Sat4Free/Freesat in Ireland

Tony

Worth noting that goodmans, grundig and alba are the same company, they make both boxes so this must have been sanctioned.

TheDriver

of course its sanctioned as a big company with a prize contract with freesat isn't going to risk anything nor pay for the advertising etc, something else is behind this and most probably freesat themselves unofficially. Its goodnews all round tho as people can get stuff from local retailers that are afraid of online sales etc

coffee to go

The Irish Power Products office is virtually next door to mine - A quick visit didn't reveal much (all PR staff were out of the office), but apparently sat4free will be publicised in this Friday's papers.

dhaumi

Interesting! I wonder how they will defend the fact that they don't provide any irish channels AND that you can get the same thing (if not better) a lot cheaper in Northern Ireland!
Unfortunately, the price is more likely to go down then the Irish channels to appear...

The_Conductor

Tony wrote: »

Worth noting that goodmans, grundig and alba are the same company, they make both boxes so this must have been sanctioned.

The same company also make the "Bush" brand. Its also the exact same circuit board in all their boxes (with slightly different programming to differentiate the 3 brands). Save yourself £40 and go for whichever is best value......

Tony

dhaumi wrote: »

Interesting! I wonder how they will defend the fact that they don't provide any irish channels

Why do they have to defend that? It was RTE who decided to join sky and it is they who should be defending the fact that they are not available on satellite for licience holders.

muincav

Tony wrote: »

Worth noting that goodmans, grundig and alba are the same company, they make both boxes so this must have been sanctioned.

Yes and BUSH is part of the same company as well, so they actually have 3 of the 4 boxes in the Freesat range..

Phibsboro

Tony wrote: »

Why do they have to defend that? It was RTE who decided to join sky and it is they who should be defending the fact that they are not available on satellite for licience holders.

I made the same point to them in person - they are selling this in tesco, woodies, atlantic etc. I am *mad* into this area of technology and sometimes i struggle to remember how it is all currently panning out. This box will definitely be returned by 1 - a small percentage of purchasers who didn't realise that it required a satellite and 2 - a larger percentage who assumed they would get the four irish channels.

The hobbyist market (of which i totally accept I'm one) will lap this box up, but i wonder how many ordinary punters in powercity really understand what they are buying? ... Roll on DTT and the first semi official combo box...

c

jaykell

redout wrote: »

Channel 4 is now available on 104 and channel 4+1 on 121 on the NI EPG as opposed to 974. My official freesat box would not download this change to the EPG even though this channel was moved over a week ago. It required myself doing a first time install to recieve the update. Anyone else get this problem.

I would also be interestd to find out if anyone has a sat4free box and recieved this update to the EPG.

Channel 4 and 4+1 are on 104 and 121 on my sat4free box. Can't say for sure whether they were automatically updated, or whether they were tuned in as part of first install, but they do work fine.

Also found out that ITV London, and thus ITV HD can be added as extra channels. Details are on the sat4free website which is now up and running, or from their customer support, which is first rate (phone 1800 992296). Wasn't sure about this system at first, but I'm very happy with it now.

leex

http://www.sat4free.ie/uploads/files/Adding_ITV_Regions_Rev1_Oct08.pdf

Tony

jaykell wrote: »

Also found out that ITV London, and thus ITV HD can be added as extra channels. /QUOTE]

This is good news as the NI postcode seemed to be causing a problem with this as the freesat website was saying ITV HD not yet available in NI.

TheDriver

wonder if RTE will become some part of this at all or just freesat copy, I think it will be just freesat copy and never anything different to behonest, why would rte bother when dtt is coming

The_Conductor

TheDriver wrote: »

wonder if RTE will become some part of this at all or just freesat copy, I think it will be just freesat copy and never anything different to behonest, why would rte bother when dtt is coming

RTE have already stated they will not be going FTA- so there is your answer on that one. You will be able to add-in RTE-International as a manual channel if interested though (from Feb 09). S.

Tony

TheDriver wrote: »

why would rte bother when dtt is coming

Because they are not bif fans of Boxer

Tony

smccarrick wrote: »

RTE have already stated they will not be going FTA- so there is your answer on that one.

True but they do not necessarily have to go to free to air to become available without subscription on satellite, all they have to do is satisfy the rights holders.

pizzahead77

smccarrick wrote: »

RTE have already stated they will not be going FTA- so there is your answer on that one. You will be able to add-in RTE-International as a manual channel if interested though (from Feb 09). S.

