Freeview HD boxes less that £100 in Currys !

Mr. Rabbit

The Humax Fox HD T2 is now on sale in Currys for £99. Is this model possibly going to be replaced soon ? They also have a Philips Freeview HD box for £89. I assume the Philips will be compatable with Saorview, and the new RTE NI mini mux ?

The Philips box (not sure what the model number is) is quite plasticky (made by Pace ?) but I've always found they work well and are quite sensitive when it comes to reception. The Humax is much better made, being constructed of metal casing rather than plastic.

Happy days though. As predicted elsewhere, the price of these boxes have dropped substantially !

STB

The Humax is discontinued.

Also be aware you will not be able to move any of the recordings that you record off the USB drive to play on a PC as it encrypts everything, both SD and HD. Recording only play back on the box.

Implementation of this on other Freeview HD boxes will vary, but ALL will not allow movement of HD recordings off the box.

Mr. Rabbit

The Humax is discontinued

I assume it's going to be replaced with a new model ?

Humax still have it for sale on their website, albeit with a 160 gig hard drive.

Which hard drives work with the box ? I've somewhere only Fat 32 one's work and not those formated to NTSC standards.

STB

Scratch that. Its the new price point!

ShaneOC

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

The Philips box (not sure what the model number is) is quite plasticky (made by Pace ?) but I've always found they work well and are quite sensitive when it comes to reception. The Humax is much better made, being constructed of metal casing rather than plastic.

Watch out for the Philips Freeview HD boxes. If you want to use this two pick up both the UK and Irish broadcasts it may not work. I have used one of these in Fermanagh and during setup if forces you to select one or the other. There is no way to have both simultaneously. Pretty stupid limitation and when I contacted Philips / Pace they said it was by design and wouldn't be changing. So I returned the box instead :mad:

Mr. Rabbit

ShaneOC wrote: »

Watch out for the Philips Freeview HD boxes. If you want to use this two pick up both the UK and Irish broadcasts it may not work. I have used one of these in Fermanagh and during setup if forces you to select one or the other. There is no way to have both simultaneously. Pretty stupid limitation and when I contacted Philips / Pace they said it was by design and wouldn't be changing. So I returned the box instead :mad:

Thanks for that Shane. As far as I'm aware, the Humax boxes are fine. £99 seems good value

fat-tony

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Thanks for that Shane. As far as I'm aware, the Humax boxes are fine. £99 seems good value

I suggest you do a bit more research on the Humax Freeview HD boxes before you buy. You may find that the EPG time is wrong when used for Saorview and could be limiting if you want to record to a schedule. They are built to Freeview standards which won't take IRL country code into account and have encryption built in which limits their usefulness on other platforms.

Mr. Rabbit

fat-tony wrote: »

I suggest you do a bit more research on the Humax Freeview HD boxes before you buy. You may find that the EPG time is wrong when used for Saorview and could be limiting if you want to record to a schedule. They are built to Freeview standards which won't take IRL country code into account and have encryption built in which limits their usefulness on other platforms.

Well, I've asked this before Tony i.e. are there specific boxes made specifically for Saorview and nothing else, only to be told that the Freeview HD boxes are compatable.

Are there any manufacturers actually making Saorview (not Freeview HD) boxes. Are Digital HD TVs that are imported into the ROI manufactured to Saorview (not Freeview HD) standards ? The whole thing appears to be a complete mishmash.

On the other thread, re. the NI mini RTE/TG4 mux, the official technical specs. state that the RTE EPG mux will conform to Freeview HD (ie, DVB T2) standards and that UK Freeview HD boxes will have no problems with the RTE/TG4 EPG.

fat-tony

fat-tony wrote: »

I suggest you do a bit more research on the Humax Freeview HD boxes before you buy. You may find that the EPG time is wrong when used for Saorview and could be limiting if you want to record to a schedule. They are built to Freeview standards which won't take IRL country code into account and have encryption built in which limits their usefulness on other platforms.

Are you sure about that?
There is one poster here that uses one exclusively for saorview only [no uk freeview] that has mentioned no such issues.

I have 2 freeview hd pieces of equipment here,a sony 40ex403 and a sagemcom pvr..neither have epg time issues and both are receiving the saorview and freeview channels perfectly including the hd channels.

