Freeview or Freesat? - choosing a box to record.

muffler

Looking for some advice and comments if possible please. I'm currently a Sky subscriber and I also receive both freeview and saorview via rooftop aerials. I will be cancelling the Sky sub shortly so that leaves me with a box to view the FTA channels but I'll be unable to record obviously.

Now "she who must be obeyed" wants to be able to record the soaps etc. so I need to get a box that will record these. There is nothing really on the Irish channels that would be recorded so its basically the UK channels such as the BBC's and ITVs that will be recorded. As a starting point I looked up digital tv recorders on the Argos UK website but there is such a variety with bells and whistles added here and there and it is confusing the hell out of me. I'm just looking for something simple and cheap(ish) to record basic digital tv.

What would people recommend in this situation...a Freeview recorder or a Freesat recorder?

Sam Russell

Freesat.
You can choose your UK region and are not stuck with Wales or Norn Iron.

iba

muffler wrote: »

Looking for some advice and comments if possible please. I'm currently a Sky subscriber and I also receive both freeview and saorview via rooftop aerials. I will be cancelling the Sky sub shortly so that leaves me with a box to view the FTA channels but I'll be unable to record obviously.

Now "she who must be obeyed" wants to be able to record the soaps etc. so I need to get a box that will record these. There is nothing really on the Irish channels that would be recorded so its basically the UK channels such as the BBC's and ITVs that will be recorded. As a starting point I looked up digital tv recorders on the Argos UK website but there is such a variety with bells and whistles added here and there and it is confusing the hell out of me. I'm just looking for something simple and cheap(ish) to record basic digital tv.

What would people recommend in this situation...a Freeview recorder or a Freesat recorder?

Hi,

Is your TV Saorview compatible, if so then you can just plug the cable from your saorview aerial into the TV - (as you are not recording terrestrial)

Then you only need a Sat receiver which is not a combo. So perhaps something like a Humax which is good quality and has a built in hard drive and easy for 'her indoors' to use.

If your TV is not Saorview compatible you will need to get a combo box and then you will need to decide between an ordinary box or a linux machine.

Have a read of this thread, especially Zardoz's post on page 2 - excellent info.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057231788

Something like this might be what the doctor ordered (but don't rush out and buy till the experts on this get to the thread to confirm):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HDR-1000S-Freesat-500GB-Satellite-Channels/dp/B009T36CYW/ref=sr_ob_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403103216&sr=8-1

Cheers

muffler

Thanks for the replies lads. Just a flying visit from myself as I have to head out for an hour.

The TV is Saorview approved/compatible and as stated picks up Freeview as Im right on the border with NI.

TV is a LG42LN540V.....I think.


.

kooga

as you live on the border

Existing TV TV tuner for saorview/Freeview
or
Humax freeview hd PVR box for Freeview ( will also pick up the irish channels as well and you have the option to record) Humax or panasonic seem to be what most boardies are using

Use existing sky dish for a freesat pvr box ( as there are some channels on freeview not on freesat)

muffler

We wouldn't record an awful lot of stuff and having talked about this over the last few days we realised that 90% or more of the programmes recorded via the Sky box are all on BBC and ITV anyhow. There would be the very odd programme on the likes of Sky Atlantic or Sky 1 that would be recorded but as we are leaving Sky we wont be recording those in the future. There's nothing really on the Irish/Saorview channels that we are interested in that isnt available on Freeview.

I have heard nothing but good things about the humax boxes but Im open to correction here in that I would see those boxes as a "half decent" replacement for the Sky boxes especially regarding their recording functionality. I will have the Sky box for viewing the FTA channels and just like the Saorview I cant really think of anything we would want to record on FTA.

Every household and every person is different so their recording requirements will vary but I'm sorta leaning towards a Freeview+ or Freeview+ HD box but again Im open to all suggestions.

iba

muffler wrote: »

We wouldn't record an awful lot of stuff and having talked about this over the last few days we realised that 90% or more of the programmes recorded via the Sky box are all on BBC and ITV anyhow. There would be the very odd programme on the likes of Sky Atlantic or Sky 1 that would be recorded but as we are leaving Sky we wont be recording those in the future. There's nothing really on the Irish/Saorview channels that we are interested in that isnt available on Freeview.

