Best saorview/FTA combo box

marob1969

What is the best saorview/FTA combo box out there. I see various makes. I have trawled all the forums and there are varying views. What is the best option, spend the extra few euros on a Triax or are some the others equally as good? Just trying to get an overall picture as we near the date.

Apogee

What's 'best' for you may not be 'best' for someone else. It's entirely dependent on your max budget and which features you require and which features you deem optional.

zg3409

OK basic questions.

1) Is recording important to you

2) If so is series link important to you on Irish and/or UK channels

3) Is being able to watch one program while recording important? (dual/quad tuner)

4) Is 7 day onscreen guide on all channels essential?

5) Do you mind needing to retune 3 or 4 times a year when channels move transponder. Are you techie enough to download a channel list on USB and update the box?

6) Do you have a budget of 400 Euro for the box alone?

7) Is having just the one box more important to you (and having one remote) or could you live with 2 boxes if it satisfies all the above?

8) Is your current TV Saorview compatable

Most of the cheap boxes are quite similar. The main difference are above 200 Euro range. Saorview compatability guarantees 7 day guide on the Irish channels only. None of the current Saorview boxes guarantee series link on Irish channels will work OK(yet).

marob1969

OK basic questions.

1) Is recording important to you Yes

2) If so is series link important to you on Irish and/or UK channels Not particularly

3) Is being able to watch one program while recording important? (dual/quad tuner) Yes

4) Is 7 day onscreen guide on all channels essential? Not essential.

5) Do you mind needing to retune 3 or 4 times a year when channels move transponder. Would be a pain Are you techie enough to download a channel list on USB and update the box? Yes

6) Do you have a budget of 400 Euro for the box alone? No I would pay up to 1/2 that at most

7) Is having just the one box more important to you (and having one remote) or could you live with 2 boxes if it satisfies all the above? One box preferably

8) Is your current TV Saorview compatable No

Most of the cheap boxes are quite similar. The main difference are above 200 Euro range. Saorview compatability guarantees 7 day guide on the Irish channels only. None of the current Saorview boxes guarantee series link on Irish channels will work OK(yet).

swoofer

the most important bit, can you wait until after 24th october?

zg3409

marob1969 wrote: »

OK basic questions.

1) Is recording important to you Yes

2) If so is series link important to you on Irish and/or UK channels Not particularly

3) Is being able to watch one program while recording important? (dual/quad tuner) Yes

4) Is 7 day onscreen guide on all channels essential? Not essential.

5) Do you mind needing to retune 3 or 4 times a year when channels move transponder. Would be a pain Are you techie enough to download a channel list on USB and update the box? Yes

6) Do you have a budget of 400 Euro for the box alone? No I would pay up to 1/2 that at most

7) Is having just the one box more important to you (and having one remote) or could you live with 2 boxes if it satisfies all the above? One box preferably

8) Is your current TV Saorview compatable No

Most of the cheap boxes are quite similar. The main difference are above 200 Euro range. Saorview compatability guarantees 7 day guide on the Irish channels only. None of the current Saorview boxes guarantee series link on Irish channels will work OK(yet).

The best one box under 200 Euro for you is a €100 combo box, with an external hard drive, and a dish and an aerial. This would work out around 200 self installed, probably 300 professionally installed.

For your budget a Saorview approved box is out. 7 day guide and series link is out. It would enable watching some channels while recording (while recording sat you could watch Saorview and vice versa)

You would need to manually set up each recording rather than using a 7 day guide.

My preferred €100 combo is any Ferguson. I would go for this as when channels change on Satellite channels people tend to upload a channel list to boards, which you can then update using the USB port. This saves having to do it using the remote or yourself. Depending on who you buy it from some suppliers offer to pre-program the satellite channels saving the first tune.

For 400 you could have a better system, but any system is a compromise. If you don't currently have a dish I would not recommend a total beginner to have a go. You could spend hours and get nothing.

blue banana

Sorry, if I am hijacking this thread, but my query is more or less the same. I would love to get rid of the monthly bills of Sky+ and I am looking for an alternative. I don't have Sky Movies or Sky Sports and tend to watch the Irish channels and BBCs, Channel 4s, UTV etc. The ease of recording and series link is more important to me than a long list of channels I don't watch.

