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Confused about Freesat+ and Sky
Comments
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Yes you need two feeds. As I mentioned above you can use 2x satellite cable or shotgun cable which is thinner cable than 2x satellite cable and can just about use the existing hole.
You can buy shotgun cable and a Quad lnb which can give you 4 feeds or two pvrs assuming they are twin for around £20+ postage. It costs me £24 in total and £40 fitting with a local company, which I was told by them that they cant buy this for that price and I even give them my source
You use the existing sky dish its just the lnb at the end and cable. The Humax is dead easy to set up just plug in the leads input your postcode xxxxxxx (no space) and it will do a search for the channels. It takes about 10 minutes max0 -
Well you have a state of the art pvr far better than sky can give you, it has the latest chips for decoding h.264 which are around £30 just for the chip. Its actually not bad value in terms of its a new product
Then you have the lnb/cable and fitting around £60-£100 tops and thats it. No subscriptions on this at all.
If you want to go the freeview route its cheaper but its limited in channels for now and no HD which if you every seen BBC HD is brilliant. I watched Lark rise to Candleford in 1080i the other night. Toy story 2 Xmas eve and Garvin and Stacey Xmas special all in HDSo I'd need a new LNB? Or a new dish altogether?
This is all beginning to sound too expensive. Perhaps before I go ahead I'd better check if the freeview reception is still as hopeless as it was last time I tried it, which was about 2 years ago, I think.
Thanks again for all you helpful people who are educating me!0 -
So I'd need a new LNB? Or a new dish altogether?
This is all beginning to sound too expensive. Perhaps before I go ahead I'd better check if the freeview reception is still as hopeless as it was last time I tried it, which was about 2 years ago, I think.
Thanks again for all you helpful people who are educating me!
A new LNB, but not a new dish.
To be honest, if you can get Freeview to work, you would be better off with it than Freesat, Freeview has less channels, but they are far better ones in my opinion.
As for High Definition on Freesat, there is so little to watch, it isn't worth the expense to be honest.
Also a Freeview+ Receiver is only around £80 as opposed to around £300 for a Freesat Recorder, OK...no HD, but that isn't really worth bothering with.0 -
She could go for now the freesat with a HD or SD box which only requires 1 feed. HD box being around £130 and SD being around £80 or there about and then wait to see what happens. The Humax pvrs doubt will come down for quite a while in fact they tend to hold there value for quite a while being quality pieces of kit
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=1500001151&langId=-1&searchTerms=freesat&Submit=GO+%3E
Although I do have a couple of freeview Humax pvrs at home, I mainly got the Humax freesat box for the future and for now HD. I still use freeview 70/30 ratio compared with freesat. I actually have a slightly better picture in SD on freeview than many of the freesat channels. I beelive this is more to do with compression and lack of space on one of the satellites0 -
She could go for now the freesat with a HD or SD box which only requires 1 feed. HD box being around £130 and SD being around £80 or there about and then wait to see what happens. The Humax pvrs doubt will come down for quite a while in fact they tend to hold there value for quite a while being quality pieces of kit
But, there is nothing of any consequence on Freesat, that isn't available on her existing Sky Receiver surely.
In fact there is more choice on the Sky Receiver.
I have Freesat, Freeview and Sky ( without subscription ) I prefer Freeview, it has the best channel line up in my opinion.0 -
Well I only use freesat and freview so cant comment on sky. There is more choice on freesat and it has some channels freeview dont have but the quality is slightly better in terms of picture on freeview for me it is and I know others say its about the same on some of the main channels
The EPG and handling on the freesat box I find better than my freeview pvr another Humax, although that isnt a valid reason to get one.
More choice doesn't necessary mean better there is some rubbish on freesat as there is on freeview too or no doubt sky, that's the price you get for choice.
One of the big bonuses of any pvrs is that you can record what you want and watch later thus avoid the rubbish, the downside is sometimes you miss the odd program because you only heard later it was good0 -
Wow! What a lot of helpful responses. Thanks everyone.
Just to clarify...
I have this gift card for Currys/PCWorld, and need to think of something to spend it on before they go bust (if they go bust). I can't afford to spend much actual money at all - maybe a few quid, but that's it.
I'm not bothered about having lots of channels. The current Sky box is almost permanently set to CBeebies except when the babysitter decides to watch some grown-up TV. But occasionally there's something on that I'd like to record and keep. That's why I'd like some kind of "record to a drive" system. I'd also like to be able to set it to record a whole series, even if the kids have been changing channels and watching videos in the meantime.
I used to have a semi-decent, fairly large TV, but it died, and I replaced it with a small and basic portable TV from freecycle, so having a box that can do HD is irrelevant.
The advice so far has been great, and I'll definitely check to see if the Freeview reception has improved since I last tried it a couple of years ago. I'm trying to remember what it was like. I know CBeebies was absolutely unwatchable, but I have a feeling some of the other channels were OK. So maybe I could get a Freeview+ box to use for recording grown-up TV, and keep the Sky box for the kids to watch CBeebies but not record anything. I'm hoping to move house in a year or two anyway, so it could all change then.Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
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Just to get this straight about LNB's~: if I were to ditch my sky box and replace it with a freesat, I could use the existing cabling as it is without having to buy anymore? i only need to install a second LNB if i want to keep both my sky box and have a freesat box? Have I got this right?
Any advice gratefully received0 -
Correct, as long as it is a standard Freesat Receiver and not one with recording facilities.
A straight swap from your Sky Receiver to Freesat Receiver will work just fine.0 -
Inactive you are a star! So if I eventually buy a Freesat PVR.... then I will need a second LNB. Thanks for putting me straight on this.
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