Saorview Connect

kooga

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/tv-and-home-entertainment/televisions/televisions/lg-24tl510s-24-smart-hd-ready-led-tv-10195142-pdt.html

although according to the currys website it has an s2 tuner and freesat

just to answer the rest of your post

if you set the country to ireland you wont get the freesat epg but the irish channels will be in order

if you select uk you will get the freesat epg but the irish channels will be in the 800s

Sneachta

It's a year since I visited this thread and people weren't very happy with Saorview Connect box. Just wondering now that they have added recording feature etc are people happier or do you recommend the box at all?

greasepalm

NO.

icdg

For various reasons I’m coming late to this but this is a thread to discuss Saorview Connect. It’s not a general “What’s the best combo box” thread. If you want to ask about alternatives to Saorview Connect, feel free to start a new thread.

lsjmhar

Any chance of Netflix and disney+ coming to on-demand for the connectbox?

patsryan

lsjmhar wrote: »

Any chance of Netflix and disney+ coming to on-demand for the connectbox?

Netflix is a no no on the current hardware. Disney+ unlikely too.

I’m still hopeful that the relationship between RTÉ and Freesat is still alive and that there is new hardware coming based on the same Arris hardware from the U.K.

That’s also highly unlikely but....

lsjmhar

patsryan wrote:

Netflix is a no no on the current hardware. Disney+ unlikely too.

why is the hardware not good enough for netflix. if it can strean rteplayer(???) surely it can stream netflix

patsryan

lsjmhar wrote: »

why is the hardware not good enough for netflix. if it can strean rteplayer(???) surely it can stream netflix

Netflix validates all hardware / chipsets that the official Netflix app runs on.

They (Netflix) deemed Ireland and the SVC box as having too small a market to warrant the validation of the chipset in the current SVC hardware.

The developers of the box / the reseller / other users mentioned this here previously.

The only way of having Netflix on the SVC box is with different, pre validated hardware unfortunately.

Developers advised me before that they looked at getting Google Cast onto the device but that wasn't an option either

Qrt

This box really is a piece of crap. Paused RTÉ, hit fast forward by mistake and it just...wouldn’t stop. Now I’ve to wait 45 minutes to see what I missed because I had to turn it off and on again. So disappointing, considering the UI is very appealing to me.

yesnow

Wondering if I should get the box.

What is recording like? Does it work well? Our telly has a record feature but it's impossible to use.

Which players are available? All I've heard of is RTÉ and TG4. I read the Virgin Player wasn't available but that was from 2019 so I wonder if it has been added since?

How is the connection to Freeview channels? Are there any channels that aren't on similar set-top boxes?

Are there any other alternative boxes (not Sky etc) you would recommend with recording and on-demand?

patsryan

yesnow wrote: »

Wondering if I should get the box.

What is recording like? Does it work well? Our telly has a record feature but it's impossible to use.

Which players are available? All I've heard of is RTÉ and TG4. I read the Virgin Player wasn't available but that was from 2019 so I wonder if it has been added since?

How is the connection to Freeview channels? Are there any channels that aren't on similar set-top boxes?

Are there any other alternative boxes (not Sky etc) you would recommend with recording and on-demand?

The Saorview Connect box isn’t horrible, but while it is based on Freesat software it’s no Freesat box.

The recording works (relatively) well and haven’t had any major issues.

You only get RTÉ player and TG4 on the box, blame VM for this - they seem to be very anti opening their player up on smart tv platforms.

Netflix and YouTube also don’t exist on the box due to both parties not willing to test the chipset for such a small market.

As for Freeview channels, can’t confirm if the DVB-T channels will appear on the Saorview side of the box but it would make the experience significantly better if they did.

The same channels are available FTA over Sat but with Now / Next guide data only.

The Now / Next guide data also only gets populated if there are two Sat inputs.

Hibrasil

patsryan wrote: »

The Now / Next guide data also only gets populated if there are two Sat inputs.

Am I correct that you need a "twin LNB" with two separate cables in order to service the two Sat Inputs (i.e. a single cable cannot in any way be split to do the job)!
I know stupid question - but best to clarify anyway from someone who knows.

patsryan

Hibrasil wrote: »

Am I correct that you need a "twin LNB" with two separate cables in order to service the two Sat Inputs (i.e. a single cable cannot in any way be split to do the job)!
I know stupid question - but best to clarify anyway from someone who knows.

A twin LNB is required, there is no way to split Sat inputs like you can do with a terrestrial input.