To answer the questions

1) Is recording important to you Yes, vital

2) If so is series link important to you on Irish and/or UK channels Yes vital for both

3) Is being able to watch one program while recording important? (dual/quad tuner) Yes

4) Is 7 day onscreen guide on all channels essential? Yes

5) Do you mind needing to retune 3 or 4 times a year when channels move transponder. Yes Are you techie enough to download a channel list on USB and update the box? Yes, but would prefer to avoid this inconvenience if possible

6) Do you have a budget of 400 Euro for the box alone? Yes

7) Is having just the one box more important to you (and having one remote) or could you live with 2 boxes if it satisfies all the above? Not a major problem

8) Is your current TV Saorview compatable No, but wiling to purchase

Thanks

waterdragon

Sorry to jump in here also , but I am also confused as to which box to buy . I want pretty much all the same features as mentioned above .
If I go for the furguson box can I program recording in advance on both satallite and saorview ?? If not how much do I need to spend?
Thanks

zg3409

blue banana wrote: »

Sorry, if I am hijacking this thread, but my query is more or less the same. I would love to get rid of the monthly bills of Sky+

For your needs any option will be inferior to Sky+. The nearest is one box for FreeSat (a FreeSAT+ HD box) http://www.freesat.co.uk/products/freesat-box-range
and a totally seperate Saorview genuine PVR. The first genuine Saorview PVR will be launched before the end of October. After that we then expect at least one other approved Saorview box. So I would say wait a few weeks. In theory you could buy the box today and presume it will be approved and be OK. It would be better to wait for reviews of it. http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-set-top-box-receiver.html

But as said it won't be as slick as Sky+. If money is not that tight it might be worth waiting until the Saorview box is reviewed properly.

zg3409

waterdragon wrote: »

Sorry to jump in here also , but I am also confused as to which box to buy . I want pretty much all the same features as mentioned above .
If I go for the furguson box can I program recording in advance on both satallite and saorview ?? If not how much do I need to spend?
Thanks

Yes. But you need to manually input the start and stop time. As it does not have a 7 day guide you would need a TV guide to hand and select the correct channel and time, and then hope the show is shown at the correct time.

With a proper PVR you can select the show in the 7 day guide and it will ask you would you like to record just that show or every episode of the series.

The Ferguson are cheap and effective, can record, but are not the best recording solution.

marob1969

"the most important bit, can you wait until after 24th october? " I can, why is this important to the decision making process?

Morrisseeee

marob1969 wrote: »

"the most important bit, can you wait until after 24th october? " I can, why is this important to the decision making process?

Because after the 24th Oct Terrestrial goes Digital, ie. unless you have a Satellite box you will be receiving nothing.

swoofer

and after the 24th october, new equipment will come online, it wont need an analogue tuner, people will need a facility to record, we may know about the 2nd mux and there is a hold up on equipment at the minute as there is a chance of making a killing. And there is a PVR due soon that may be a winner.

marob1969

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Because after the 24th Oct Terrestrial goes Digital, ie. unless you have a Satellite box you will be receiving nothing.

3 TV's: I have UPC (not HD) on 1 TV and FTA channels on another two TV's. One of the other 2 is a 42" HD ready (Not saorview approved) and the other is a portable which I am going to ditch for a similar size but with Saorview. Initiallly i was looking at the Triax TSC114 for the 42" for the moment and see how got on with that before I decide on the FTA on the portable.

The Cush

marob1969 wrote: »

3 TV's: I have UPC (not HD) on 1 TV and FTA channels on another two TV's. One of the other 2 is a 42" HD ready (Not saorview approved)

How old is the 42"? Some non Saorview approved TVs have a digital tuner compatible with Saorview, can you check the specs in the TV's manual for MPEG-4 video decoding or post the model no here.

blue banana

Cheers zg3409, much appreciated

marob1969

The Cush wrote: »

How old is the 42"? Some non Saorview approved TVs have a digital tuner compatible with Saorview, can you check the specs in the TV's manual for MPEG-4 video decoding or post the model no here.

The model is a Philips 42FPL7662D/05

Cheers

The Cush

marob1969 wrote: »

The model is a Philips 42FPL7662D/05

Did a quick search on the net, the TV appeared about 2008 and should have an MPEG-4 video decoder compatible with Saorview.

marob1969

The Cush wrote: »

Did a quick search on the net, the TV appeared about 2008 and should have an MPEG-4 video decoder compatible with Saorview.

Is that because its got DVB-T in the spec as I didnt see any reference to MPEG-4 in the documentation?

Cheers.

The Cush

marob1969 wrote: »

Is that because its got DVB-T in the spec as I didnt see any reference to MPEG-4 in the documentation?

I came across the TV on a French website and it mentioned MPEG-4 decoding. The only way to be certain is to attach an aerial and see if it can receive the Saorview channels with audio and video. A non compatible set will give you audio only with the channels listed in the epg.

