Freesat or Free to air?

Xcom2

As the title says what are the advantages or disadvantages of one over the other?

It will be used for the usual ITV,BBC,CHANNEL 4,5 etc.

The boxes I'm looking at are

http://satellite.ie/acatalog/Freesat_receiver_box.html

http://satellite.ie/acatalog/Technomate_Free_to_Air_receiver_for_Freesat_channels.html

Will both boxes do the same thing?
Have the both got EPG's?

Basically is one better than the other?

Thanks for reading,,,,

Myxomatosis

Freesat = 7 day EPG, Interactive Services, Auto Channel Tune, etc.

FTA = Now / Next EPG (if even that), Manual tuning, usually complicated interfaces.

Go with Freesat.

snaps

Myxomatosis wrote: »

Freesat = 7 day EPG, Interactive Services, Auto Channel Tune, etc.

FTA = Now / Next EPG (if even that), Manual tuning, usually complicated interfaces.

Go with Freesat.

Basically, but not all FTA receivers have complicated interfaces (Technomate for one are easy to use and maintain)! Also the advantage i find over freesat is that you can have your channel lists how you want them. Also its only interactive text thats missing as the interactive channel feeds (Especailly BBC) can be tuned in as a normal channel, just its hard to navigate to the one you want!

slegs

FTA Advantage

There are some channels no on Freesat EPG like Sky News

Fat_Fingers

Freesat
+ 7 day EPG - excellent for scheduling recording
+ Interactive menus - "red button, press and off you go to the menu
+ auto tunning , auto adding/removing channels
- no good for anything else but Astra 2A/2B/2C/2D & Eurobird 1 at 28.2°E


FTA
- no Interactive menu but "feed" can be tuned in as stand alone channels (e.g. BBCi feeds and ITV HD)
- no 7 day EPG (but you can still set timer to do your recording)
+ your own favorite groups. No shopping, sex lines or chat channels if you dont want them. There are more channels FTA then you get on Freesat, you can add them easier to favorite groups then it can be done on Freesat

snaps

slegs wrote: »

FTA Advantage

There are some channels no on Freesat EPG like Sky News

Can be added on a freesat receiver channel list (Not epg list) in non freesat mode.

tw0nk

Hi all, I am in an area where there is no RTE coverage, does anyone know if RTE,RTE 2, and TV3 will be coming to freesat anytime soon?

Also are there Hi-def freesat receivers available with built in hard drives to give sky plus like functionality? thanks.

Fat_Fingers

tw0nk wrote: »

Hi all, I am in an area where there is no RTE coverage, does anyone know if RTE,RTE 2, and TV3 will be coming to freesat anytime soon?

No, RTE1,2 TV3 or TG4 will not be joining Freesat at all.

tw0nk wrote: »

Also are there Hi-def freesat receivers available with built in hard drives to give sky plus like functionality? thanks.

Yes, Humax FOXSAT-HDR

tw0nk

Thanks for quick reply ff, I dont suppose you know if there is any smallish aerlier (easy to self install) that would give me RTE reception.

Im pretty keen to get rid of sky and save myself some money, but I have to weigh it up against cost of equipment needed to get freesat and irish stations.

I already have the dish thats used for sky so just a receiver and whatever is needed for irish stations I suppose.

watty

It's unlikely the Irish Terrestrial channels will ever be Freesat or FTA on Satellite. You need a minimum Sky sub.

No RTE coverage even with a 3m pole on chimney and a decent aerial?

Yes Humax has HD PVR (HDD and dual tuners) with Freesat. There are also many non-Freesat, non-Sky HD PVRs both for FTA and FTA+non-Sky pay TV.

slegs

snaps wrote: »

Can be added on a freesat receiver channel list (Not epg list) in non freesat mode.

I didnt say it was a big advantage but it is still valid as the Non Freesat EPG on Freesat boxes is not an elegant solution for adding extra channels

Joey the lips

Fat_Fingers wrote: »

No, RTE1,2 TV3 or TG4 will not be joining Freesat at all.



Yes, Humax FOXSAT-HDR

what are you missing shag all on them. pity about tv3.

i would go with the basic sky sub but she just wants the soaps

watty

ITV has all the similar soaps to TV3, and is FTA/Freesat

RTE /TG4/TV3 work free via an aerial.