]Form factor: could be uglier, but could be more attractive.[*]Remote: better than I though it'd be but not as ergonomic as either a Sky+ or TiVo remote.[*]Liking the twin tuners, obviously something you'll be used to if you've had Sky+ but absent from TiVos.[*]Also pleased to at last be getting HD.[*]Find the useability a little counter-intuitive - that classic trap which so many CE manufacturers fall into by getting the guys who engineer the box to also design the EPG etc[*]One feature was quite cool though - automatically identifying programmes to be recorded and presenting the option of whether to record the SD or HD version[*]Am on the BBC iPlayer to Freesat tria (via the ethernet connection) but the UI is so horrid to look at that I've gone back to using the version via my PC - the obvious disadvantage being that I can't select iPlayer programmes using the Foxsat remote[*]I've never been a fan of instruction manuals - Sky score well by a) ensuring the service is simple enough to use with little or no instruction and b) eschew instruction manuals them in favour of getting the installing engineer to show you how to use Sky+. TiVo has one of the most useful manuals (for straightforward use) that I've ever seen. The manual provided with the Foxsat box is a bit pants and the features require a fair bit of learning[*]In conclusion, though there are advantages re HD reception, integrated Freesat and dual recording the useability feels like a step down from Sky+ and TiVo[/LIST]
Impressions so far:
[LIST][*]EPG ok but a step down from the elegantly simple Sky Guide[*]Like Sky+ but unlike a TiVo, the EPG takes you out of the channel you're watching. TiVo has the edge here with its transluscent EPG - though this can be hard to read sometimes[*]Form factor: could be uglier, but could be more attractive.[*]Remote: better than I though it'd be but not as ergonomic as either a Sky+ or TiVo remote.[*]Liking the twin tuners, obviously something you'll be used to if you've had Sky+ but absent from TiVos.[*]Also pleased to at last be getting HD.[*]Find the useability a little counter-intuitive - that classic trap which so many CE manufacturers fall into by getting the guys who engineer the box to also design the EPG etc[*]One feature was quite cool though - automatically identifying programmes to be recorded and presenting the option of whether to record the SD or HD version[*]Am on the BBC iPlayer to Freesat tria (via the ethernet connection) but the UI is so horrid to look at that I've gone back to using the version via my PC - the obvious disadvantage being that I can't select iPlayer programmes using the Foxsat remote[*]I've never been a fan of instruction manuals - Sky score well by a) ensuring the service is simple enough to use with little or no instruction and b) eschew instruction manuals them in favour of getting the installing engineer to show you how to use Sky+. TiVo has one of the most useful manuals (for straightforward use) that I've ever seen. The manual provided with the Foxsat box is a bit pants and the features require a fair bit of learning[*]In conclusion, though there are advantages re HD reception, integrated Freesat and dual recording the useability feels like a step down from Sky+ and TiVo[/LIST]
Originally Posted by gonefishin:
“[LIST][*]EPG ok but a step down from the elegantly simple Sky Guide[*]Like Sky+ but unlike a TiVo, the EPG takes you out of the channel you're watching. TiVo has the edge here with its transluscent EPG - though this can be hard to read sometimes[/LIST]”
“[LIST][*]EPG ok but a step down from the elegantly simple Sky Guide[*]Like Sky+ but unlike a TiVo, the EPG takes you out of the channel you're watching. TiVo has the edge here with its transluscent EPG - though this can be hard to read sometimes[/LIST]”
The channel you were watching does come back eventually when in the EPG. Alternatively, press Schedule and then Red, and you don't lose the channel whilst looking around the EPG.
The HDR has to retune to get the programme information which is why you lose your channel for a little while if I remember rightly from earlier posts on here. I presume Sky+ did the same but it played you that dreadful music whilst doing so.
I wish the Freesat EPG would start with BBC One at the top instead of the channel I'm currently looking at.
Originally Posted by Miriyo:
“.........press Schedule and then Red, and you don't lose the channel whilst looking around the EPG..”
“.........press Schedule and then Red, and you don't lose the channel whilst looking around the EPG..”
And if you set the OSD transparency to 75%, as well as doing the above, you can emulate that Tivo translucent EPG
Rgds.
Les.
