Reposting from TV thread

I've cancelled my subscription to Sky so in the market for a replacement for my Sky+ dish. Freeview isn't an option due to poor reception.

It looks like a Freesat HD PVR is what I need and I've narrowed it down to :

Samsung SMT-S7800

or

EchoStar HDS-600RS

Specs, prices and reviews seem quite similar. I have a Samsung TV which makes me favour the Samsung box; the Slingbox feature is nice but I don't travel so much to make that feature anymore than a nice bonus but not a gamechanger.

I'm tempted by the Humax but it's £40 more that than these - is it worth it?

Any thoughts or alternative suggestions? Cheers

Note that you don't need to replace your dish. It will be fine for Freesat. I hope that doesn't sound condescending but there are indeed people who think that there are special Sky dishes and there are special Freesat dishes! It's only the box that you need to replace.

Yes, the Samsung, Echostar and Humax are probably the leaders in Freesat recorders. I can't recommend any one over the other, they all have their own quirks I think but there's nothing partciularly oustanding or bad that would make one stick out over the rest.

Note that the Sling functionality is not useful just for travelling! If you can view your own PVR and recordings from anywhere in the world on tabelt or smartphone, then you'll also be able to do it from another room in your house where maybe you haven't got a satellite feed or a TV at all currently...

Hi, Chris. I made a typo! I meant a replacement for my Sky+ box, not dish!

Note that you can retain your sky+ setup for only £10 per month and still get slightly more channels than freesat.
Just ask cust services to put you on the record only function.

It saves forking out £200 for a new system up front as well.

My son in laws Freesat recorder box broke when it was under one year old.

There is also a lot of new technology due out in the next 12 months with Youview etc. type functionality.

Thanks, Dave. That was a consideration, but our Sky+ box is 5 years old now and quite creaky, plus it's not HD. We've just bought a new HD TV, so that's quite important to us now.

Even if you had a Sky-Hd box continuing to use a Sky-HD box and paying for recording is a poor economic return.

The basic cost at £10.00 a month is £120.00 per year, add the cost of sby power for a Sky box in sby adds £25.00-£30.00 every year in energy costs. Many Freesat+ boxes come with 2yr warranties. Do the maths

Starting from scratch and a new box it's a no brainer unless you want to watch Channel 5 -HD all the time

My hubby's rather partial to Ice Road Truckers but watching that in HD might be too much for him!

So Ch5HD is FTV, but ITV2-4 are subsriptions?

Also if you want the Echostar to be in the normal standby mode (~10sec start up rather than ~45 secs) and use the Sling functionality, then the power usage is similar to Sky boxes.

Correct

If you want to watch from a PC or mobile device then more options available for the Humax (if you patch the firmware with one from this forum). With Echostar you need to buy an expensive app to watch the recordings on your mobile, but it has ability to play out over a low bandwidth bband connection to you when you're away from home - thats unique to the Echostar right now.

I was about to ask the same question... What's the best HD Freesat DVR.

Hope there will be more answers and advices. I'm still a Sky subscriber and I love their service, but I may want to cancel my subscription since it costs a lot to subscribe outside the UK (I'm in France).

@Missy Moo : if you buy a Freesat setup box, please let me know with one

-Eban

I tried all 3. The Echostar was immediately discounted because of it's looks (what were they thinking, I mean really).

The Humax was VERY slow and frustrating to use.

The Samsung, whilst not perfect, was easy to use, fast in the menus, and my long-term trial says it's pretty reliable (aside from a couple of software bugs we are still waiting on Samsung to fix).

The other choice is the new Manhatten box.. That might be worth looking at.

"The Echostar was immediately discounted because of its looks" ? You should never judge a book by its cover as the old saying goes. Echostar is a very good box backed up by decent customer support/service, reasonably quick fixes have been issued to recent glitches, something that cannot be said for Samsung. For me its a straight toss-up between the Echostar 600 or Humax Foxsat HDR, both good boxes, the Humax can be tinkered/modified if thats your cup of tea, the Echostar works great as an "out of the packet" Freesat satellite PVR, which is what most consumers look for. PS I think the Echostar looks great in my tv shelf, kind of retro in style.

I would have to agree with that post by ty webb.

I have the Echostar about 2 months and I think its a very good freesat PVR.

Price wise too its cheaper than a Humax.

Plus, I agree about the look of the Echostar box - it looks good under my TV.

EDIT: EchoStar's HDS-600RS makes What Satellite & Digital TV's Ultimate Systems 2012:

http://www.myechostar.com/News/HDS-6...tems_2012.aspx

Well, I could have spent many more days reading reviews, forums, etc. but had to make a decision. So, I've plumped for the Echostar.

I'm not into tinkering and techy stuff, just wanted something easy to use and reliable. And I couldn't ignore that it is significantly cheaper than the Humax.

Thanks for all the help.

Eban, I shall report back once I've received it and used it for a few days!

Thanks Looking forward to reading your feedback.

-Eban

Good luck Missy Moo, if you have a smart phone you can buy an App for 20quid that will let you control/watch your Echostar SlingLoaded anywhere in the world, providing internet speeds are good enough obviously. Cheers

it is only £10 this week, so even better!

I'm in the same "what box?" boat but am waiting for the reaction/prices of the new Manhattan PVR before I commit.

Hi,

Can anyone tell me if you can use a dongle with the Manhattan Plaza Freesat HD-S recorder.?