[mikerouse]

I can get Virgin Media TV if I want it. I can also get Sky if I want it. I cannot get TV through an aerial owing to bad signal issues.

I don't want to pay for Virgin or Sky because I don't actually watch much TV to make it worthwhile. But it is nice to catch up with certain programmes now and again.

Mostly I have been using ITV Player, iPlayer, SeeSaw and YouTube so far.

I am thinking of getting a Boxee system or possibly Apple TV. Just wondered if there's any other solutions that follow the 'on demand' model that I haven't heard of? Not bothered about getting live TV. So long as it can hook up through the HDMI slot and give us content I'm happy.

What's best?

[purplegoldfish]

I had Virgin Media for a few years and Sky for 1, after working out that the main channels I watch are FTA I decided to go for Freesat+ HD, this way I can automatically record the shows I like and It has iPlayer & ITV Player for the shows I forgot to set series links for.

It cost me £50 to have a dish installed (Quad LNB, with 2 feeds for the record feature) and I got the Humax Freesat+HD box on eBay for £110. £160 all in and it's mine forever, no monthly bills or extra charges for the HD channels (Currently BBC 1 HD, BBC HD, ITV1 HD and Channel 4 HD launches sometime next week).

You may also want to have a look at YouView.com (looks good, but latest I heard was it wouldn't be available until next year).

[lbear]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purplegoldfish

I had Virgin Media for a few years and Sky for 1, after working out that the main channels I watch are FTA I decided to go for Freesat+ HD, this way I can automatically record the shows I like and It has iPlayer & ITV Player for the shows I forgot to set series links for.

It cost me £50 to have a dish installed (Quad LNB, with 2 feeds for the record feature) and I got the Humax Freesat+HD box on eBay for £110. £160 all in and it's mine forever, no monthly bills or extra charges for the HD channels (Currently BBC 1 HD, BBC HD, ITV1 HD and Channel 4 HD launches sometime next week).

You may also want to have a look at YouView.com (looks good, but latest I heard was it wouldn't be available until next year).

The initial YouView boxes are likely to have terrestrial tuners for live TV and will depend heavily on broadband for the other services.

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purplegoldfish

I had Virgin Media for a few years and Sky for 1, after working out that the main channels I watch are FTA I decided to go for Freesat+ HD, this way I can automatically record the shows I like and It has iPlayer & ITV Player for the shows I forgot to set series links for.

It cost me £50 to have a dish installed (Quad LNB, with 2 feeds for the record feature) and I got the Humax Freesat+HD box on eBay for £110. £160 all in and it's mine forever, no monthly bills or extra charges for the HD channels (Currently BBC 1 HD, BBC HD, ITV1 HD and Channel 4 HD launches sometime next week).

You may also want to have a look at YouView.com (looks good, but latest I heard was it wouldn't be available until next year).

YouView is a terrestrial Freeview HD PVR with added IPTV features, it isn't designed for Freesat, at least not initially I am afraid.

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerouse

I can get Virgin Media TV if I want it. I can also get Sky if I want it. I cannot get TV through an aerial owing to bad signal issues.

I don't want to pay for Virgin or Sky because I don't actually watch much TV to make it worthwhile. But it is nice to catch up with certain programmes now and again.

Mostly I have been using ITV Player, iPlayer, SeeSaw and YouTube so far.

I am thinking of getting a Boxee system or possibly Apple TV. Just wondered if there's any other solutions that follow the 'on demand' model that I haven't heard of? Not bothered about getting live TV. So long as it can hook up through the HDMI slot and give us content I'm happy.

What's best?

If you already have a satellite dish then Freesat would be quite cheap. You can buy an SD Freesat receiver for around £40 these days, and a Freesat HD receiver for £70-140 depending on brand. For a standard receiver, just a single feed is needed.

If you have no dish, then many companies can install one for you for around £80.

If you want HD and Sky + type features, you'd be looking at around £300 for a Freesat PVR and installation of a suitable dish and twin feeds.

One of the best Freesat PVRs is the Humax Foxsat HDR.
http://www.humaxdigital.com/global/p...foxsat-hdr.asp

[2Bdecided]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerouse

Not bothered about getting live TV.

You should have put that bit in bold - people seem to have missed it

Quote:

So long as it can hook up through the HDMI slot and give us content I'm happy.

What's best?

A PC. A quiet / small / low power one or fancy HTPC, if you wish.

Both Apple TV and Boxee are really nice (you can play with Boxee on your PC to get a feel, though the hardware is slicker) - but there are sometimes frustrations accessing all the UK services.

Some TVs (e.g. Samsung) have lots of internet features built-in.

Cheers,
David.