STB

As far as I recall the D range is MPEG2 only, whilst the H range is the High Definition Tuner (MPEG4 AVC/H264)

D Series
http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/4/42pfl7662d_05/42pfl7662d_05_pss_eng.pdf

H Series
http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/4/47pfl7606h_12/47pfl7606h_12_pss_eng.pdf

learnerplates

Any new information on this?
I'm looking for a satellite receiver for the uk and irish channels.
Usability and recording are the highest priority for me (I've used a teknorati one for example and it is a pain).

Can someone provide and exact box that satisfies the following?




1) Is recording important to you
Yes.

2) If so is series link important to you on Irish and/or UK channels
Not so much.

3) Is being able to watch one program while recording important? (dual/quad tuner)
Yes.

4) Is 7 day onscreen guide on all channels essential?
No.

5) Do you mind needing to retune 3 or 4 times a year when channels move transponder. Are you techie enough to download a channel list on USB and update the box?
I'd prefer not to have to retune but yes I am a techie..

6) Do you have a budget of 400 Euro for the box alone?
No, 200/250 is the max.



7) Is having just the one box more important to you (and having one remote) or could you live with 2 boxes if it satisfies all the above?
one box.


8) Is your current TV Saorview compatable
Yes but I'd prefer 1 control so I'd prefer to use saorview from the box.


Most of the cheap boxes are quite similar. The main difference are above 200 Euro range. Saorview compatability guarantees 7 day guide on the Irish channels only. None of the current Saorview boxes guarantee series link on Irish channels will work OK(yet).

Tony

learnerplates wrote: »

Most of the cheap boxes are quite similar.

I'd have to strongly disagree , there are some really good and some really bad boxes out there below €100.

learnerplates

This Ariva 150 seems popular on the forums
https://www.freesat.ie/pid-187-info.html

Looks to me like it fits my purpose. !

Tony

It is very popular and freesat.ie have been around a long time.

learnerplates wrote: »

This Ariva 150 seems popular on the forums
https://www.freesat.ie/pid-187-info.html

Looks to me like it fits my purpose. !

learnerplates

learnerplates wrote: »

This Ariva 150 seems popular on the forums
https://www.freesat.ie/pid-187-info.html

Looks to me like it fits my purpose. !

I got the Ferguson Ariva 250 installed yesterday and it looks very good. Menu is very easy to use.
I must recommend Freesat.ie they had the channel list preinstalled (and also gave me the channel list over email). Delivery was next day too. :)

(small crosspost here)

robk84

Hi Guys,

Im looking to ditch Sky and go for a combo box. Already have an aerial and sky dish installed. Im not overly tech savvy so would like to keep it simple and cheap. My main requirements would be a box that can record, pause, rewind etc, series link if possible, have some way to access the BBC red button service, be user friendly, and have the capacity to feed the aerial signal out so as I can receive the aerial signal in other rooms for duplicate boxes. It would be nice not to have to spend more than €150 on each box.

Would anyone have any recommendations?
Would this box be of much use? Ferguson Ariva 252 €110 on tvtrade.ie (boards wont let me post the link for some reason)

Cheers

zg3409

robk84 wrote: »

record, pause, rewind etc,

Most combo boxes can record, but you need to buy a seperate USB stick or hard drive. Ideally a very large, fast hard drive for 50 to 100 Euro on top

However with nearly all you need to watch what you record (not watch something else) or in some cases you can watch some channels, but not every other channel. For proper recording you need 2 feeds from the dish, and a box that takes 2 feeds etc.

series link if possible,

Not really possible. For Irish channels very few boxes do this, the only approved box is not a combo box, for UK series linking generally you need a 2 box solution, with the UK box being FreeSAT approved.

have some way to access the BBC red button service,

You probably need a Freesat or Sky approved box to get these, not a combo box.

be user friendly,

None are as good as Sky and you get what you pay for

and have the capacity to feed the aerial signal out so as I can receive the aerial signal in other rooms for duplicate boxes.

The recommendation is to get a professional installer to connect up each room and TV. Then you would get a good signal. This is not much a factor of the box you buy but the amount you are willing to pay to have it installed properly.

It would be nice not to have to spend more than €150 on each box.

You get what you pay for. I would suggest starting with one box, and see how you get on. Ideally but from a company that will pre-program all the channels for you in advance, and also supply a hard drive matched to the box for recording. Hang on to old Sky box, which will still work on BBC channels for red button etc.

If you are broke it's an OK system, but if series linking is important to you then you need to spend a lot more.

Would anyone have any recommendations?
Would this box be of much use? Ferguson Ariva 252 €110 on tvtrade.ie (boards wont let me post the link for some reason)

Cheers

robk84

Thanks a lot for that response. I will assess my options.