Want to ditch MySky HD. What's the "best" Freeview decoder out there currently?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Want to ditch MySky HD. What's the "best" Freeview decoder out there currently?

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#1716547 7-Feb-2017 14:32

ANyway, back to the OP.

I'd like to know also what people think is a good MyFreeview|HD STB?

I have a MagicTV 3600. It is OK. The UI is quite slow, but it does what I tell it. If there was one that worked as well as the MySky though, I'd upgrade. The Panasonic DMT-HWR260 looks good, but there is a thread here with a few people that have had issues with it, and not getting a lot of love from Panasonic. How are the DishTV T2200s going now?

jamesrobert

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#1716619 7-Feb-2017 15:43

If you have already paid for the MySky outright, it will cost only $18.70/month, with a couple of free Sky channels thrown in each month. (UKTV next month)

Pumpedd

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#1716659 7-Feb-2017 17:15

The cheap deal is not year round.

I was very happy to be able to ditch Sky regardless of what it costs.

cleggy2

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#1716662 7-Feb-2017 17:19

If you want Freeview and want to record, then the Panasonics are OK. I have the DMR-PWT550. Only has 2 tuners whereas mysky has 3. The mysky is a lot better.

erik

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#1716664 7-Feb-2017 17:26

ben28:

If HD is important but you cant get Freeview terrestrial, then one option is to stay with Sky , and pay $18 month for the Freeview channels only. You'd also need to pay the rental of the mysky though so another $15 I think.

I'll have to have a peek when I'm home again but I'm pretty certain I'm using a plain-old antenna. I've disconnected the sat. dish cables (it's still on the roof) and I've plugged in the coax cable that came out of the wall and unless my eye sight has seriously gone down the drain, I'm pretty sure I'm watching Freeview in HD?

In terms of sport....well I gave up on F1 (one of the main drivers for getting Sky sport and later on the MySky to replace my VCR) and rugby is best watched in the pub anyway. Or at a friends place who still has Sky ;)

I had a million channels but rarely watched anything more than the regular Freeview channels and I got extremely fed-up with being dictated by Sky when I can watch my movies or sport. And with bills of well over $100/month and still getting a letter announcing a further price hike... well Sky just outlived its welcome in my house.

Up to about 5 years ago, I would have never wanted to get rid of Sky despite it costing a stupid amount of money. But with prices of everything going up (except my paycheck!!) and now being in the age of on-demand entertainment, Sky just is't worth the money anymore in my opinion.

I'm much happier watching stuff on Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube exactly when, where and how I want to.

red_xsi

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#1716865 7-Feb-2017 21:52

Have just been through this exercise - Freeview Plus though my Smart TV, HDD plugged into a USB slot allows me to record (only what I am watching however)

Havent missed a sporting event yet thanks to my Sky Go app login working on my tablet for some reason (ssshhhhhhhhhhhh!!!)

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trig42

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#1716985 8-Feb-2017 08:51

erik:

ben28:

If HD is important but you cant get Freeview terrestrial, then one option is to stay with Sky , and pay $18 month for the Freeview channels only. You'd also need to pay the rental of the mysky though so another $15 I think.

I'll have to have a peek when I'm home again but I'm pretty certain I'm using a plain-old antenna. I've disconnected the sat. dish cables (it's still on the roof) and I've plugged in the coax cable that came out of the wall and unless my eye sight has seriously gone down the drain, I'm pretty sure I'm watching Freeview in HD?

In terms of sport....well I gave up on F1 (one of the main drivers for getting Sky sport and later on the MySky to replace my VCR) and rugby is best watched in the pub anyway. Or at a friends place who still has Sky ;)

I had a million channels but rarely watched anything more than the regular Freeview channels and I got extremely fed-up with being dictated by Sky when I can watch my movies or sport. And with bills of well over $100/month and still getting a letter announcing a further price hike... well Sky just outlived its welcome in my house.

Up to about 5 years ago, I would have never wanted to get rid of Sky despite it costing a stupid amount of money. But with prices of everything going up (except my paycheck!!) and now being in the age of on-demand entertainment, Sky just is't worth the money anymore in my opinion.

I'm much happier watching stuff on Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube exactly when, where and how I want to.

We were exactly the same. Had been a Sky customer for about 20 years, and just could not justify paying for it any more. Have not missed it one bit. For the rugby when we don't go to the pub/friends, I use FanPass on the AppleTV and it works well.

GGJohnstone

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#1717034 8-Feb-2017 09:53

Consider Zgemma. H2s if you need a satellite box. Aliexpress using a seller with China Post no cost. Avoid DHL for fear of out of delivery area = + US35.

Expect to pay almost $150 NZ.

apsk 16 and 32 if you have a huge dish to look for Australian stuff. DVBS2 for 720p whenever freeview is able to over step the cartel in control of existing distribution in NZ.

Two tuners so it can store recordings from all the channels on two transponders at once. For what I have configured on D1 =10 + 5 or 3. Very configurable with many little advantages that could be disabled on standard boxes set up by cartel linked local interests e.g. single press forward jump for skipping advertisements in recorded play. It can point to a particular DNS I think. Don't know as I have not got enough internet to be bothered with IPTV

dolsen

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#1717191 8-Feb-2017 13:30

GGJohnstone:

Consider Zgemma. H2s if you need a satellite box. Aliexpress using a seller with China Post no cost. Avoid DHL for fear of out of delivery area = + US35.

The specs indicate that that box supports hbbtv. As far as I am aware, Freeview Plus runs on Hbbtv however, only on products matching a whitelist. Considering the source, it is likely this product does not adhere to the whitelist. Have you tried / had any success using this as a Freeview plus receiver?

Also - maybe the Zgemma H5.2S would be better (HVEC, H.265 support as well), similar price.

GGJohnstone

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#1717227 8-Feb-2017 14:58

I have not considered Freeview +. I suppose you could ask them. I do not want to because I suspect that they do not really want to be open source and would need to lock and stymie equipment using Freeview software. The H2s is blisteringly fast compared with our My Sky which has become frustratingly awkward as it has moved toward internet functionality. Without UHF our Sky is hanging on by its 720p and the fact we bought out the rental of their My Sky box.

Jaxson

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#1717235 8-Feb-2017 15:22

The standalone PVR is becoming somewhat niche nowadays, with decoders now in all TV's and streaming options via freeview plus and a decent internet connection.

We still use TIVO, but only because it was cheap and it's still going. Requires an internet connection to make the EPG work, and with this being pretty old now that service craps out now and then, until someone can be bothered to fix it for us.

If it died I don't know if I'd bother replacing it. On demand options are not HD to the best of my knowledge though, so if you're after shows in HD and with surround sound, then you'd still want some to capture it on. No one wants to watch live TV.

Good luck with your search.