Bargain Alert: New Ferguson HD DTT/Sat Combo Box - €63 before postage

GalwayKiefer · 02-06-2011 3:28pm

Just ordered one from Tony/satellite.ie - looking forward to tinkering with it when it comes. Cheers for the original heads-up STB.

Fowler87 · 02-06-2011 3:54pm

Tony wrote: »

It will work as a standalone digital terrestrial box without a dish but if you only need saorview the approved box Aldi sell at 79.00 is a better deal.

Will probably have to get a satellite dish in the near future anyhow esp with analog cut off next year meaning no english channels (we are just getting bbc 1 and 2, utv and channel 4 through the local CTV)... So reckon your deal is the way to go esp at the price. How much would a typical satellite dish/installation cost btw?

Zardoz · 02-06-2011 4:10pm

Satsklep.pl have the 120 Combo in stock now ,handy.:)

JDxtra · 02-06-2011 4:26pm

What is the EPG like to use on these Ferguson units? Will it be frustrating and quirky kind of like an Alba TV from Argos in the 90s?

galait · 02-06-2011 4:33pm

Zardoz wrote: »

Satsklep.pl have the 120 Combo in stock now ,handy.:)

Just ordered 2 for €152.47 , Great deal from our Polish Buddies

Tony · 02-06-2011 4:43pm

Zardoz wrote: »

Satsklep.pl have the 120 Combo in stock now ,handy.:)

Good news, I think they started shipping from the factory today.

Kristopherus · 02-06-2011 7:06pm

galait wrote: »

Just ordered 2 for €152.47 , Great deal from our Polish Buddies

Good price at only €81.40 for a single unit delivered to Ireland.

polyfusion · 02-06-2011 7:06pm

JDxtra wrote: »

What is the EPG like to use on these Ferguson units? Will it be frustrating and quirky kind of like an Alba TV from Argos in the 90s?

I'm interested too, also, what the menus are like for navigation, speed for switching between menus, and switching channels. Are there any video reviews available anywhere? I couldn't find any, and wouldn't buy one without seeing this in operation, or got hands-on experience of it.

Tony · 02-06-2011 7:49pm

Kristopherus wrote: »

Good price at only €81.40 for a single unit delivered to Ireland.

It sure is especially when you consider Polish VAT is 2% more than ours.

tmcw · 02-06-2011 7:53pm

STB wrote: »

Ferguson Ariva 120 Combo
......
Plays MKVs, USB Record, Timeshift, Web Radio. User Manual
.....

Did anyone else notice the nudie pictures in the manual?

O'Prez · 02-06-2011 8:05pm

tmcw wrote: »

Did anyone else notice the nudie pictures in the manual?

Hahaha so there are! That's what I get for actually reading the manual and not paying attention to the erm..."titillating" graphics...did you see what I did there?

Fowler87 · 02-06-2011 8:05pm

tmcw wrote: »

Did anyone else notice the nudie pictures in the manual?

Must make a trip to Poland some day:D

Kristopherus · 02-06-2011 9:27pm

Ain't no nudes in the manual I downloaded:(:(

ShamoBuc · 02-06-2011 9:54pm

Kristopherus wrote: »

Ain't no nudes in the manual I downloaded:(:(

Oh yes there is - they are on the screen captures of the tv screen about half way down the manual.

Tony · 02-06-2011 11:02pm

we must do this more often

seanmack · 03-06-2011 12:27am

Just ordered the "Ferguson Ariva 120 Combo" from satellite.ie.Initally I had some problems getting the discount but eventually got it right.

These are the 2 links I used:
1. "http://www.satellite.ie/cgi-bin/rs000001.pl?DESTINATION=index%2ehtml&BASEURL=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2esatellite%2eie%2facatalog%2f&COUPON=Boardscombo"

2. "http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Terrestrial_and_Satellite__Free_to_Air_Combo_Receivers_2.html"

Enter the first link in the browser and the the seconf.

When the combo receiver is added to your basket got to checkout now and the discount will be applied.

Not sure why I had these problems because other people seem to have ordered without a problem.

In any case if you are having problems use the above links and all should be OK

O'Prez · 03-06-2011 12:34am

What is the format of the saved recorded file on these? My Triax TR 112 saves em as TS. Is this the same?

Kristopherus · 03-06-2011 12:46am

O'Prez wrote: »

What is the format of the saved recorded file on these? My Triax TR 112 saves em as TS. Is this the same?

Yes.

O'Prez · 03-06-2011 12:48am

Kristopherus wrote: »

Yes.

Thanx. Good to know

O'Prez · 03-06-2011 2:12am

Right so after days of "will I-won't I" and convincing myself I would...I did

Hoorah! Ordered from our Tony.

O'Prez · 03-06-2011 4:17am

Anyone worried about losing the 7 day EPG for the satellite channels should use this site. It's basically an online EPG for all the UK satellite channels AND the Irish terrestrial ones (with the exception of 3e...so far) and you can customise it so it lays out the channels in the same order you choose for your box!

galait · 03-06-2011 8:15am

galait wrote: »

Just ordered 2 for €152.47 , Great deal from our Polish Buddies

Just got an email from Satsklep.pl and mine have be dispatched via UPS no less

theShire · 03-06-2011 8:51am

galait wrote: »

Just got an email from Satsklep.pl and mine have be dispatched via UPS no less

I just tried to order from them but the webpage seemed to time out after hitting "implement contract". Do they email looking for payment or is it an online payment page?

galait · 03-06-2011 8:56am

theShire wrote: »

I just tried to order from them but the webpage seemed to time out after hitting "implement contract". Do they email looking for payment or is it an online payment page?

No its online , You get transferred to a 3rd party , "Verified by Visa" was also used

theShire · 03-06-2011 9:17am

galait wrote: »

No its online , You get transferred to a 3rd party , "Verified by Visa" was also used

Thanks, will have to try again later when I get home from work.

channelsurfer2 · 03-06-2011 9:23am

just got an email to say mine was dispatched from saskelp too. now all I have to do is wait till wednesday and have fun playing around with it.

Tony · 03-06-2011 9:50am

Cool, would be interesting to hear what you think of it.

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

just got an email to say mine was dispatched from saskelp too. now all I have to do is wait till wednesday and have fun playing around with it.

darth_maul · 03-06-2011 10:22am

just ordered a couple from satskelp.pl to try out. Sorry Tony if I was buying them retail I would use yourself, Trying to convince my trade supplier to start supplying them they already supply the 200 combo.

Harcrid · 03-06-2011 10:33am

Placed and order from Tony myself this morning. For the sake of an extra 20 quid I felt more comfortable ordering from an Irish supplier. Looking forward to having a play with it when it arrives!

Tony · 03-06-2011 11:35am

darth_maul wrote: »

Sorry Tony if I was buying them retail I would use yourself,
[/B]

Don't be sorry, business is business.

gnolan · 03-06-2011 9:00pm

Does anyone think it will be possible to download some kind of file for this with all the channels pre-programmed after a month or two? Not sure if this is even possible

Tony · 03-06-2011 9:17pm

gnolan wrote: »

Does anyone think it will be possible to download some kind of file for this with all the channels pre-programmed after a month or two? Not sure if this is even possible

We'll have a channel list that can be uploaded via usb key and this will be updated if anything changes, you can also make up your own list and transfer box to box

savemejebus · 03-06-2011 10:14pm

Tony wrote: »

We'll have a channel list that can be uploaded via usb key and this will be updated if anything changes, you can also make up your own list and transfer box to box

That is a very cool service +1 for Satellite.ie

channelsurfer2 · 04-06-2011 1:51pm

never used a usb key to save or download channels before...is it easy to do?

Tony · 04-06-2011 1:59pm

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

never used a usb key to save or download channels before...is it easy to do?

Yep pretty much. Page 27 of the manual http://www.ferguson-digital.eu/en/download/func-startdown/1115/

Reesy · 05-06-2011 12:09am

Hey Tony, nice one on the Boards.ie offer.

Think I want the install done properly, not by Mr. Bodgealot Reesy. Are you doing a Boards offer on the box + full install, too? We're in Sth Dublin. EDIT: Just spotted that if I order the box, dish & DTT antenna install separately I get the lot for EUR 287. Great! Now I just need to convince the Frau Reesy.

Oh - D'you know if the box offers any teletext-type service at all? I think we'd miss it if we didn't have it.

STB · 05-06-2011 12:41am

Reesy wrote: »

Oh - D'you know if the box offers any teletext-type service at all? I think we'd miss it if we didn't have it.