I have heard nothing but good things about the humax boxes but Im open to correction here in that I would see those boxes as a "half decent" replacement for the Sky boxes especially regarding their recording functionality. I will have the Sky box for viewing the FTA channels and just like the Saorview I cant really think of anything we would want to record on FTA.

Every household and every person is different so their recording requirements will vary but I'm sorta leaning towards a Freeview+ or Freeview+ HD box but again Im open to all suggestions.

If I understand you correctly this is what you want:

1. use your TV for terrestrial stations

2. keep your sky box to watch British stations

3. Get a new box to record British stations.

and you say that after your stop your sub to sky, the sky box will not record anymore.

But I do not understand why you want to keep the Sky box. Why not just get a box like the Humax to do numbers 2 and 3 above rather than having 2 seperate boxes?

Regards

Sam Russell

The Humax will do all the UK TV stuff for the British stations. Record, watch and series record. It will directly replace your Sky box, except for Saorview.

However, your current TV will provide both your Saorview and Freeview watching as well. It may be that your current TV might be able to record programmes (without series link) with the addition of a USB hard disk drive. This can be checked by consulting the manual, but it might need a particular HDD to work well (or at all).

Your TV will not be able to record and view two programmes at one, but the Humax FoxSat HDR will (and you also have the TV).

MC39

I don't think the LG 540s record, although it should have a satellite tuner, so a Freeview HD PVR could be used for Freeview & Saorview, & the TV's satellite tuner for viewing the odd 'FTA' programme.

Could be an option to allow a proper terrestrial PVR & doesn't keep the Sky box hanging around.

The Cush

The Humax Freesat receiver range are excellent without doubt but the Humax terrestrial receivers are locked to the UK so when Freeview and Saorview channels are installed the Irish channels are stuck up in the 800s and cannot be relocated to nearer the top of the epg if required.

The Panasonic PVRs are similar but the Saorview channels can be moved where ever you wish to place them.

Not sure how both receiver handle simultaneous timer recording from both services but someone here should be able to advise.

muffler

iba wrote: »

1. use your TV for terrestrial stations

2. keep your sky box to watch British stations

3. Get a new box to record British stations.

Thats pretty much it.

The only thing that could differ a wee bit would be no. 2 where there would only be a handful of channels watched on the Sky box. Sky news and a couple of the film channels would probably be the limit.

iba wrote: »

But I do not understand why you want to keep the Sky box. Why not just get a box like the Humax to do numbers 2 and 3 above rather than having 2 seperate boxes?

Im certainly not hung up on keeping the Sky box. As mentioned earlier I dont think there's any FTA channels that I would be recording but Im thinking of costs here also as Freeview recorder is a lot cheaper than a Freesat recorder. But I take your point though about having 2 different boxes.

iba

muffler wrote: »

Thats pretty much it.

The only thing that could differ a wee bit would be no. 2 where there would only be a handful of channels watched on the Sky box. Sky news and a couple of the film channels would probably be the limit.


Im certainly not hung up on keeping the Sky box. As mentioned earlier I dont think there's any FTA channels that I would be recording but Im thinking of costs here also as Freeview recorder is a lot cheaper than a Freesat recorder. But I take your point though about having 2 different boxes.

Are you certain that the Sky box will not record after you stop your sub (I have never had a sky box so I do not know). Cause if it still records then you will not need a new box at all.

And Sky news is not an encypted station as far as I know so you should still be able to receive, just like BBC/ITV

muffler

Sam Russell wrote: »

The Humax will do all the UK TV stuff for the British stations. Record, watch and series record. It will directly replace your Sky box, except for Saorview.

Sounds good indeed. Again I would be thinking of cost vs number and type of channels we would be recording.

Sam Russell wrote: »

However, your current TV will provide both your Saorview and Freeview watching as well. It may be that your current TV might be able to record programmes (without series link) with the addition of a USB hard disk drive. This can be checked by consulting the manual, but it might need a particular HDD to work well (or at all).

I will have to get a quick rummage through the manual but I dont recall seeing anything about it being able to record though.

Sam Russell wrote: »

Your TV will not be able to record and view two programmes at one, but the Humax FoxSat HDR will (and you also have the TV).

Any idea of prices or best places to look for deals on the likes of the foxsat HDR?

MC39 wrote: »

I don't think the LG 540s record, although it should have a satellite tuner, so a Freeview HD PVR could be used for Freeview & Saorview, & the TV's satellite tuner for viewing the odd 'FTA' programme.

