Best Saorview box out there? Possible to pick up UK Freeview?

maninblack

Bit of a novice at this whole thing. Wanted to ask you experts what the best Saorview box out there is? I'm looking to pick up whatever will provide the best quality picture/ EPG guide etc. I did search the forum, but couldn't find any recent topics so said I'd re-ask the q in case a new good quality box was in the pipeline or had come out in the last month or so?

Also, I currently have a UK Freeview Sky digibox hooked up, with the dish up on the roof - the whole 9 yards. Just wondering if I could get a box which will do both the Irish Saorview along with the UK HD Freeview service?

I was thinking I could split the cable coming down from the sky satellite, keeping one feed going into the Sky box, and another into a set-top box to give me BBC HD etc etc? Or am I way off the mark in my thinking?

BTW I'm in Kerry atm.

Thanks for the help

Gerry Wicklow

What you need is called a "combo box" that will do SaorView and FTA satellite.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056086354

You can't just split a satellite cable to feed two boxes, it more techie than that. You need to change the LNB (the thingy in front of the dish) These come in dual (2) or quad (4) connection versions. Some satellite boxes need 2 connections so that you can watch one channel and record on the other. You definetly need a seperate cable to each satellite box.

Digifriendly

maninblack wrote: »

Also, I currently have a UK Freeview Sky digibox hooked up, with the dish up on the roof - the whole 9 yards. Just wondering if I could get a box which will do both the Irish Saorview along with the UK HD Freeview service?
Thanks for the help

Such a box does not exist. Freeview is the UK Digital terrestial television system reveived only through an aerial while Sky is satellite. So I presume you mean a Sky digibox that has non-pay Free- to -air channels (FTA) on it.

maninblack

Digifriendly wrote: »

Such a box does not exist. Freeview is the UK Digital terrestial television system reveived only through an aerial while Sky is satellite. So I presume you mean a Sky digibox that has non-pay Free- to -air channels (FTA) on it.

sorry yeah, that's what I meant.

would the sky satellite dish pick up the UK HD freesat service if connected to a freesat compatible box?

Gerry Wicklow

A Free to Air HD satellite box will currently get you BBC HD, BBC1 HD, ITV1 HD, ITV1 Granada Full HD, STV Full HD, Channel 4 Full HD, NHK (Japanese news) Full HD.
Make sure it is DVB-S2 compatible.
It will still get the usual FTA SD stuff too.

watty

Make sure it's a real "Freesat HD" approved box and not a generic HD box.

maninblack

http://www.kerryfreetoair.com/services.html

scroll down to the 290e package.

rang this guy just there. Said he'd do me that package for 230e, and it'll work with my existing Sky dish, but the arial in the attic would need replacing. He told me I'd get the UK freesat, and Saorview all on the one STB.

Is he having me on? I'm currently picking up Soarview on a Sony tv with a built in tuner in one of the bedrooms. So I think the arial should be fine.

watty

It's not properly compatible. Manual re-scanning of Satellite, no Interactive on Freesat or Saorview. It will after manual tuning get the basic content. But not a proper system. No assurance that even sound, subtitles etc is compatible later. If your aerial is working well you don't need a new one.

An external USB recording is not proper PVR either. Dual tuners on Satellite and if the TV isn't Saorview compatible you need dual tuners on it too. The combo boxes may seem like a good idea, but they are not properly compatible, only the most expensive ones with internal HDD and 2x Sat tuners and 2xDTT tuners are true PVRs and a lot of them have had issues with different aspects of Freesat or Saorview.

http://www.kerryfreetoair.com/services.html could be sued by Freesat as they are misusing the logo to describe systems that are generic and not Freesat compatible or approved. I notice he is not misusing the Saorview logo (they have warned many companies in Ireland that did and take it very seriously.). I'm sure Freesat might be interested

maninblack

watty wrote: »

It's not properly compatible. Manual re-scanning of Satellite, no Interactive on Freesat or Saorview. It will after manual tuning get the basic content. But not a proper system. No assurance that even sound, subtitles etc is compatible later. If your aerial is working well you don't need a new one.

An external USB recording is not proper PVR either. Dual tuners on Satellite and if the TV isn't Saorview compatible you need dual tuners on it too. The combo boxes may seem like a good idea, but they are not properly compatible, only the most expensive ones with internal HDD and 2x Sat tuners and 2xDTT tuners are true PVRs and a lot of them have had issues with different aspects of Freesat or Saorview.

so what would be my best solution to getting UK freest and Saorview? Totally seperate boxes? and a new dish?

