Freeview HD receiver for £70

10-11-2010 12:28PM

Your channel list is the same as mine on 6,7 and 8 with the irish channels.
I've put BBC1 hd on one now though instead of bbc1 wales and itv1hd on 3 instead of itv1 wales.

Theres no ch4hd on welsh tx's yet unfortunately , just s4c hd which has very very few viewers and is hopefully going to be replaced soon with ch4hd as the bbc is taking over s4c's out of control budget.

The sony and the sagemcom have a mini screen in their epg which is nice.
I'll post pics later to this thread

Rick_ · 25-11-2010 11:25AM

Can you re-name channels on any of these STB's by any chance?

holidaysong · 25-11-2010 12:21PM

Paddy C wrote: »

Can you re-name channels on any of these STB's by any chance?

Yes you can. I renamed the BBC red button channel from '301' to 'BBC Red Button' for example.

gtg60 · 29-11-2010 07:02PM

Got one of these today, bit cheap looking but works well, can't wait to get up to my folks to see how the HD channels look on it.

FREETV · 30-11-2010 01:29PM

gtg60 wrote: »

Got one of these today, bit cheap looking but works well, can't wait to get up to my folks to see how the HD channels look on it.

Hi gtg60, I was trying to buy one of those boxes earlier today and I couldn't as it said that the item cannot be shipped to my address here in Swords. As you are in Wicklow how did you get it to work and be shipped to you please? I was trying amazon.co.uk and maybe it cannot be shipped to Ireland.

gtg60 · 30-11-2010 01:35PM

FREETV wrote: »

Hi gtg60, I was trying to buy one of those boxes earlier today and I couldn't as it said that the item cannot be shipped to my address here in Swords. As you are in Wicklow how did you get it to work and be shipped to you please?

Bought mine on eBay as I had some Paypal Sterling burning a hole in my pocket! :rolleyes:;)

FREETV · 30-11-2010 01:49PM

gtg60 wrote: »

Bought mine on eBay as I had some Paypal Sterling burning a hole in my pocket! :rolleyes:;)

Thanks, was it the one on sale for 59.99 sterling you bought? How much did it cost you to ship here in euros?

Just bought mine from Amazon themselves as the other seller doesn't ship to here.Amazon offer free super saver delivery so the box cost78.03 in total. Due for delivery around December 7 or 8. It will be used for Saorview viewing mostly and will use my Iomega 500GB usb harddrive for recordings. I also have the old Sagem Picnic box which I will use for the SD channels in another room after RTE2 begins to broadcast in HD.

OldRio · 30-11-2010 02:36PM

FREETV wrote: »

Hi gtg60, I was trying to buy one of those boxes earlier today and I couldn't as it said that the item cannot be shipped to my address here in Swords. As you are in Wicklow how did you get it to work and be shipped to you please? I was trying amazon.co.uk and maybe it cannot be shipped to Ireland.

Hi, I was looking to buy one of these today. I checked Amazon and lo and behold they would not ship to the Irish Republic. Checked the website and found I was on the uk site. Googled Amazon Ireland. Went on that site,no bother.

FREETV · 30-11-2010 04:07PM

OldRio wrote: »

Hi, I was looking to buy one of these today. I checked Amazon and lo and behold they would not ship to the Irish Republic. Checked the website and found I was on the uk site. Googled Amazon Ireland. Went on that site,no bother.

I went directly to Amazon who were selling a little dearer than another seller with a shop on ebay who doesn't ship to here but Amazon themselves do.

I don't think that it has a usb pvr function according to the manual online.

dowtchaboy · 30-11-2010 06:44PM

FREETV wrote: »

It will be used for Saorview viewing mostly and will use my Iomega 500GB usb harddrive for recordings.

This box doesn't seem to have a USB port for recording or playback - or am I looking at the wrong spec??

FREETV · 30-11-2010 08:21PM

dowtchaboy wrote: »

This box doesn't seem to have a USB port for recording or playback - or am I looking at the wrong spec??

It probably doesn't unless there has been a firmware update to allow those functions. See my earlier post, thought that it would be included as the box was very expensive when first released/launched to the public.

Tom Slick · 30-11-2010 09:14PM

FREETV wrote: »

It will be used for Saorview viewing mostly and will use my Iomega 500GB usb harddrive for recordings. . .