Could be an option to allow a proper terrestrial PVR & doesn't keep the Sky box hanging around.

Thats a good idea alright to get a freeview reorder and watch the FTA channels via the TV. So many choices

The Cush wrote: »

The Humax Freesat receiver range are excellent without doubt but the Humax terrestrial receivers are locked to the UK so when Freeview and Saorview channels are installed the Irish channels are stuck up in the 800s and cannot be relocated to nearer the top of the epg if required.

I wouldnt worry too much about the Irish channels. News and sports are the only time they are watched.......give or take a programme here and there.

Atlantic Dawn

Either Amazon or Richersounds will have Humax boxes. Another option is Humax Direct can also have mangers specials from time to time https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk.

muffler

iba wrote: »

Are you certain that the Sky box will not record after you stop your sub (I have never had a sky box so I do not know). Cause if it does you will not need a new box at all.

And Sky news is not an encypted station as far as I know so you should still be able to receive, just like BBC/ITV

The Sky boxes definitely wont record after the sub expires. Im currently on a half price offer with them and it's not bad considering all the available channels they have and the ability to record all of them together with "record 2 + watch playback" features etc.

Yeah, Sky news is FTA and as I have a UTV region card I can (will be able to) view all the different ITV channels.

iba

muffler wrote: »

The Sky boxes definitely wont record after the sub expires. Im currently on a half price offer with them and it's not bad considering all the available channels they have and the ability to record all of them together with "record 2 + watch playback" features etc.

Yeah, Sky news is FTA and as I have a UTV region card I can (will be able to) view all the different ITV channels.

Definitly go with the Humax then and get rid of the Sky box altogether.

As Atlantic Dawn said, amazon, richer sounds or humax direct.

Sam Russell

Also ebay have a steady trade at low prices in Humax Foxsat HDR boxes as they are no longer the current model. The new version has no additional benefits to us as most content is geoblocked. Most should work perfrectly here, just choose an appropriate postcode to get the prefered region.

iba

Sam Russell wrote: »

Also ebay have a steady trade at low prices in Humax Foxsat HDR boxes as they are no longer the current model. The new version has no additional benefits to us as most content is geoblocked. Most should work perfrectly here, just choose an appropriate postcode to get the prefered region.

These are nice ones to use:

SW1A 1AA - Buckingham Palace
SW1A 2AA - 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury

iba

Oh, I don't think you need the UTV card but if you do I don't think it will go straight into the Humax. You may need to buy a CAM:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional-access_module

Perhaps someone else can advise for sure on this.

muffler

Have to make a final decision some time in the next week or two so thanks very much everyone for all your comments.

Just on the point of setting up a humax box and entering a postcode, does it matter much which UK region is chosen? I currently live very close to the border with Tyrone and even lived there for a while some years ago. Born and reared within a mile of the border and have lots of relations in NI so the watching of NI news etc is a regular occurrence in our household. Is there any other reason as to why NI should not be chosen?

muffler

iba wrote: »

Oh, I don't think you need the UTV card but if you do I don't think it will go straight into the Humax. You may need to buy a CAM:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional-access_module

Perhaps someone else can advise for sure on this.

Nah, I was just referring to the current ability to have the ITV regions on the Sky EPG (card trick as mentioned in the satellite forum). Some of the Sky boxes these days wont revert to the UK line up once the sub is cancelled/expired but with the UTV card I wont have any problems with that issue.

greasepalm

i bought this a few years ago and added external hdd and poor hdd must be nearly full of saorview recordings,one thing i check is a top quality picture from unit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgtlHyU3_Ys

local pub across the road bought a very nice sony with saorview and sat and added
an amiko mini hd combo freesat and saorview and will work on dvb/c also.

iba

muffler wrote: »

Have to make a final decision some time in the next week or two so thanks very much everyone for all your comments.

Just on the point of setting up a humax box and entering a postcode, does it matter much which UK region is chosen? I currently live very close to the border with Tyrone and even lived there for a while some years ago. Born and reared within a mile of the border and have lots of relations in NI so the watching of NI news etc is a regular occurrence in our household. Is there any other reason as to why NI should not be chosen?

