Freesat box installed, bye bye Rupert Murdoch!

d123

reduceditem wrote: »

Only other thing that would ever interest me is the Sky Sports for footie and I can always add that if I want.

How?

The whole debate is freesat vs Sky, since when was Sky Sports available as an option on freesat?

reduceditem

d123 wrote: »

How?

The whole debate is freesat vs Sky, since when was Sky Sports available as an option on freesat?

Didn't say I had Freesat.

I merely remarked that my Humax box has more bells and whistles than my Dad's Sky+ box, which it does.

hippey

I have a Freesat PVR (Humax) and it's an excellent device for us as a family, we only really watch the main public broadcasters in the UK which is plenty for us, the real benefit of the freesat system is the BBC iPlayer & Itv player via the ethernet connection.

whitegoods_engineer

Well I am very happy having sacked Sky and got my Humax box.

I can record and pause/rewind radio which is something the Sky box couldn't do.

I get FREE hd on 3 channels (I believe a 4th is coming in March)

I get BBC I player AND ITV player

I have lost some channels but have GAINED others.

Sound quality has improved in clarity and sharpness on all channels as well as the radio channels, and I get Dolby sound (Again, the Sky box couldn't manage that.

Also, I get a 320 GB Hard drive, compared to the paltry 40gb on the sky (Well the Sky HDD is advertised as 80gb but half of the space is reserved for Sky Anytime where the machine wastes half the drive downloading programmes you'll never want to watch, and others that cannot be accessed simply because you need additional subscriptions to watch!)

Thats EIGHT TIMES the capacity of the standard Sky Plus (non HD) box, and I can plug in an external 2TB drive (again, something the Sky box couldn't manage)

Oh and I can plug in external media via its usb port (The Sky one actually was designed to be non-functional), and have added music and photos.

And another thing, with a simple download from the Internet, I now have network functionality over my home network so I can transfer recordings between my PCs and the Humax box.

Also, when I choose a programme from the guide, the machine intelligently tells me if there is an alternative on HD, and if I choose to record a programme which conflicts with another, it scans the rest of the week automatically to find a later date when the programme is next on. The Sky box couldn't do that!

So, I am not saying that my new box is as good in every way as the Sky box, and I'm not claiming to get all of the channels I had before (my stepson misses the Paramount channel for instance, but when I offered to reinstate it if he gave me £24.50 a month, he declined!

What I AM saying is that I have been paying £294 a year to watch a few programmes on a few channels which, if I went into a computer exchange shop, I could buy a few used dvds of all of the programmes I am not getting for a fraction of the cost.

I'm saving money, I'm spreading the word which will hopefully result in more people going down the Freesat route which will reduce the Murdoch empire's fortunes, so that is a good thing in itself.

So as in my original post, if you've got a standard Sky plus box on basic channels, invest in a Freesat (recorder) box and you'll save money and I'd bet you will hardly notice any loss of programming. In fact, I seem to be finding and recording much more than I did before and don't have the time to watch all my recordings!

anotherbaldrick

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

Well I am very happy having sacked Sky and got my Humax box.
I'm saving money, I'm spreading the word which will hopefully result in more people going down the Freesat route which will reduce the Murdoch empire's fortunes, so that is a good thing in itself.

How will "The Empire" ever achieve world domination if you break the faith ?

davemurgatroyd

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

Well I am very happy having sacked Sky and got my Humax box.

I can record and pause/rewind radio which is something the Sky box couldn't do.

Sky+ and HD boxes can record radio although only manually and not from the EPG

I get FREE hd on 3 channels (I believe a 4th is coming in March)

Sky HD boxes already get subscription free Channel 4 HD and Five HD (which is not coming to freesat in the near future

I get BBC I player AND ITV player

I have lost some channels but have GAINED others.

All channels viewable on a freesat box are viewable on a Sky HD plus at the moment 10 more

Sound quality has improved in clarity and sharpness on all channels as well as the radio channels, and I get Dolby sound (Again, the Sky box couldn't manage that.

Dolby sound is available on all Sky+ and Sky HD boxes

Also, I get a 320 GB Hard drive, compared to the paltry 40gb on the sky (Well the Sky HDD is advertised as 80gb but half of the space is reserved for Sky Anytime where the machine wastes half the drive downloading programmes you'll never want to watch, and others that cannot be accessed simply because you need additional subscriptions to watch!)

The Sky+ boxes with Anytime have 160GB HDD with 80GB reserved for Anytime and the latest HD boxes are either 500GB (250 reserved) or 1.5TB (500GB reserved)

Thats EIGHT TIMES the capacity of the standard Sky Plus (non HD) box, and I can plug in an external 2TB drive (again, something the Sky box couldn't manage)

Upgraded boxes are available now from non-Sky sources with 2TB HDD already fitted

Oh and I can plug in external media via its usb port (The Sky one actually was designed to be non-functional), and have added music and photos.

And another thing, with a simple download from the Internet, I now have network functionality over my home network so I can transfer recordings between my PCs and the Humax box.

Also, when I choose a programme from the guide, the machine intelligently tells me if there is an alternative on HD, and if I choose to record a programme which conflicts with another, it scans the rest of the week automatically to find a later date when the programme is next on. The Sky box couldn't do that!

So, I am not saying that my new box is as good in every way as the Sky box, and I'm not claiming to get all of the channels I had before (my stepson misses the Paramount channel for instance, but when I offered to reinstate it if he gave me £24.50 a month, he declined!

What I AM saying is that I have been paying £294 a year to watch a few programmes on a few channels which, if I went into a computer exchange shop, I could buy a few used dvds of all of the programmes I am not getting for a fraction of the cost.

I'm saving money, I'm spreading the word which will hopefully result in more people going down the Freesat route which will reduce the Murdoch empire's fortunes, so that is a good thing in itself.

So as in my original post, if you've got a standard Sky plus box on basic channels, invest in a Freesat (recorder) box and you'll save money and I'd bet you will hardly notice any loss of programming. In fact, I seem to be finding and recording much more than I did before and don't have the time to watch all my recordings!

Quite a lot of errors in your post but freesat boxes are a good alternative if you want free recording whereas a subscription free Sky HD box will give more channels and if you already have one cancelling your sub gives that benefit without having to spend out on a freesat box.

djohn2002uk

davemurgatroyd wrote: »

whereas a subscription free Sky HD box will give more channels and if you already have one cancelling your sub gives that benefit without having to spend out on a freesat box.

But at the cost of losing the recording facility unless he lines Murdocks pocket to the tune of £10/month which I suspect he isn't willing to do.

davemurgatroyd

djohn2002uk wrote: »

But at the cost of losing the recording facility unless he lines Murdocks pocket to the tune of £10/month which I suspect he isn't willing to do.

Why did you bother editting out the first part of the sentence that says

Quite a lot of errors in your post but freesat boxes are a good alternative if you want free recording

djohn2002uk

Sorry about that. First bit never registerred.:( Never saw "recording".