Reesy you will get standard aertel.

......as long as its broadcast - it may be dropped after 31/10/2012 in favour of MHEG5 text.

It doesnt do the oul MHEG5 text.

Reesy · 05-06-2011 8:06am

STB, thanks. Actually, I remembered that our TV has a digital tuner that shows Saorview teletext (albeit with a delay when loading) - will the Ferguson pass the signal thru for the TV to read?

Tony · 05-06-2011 10:18am

No I dont think it will work at all with digital text. The current text will work for a while but i'd imagine it will be turned off in the future. If text is your thing this is not the box for you I'm sorry to say.

STB · 05-06-2011 11:24am

Reesy wrote: »

STB, thanks. Actually, I remembered that our TV has a digital tuner that shows Saorview teletext (albeit with a delay when loading) - will the Ferguson pass the signal thru for the TV to read?

It will pass it to through once the TV has MPEG4 H264 tuner and MHEG5. The TV has an aerial out so you can loop the aerial from the box to the TV with a fly lead. You would have to change channel to TVs integrated DVB-T tuner for that to work then. You also have the scenario then of being able to record any DTT/Sat Station and view another DTT station via the TVs integrated MPEG4 tuner.

@bk/marclt... So nearly 10,000 view in less than a week in a technical forum. I wonder if we brought this thread temporarily on tour to the bargain forum would they understand what was going on...... obviously the interest is there! Spread the good word that there is an alternative to pay TV, with a small investment and no further bills. (If someone wants to report the post!)

snaps · 05-06-2011 12:36pm

This seems an insane price for an HD combo that plays all those media files as well? At that price i could near enough dump my HTPC that i use for recordings/media files etc

O'Prez · 05-06-2011 7:32pm

Do you need to input a UK post code for this to pick up the UK channels?

ShamoBuc · 05-06-2011 8:26pm

O'Prez wrote: »

Do you need to input a UK post code for this to pick up the UK channels?

no, just connect to a sat dish and scan.

O'Prez · 05-06-2011 8:44pm

ShamoBuc wrote: »

no, just connect to a sat dish and scan.

That's deadly

I thought I read something about the UK postcode thing for some of the HD channels but maybe that's relating to freesat as opposed to fta.

byte · 05-06-2011 9:06pm

O'Prez wrote: »

That's deadly I thought I read something about the UK postcode thing for some of the HD channels but maybe that's relating to freesat as opposed to fta.

Yeah, you're right. The Postcode thing is only for Freesat, so it can determine which BBC/ITV/C4 region gets prominance at 101-104 on the guide.

O'Prez · 06-06-2011 1:03am

I have a few more questions and then I promise I'll shut up. I'm running a magic eye off the Sky box to a telly upstairs. Now then, if I connect the eye to the loop out on this box will it work in the same way? If it does...I'll only get the satellite channels, right?

galait · 06-06-2011 9:35am

O'Prez wrote: »

I have a few more questions and then I promise I'll shut up. I'm running a magic eye off the Sky box to a telly upstairs. Now then, if I connect the eye to the loop out on this box will it work in the same way? If it does...I'll only get the satellite channels, right?

You would need something like this and you will have access to DTT & SAT as it controls the box and not the content available on the box

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TRI-LINK-Control-Freesat-Freeview-around/dp/B002R634DU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307349306&sr=8-1

Buyme will deliver free to Ireland , Good Service

Also looks like a patch is already available that supports extended features that rely on the Network Card / Internet Connection

rasper · 06-06-2011 9:56am

any boxes coming with internet browsing capabilities such as the new internet TVs surely this is the way for with streaming online, RTE player and other catch up TV players

Tony · 06-06-2011 11:32am

The ferguson box has no RF out unless you get a HDMI router or scart to RF modulator you can only view it on one tv at a time.

O'Prez wrote: »

I have a few more questions and then I promise I'll shut up. I'm running a magic eye off the Sky box to a telly upstairs. Now then, if I connect the eye to the loop out on this box will it work in the same way? If it does...I'll only get the satellite channels, right?

bmaxi · 06-06-2011 1:55pm

This looks like an excellent buy. I see it has a card reader for pay TV, will it read the white Sky FTV card?

Bargain Alert: New Ferguson HD DTT/Sat Combo Box - €63 before postage

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