Actually people believe that RTE International will be officially part of the freesat EPG in the UK next year - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=883608&highlight=rte

The_Conductor

pizzahead77 wrote: »

Actually people believe that RTE International will be officially part of the freesat EPG in the UK next year - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=883608&highlight=rte

Cool! Lots of people will be happy with that!

mullingar

It seems that there will be a TV with Sat4free built in similar to the Panasonic PZ81B's:

Sat4Free gives you an HD service for free, so you can watch HD programmes from the BBC and ITV. All you need is a Sat4Free HD digital box connected to an HD Ready TV, or a TV with Sat4Free HD built in.

http://www.sat4free.ie/index.php?page=whatissat4free

redout

That is probabley the Panasonic tv's which are already available for Freesat. They will probabley just change the software for the Irish Market. I doubt that will be building something from scratch.

DMC

Tony wrote: »

This is good news as the NI postcode seemed to be causing a problem with this as the freesat website was saying ITV HD not yet available in NI.

Like UTV, the same for STV.

ITV playing hardball again. Shades of ITV2/UTV2/S2 all over again.

bk

TheDriver wrote: »

wonder if RTE will become some part of this at all or just freesat copy, I think it will be just freesat copy and never anything different to behonest, why would rte bother when dtt is coming

Well I wouldn't be surprised if RTE were to launch integrated DDT/Freesat boxes. Perhaps even do a deal with Fresat/sat4free and the manufacturers for boxes with integrated EPG etc.

It would definitely be in RTE's best interest.

DMC

bk wrote: »

Well I wouldn't be surprised if RTE were to launch integrated DDT/Freesat boxes. Perhaps even do a deal with Fresat/sat4free and the manufacturers for boxes with integrated EPG etc.

It would definitely be in RTE's best interest.

I would. There would be an almighty hoo-haa from Boxer.

The Cush

Sat4free article in today's Irish Times

Friday, October 24, 2008

New digital TV service launched

JOHN COLLINS

A NEW digital television service has been launched this week which could prove popular in recessionary times, as it does not involve any monthly payments to a service provider.

Sat4Free, which is based on the FreeSat service available in Britain, provides access to 76 digital television channels, including BBC One and Two, ITV, Channel 4, Cbeebies, Film4 and BBC News, as well as a selection of British and Irish radio stations.

The number of available channels is expected to reach more than 100 by the end of the year. The service also provides access to the interactive content provided by the BBC.

The service does not currently broadcast Irish stations but will carry RTÉ International, the highlights channel which will include content from RTÉ One, RTÉ Two and TG4, when that becomes available on FreeSat, possibly by the end of the year.

Sat4Free is being sold through Tesco, Atlantic Homecare, Woodies DIY and Powercity shops. A standard version will cost approximately €299, depending on the set-top box chosen, while a high-definition version will retail for about €100 more.

"We are selling the box with an installation package so everything you need is in the box," explains Dermot Fahy, managing director of Irish Power Products, which has launched the service in association with British consumer electronics distributor Alba.

Included in the box is a voucher for free installation.

© 2008 The Irish Times

TheDriver

voucher for free installation, hahaha! WOnder how long til they all sell box only sets!

The_Conductor

Now all we need to do is lobby our local politicians to have RTE added to the lineup......... If the old folk get to keep their medical cards- don't see why we shouldn't bring similar pressure to bear.......

Darth Maul

interested to know if any installers were approached about this, who are they using for the installs?? is there anyway for us independents to get involved? other than buying some boxes in the North and piggybacking on there advertising campaign.

deffin

Darth Maul wrote: »

interested to know if any installers were approached about this, who are they using for the installs?? is there anyway for us independents to get involved? other than buying some boxes in the North and piggybacking on there advertising campaign.

Like the way they say they they are charging €299 with free installation. €100 extra for HD. Have Tesco, Woodies, Atlantic Homecare started selling these STB's as of yet. Are they the very same as the Freesat's products only called SAt4Free here.?

sesswhat

Grundig GUFSATHD £149.99 in Currys NI
Grundig GUSAT02HDEX now €199.95 in Power City while SD model is €89.95. (Installation €170 extra)

The_Conductor

sesswhat wrote: »

Grundig GUFSATHD £149.99 in Currys NI
Grundig GUSAT02HDEX now €199.95 in Power City while SD model is €89.95. (Installation €170 extra)

I'm impressed- they're not trying to totally milk it- its only about a tenner more expensive.......

sesswhat

smccarrick wrote: »

I'm impressed- they're not trying to totally milk it- its only about a tenner more expensive.......

So was I. Should be interesting to see Tesco prices.