You can choose whatever postcode you want. If you set postcode for Tyrone or Belfast you will get BBC 1 Northern Ireland for example but if you set the postcode for Downing Street you will get BBC 1 London. Totally your choice.

iba

muffler wrote: »

Nah, I was just referring to the current ability to have the ITV regions on the Sky EPG (card trick as mentioned in the satellite forum). Some of the Sky boxes these days wont revert to the UK line up once the sub is cancelled/expired but with the UTV card I wont have any problems with that issue.

Ah yeah, I know what your talking about but I can't remember what the card is called - people keep asking Setanta for the cards.

Sam Russell

For Northern Ireland, use the post code
Royal Mail
20 Donegall Quay
BELFAST
BT1 1AA
- which is the main sorting office in Belfast.
or -
Buckingham Palace
LONDON
SW1A 1AA
Whatever code you choose, you can get the other BBCs in the 900s, but it decides which is the default regions for 101, 102, 103, etc.

A non-England code will give you HD on BBC1 on 101.

MC39

muffler wrote: »

MC39 wrote: »

I don't think the LG 540s record, although it should have a satellite tuner, so a Freeview HD PVR could be used for Freeview & Saorview, & the TV's satellite tuner for viewing the odd 'FTA' programme.

Could be an option to allow a proper terrestrial PVR & doesn't keep the Sky box hanging around.

Thats a good idea alright to get a freeview reorder and watch the FTA channels via the TV. So many choices

I suppose it depends on if you want some kind of ability to record the Irish channels, 'just in case'. You certainly won't get this with Freesat & I'm almost certain that TV doesn't allow recording via USB device.

I'm pretty sure though, that if you take a look at the back of the TV, there will be an f-connector 'LNB-in' for a satellite tuner, so giving you some free channels not available on Freeview (specially if you only get 'Freeview Lite'), as well as any amount of out-of-region BBCs & ITVs. Only now-&-next programme info, mind, though probably not a big deal on infrequently viewed channels.

Sam Russell

@OP - That TV has a built-in Satellite tuner and a USB port that takes a HDD. I have an LG TV a lot older than yours that appears (I have not tried it) to allow recording. I do not know if it has Freesat, but if it has, it would need to be set to Country=UK.

Contact LG at their help line or support on the web. They should be able to advise you on how much you can get out of the TV. Maybe you can get all you need out of you current setup. You only have one tuner for terrestial and one for satellite, so that restricts you on what you can record while you watch.

watty

It may of course only play or only reliably play from HDD.

bridster007

Afaik, the previous range of Humax did not kick in for a timer recording on Saorview while the Epg is sitting on a Freeview station and vice versa. This was due to it not keeping the epg listing of both countries populated at the same time.
Manual recordings were ok though.

muffler

Right! I'm getting questions fired at me here by Mrs muffler and one in particular which unfortunately I can't answer.

She has read this thread and her opinion just like mine is that the general advice given seems to be that a Humax box is the way to go. Now this may be a "family specific" situation so bear with me while I point out a couple of matters.

1. We dont really watch that much on Saorview and we record nothing from it and probably wont ever record from it.
2. The channels and programmes that we would view and / or record are available on both Freeview and Freesat.
3. Its Freeview Lite we have and any additional FTA channels that can be viewed on a Humax box can also be viewed on a redundant Sky box.
4. The bulk (90% or more) of what we record would be from the BBC and ITV channels.

So the question is why would a decent Freeview+ recorder not suit our needs as opposed to a Humax box?

Hope all that makes sense.

kooga

what if the freeview box was a humax one?

The Cush

muffler wrote: »

So the question is why would a decent Freeview+ recorder not suit our needs as opposed to a Humax box?

A FreeviewHD+ box will give you the FreeviewHD channels and because FreeviewHD uses MPEG-4 video like Saorview it will display the Saorview channels and digital text also. I'd recommend the Panasonic terrestrial PVR range.

iba

muffler wrote: »

Right! I'm getting questions fired at me here by Mrs muffler and one in particular which unfortunately I can't answer.

She has read this thread and her opinion just like mine is that the general advice given seems to be that a Humax box is the way to go. Now this may be a "family specific" situation so bear with me while I point out a couple of matters.

1. We dont really watch that much on Saorview and we record nothing from it and probably wont ever record from it.
2. The channels and programmes that we would view and / or record are available on both Freeview and Freesat.
3. Its Freeview Lite we have and any additional FTA channels that can be viewed on a Humax box can also be viewed on a redundant Sky box.
4. The bulk (90% or more) of what we record would be from the BBC and ITV channels.

