Hi

Like a lot of people I'm jumping ship on Sky and going with Freesat. I have spent a LOT of time looking through specs and finding it hard to see if what I am looking at gives me what I want. Namely:

Freesat+ HD with recording (two programs at once if poss, I have a sky dish with two inputs). HD space not a big deal, 250gb would suffice.

iPlayer, youtube, and very importantly, Netflix. I'm not overly bothered about 4OD

WIFI, or the ability to add a WIFI dongle.

Finally, the ability to stream direct from my PC. I currently have my laptop connected to the TV via hdmi, streaming over wifi from my desktop. I would very much like to be able to use my laptop for computering for a change

I'd prefer it not to cost the earth, say 140 - 200 tops, but I appreciate I am asking for a lot of functionality.

If anyone can point me in the direction of a machine, or machines that can do all of the above I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks a lot

David

To be extra clear on specs I saw this one and thought my search was over. Until I realised it was freeview rather than freesat. It looks perfect in all other ways, there's even a netflix button right there on the remote!

http://www.richersounds.com/product/.../pana-dmrhw120

The only Freesat+ boxes that offer what you require is the Humax HDR 1000s & HDR 1010s.
They're basically the same boxes as they are <free time> compatible, except ones white and has WiFi.
Currently apart from the normal Freesat channels you've got BBCiPlayer, ITV Player & YouTube( I use YT quite alot and think its fantastic)
4OD & Demand 5 are currently still being worked on which 4OD should be arriving sometime in June, not so sure about Demand 5.
http://www.richersounds.com/search/humax%20freesat%20G2

Thanks for the reply. What a pity there is such a small range. But at least what I need is out there!

Except for Netflix (at present anyway)

Does that mean the boxes suggested don't offer netflix?

No they don't - That might be down to Netflix policy.
Does anyone know if any freeview PVR's support Netflix?,

Thanks for letting me know, that's making freeview+ more attractive then sine the box I like has netflix right there on the remote! http://www.richersounds.com/search/humax%20freesat%20G2

It was reported last year that Freesat had partnered with Netflix.
No news since mind, but if its to arrive on any Freesat box then the HDR 100s/1010s will be the ones.
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/...ight-to-bskyb/
http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/freesat...-with-netflix/

Pity netflix isn't there now, I can't base a choice on what might happen

You could go with what I have - the 1000s and an Apple TV. Apple TV will provide the best little streaming device on the market, stream content direct from iTunes, rent or buy films from iTunes should you want to, access to Netflix, install an app to stream non iTunes content from PC to TV. For everything else use the 1000s. This combination provides a really flexible solution.

Thanks. I'll take a look at this. I've avoided everything Apple so far, but i'm open to being convinced!

I endorse the suggestion of an Apple TV. It's a tiny little box that works so smoothly. Best £99 pounds you will ever spend. Even cheaper from Amazon, see link below.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0040GIZT...hvptwo=&hvqmt=

I don't have one of these, but if I wanted the sort of things you suggested, I'd rather go with a Roku than the more locked-in Apple TV (I also tend to steer well clear of Apple tech, although some of it looks lovely).

Plus if you get the XS version (£99 vs the cheaper £49 LT version) you can plug in USB drives and watch MKVs and MP4s.

Roku

The ATV is not locked in - can be JB then you install XMBC. I don't understand the steer clear of Apple tech attitude. Talk about cut off your nose to spite your face. I buy what works and works well.

Being one of those rebels who never touch anything Apple and go Android whenever possible I have ordered one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That, coupled with a freesat+ should do the trick I hope!

Good luck with that then - think ATV would have been a much better investment but hey it's your money.

I did take a good look at the ATV devices, but from what I could see they don't do what I was looking for. I may have missed something but I could see nothing about streaming from a PC, and the reviews pretty consistently slam the performance with netflix.

The clue is in the answer you gave.

You admit, you don't buy what works. You have to jailbreak your device to make it work properly.

I actually said I buy what works not I don't buy what works. I haven't JB my ATV as it does exactly what I want it to out of the box (as is the case with all Apple products). For those who want it to do even more it can be JB. I use the air video app which turns my Mac into a server (Windows version available). This allows me to send non iTunes content from the Mac via my iPad through the ATV onto my Plasma TV and converts on the fly.

Add to this the HDR 1000s and I think I've got most bases covered.

Streams from iTunes on the PC or the Cloud and if you read my later post there is the added option of turning your PC into a server with the Air Video app.

It may do what you want, but I never asked for advice on what you want. I asked for advice on what I want. The Apple device does not do what I was looking for. So how exactly did I make the wrong choice by buying something that does?

It doesn't have netflix, I don't have (and am not interested) in iTunes or cloud streaming, and I don't wish to be forced to jailbreak, nor be forced to create a video server to stream.

What I got does everything I want, it seems to be doing it well, and it was half the price of an Apple device that wasn't even as high spec. It also does everything straight out of the box (including streaming from my PC), rather than just some of what I want after a lot of hassle, jailbreaking and the addition of new PC software.

As you said, it's my money, so I chose to spend it wisely.

It does

Easy! We are only trying to help each other on this forum.

Sorry, I mistyped. I know it does have netflix, but the reviews for this on it are pretty poor across the board. So I was somewhat discounting it as offering netflix support with that in mind (as I had mentioned in a previous post). But my recent post did not make that clear at all.