Leaving Virgin - Best Freeview Box < £20?

[Zoom7000]

I'm looking to bring down any unnecessary costs I have per month. When I moved home, I was locked into a BT/Be and Virgin contract. I pay £11.99/month for Virgin, £11.54 for BT and £17.88 for Be. I prefer broadband from Be, as I am a heavy user and don't want to be throttled by Virgin, in addition to their completely useless technical support!

 

So, anyway, now that I'm not locked to their phone line, I'm gonna cancel this week hopefully. The thing is though, I am left without the set top box. (Free M package TV with the phone line) I'm fine with the Freeview channels as we don't have the time (or money!) to catch much else. So, what is the best Freeview box I can buy for less than £20. I don't want to spend too much on a box right now, as sometime next year I would like to buy a new LCD TV/Monitor for my PC with DVB built in, to replace my current Acer Ferrari Monitor which is on the way out, but I have to keep it going for as long as possible for lack of finances!

 

So, what's the best I can get for < £20? Just want a nice decent and simple menu system with EPG (7 day would be nice, but not vital) and subtitles is a MUST!

[SpuffMonkey]

If you've an oldish PC lying around - why not get a TV tuner card and make yourself up a media center - just done that myself and its great - TV, PVR, music, iPlayer, YouTube etc all on the telly.

[eduabncs]

I've got a TVOnics box TVonics Store - Digital Set top boxes

[CHR1S]

Im assuming your already paying for a tinternet connection? - yes you are... doh need to learn to read

 

TVCatchUp, iPlayer, Justin.tv etc etc .... who needs freeview?

[Hightower]

Im assuming your already paying for a tinternet connection? - yes you are... doh need to learn to read

 

TVCatchUp, iPlayer, Justin.tv etc etc .... who needs freeview?

 

Not exactly 'TV' quality though is it? All a bit distorted when you stream.

[sandeep2504]

would you consider ebay? maybe pickup a 2nd hand one in good condition for cheap?

 

otherwise tescos and asda normally have freeview boxes under £20.

 

i got mine from tescos years ago; never had problems with it.

[Devontechie]

i've got 1 of these in my bedroom and it works really well.

Buy Argos Value Range STB101 Digital Set Top Box. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .

They have 7 EPG. its under £20 as well!

[CHR1S]

Not exactly 'TV' quality though is it? All a bit distorted when you stream.

 

iPlayer and TVC both offer HD quality and their SD is not to bad on my 37" - the additional content of the other services is dubious at best I just threw them in there as other options to consider especially for the football etc (yes I know its a bit of a grey area on legality)

[Zoom7000]

If you've an oldish PC lying around - why not get a TV tuner card and make yourself up a media center - just done that myself and its great - TV, PVR, music, iPlayer, YouTube etc all on the telly.

 

Funnily enough, I already have a cheap Hauppauge DVB-T Tuner and a Freecom DVB-T USB Tuner, but both (and most computer TV Tuners) fail to clearly show subtitles on them. There is either a really bad lag or the subtitles are displayed in a squashed and unreadable resolution. And the displaying of clear subtitles is a must for us.

 

Might have a look at the Argos one. Looks good! Is the remote nice and responsive?

[sidewinder]

If you have a PS3 you could always buy PlayTV...bit more than £20 but a cheap way to get a PVR of sorts

[SpuffMonkey]

Funnily enough, I already have a cheap Hauppauge DVB-T Tuner and a Freecom DVB-T USB Tuner, but both (and most computer TV Tuners) fail to clearly show subtitles on them. There is either a really bad lag or the subtitles are displayed in a squashed and unreadable resolution. And the displaying of clear subtitles is a must for us.

 

Might have a look at the Argos one. Looks good! Is the remote nice and responsive?

 

Had a go with subtitling last night - on both live TV and on a divx film with srt subs - both looked fine to me?