Sam Russell

I have an LG Freeview HD TV and have issues with summertime and with EBU Teletext. FreeviewHD is problamatic wrt Saorview as it is to a different spec. Sony are good lads and Panasonic are ******. LG are somewhere in the middle.

I would be very wary of any Freeview HD product now as it is far from cerain that there are not more surprises coming down the tracks. Now it appears there is encryption going on with recordings. Not good.

The Cush

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Are there any manufacturers actually making Saorview (not Freeview HD) boxes. Are Digital HD TVs that are imported into the ROI manufactured to Saorview (not Freeview HD) standards ? The whole thing appears to be a complete mishmash.

Any product listed here - http://www.saorview.ie/products-retailers/saorview-approved-product-listings/ is Saorview certified.

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

On the other thread, re. the NI mini RTE/TG4 mux, the official technical specs. state that the RTE EPG mux will conform to Freeview HD (ie, DVB T2) standards and that UK Freeview HD boxes will have no problems with the RTE/TG4 EPG.

By the time ASO takes place in approx 18 months time the receiver specification should be tweaked to ensure compatibility with the mini-mux and Saorview overspill.

The new version of the D Book included some changes for the NI mini-mux.

This from the DTG last Dec

The DTG looks forward to working with Digital UK and Freeview to deliver clear consumer messaging to ensure that Northern Irish viewers understand that integrated digital televisions, set-top boxes and digital television recorders carrying the Freeview HD logo will receive these services. The DTG will also work with all stakeholders to ensure the same receivers can receive overspill of Republic of Ireland services, which use the Nordig specification and MPEG 4.

http://www.dtg.org.uk/dtg/press_release.php?id=27

More information to follow in due course

Some households in Northern Ireland may be able to receive digital TV services direct from transmitters in the Republic of Ireland. Further information on the availability, coverage and reception of these TV services (both from the new UK multiplex and direct from transmitters in the Republic of Ireland) will be made available by broadcasters nearer the time of launch of the new multiplex, expected towards the end of 2012.

http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk/publications/pub_technote_tg4_NI.html

Some overspill testing going on from Cairn Hill

Deleted User wrote: »

Also another important bit of information...Most tx's apart from cairn hill are not on full power at the moment.
Cairn hill is currently on it's max power for DTT as they are testing equipment in the Republic and NI.

Sam Russell

I hope that this convergance between the D book and the Saorview spec will mean that the FreeviewHD boxes will be fully compatible, and the current funnies will be fixed.

fat-tony

Deleted User wrote: »

Are you sure about that?
There is one poster here that uses one exclusively for saorview only [no uk freeview] that has mentioned no such issues.

I have 2 freeview hd pieces of equipment here,a sony 40ex403 and a sagemcom pvr..neither have epg time issues and both are receiving the saorview and freeview channels perfectly including the hd channels.

I thought I had seen a comment from someone using a Foxsat T2 receiver that the EPG was out by one hour (which would make it pretty unusable!), but I couldn't track down the source. The encryption issue alone, though, is going to make it an issue for anyone who wants to view recordings on PC or whatever. Obviously, the boxes with Saorview certification will be ok, but the selection is limited. Having something technically work is one thing, but you might find the quirky behaviour un-liveable with. I've had a Foxsat PVR for the past 2 and a half years and I find it excellent. I also have a Sony KDL-5810V TV and it's a dinger for Freesat and Saorview and no EPG issues to boot. The main message, is to do the research before you buy something built specifically for the Freeview market.

sesswhat

ShaneOC wrote: »

Watch out for the Philips Freeview HD boxes. If you want to use this two pick up both the UK and Irish broadcasts it may not work. I have used one of these in Fermanagh and during setup if forces you to select one or the other. There is no way to have both simultaneously. Pretty stupid limitation and when I contacted Philips / Pace they said it was by design and wouldn't be changing. So I returned the box instead :mad:

So what were the consequences of choosing either setup? How exactly did it not work? In UK setup, did it not show the Saorview channels at all?

John Dough

It works fine in Monaghan both received ok selecting UK.

vince

can the freeveiw hd box display the saorveiw epg