How are you going to connect this to a box with no usb ports?

FREETV · 30-11-2010 09:34PM

Tom Slick wrote: »

How are you going to connect this to a box with no usb ports?

True, just saw that earlier and I can't understand why these boxes don't as they were very expensive initially when first launched.

It will be replaced whenever Technisat or Humax twin tuner Freeview HD+ boxes drop significantly in price in a year or two. I will just connect the scart out to my Sony dvd recorder for a lower fidelity result for recordings.

OldRio · 01-12-2010 04:51PM

Thanks OP ordered one of these from Amazon. Should arrive in about 5 days.:D

FREETV · 02-12-2010 03:08PM

Hi all, well my Metronic T2 HD Zapbox arrived just after noon today and I must say for a free delivery from Amazon was very fast indeed. The RF lead however was missing from the included accessories in the box so I sent Amazon an email anyway as according to the guide it is supposed to be in the box.

So far I am happy with my purchase and the RTENL HD test channel picture earlier looked glorious through the hdmi lead included. I just have to edit the channel numbers to single digits for the tv channels. I just read their return email and they have sent out a new box again and after the new one comes and I check that everything is enclosed, I have to send the old box back by recorded delivery but will be refunded for the postage cost incurred. Great customer service from Amazon, although an RF lead missing isn't much of an inconvenience. It will be used in the mean time until the new one arrives. I expect that they won't be able to sell it as a new item but a refurbished item instead. Did anyone else buy the Metronic box and receive it with any accessories missing? They cannot send out any item missing so if that happens to anyone else who buys it you will have to send the whole package back after you get a replacement one.

Joe7 · 02-12-2010 10:54PM

An RF lead, are you sure it was supposed to be included?

Don't think I'd bother sending it back unless the box had been tampered with or looked like it had already been sold & returned.

watty · 02-12-2010 11:29PM

Such a lead is €2 to €5

Usually rubbish quality. I'd not bother sending back.

FREETV · 02-12-2010 11:55PM

watty wrote: »

Such a lead is €2 to €5

Usually rubbish quality. I'd not bother sending back.

I didn't want to but they cannot just send out the missing item. More hassle for me to queue in the post office. My God, I can only imagine how many people will be waiting it being the busiest month of the year all because of an RF lead. He has made out an order for a new one already and it will be dispatched tomorrow I think. According to available actions this portion of the order cannot be changed or cancelled it says. He sent the email at around 4.05PM and I didn't check my email afor a few hours afterwards. Still I did pay for it and yes it is supposed to be included according to the manual.

lawhec · 03-12-2010 11:56AM

Got this STB about two weeks ago, main idea being that as well as HD material & some future-proofing for both Saorview and Freeview HD, also attached an external modulator to pipe around the house so anyone wanting to watch RTÉ in another room (if Sky's not available) can do so via this STB, and plan to take down the large VHF aerial which is giving a considerable wind load on the pole.

When the RTÉNL HD test programme was running, have to say the quality was excellent, even just on a 1366x768 display. Upscaled SD through HDMI looks good as well though MPEG artifacting looks more noticable, when watched via SCART socket the softer picture does a better job hiding this.

The remote control is a bit of a disappointment, but other than that the receiver works, not many frills but a good job on the reception department.

Joe7 · 03-12-2010 03:33PM

FREETV wrote: »

. . . all because of an RF lead.

I have a drawer full of crappy leads that came with various items. I think I could live without another one.

OldRio · 07-12-2010 06:00PM

Thanks for the info on this box. Ordered from Amazon late last week arrived today. Superb quality for just a cheap price.
Tuned all the RTE's, TG4 TV3 and 3e.
Also lots of channels from the North. BBC 1,2,3,4 etc.etc,etc.

Thaks again to the OP:)

mal1 · 08-12-2010 02:28PM

This seller of this item doesn't ship to Ireland:mad:

The units bought up to now must have been bought directly from Amazon.

sesswhat · 08-12-2010 02:33PM

You can still buy direct from Amazon (£61.48 at the moment) under 'More buying choices' on the right.

mal1 · 08-12-2010 02:38PM

Cheers for that sesswhat. I thought i must have been missing something.

