Advice on Saorview + Freeview options

extrasoup

Hi all,

If you could help me out I would really appreciate it. I'm planning to replace my old analogue tv setup at some point this summer whilst trying to keep the costs down for the best deal possible. I've never had a digital service, nor any tv other than an old CRT, so this is my first go at all this.

I'm based in Dublin city centre and AFAIK this should put me in range for Freeview. So from trawling through the threads here and looking at posts on techtir.ie and tvtrade.ie, it seems like the best non-sat options to receive both Saorview and Freeview is to either get an iDTV that has Freeview HD capability (as this allows MPEG2 and MPEG4 over DVB-T2?), get a TV that is Saorview compatible and purchase a freeview box, or get a Freeview compatible tv and then a separate Saorview box.

I would prefer to get a TV that had the capability to receive Saorview and Freeview as the lower the number of boxes and remotes the better, but hose tv's seem quite a bit more expensive? Does anyone else operate this way, is it practical? Would it be much of a difference in cost for the different options?

Also, I'm assuming I'll need two aerials pointing in different directions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks for all the useful threads that have got me this far.

ardmacha

I'm based in Dublin city centre and AFAIK this should put me in range for Freeview

If you have an especially large roof aerial, perhaps. Do you or will you?

One box or TV can receive both, if you can get a signal.

extrasoup

I don't unfortunately. I've been using a broken indoor aerial. I have access to the roof of the five storey building I live in and I have permission to install an aerial there if I want. Its close to O' Connell street and from the roof I can see the Dublin mountains and the sea. Would this line of sight help at all? Would you have something I could reference against when you say 'especially large'?

Thanks for getting back to me!

ardmacha

The majority of people in Dublin do not receive UK TV terrestrially nowadays. Most here suggest that a satellite dish (Freesat) would be more reliable. This would require a separate box, in general.