Qrt

The RTÉ Player doesn’t work for me any more, prompts me that a new version is available and to update the firmware...but there’s none available.

lsjmhar

paddy19 wrote:

7 EU countries have passed local laws which are in contravention of the EU261 requirement for cash refunds.

Qrt wrote:

The RTÉ Player doesn’t work for me any more, prompts me that a new version is available and to update the firmware...but there’s none available.

I've had the same issue. i have two boxes and both are doing this. i contacted the main dev who was on this channel months ago. He contacted Saorview and RTE and they stated it was a backend issue.with their servers. This has been an issue for over two weeks so hopefully they will.sort it out soon.

patsryan

lsjmhar wrote: »

I've had the same issue. i have two boxes and both are doing this. i contacted the main dev who was on this channel months ago. He contacted Saorview and RTE and they stated it was a backend issue.with their servers. This has been an issue for over two weeks so hopefully they will.sort it out soon.

They had resolved the issue but appears to be occuring again today :rolleyes:

lsjmhar

Looks like it is working again so hopefully it is fully resolved.

lsjmhar

Player gone down again for me. They really are making a bo....x of this box and it's functions.

Maybe they should talk to the people in TG4 to get their player working. WTF!!

chuck eastwood

It's embarresing and such an unprofessional set up from top to bottom. My brother in law works for the company supplying software updates for sky boxes and when I told him I had a connect box he laughed. After spending countless hours setting it up and way to much money on the box itself I can safely say it's the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on any tech product. Be cause it's pretty much state backed they can make a total balls of it every other update and have no real pressure to sort it or improve it to an acceptable standard. To be honest I only switch it on every few weeks now to see if any updates are available that might make it usable.

lsjmhar

chuck eastwood wrote:

It's embarresing and such an unprofessional set up from top to bottom. My brother in law works for the company supplying software updates for sky boxes and when I told him I had a connect box he laughed. After spending countless hours setting it up and way to much money on the box itself I can safely say it's the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on any tech product. Be cause it's pretty much state backed they can make a total balls of it every other update and have no real pressure to sort it or improve it to an acceptable standard. To be honest I only switch it on every few weeks now to see if any updates are available that might make it usable.

At least the TV channels and recording work. TG4 player works as well. I just cannot understand how they haven't resolved these issues. In an era of online streaming, I would have thought they would make the player a priority. I tried the Android player and got five ads in a row and then the player stopped. I couldn't believe it wasn't working as well.

galtee boy

chuck eastwood wrote: »

It's embarresing and such an unprofessional set up from top to bottom. My brother in law works for the company supplying software updates for sky boxes and when I told him I had a connect box he laughed. After spending countless hours setting it up and way to much money on the box itself I can safely say it's the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on any tech product. Be cause it's pretty much state backed they can make a total balls of it every other update and have no real pressure to sort it or improve it to an acceptable standard. To be honest I only switch it on every few weeks now to see if any updates are available that might make it usable.

There's a reason why people pay for Sky, you get what you pay for. Top class service and top class box. And before anyone says you're paying for free to air channels etc, it's about more than just the channels, it's about the user friendly box, app, huge amount of HD, All4, Virgin, RTE players, plus players from loads of other channels etc etc. The Saorview Connect box isn't cheap to buy and yet it's nothing more than a doorstop. Having to even add an external hdd in this day and age, to record? I'll say no more.

lsjmhar

I tried the RTE Player on my laptop after the connect box wouldn't work. It refused to work in an Opera browser. I then opened Chrome and tried that. It gave me ads again and would not show the programme. There was a banner to say use the android app. Fair enough.

I have an ANDROID Kindle Fire. Installed the app through Aptoide store as there is no Google Play store. Well what do you know. The app installed but would not load! So the Player does not work on three different platforms. How is thtlat possible!

Quackster

galtee boy wrote: »

There's a reason why people pay for Sky, you get what you pay for. Top class service and top class box. And before anyone says you're paying for free to air channels etc, it's about more than just the channels, it's about the user friendly box, app, huge amount of HD, All4, Virgin, RTE players, plus players from loads of other channels etc etc. The Saorview Connect box isn't cheap to buy and yet it's nothing more than a doorstop. Having to even add an external hdd in this day and age, to record? I'll say no more.

People presumably pay through the nose for Sky for the content. Personally, Irish & UK FTA plus Netflix more than caters for my needs so I wouldn't touch Sky.

In the UK, there are various products that effortlessly incorporate Freeview/Freesat with various channels' players and other interactive features so it's not expecting too much.