So the question is why would a decent Freeview+ recorder not suit our needs as opposed to a Humax box?

Hope all that makes sense.

I forget if you said that you live on the border or not. If you do you can probably get freeview with an aerial, but generally freeview is not available in the republic.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2011/dec/29/ask-jack-digital-tv-freeview-freesat

http://www.tvtrade.ie/free-to-air-vs-freesat-satellite-receivers.html

So for freeview you will need an aeraial. For freesat a dish.

Regards

muffler

iba wrote: »

I forget if you said that you live on the border or not. If you do you can probably get freeview with an aerial, but generally freeview is not available in the republic.

Yeah, Im only a couple of miles from the border with Co. Tyrone and currently have a fantastic Freeview reception from the Strabane transmitter which is probably around 12 or 13 miles from me as the crow flies.

muffler

kooga wrote: »

what if the freeview box was a humax one?

Sorry, I should have said a Humax freesat box or whatever they are officially called. I wasnt aware that humax made a freeview box.

kooga

muffler wrote: »

Sorry, I should have said a Humax freesat box or whatever they are officially called. I wasnt aware that humax made a freeview box.

Humax is a brand name.

I'd go for a freeview hd box either the humax or panasonic

The Cush

muffler wrote: »

Sorry, I should have said a Humax freesat box or whatever they are officially called. I wasnt aware that humax made a freeview box.

The Humax HDT-2000T was discussed here recently, it has a few known problems such as the loop through to the TV is disabled if the STB is in standby.

iba

Note: With freeview from Strabane you will be stuck with freeview Northen Ireland.

With Freesat you can put in whatever postcode you want and receive any UK region you want.

muffler

kooga wrote: »

I'd go for a freeview hd box either the humax or panasonic

Cheers. Must have a look at those.

The Cush wrote: »

The Humax HDT-2000T was discussed here recently, it has a few known problems such as the loop through to the TV is disabled if the STB is in standby.

Good to know that.

iba wrote: »

Note: With freeview from Strabane you will be stuck with freeview Northen Ireland.

Part of daily life up this neck of the woods. I watch more "local programming" on BBC NI than I would watch on RTE, TV3 etc. I think I mentioned earlier in the thread that if I was ever choosing a Freesat box I would probably select a NI postcode at setup stage.

Chalco

muffler wrote: »

1. We dont really watch that much on Saorview and we record nothing from it and probably wont ever record from it.
2. The channels and programmes that we would view and / or record are available on both Freeview and Freesat.
3. Its Freeview Lite we have and any additional FTA channels that can be viewed on a Humax box can also be viewed on a redundant Sky box.
4. The bulk (90% or more) of what we record would be from the BBC and ITV channels.

So the question is why would a decent Freeview+ recorder not suit our needs

Don't forget the satellite tuner in the TV, so you could ditch the Sky box (but lose the Sky EPG, current LG TVs do not have Freesat EPG).

If you don't care about recording Saorview, I would think you'd be better off with a Freesat PVR, as this offers the maximum choice of channels in 1 box & all on 1 proper 7-day EPG, handy even just for channel-hopping, but I'm not too well up on the relative cost of Freesat -v- Freeview.

Freesat would also be better if you think there's a chance you would ever move to a location outside Freeview coverage (within the lifetime of the receiver, of course).

Sam Russell

@ Muffler

You have a satellite dish pointing at 28 deg east, so a connection to your Sat tuner on the TV is worth doing and get rid of the Sky box as it adds nothing to your setup as the TV will get everything the Sky box will, and it cannot record.

Your TV will receive all of you Saorview and Freeview directly, so viewing is not a problem.

Recording would best be achieved by either a Freeview or Freesat recorder, as both would work where you are. Freesat wins if you want more choice in UK channels but you say you do not care. Freeview wins if you may wish to record Saorview as it will do that (but not sure how easy the integration of the epg would be and whether series recording would work on Saorview).

On balance from what you have said, Freeview wins - but check out the series record function re Saorview. Do not forget UTV (Ireland) is coming, and programme quality may improve overall.

NIMAN

I own the Humax Freesat+ box (Foxsat HDR), and its a great machine.

numorouno

Can you series link record with the humax like sky?

Sam Russell

You can on the Freesat version, but that does not include Saorview. I do not have a Freeview version.