Freesat HD, is it worth it

[BKGarry]

OK so i made the decision to cancel my $ky contract, due to their cost.

Since i found myself watching more on BTVision than i did on $ky, (I know i am Sacraficing Stargate Universe when i comes out, buy hey ho).

The problem is that my flat is in a converted house with a hill blocking it from the main (Crystal Palace) TV Tranmision Aerial. So Freeview TV reception is a bit cruddy (to put it lightly).

So I am looking into getting a Freesat HD box, mainly so I can watch the Freeview TV channels (well except for Dave which is not included on freesat transmissions)

I was wondering what peoples views on it are, It would actually set of my TV, even if their are only just 2 HD channels.


Looking forward to hearing from you all,

[markcuk]

get a dreambox instead SMS The Dreamboxshop official distributors of Dream- multimedia satellite receivers.

[BKGarry]

OK, dummy this up for me, what are the main advantages of getting a dreambox, as there is a hefty difference in price, and some of us cannot afford this type of stuff.

[kevbaz]

I have both freesat hd and sky, only reason for me getting the freesat was to watch the footy on bbc and itv(champs league) in hd, which is stunning by the way. Roll on the world cup

[srochford]

get a dreambox instead SMS The Dreamboxshop official distributors of Dream- multimedia satellite receivers.

That is one dreadful website! I can live with the messy layout but I can't find anything which tells me why I might want to buy a Dreambox! Does it just do the equivalent of a Freesat recorder? More? I can see that it supports a "bouquet list" - does this mean I can use it to order bunches of flowers :-)

I found a bit more info on Wikipedia but £900 seems like a lot of money for what's described there so I'm guessing I'm just not seeing some special functionality which makes it a "dream box"!!

[markcuk]

have a look at the forum Dreambox General - Satellite TV support forum & Digital TV support forum.

[BKGarry]

half of the features do nothing for me (i do not have a perminant PC at home, just my little Samsung NC10)

I would only be able to afford anyone of those after saving for live 10 months, i think i will stick with a Freesat box

[Michael]

In my experience I've found the Freesat boxes comparatively slow to other FTA (Free to Air) boxes. Most Freesat boxes also don't support a technology called DisEqC which allows you to switch between multiple satellites either statically or using a motor. There are many FTA channels across Europe. For example I can watch MTV Germany (which is mostly in English) unlike in the UK where I have to pay to watch MTV.

Personally I think going HD is advisable simply because more and more channels are making the change; otherwise you'll end up having to buy a second box in the longterm!

[SteveBentley]

A Sky box with an expired/cancelled card in it should still work for getting the FTA and FTV channels.

[Theblacksheep]

Not tried freesat, I just use a £20 FTA Sat box, plugs into sky disk and pickups up any sat it can see.... With so many encrypted it means about 10,000 BBC channels and millions of others, if only my disk could move.

Personally I don't think terrestrial HD is very good at the moment, none of them are 1080p and most boxes de-interlacers and scalers are crap. Mind you they seem to have turned down the bitrate on normal channels to make HD look better than it is.

[BKGarry]

I can confirm that that will happen,

Just that it is a standard sky box, nothing fancy to it, so might aswell go for the Freesat HD, i am not looking at getting it till october

[laserblazer]

A Sky box with an expired/cancelled card in it should still work for getting the FTA and FTV channels.

Does it get the HD channels? I was playing with my daughter's Sky+ in Portugal and all the HD channes had a "Call this Number".

[altecsole]

I've got Freeview and FreeSAT. To be honest, the only reason I got FreeSAT was for the hi-def content, but I'm a bit disappointed at how little there is. The HD football though, on BBC and ITV, is so much better than Freeview that I think it's worth it. Some of the natural history stuff on the BBC (South Pacific) was stunning in HD. I'm hoping that there will be some more HD content soon.

[Jamoire]

Does it get the HD channels? I was playing with my daughter's Sky+ in Portugal and all the HD channes had a "Call this Number".

You should get BBC HD, Channel 4 and Luxe HD free on Sky with a valid viewing card, although obviously you would need a Sky+HD box.

[Michael]

This Autumn I know that Freeview HD is being launched, but it's just going to confuse more people in my eyes. They should just leave Freeview as it is and introduce more HD content on Freesat and Sky.

You can pick up a 45cm Sky dish for £20-£30, so it's not going to break the bank and there are guides on the web how to prepare the cable and add F-connectors. It's not that difficult.