Freeview - Stupid Questions....

vansboy

OK - so Grandma wants a Freeviw box...

Postcode search shows 'poor reception/aerial upgrade may be required.' So probably got to buy one & take it back, if it's no good. I'll check Argos are OK with that, first!!

BUT.... what do the £30 ones not have that the £50 ones do have?? Other than big brand name on the box!!

Guess we'll need yet ANOTHER scart lead, too!

& what else should we look for??

Thanks in advance!

VB

brummiebabe

I don't think the more expensive ones have any extras e.g extra channels. We got a BUSH one from Tesco for around £40 (6 months ago.) Does the job!! As for the aerial thing - can't help as we had a new digital aerial installed a few years ago.

You'll need a Scart plug (may be included in box) we didn't have enough points in back of TV to use that, video and DVD player but you can get a kind of 'gang plug' for scarts (Currys etc do them ? price)

Don't know if any of that is helpful.

djohn2002uk

vansboy wrote:

OK - so Grandma wants a Freeviw box...

Postcode search shows 'poor reception/aerial upgrade may be required.' So probably got to buy one & take it back, if it's no good. I'll check Argos are OK with that, first!!

BUT.... what do the £30 ones not have that the £50 ones do have?? Other than big brand name on the box!!

Guess we'll need yet ANOTHER scart lead, too!

& what else should we look for??

Thanks in advance!

VB

They were excluded from the 15 day return thingy at Argos, Currys too (I think). They seem to have cottoned on to people trying them first, but, that is just what you need to do because my daughter is in a poor reception area in Abergavenny but only experiences minor probs that I'm sure a new aerial would cure.

Sujamjen

Bought one for my mum even though the post code check threw up the poor reception bit (just out of curiosity is there anywhere in the country that get perfect reception?). She doesn't get all the channels but the ones she does get are beautifully clear. She was really only desperate to get BBC 3 & 4 and ITV 2 & 3 so she was chuffed to find that she could get various others as well. I bought a cheap, easy to operate one for her and bought a cheap scart cable too (Perhaps I should change my username to CHEAP :rotfl: )

alanobrien

vansboy wrote:

OK - so Grandma wants a Freeviw box...

Postcode search shows 'poor reception/aerial upgrade may be required.' So probably got to buy one & take it back, if it's no good. I'll check Argos are OK with that, first!!

BUT.... what do the £30 ones not have that the £50 ones do have?? Other than big brand name on the box!!

Guess we'll need yet ANOTHER scart lead, too!

& what else should we look for??

Thanks in advance!

VB

I had apalling reception at the last house and had to renew the arial and wiring to get freeview.

If you do go for a new arial make sure you get one with a
balun. What is it and why ?
Its explained nicely here;

http://www.satelliteonline.co.uk/aerial_48_element.htm

Also for the best reception i would use CT100 cable
This is shielded satellite/digital cable. The ordinary stuff from the DIY sheds is rubbish.

You can get that from most electrical stores.
Or get an arial fitter in naturally

As far as the freeview boxes go mine is an old Daewoo which is now old and creaky but i wanted 2 scarts and that was rare when i bought it.

Today there is a wide choice, take a look at the new big argos catalogue and wander into your local comet as a guide for pricing.

BTW higher price doesnt necessarily mean a better box,
my boss has a sony box and he says mine is much better

Peter_Griffin

I live in a poor signal area, but i had a freeview box from when i lived in leeds (a good reception area) it was jumpy when installed and didn't have all the channels, rather than getting a new aerial we bought one of those signal boosters that plug into the mains. This has worked an absolute treat got all the channels... so now i can waste my time watching big brother far too much on e4. One thing to note is that the cheap boxes won't have the card hole for top up tv... however as e4 is now on freeview it seems top tv is definatley not worth even looking at.

grumbler

vansboy wrote:

& what else should we look for??

You will find some info in Looking for a set top box recent thread...

ka7e

The cheaper boxes don't let you access Ceefax or Teletext, so no subtitles are available.

BWZN93

We currently have a no signal area, and has been for the past year. Does anyone know of an email address I can contact freeview at to ask them when they intend in getting their butts into gear and actually providing it for half of Bath? Cant get sky here too - the council wont let us put dishes on the houses, as it is a city of heritage.... All's I want is more tv than 4 channels!! We dont even get Channel 5 here!!

Jo xx

vinylmusic

Does canyone know where to get the cheapest digibox. No more than £30?

GreenB_2

Argos have one for £29.99 in their new catalogue
So guess Tescos\Asda will therefore reduce thiers.
I bought one from Asda (Pacific make) for £34.97 and it included the scart lead and Teletext. The only thing missing is the 7 day planner.