FREETV · 09-12-2010 02:24AM

The only thing that I don't like about the box is that there is no program info for the Saorview channels when you press the guide button on the remote or the info button, but there is for the UK channels, while our Sagem Picnic boxes show both UK Freeview program info and Saorview information in the EPG and when you press info independently.Anybody know why the Metronic Zapbox doesn't? Probably Watty and a few others may know? Is there a solution to that problem? Software update possibly? Both boxes are locked to the UK modes. However Northern Ireland etc can be selected for other regions but I didn't see any change other than channel numbers. I suppose Wales too could be selected if the tuner picks up Welsh reception in the proper locations too.

The box has excellent picture quality. I am giving the first box that came to my Dad as he can receive Freeview from N.I.(Divis) in clear weather and Saorview from the one box and should keep him going until the power increase in 2012 from Divis.

Peddyr · 09-12-2010 03:09AM

FREETV wrote: »

The only thing that I don't like about the box is that there is no program info for the Saorview channels when you press the guide button on the remote or the info button, but there is for the UK channels, while our Sagem Picnic boxes show both UK Freeview program info and Saorview information in the EPG and when you press info independently.Anybody know why the Metronic Zapbox doesn't? Probably Watty and a few others may know? Is there a solution to that problem? Software update possibly? Both boxes are locked to the UK modes. However Northern Ireland etc can be selected for other regions but I didn't see any change other than channel numbers. I suppose Wales too could be selected if the tuner picks up Welsh reception in the proper locations too. The box has excellent picture quality. I am giving the first box that came to my Dad as he can receive Freeview from N.I.(Divis) in clear weather and Saorview from the one box and should keep him going until the power increase in 2012 from Divis.

The Tesco Technika STBHDIS2010 Freeview HD STB is the same. No Info displayed when info pressed. The 'Guide' button has to be pressed, then 'Info' and even then only sometimes is programme info displayed on Saorview channels. Do you have to retune the channels several times a day as on the Technika? I have to daily as it keeps losing the UK Freeview HD channels and also when this happens it replicates the BBC mux channels after the Saorview channels in the 800s. It's a pain in the ass!

Also, no Audio description or subtitles available on said box. Do they work on the Metronic Zapbox, or are they even operational on Saorview as yet, or will they ever be??

doney84 · 09-12-2010 06:46PM

FREETV wrote: »

The only thing that I don't like about the box is that there is no program info for the Saorview channels when you press the guide button on the remote or the info button, but there is for the UK channels

Just got the T2 HD zapbox today, having the same problems as FREETV with regards program info ... also i noticed that teletext doesn't work on TV3 or TG4. Anyone know any reason for this ?

lawhec · 09-12-2010 07:37PM

doney84 wrote: »

Just got the T2 HD zapbox today, having the same problems as FREETV with regards program info ... also i noticed that teletext doesn't work on TV3 or TG4. Anyone know any reason for this ?

I reckon that the missing programme info bug on Saorview channels is a software bug, possibly only confirming to the UK D-Book? As for teletext, the manual claims to support WST teletext via VBI reinsertion, but it doesn't appear via the SCART socket either - again probably a bug as this wouldn't be a problem under general UK reception circumstances.

lor2ie · 12-12-2010 09:38PM

hi, after reading the good reviews on this site about the Metronic HD receiver ordered one from Amazon, it arrived Friday. I got it in the hope of replacing my sky subscription but I do not see any place to put in the connections for a sky dish in to the box only for an aerial which did not work? so unless my aerial has stopped working ( which could be quite likely since I have not used it for ages) how does this receiver bring in the freeview channels with out a dish connection? confused!! at this rate I will be returning it as its not doing what it says on the box for me...:(. any input would be appreciated.

gtg60 · 12-12-2010 10:01PM

lor2ie wrote: »

hi, after reading the good reviews on this site about the Metronic HD receiver ordered one from Amazon, it arrived Friday. I got it in the hope of replacing my sky subscription but I do not see any place to put in the connections for a sky dish in to the box only for an aerial which did not work?

Oh dear! You didn't read this thread very well then, this box is primarily for viewing the Saorview (i.e. Irish digital channels) unless you happen to live on the East coast or close to the border? Do you?

Freeview HD receiver for £70

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