Which 'free' box is best for me?

spadoosh · 3 September 2018 at 1:21PM

Got rid of sky last week and thought i had a plan to use a youview box. Didnt research hard enough and its not freesat and i dont have an aerial. I can get a youview box for free off family but trying to work out the best approach.

Looking for a one box solution. Would like to be able to record two channels (ie watching one programme that might be paused whilst its on and recording another). We have access to a Netflix subscription and a Prime subscription (mainly use the netflix) ao would like the apps easily accessible.

Ive got an XBOne and PS4 in the living room which are purely for my gaming although OH has started using xbox for netflix.

So the options i see are:

Get an aerial fitted and use the youview box (not sure what the recording ability is like)

Get a freesat box, hook in to sky, connect to internet and bobs your uncle

Look at the xbox and its DVR (wrong terminology, meant TV) capabilities. And it seems this is aerial anyway...

or

Something else i cant see.

Any help? i dont want to be spending a few hundred quid on a box because i am worried that OH in a few months will decide losing all sky channels was a mistake and will want to sign up again so think committing to such an expense could be counter productive in trying to save money.

Thanks for any guidance.

[Deleted User] · 3 September 2018 at 4:21PM

All Youview boxes are Freeview so require an aerial, if you want to record using the satellite feed a Humax box will do the job as long as you weren't on Sky Q as the LNB will be the wrong type (unless you have a hybrid one fitted).

I'm presuming your TV doesn't have built in Freesat?

spadoosh · 3 September 2018 at 4:32PM

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

All Youview boxes are Freeview so require an aerial, if you want to record using the satellite feed a Humax box will do the job as long as you weren't on Sky Q as the LNB will be the wrong type (unless you have a hybrid one fitted).

I'm presuming your TV doesn't have built in Freesat?

I never even thought to check if im honest.....

I cant picture any sat style connectors on the back but will look once im home.

Standard sky box. The humax one sounds like the one i should be going for but if OH changes her mind in a few months weve spent a lot of money trying to save money where we didnt. Thats pushing me towards getting an aerial for the money saving side with the free youview box.

[Deleted User] · 3 September 2018 at 5:34PM

Do you still have your sky box? With Sky+ HD, you can receive all the free to air channels (bbc, ITV, e4 ect) but you cannot record.

teddysmum · 3 September 2018 at 8:48PM

After dropping Sky, I intended to get out our olf Humax for recording and use the smart tv facility for catchup. However,dear Panasonic took away our ITV Hub and Channel 4 catchup, so I bought an Amazon Fire stick.

I never did,use the Humax as most stuff appears on catchup and I've recently taken up a year's subscription to Prime; not for the postal service but for some different tv programmes,films, music ,games and books to read all for less than £5/month.

Bigphil1474 · 5 September 2018 at 12:57PM

Op, I have a Youview box which does allow you to watch while recording. Depending which channels you are watching, you can record 2 channels at same time, whilst watching a third. You can use your main TV tuner as another tuner if there is a channel clash, so your box can record 2 at a time.. It also has apps which include Netflix and Prime (Prime added recently). Also has BBC, iTV, and C4 apps. Works fine for me. I would have thought, therefore, having an aerial fitted and using a free Youview box would be cheapest. Plus you'll have future flexibility with either a dish or aerial option.

getmore4less · 7 September 2018 at 9:22AM

Since we went NowTV we hardly ever record stuff.

Chech how much of the stuff you record is on catchup services.

A_Pandiculation · 10 September 2018 at 4:48PM

We have a Humax Freesat recorder but it's very rarely used for recording now, mostly the obscure stuff my OH gets a yearning for.
You can buy from Humax direct (Google "refurbished Humax recorder").
That might make the most sense given your requirements.
With there being no 4 HD and catch-up on Freesat any more if I'm honest it would probably personally sway me to go the new aerial and Youview route if I had to choose again.
In your case that would mean a new box if you really need to record.

TomokoAdhami · 17 September 2018 at 11:45AM

BT Ultra HD YouView Box has excellent hardware, UHD channel and perfect sports channels but too many SD channels and limited entertainment stuff are some cons of it. However, The best thing about youview box is that it passes access to Sky movies and subscription of Netflix with monthly sky cinema.

JJ_Egan · 17 September 2018 at 11:56AM

<UHD channel and perfect sports channels>

You will of course have to be subscribed to these services .
Neither is the box free .

Box is 1 TB so plenty of recording space.

i smell tinned meat

[Deleted User] · 17 September 2018 at 1:26PM

Humax smart HB 1100s freesat reciever/recorder at around £100 from John Lewis seems to fit the bill. No subscription needed. Perfect..£35 buys a Freesat dish on Ebay.
If my aerial was nt working that is what I would turn to. I dont want to get involved with rip off sky and their pricey hi def

Which 'free' box is best for me?

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