Johnboy1951

galtee boy wrote: »

There's a reason why people pay for Sky, you get what you pay for. Top class service and top class box. And before anyone says you're paying for free to air channels etc, it's about more than just the channels, it's about the user friendly box, app, huge amount of HD, All4, Virgin, RTE players, plus players from loads of other channels etc etc. The Saorview Connect box isn't cheap to buy and yet it's nothing more than a doorstop. Having to even add an external hdd in this day and age, to record? I'll say no more.

Yes there are several reasons why people pay for Sky. Some are

They know no different and likely have been Sky customers for years.
They are unwilling to change out of fear of the 'unknown'.
They want Sky exclusive content, such as Sports Channels.
They do not want an aerial in addition to their Sat Dish.

Sky for Sports is not as attractive as it was once, with so many providers in the game.
Sky movies now has huge competition from many providers, and probably cheaper too.
The vast majority of the rest of the channels are FTA, so no benefit from paying Sky for those.

As for the Sky GUI interface ..... there are many such interfaces available, some of which ape the Sky one.
Personally I dislike that interface so it is not something I would put any value on at all.
The very fact that I could not change it on a Sky box to suit my own needs/preferences is a huge negative.

I do not see any value in the Sky TV offerings to warrant the amount of money they charge.

Neither, of course, would I buy the Saorview Connect box.

Gerry Wicklow

I got Sky Q basic package for a year as part of a broadband deal. I packed up the box and reverted to my FTA box instead after a week. My FTA box far outstripped the Sky Q one in terms of functions, ease of use and the absence of nag screens. Options I took for granted on my FTA box were optional paid for extras on Sky Q.

galtee boy

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

I got Sky Q basic package for a year as part of a broadband deal. I packed up the box and reverted to my FTA box instead after a week. My FTA box far outstripped the Sky Q one in terms of functions, ease of use and the absence of nag screens. Options I took for granted on my FTA box were optional paid for extras on Sky Q.

We're back to the issue of the holy grail here I suspect again. What fta box has Irish and UK channels on one 7 day epg with series link, catch up players for umpteen channels , remote record from an app, built in apps like Netflix, Disney + etc, I presume you're talking about some kind of linux based system. These don't come plug and play and are not easy to set up for the average Joe. Of course Sky isn't cheap, but with haggling, you can get basic pack with HD for €35 per month. If the Saorview Connect box even had Irish and UK on one epg, even with only now and next for UK channels, players for all Irish channels, apps like Netflix, Disney etc and a bloody internal hdd, it would tempt people away from Sky, but that Saorview box as it stands is a complete waste of money.

alta stare

lsjmhar wrote: »

I tried the RTE Player on my laptop after the connect box wouldn't work. It refused to work in an Opera browser. I then opened Chrome and tried that. It gave me ads again and would not show the programme. There was a banner to say use the android app. Fair enough.

I have an ANDROID Kindle Fire. Installed the app through Aptoide store as there is no Google Play store. Well what do you know. The app installed but would not load! So the Player does not work on three different platforms. How is thtlat possible!

You can get the Google Play Store for the Fire. My daughter has a Fire and i put the play store on it for her. Amazon's version of it is terrible.

The link below explains how to do. It is pretty straightforward.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/232726/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-your-amazon-fire-tablet/amp/

lsjmhar

alta stare wrote:

The link below explains how to do. It is pretty straightforward.

alta stare wrote:

You can get the Google Play Store for the Fire. My daughter has a Fire and i put the play store on it for her. Amazon's version of it is terrible.

Cheers. I already had it on the fire but had issues that resulted in needing to reset the thing. Just never bothered installing Google again. The connect is back working again!!! Lol!! Glutton for punishment

valeoilspill

galtee boy wrote: »

We're back to the issue of the holy grail here I suspect again. What fta box has Irish and UK channels on one 7 day epg with series link, catch up players for umpteen channels , remote record from an app, built in apps like Netflix, Disney + etc, I presume you're talking about some kind of linux based system. These don't come plug and play and are not easy to set up for the average Joe. Of course Sky isn't cheap, but with haggling, you can get basic pack with HD for €35 per month. If the Saorview Connect box even had Irish and UK on one epg, even with only now and next for UK channels, players for all Irish channels, apps like Netflix, Disney etc and a bloody internal hdd, it would tempt people away from Sky, but that Saorview box as it stands is a complete waste of money.

Anyone link or guide to setting one up close as poss to sky like setup

mollymac57

Is there any satisfactory alternative to the Powerpoint box to get Saorview Connect. Preferably one that works consistently and comes with a HDD for record, has pause, EPG, and the players come installed.Would any of the Freeview or other UK boxes work (DVBT/T2 compatible). I’m not interested in signing up with Sky.