Freeview Boxes.

The Express Valeter said:

...Only really interested in channels like UK Gold or whatever it is now & channels showing old stuff.

Any ideas & if Freeview which one?

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UK Gold is not free on terestrial freeview!

I use a USB stick plugged into the computer - that is indeed plug and play, plugs into the laptop for TV in the car etc, also provides full recording facilites via the computer. Doesn't really matter which one since Windows Media Centre does all the work so they are all the same to use.

Ditch Virgin and stick with freeview, any old freeview box'll do. Admittedly, I do miss UKTV Gold but at least we have Dave.

Considered freesat?

£90 in homebase or B&Q buys you a reciver, dish and fitting kit.

There are more channels than freeveiw and one installed correctly you get a better signal than with an aerial.

Or get a dish, £30 on ebay, a free veiw sky card, £20 from sky and a free sky box (freecycle where people have up graded to + or HD), you get all the BBC, ITV, channel 4 and 5 offerings.

If you are staying with the freeveiw idea you can get a cheap box form currys, maplin, sainsburys.................they all work the same.

you can cancel the paid service and ask vm to use your box as a freeview as long as you have telephone and that wont cost you anything , if you go to freeview you will loose catch up tv only vm have catchup,free sat is same as sky any bad weather rain/snow you will loose picture quality

Yeah ignore freesat, it only has the free to air channels not the all the freeview, you need a card to get Freeview channel 5 and others and these cards get cancelled a lot. My old man has it in France and is forever loosing all the channel 5's which Mum hates as she loves all those American forensic drama's.

I have freeview plus (built my own PVR/Media PC) and occasionally I look at gold and think it is worth watching but hardly ever. Dave has old stuff and quest is good aswell and free.

The most important thing is having the facility to record I think, if there is nothing on you can be sure you've got something recorded thats shown in the middle of the night.

Spectre said:

...The most important thing is having the facility to record I think, if there is nothing on you can be sure you've got something recorded thats shown in the middle of the night.

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Not sure that it is the most important but I would definitely miss the ease of recording on the computer if I swapped to a cheap set top box (which wouldn't be cheap compared to my USB stick tuner). I didn't know the new series of Time Team had started until my computer had recorded it for me!

When I was camping down near Lands End last summer, I did find the number of channels on Freeview was restricted to not much more than the BBC - if you can't get your signal from a main transmitter that might be something to consider. I also found that now that part of the country has gone fully digital the little stick antenna that sticks magnetically to the car roof (came free with the USB tuner) is perfectly adequate for a perfect signal in most places and much easier to set up than a satelite dish!

I would question the number of channels available -

http://www.freeview.co.uk/Channels - 50channels/24radio
http://www.freesat.co.uk/what-you-get/our-channels - 150 channels of TV and radio
http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/what-can-i-watch/ - over 240 tv + audio

you will be able to find out more about each service through those links - I have no knowlege of cable as it isn't available locally.

Talkingcars said:

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you will be able to find out more about each service through those links - I have no knowlege of cable as it isn't available locally.

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and the equipment available to decode each.

Whatever you decide to get, buy it off Amazon. If it's not up to the spec that you expected you can send it back to them for a swap/refund, no questions asked and freepost. And they don't wait for you to send the original product back before shipping your new order. Sent two printers back that I wasn't happy with and got refunded both times. Just a bit of consumer advice for you there.

We have Sky + HD in the main rooms, but Freeview in a few others, and I have to say that freeview sucks, spent about 250 notes on getting a decent aerial for it to work at all, and still every time theres a storm nearby we loose most of the freeview channels.

before you consider it, check with other people on your street, anywhere by the sea is the worst place. I have a friend in Chatham who gets similarly bad reception so it might be the same near you.

I'd probably go for freesat if I had to loose the sky all together.

On the subject of sky and other subscription services, how come I pay:
£150 for the box
£70 for installation
£58 a month for sky
£120 a year on tv license alone... yet still have to watch adverts every 15 sodding minutes. Thats £1,036 on TV fees in a single year, not including a TV! yet I still have to watch adverts, hows that work out then?!

I binned some sky tv pacakages we no longer use(kids chanels)etc & the rip off $10.25 hd & have saved $185.00 a year.

I considered a freeview + HD recorder but at £400 for a descent one thought sodd it. I'll pay branson the extra £5 a month. Plus if the thing breaks they'l give you another one gratis.

Sounds as though I may be better off staying where I am. It is only £6.50 a month I pay as it is from an old Telewest package. I also forgot about the aireal & I know I will have to have the present one that was fitted in 1993 moved as I think the transmitter is in a different place plus I plugged in a TV to that aireal some time back & the reception was rubbish.
Unless as stated I call VM & just ask to use their box as freeview.