Freeview HD or Freesat HD?
Discussion
My Topfield PVR is dying.
I don't have an HD TV, and for the moment don't want one, as I've still to see an HD TV get anywhere even remotely close to the SD picture quality I get off my Toshiba CRT, but that's not going to last for ever either, and as I'm unlikely to be able to replace it with another CRT, there doesn't seem any point spending money on another SD PVR at this point.
This means, therefore, that I'm looking at either Freeview or Freesat HD recorders.
Which should I get, and why?
I'll probably go for a Humax, as they seem to get pretty much universally the best ratings, whether for Freeview or Freesat. They're both around £300-320 for the 500Gb versions, so price doesn't decide anything, and I've got twin satellite connections already, so there's no issues with wiring either way.
I'm somewhat concerned about the thought of going to Freesat if it's going to give me the same bulls
t loss of picture that Sky used to plague us with every time the weather got less than perfect, but does this happen with Freesat? Is there anything to rank one above the other?
My assumption is that Freesat must have something extra going for it, otherwise why would people - other than ex-Sky customers - bother with getting a satellite dish wired in?
I don't have an HD TV, and for the moment don't want one, as I've still to see an HD TV get anywhere even remotely close to the SD picture quality I get off my Toshiba CRT, but that's not going to last for ever either, and as I'm unlikely to be able to replace it with another CRT, there doesn't seem any point spending money on another SD PVR at this point.
This means, therefore, that I'm looking at either Freeview or Freesat HD recorders.
Which should I get, and why?
I'll probably go for a Humax, as they seem to get pretty much universally the best ratings, whether for Freeview or Freesat. They're both around £300-320 for the 500Gb versions, so price doesn't decide anything, and I've got twin satellite connections already, so there's no issues with wiring either way.
I'm somewhat concerned about the thought of going to Freesat if it's going to give me the same bulls
t loss of picture that Sky used to plague us with every time the weather got less than perfect, but does this happen with Freesat? Is there anything to rank one above the other?My assumption is that Freesat must have something extra going for it, otherwise why would people - other than ex-Sky customers - bother with getting a satellite dish wired in?
I have the Humax FoxsatHD and I'm very happy with it. It's not quite as instantly intuitive as the Sky program guide system but it's pretty good and some features are better.
As I understand it they are on the same Sat as Sky so any problems you have with sky are likely to be repeated. In my case the weather has to be very extreme to effect picture quality. On that issue I think the SD quality is better on the Humax but that may be because it being delivered over hdmi via my amp not scart as sky.
As I understand it they are on the same Sat as Sky so any problems you have with sky are likely to be repeated. In my case the weather has to be very extreme to effect picture quality. On that issue I think the SD quality is better on the Humax but that may be because it being delivered over hdmi via my amp not scart as sky.
Road2Ruin said:
Having got both freesat HD and freeveiew HD I would say the quality of picture is better on the freesat.
You see, I have both and would say the opposite. You get "Dave" on Freeview too....Also, iPlayer is a available in Beta on Freesat though
Edited by TEKNOPUG on Thursday 19th August 11:53
Kermit power said:
My assumption is that Freesat must have something extra going for it, otherwise why would people - other than ex-Sky customers - bother with getting a satellite dish wired in?
Some of us don't get Freeview at all, so have little choice!As you know old boy, I still disagree with you over the CRT, though yours is a damned good one, and HD stuff has to be seen to be believed, it really is top notch, but that's a discussion for another day.
This may be of interest - a comparison channel list of what you do and don't get with FV / FS / and FSfS...
http://ukfree.tv/allchannels.php
I'm starting to think there's beginning to be enough HD content now to make it worth buying an HD TV, but I can't afford it at the moment. I'm not questioning the quality of HD broadcasts on an HD TV, only SD ones.
The Humax boxes do still have SCART. My parents have one in France, and I was rather surprised to discover that not only can they get HD signals there (so much for all the bks about "it's transmitted from a narrow beam satellite so that only the UK gets it", they're 550 miles due South and get it), but it also somehow seems to downscale the HD channels for display on an SD TV. 
The Humax boxes do still have SCART. My parents have one in France, and I was rather surprised to discover that not only can they get HD signals there (so much for all the b
ks about "it's transmitted from a narrow beam satellite so that only the UK gets it", they're 550 miles due South and get it), but it also somehow seems to downscale the HD channels for display on an SD TV. Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff