What would suit us best?

Indestructable

Hi guys,
We are looking to get rid of Sky and get the freeview and saorview channels instead to save some money.

We have a Sky Dish. What other pieces of kit would we need to buy? Can you recommend the best value ones?

Ideally we would like the ability to record programs, preferably on a separate station to the one we are watching.

Would an indoor ariel suffice for Soarview or is an outdoor one needed?

Are there any boxes on the market which would include Netflix streaming or do we need to buy a separate one for that?

Thanks for your help!

The Cush

There is no easy one box solution to replace the convenience of Sky.

A 2 box solution, Saorview+ (Irish channels) and Freesat+ (UK channels) PVRs get closest with series link, 7 day programme guide, built in HDD, digital text, watch one/record one or record two/playback one, auto updating channel changes etc.

The Freesat+ receiver will use the same cabling and dish, 2 cables from the dish required. The Saorview+ PVR requires an aerial.

Saorview+ PVR (only 1 official Saorview PVR on the market)
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-WP6500&pages=1&prod=WP6500&brands=WALKER&image=
http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-pvr.html

Freesat+ PVR
http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ (rh column) - the Manhattan Plaza HDR-S and other Freesat+ PVRs start about £150

Switching to Saorview information here - http://www.saorview.ie/what-is-saorview/make-the-switch/

A combi receiver (satellite/terrestrial) can be used but can be lacking in certain areas such as no digital text, no 7 day guide for satellite channels, no built-in HDD, no series link and if the satellite channels change frequency a manual retune of the box will be required.

List of channels on Freesat (UK) - http://www.channelwiki.org/wiki/List_of_channels_on_Freesat_(UK)

Indoor aerial or outdoor aerial will depend on how good the Saorview signal is where you live. An indoor aerial can be prone to local interference, RTÉ recommend a roof aerial.

Indestructable

Thanks for your very detailed reply. That was exactly what I was looking for and it really helped.

The idea of getting two boxes at an added cost doesn't really appeal.

I think I will get the combi box and sacrifice some of the functionality.

Thanks again.