Good value freeview?

ktd22

Hi!
I was hoping someone might be able to give me a little advice on the cheapest/best value way of setting up some decent tv watching. Here is the situation, any tips would be greatly appreciated
Myself, my partner and 6yo son are just moving in together and I'm looking to set up a TV on a budget. We're not necessarily big watchers, so it seems silly to invest hundreds of pounds (especially as we are currently spending on furniture etc and neither of us are big earners) but it would be nice to have the option, and when we do watch it tends to be the more expensive channels that has the shows we want. I also aboslutely want to avoid subscriptions as we are going to have enough monthly outgoings for the foreseeable as it is.
We are moving into a friends house, taking 2 rooms. She already has an internet/phone line so there is no appeal in getting packages with that for us.
We have a basic hdmi monitor, that is capable of hooking up to boxes to turn it into a tv. I'm hoping to just use that to save money as we already have it gathering dust.
Amazon deal of the day today is a Now TV set with 6months entertainment pass for £18. I've bought that (looks like a real bargain!).
I understand that NowTV can essentially turn a normal tv into a smart TV (provide you with iplayer, spotify etc etc) as well as providing selected shows from sky channels. This looks like it will satisfy those needs well and i'm very happy with it. It will also give the other half the option to pay for the odd sporty day so it'll keep him happy haha.
However, we will still need freeview channels, and I would like the pause/rewind facilities. I would appreciate any advice on what options I may have not considered? I also still don't really understand how freeview works.

The BT YouView Box, for example, is on amazon for around £40 and says it will give us the freeview channels plus. But then the other Youview box costs in the £100's and I can't work out the difference? What am I missing? Will the £40 box do the job or is it an add on to something I don't have?

Sorry for the long explanation and dopey questions! Very new to all of this so just trying to get my head around it!

Many thanks in advance

Inner_Zone

You can side load TV Catchup on to a Now TV box, it a relatively new app, it will give you all the Freeview SD channels but no recording via the new black box.

The BT £40 box will pause / rewind upto 30 minutes only no recording. Most other Youview boxes will record and have twin tuners, though TalkTalk like BT have both types. Any Freeview box will require an aerial, but the Now TV box above does not.

ktd22

Oh really? I didn't know the TV Catchup app was available on the Now TV box? I've seen a fair few reviews complaining that it isn't? Is it's availability new?
In that case is it only the pause/rewind/record features we'e missing out on?

Inner_Zone

ktd22 wrote: »

Oh really? I didn't know the TV Catchup app was available on the Now TV box? I've seen a fair few reviews complaining that it isn't? Is it's availability new?
In that case is it only the pause/rewind/record features we'e missing out on?

Its an unofficial app only released about two weeks ago, but works well on the new black box not so well on the older white box..

http://blog.artesea.co.uk/2016/01/tvplayer-on-roku-or-now-tv.html

ktd22

That's really good to know! Thanks you!

almillar

A Humax YouView box will set you up nicely. Some of these are BT branded, but they do have a hard drive in them so you can record properly, and FreeviewHD obviously. Also includes nicely integrated catch up. These are used...
£91 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B008J0QMYG/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

And a couple to watch on eBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/humax-dtr1000-Freeview-YouView-500GB-Humax-remote-and-HDMI-cable-manual-Box-/272129026928?hash=item3f5c276b70:g:dtIAAOSwFNZWuh36

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Humax-DTR1000T-YouView-Freeview-recorder-500GB-with-HDMI-cable-and-remote-/272127036268?hash=item3f5c090b6c:g:JycAAOSwYaFWcCh6

ktd22

As a side question, is there such a thing as TV's with freeview built in but the ability to pause/rewind?
I'm really not fussed on the recording capabilities I don't think, especially as I'm happy to use the catch up features on the now tv. I could excuse the cost of getting a tv if it could combine all these features. Unlikely though I know...

goa55

i have a bt freeview box records etc ok but it s not very responsive compared to and xbox or sky box or indeed other freeview boxes i've used , i personally would avoid, i have f1 for kind of free paid for sat dish and reiever bought from B&Q got the astra one sat, loads of german channels and of course RTL so live hd coverage of all races with radio 5 live for commentry. works well i have used it ever since sky got f1. a great money saver

Roger1

Reading between the lines, your requirements like ours are simple, especially as you are not interested in subscriptions. This implies no paid-for sports or films.

If starting afresh, most new TV sets have built-in Freeview via a normal TV aerial, no dish required. Freeview channels suit us (though we do have dishes to receive European channels for free F1 or tennis). If you already have a TV without Freeview, adaptors are widely available.

The Now TV unit has catchup services for BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 built in. This features pause and rewind.

If you feel you must have Sky Sports or other Sky channels, these are available by the day or week (or month?) via passes which can be bought online or via retailers such as Currys/PC World.

Stompa

almillar wrote: »

A Humax YouView box will set you up nicely. Some of these are BT branded, but they do have a hard drive in them so you can record properly, and FreeviewHD obviously. Also includes nicely integrated catch up. These are used...
£91 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B008J0QMYG/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

And a couple to watch on eBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/humax-dtr1000-Freeview-YouView-500GB-Humax-remote-and-HDMI-cable-manual-Box-/272129026928?hash=item3f5c276b70:g:dtIAAOSwFNZWuh36

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Humax-DTR1000T-YouView-Freeview-recorder-500GB-with-HDMI-cable-and-remote-/272127036268?hash=item3f5c090b6c:g:JycAAOSwYaFWcCh6

You may as well go for the newer DTR2100 though. I picked mine up on eBay for ~£70.

almillar

is there such a thing as TV's with freeview built in but the ability to pause/rewind?

Yes, AND record. You generally plug a portable hard drive, or even a memory stick, into the TV. In my experience this doesn't work very well, and you're almost always stuck with 1 tuner, meaning you can't record something whilst watching something else, so a separate PVR, like the YouView boxes recommended, can be a better choice.