Freesat sd box query?

downwiththatsor

I used to have a humax foxsat myself and used it in non freesat mode mostly so i could more easily access the fta and freesat channels.
Looking to pick up an sd freesat box for my aunt and am wondering if they all operate similar to the humax for viewing the fta channels or is any one of the following more user friendly than the next?
http://www.freesat.co.uk/products/sd-digital-box-range

Can anyone recommend an sd box for me

Thanks

watty

Future proof by an HD box, works SD TVs via Scart.

They vary in friendly-ness for "Other channels". Sadly the more friendly ones may not have Diseqc, which is needed to have Saorsat as well as Freesat.

downwiththatsor

watty wrote: »

Future proof by an HD box, works SD TVs via Scart.

They vary in friendly-ness for "Other channels". Sadly the more friendly ones may not have Diseqc, which is needed to have Saorsat as well as Freesat.

Thanks Watty, i guess you are right with future proofing but diseqc wont be an issue in this instance as she intends to upgrade her tv for dtt and she is served by the knockmoyle transmitter.
So any better non recordable hd freesat box than a Humax in your opinion?

Thanks and regards

Macy0161

We have a couple of the cheapest of the cheap Bush SD Reciever's - one from the very start of Freesat and one from the last year or two which was stg£25. Both have worked fine, albeit on bedroom/ playroom - epg is slower to load than for example a sky box, but I haven't had any other freesat receivers to compare it too. Hard to complain at their price point imo - the one on the link at stg£29 looks like an update on the last one we got. Most recent one has less connectivity - scart only whereas the earlier one had composite out as well.

Switching to non freesat is easy enough - from memory it's just in the channel list, and then select non freesat channels and it brings up the list. I'm not sure about editting the list tbh, I only really had sky news in it, and barely bothered. Would it be that big an issue for your aunt - I wouldn't have thought there was much that was FTA not Freesat?

Having said that, if she's upgrading her TV failry soon, I'd probably go FreesatHD as recommended, if money isn't an issue.

downwiththatsor

Macy0161 wrote: »

We have a couple of the cheapest of the cheap Bush SD Reciever's - one from the very start of Freesat and one from the last year or two which was stg£25. Both have worked fine, albeit on bedroom/ playroom - epg is slower to load than for example a sky box, but I haven't had any other freesat receivers to compare it too. Hard to complain at their price point imo - the one on the link at stg£29 looks like an update on the last one we got. Most recent one has less connectivity - scart only whereas the earlier one had composite out as well.

Switching to non freesat is easy enough - from memory it's just in the channel list, and then select non freesat channels and it brings up the list. I'm not sure about editting the list tbh, I only really had sky news in it, and barely bothered. Would it be that big an issue for your aunt - I wouldn't have thought there was much that was FTA not Freesat?

Having said that, if she's upgrading her TV failry soon, I'd probably go FreesatHD as recommended, if money isn't an issue.

Thanks for your reply.
First off these days money is always an issue
I think Sky News would be the main one she would be after alright so as you say there would not be much else fta that would need switching to non freesat mode.
I think i have been convinced that Freesat hd is the best way to go so its which one of these then i guess.
http://www.freesat.co.uk/products/hd-digital-box-range
Any recommendations on how alternatives to humax rate would be apreciated.

Trevord

The Grundig SD box (and possibly the Bush and Alba also) list the FTA channels in a fairly user friendly way (more friendly than the Humax at least).

While they don't appear in the Freesat EPG, the FTA channels eventually show up if you scroll through the channels using the remote's + button.

The box sees all the channels at once as there is no freesat/non freesat mode like you'd find with Humax.

Instead the FTA channels are added on after the freesat channels. But this means that if you scroll backwards instead of forwards they are right beside the start (ie right beside BBC1).

In fact it's possible to have Sky News beside BBC1 as a result.

(not a great reply perhaps - its a lot easier to demonstrate than to put in writing)