Recommendations for a Freeview set top box

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Recommendations for a Freeview set top box

mike548141

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#169800 26-Mar-2015 10:20

First of all if there is another of these threads (recent) somewhere please point me at it, but I could not find anything recent in the search.

I am going to buy a Freeview set top box and I am looking for recommendations for, or against, any Freeview set top boxes. If you have any advice could you also say what you do (or do not) like about a particular model.

Some info about what I'm doing.
This unit will be in the lounge with the main TV. I currently only have a satellite dish (DVB-S) but I'm considering putting in a UHF aerial (DVB-T) to get Freeview HD. We mainly watch AppleTV and Netflix but like to have live TV occasionally.

I have used the SkyTV and Vodafone set top boxes and hate them, I found them slow to respond to remote control commands, the IR remote would not work at an angle to the set top box, unhelpful menu's, cluttered EPG, occasional freeze's/crashes, occasional reboots etc.. So I don't want anything painful like that.

I want a set top box that
- Much prefer that it is Freeview approved
- Support Freeview HD, future support for things like UHD would be good too
- It would be great if it did both DVB-T and DVB-S as we are renting
- Future support for Freeview Plus
- not mandatory but its a bonus if it can record (MyFreeview)
- Must have HDMI

So if you can let me know of any good or bad experiences you have had it would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your help

MC

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1268207 26-Mar-2015 10:32

You will never find a better one than the MySky box as it has 3 tuners and all commercial ones seem to have only 2.

Stu

Hammered
8341 posts

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#1268218 26-Mar-2015 10:48

Firstly, welcome to Geekzone.

In response to your question, I would hold off a bit. Have a look at this thread here on FreeviewPlus. Should be something available in a few weeks by the looks. I don't think you'll get anything yet that will cover FreeviewPlus.

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mike548141

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1268220 26-Mar-2015 10:48

mattbush: You will never find a better one than the MySky box as it has 3 tuners and all commercial ones seem to have only 2.

My partner used to work for SkyTV and we had 5+ MySky boxes over a number of years and I found them all to be rubbish. Freezing so it wouldn't record shows, sometimes loosing shows, and all the issues I mentioned in my original post.

MC

mike548141

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1268223 26-Mar-2015 10:51

Stu: Firstly, welcome to Geekzone.

In response to your question, I would hold off a bit. Have a look at this thread here on FreeviewPlus. Should be something available in a few weeks by the looks. I don't think you'll get anything yet that will cover FreeviewPlus.

Thanks

Yeah they say that gear should be for sale in April that supports FreviewPlus, which I would prefer the set top box supports. Part of the reason I'm posting here to see if anyone knows of good gear coming on to the market

MC

kiwijohn1

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1268257 26-Mar-2015 11:21

Something else to consider when you purchase a "FTA" STB is if you get a "Freeview certified" or non certified. Look at this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(New_Zealand) and I quote:

There are also many non-certified options are available. These and other FTA receivers have no limit on Advert Skipping nor restrict access to the recorded files or prevent streaming of recordings to other devices . . .

mike548141

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1268329 26-Mar-2015 11:50

kiwijohn1: Something else to consider when you purchase a "FTA" STB is if you get a "Freeview certified" or non certified. Look at this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(New_Zealand) and I quote:

There are also many non-certified options are available. These and other FTA receivers have no limit on Advert Skipping nor restrict access to the recorded files or prevent streaming of recordings to other devices . . .

Good info thanks, on that basis I would consider getting something thats not Freeview certified. May main concern with wanting Freeview certified is that it gets updates etc from Freeview broadcasts properly so that it keeps working and supports new Freeview features if/when they are released

Cheers,

MC

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#1268343 26-Mar-2015 12:04

We have this Panasonic unit and it works really well. TV recording functions are good and it was pretty cheap at JB on special. It works fast and all the controls are good. Unfortunately, the smart stuff is not that good as it is just so slow. I don't know why, but things like youtube take forever to do anything on. Not tried Netflix on it yet, but I imagine it would be just as bad. This is why we now have a Samsung blu-Ray player for the smart TV stuff and the Panasonic for TV recording.

At this point, I would wait a little while and see what gets rolled out for freeview+ which should have newer, better hardware and combine smart stuff better into the set top box.

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