What if I upgraded my existing basic Sky box to a Sky HD one? would it then be capable of receiving HD channels from the existing dish?

Gerry Wicklow

Please be careful what terminology you use as it is confusing the issue.
If you want Sky HD you have to pay Sky a subscription.
If you want FreeSat HD you need a FreeSat approved box.
Generic Free-to-Air (FTA) boxes are cheaper but don't have all the bells and whistles.
Likewise Combo Boxes work but don't have all the bells and whistles.
Your existing dish should be ok but you will need more connections from it if you intend using several satellite boxes.
Getting a SaorView approved box for the terrestrial stations is more expensive but you have better functionality and some comeback if it doesn't behave.

The Cush

Saorview Approved Products - http://www.saorview.ie/products-retailers/

Freesat products - http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ (RH column)

Riskymove

HI

Similarly I am looking for a combo install of saorview/freesat (with recording if possible) in the North Kerry Area

can anyone recommend an installer/retailer for this?

There is an existing sky dish but it already has 4 cables on a quad

thanks

Widescreen

Hi

Getting closer to winding up subs to Sky. My main TV is not MPEG4 so will need to get a Saorview stb and would need one that records. I checked out Walker and it says "PVR functions (recording, playback via USB )" .

Does that mean you get a computer USB stick and stick it into the STB to record?

When recorded can you then play back on any TV that has a USB connection on it?

Sounds a bit messy compared to Sky Plus! Is there any box out there that records to a hard disk like sky+ ?

Going to get the humax to solve most of the recording problems.

thanks

dowtchaboy

Widescreen wrote: »

Hi

Getting closer to winding up subs to Sky. My main TV is not MPEG4 so will need to get a Saorview stb and would need one that records. I checked out Walker and it says "PVR functions (recording, playback via USB )" .

Does that mean you get a computer USB stick and stick it into the STB to record?

When recorded can you then play back on any TV that has a USB connection on it?

Sounds a bit messy compared to Sky Plus! Is there any box out there that records to a hard disk like sky+ ?

Going to get the humax to solve most of the recording problems.

thanks

Tesco have a Saorview box with record for €80.

Sam Russell has an adapter that picks up Saorview perfectly in HD and records too (onto USB - not technophobe friendly though) - for €56 including HDMI cable - search this forum.

Sky+ recording function and their EPG are classier than any of the Freeview/Freesat/Saorview offerings - but you pay for it. The picture quality of Sky is no better than the others (in fact I feel that Saorview esp RTE2 in HD is much better than Sky/Freesat)

watty

Sam's box isn't really compatible. Only does bare minimum. No MHEG5. It's uncertifiable.

Sam Russell

watty wrote: »

Sam's box isn't really compatible. Only does bare minimum. No MHEG5. It's uncertifiable.

You are right in some of that but not really. The box does not have MHEG5 and that is a draw back, but it does do everything else, and most of that it does brilliantly. A lot of posters have bought them with no complaints.

The PVR function works well and playback is good. File management is very good. It would help if you had tried a box before you rubbish it, as no one who has bought one is rubbishing it. It has the advantage of hiding behind the TV, out of sight, and is extremely low power (8W and <1W in standby), and works well with a USB HDD.

Perhaps you should try one.

watty

I am only interested in solutions that are Certified at this stage, or at worst UK MHEG D-Book products with no Saorview equivalent yet that have known limitations.

In PVRs I only regard it as a true PVR if it's series link compatible, MHEG5, internal HDD and dual tuner.

Sam Russell

watty wrote: »

I am only interested in solutions that are Certified at this stage, or at worst UK MHEG D-Book products with no Saorview equivalent yet that have known limitations.

In PVRs I only regard it as a true PVR if it's series link compatible, MHEG5, internal HDD and dual tuner.

Fair enough, and that is quite correct. But at €50 it has a place, and it does work as far as it says it does. Most users would use it to give life to a MPEG 2 TV that is watched rather than used as a media centre. It allows a Freesat/Saorview solution at an economical price, and, at present, there is no single box soltution but a low investment in an interim box would suit many users.

It is not a soltution for everyone, and I personally would not recomend it for a 4:3 CRT TV, as I would think that a new TV would be a much better solution.