Freeeview boxes - reccomendations

[blueST]

I need a new Freeview box and am after some informed advice. I have two boxes already and I'm not 100% happy with either.

I have Samsung one, that's a 3 years old, it seems really sensitive to signal quality because if it's really windy and/or raining hard the picture tends to break up. The EPG only shows now and next instead of a full guide. Also it often refuses to re-scan for channels and when it does it doesn't always pick them all up or puts them in the wrong order. I do like the menu system and the remote though, very intuitive.

The other one I have is Philips and brand new. Picture quality is fine, it has no issues with finding channels and it has full tv guide. What I don't like is the really unintuitive menu system and a terrible remote which has a really narrow angle of reception.

So, who's know's a really good one that doesn't cost the earth?

[GilbertGrape]

I'm not surprised about the Philips. Their DVD recorders have about the worst menu systems Ever.

[Simpo Two]

I like the Sony one, although if I don't use it for a week or two it needs 'rebooting' for some weird reason. Digital, bah.

[andy400]

Mine for my 'at work' pad (I've Sky at home) was £20 from Woolworths and it works A ok. Asda have them at £16 if you can bear to go in there. I'm no expert on picture quality though....

[Mag1calTrev0r]

If you have a PS3 then one great option would be Play TV which has dual tuners and records to your PS3s hard drive.

[Shaolin]

We've got a Sony, it wasn't the cheapest (but even "expensive" ones are still fairly cheap now) worked from the moment it was plugged in and never been any kind of problem with it.

[E31Shrew]

Dont bother with a freeview box. Whack a dish up and get Freesat!

[King Herald]

I bought a cheap one from Tesco a couple of years back, never thought much of it, had a couple dozen crap channels, but recently I plumbed it in again in the MILs bedroom, and blow me, it has about 80 channels on now, and is probably better than the Virgin cable we have downstairs.

[Shaolin]

Your aerial and where you live have a lot to do with what you can recieve and how clear the picture is.

[blueST]

Thanks for the comments so far. Sony's been mentioned twice, so by my count they're favourite so far. Will have look on the web/argos etc

Mag1calTrev0r said:

If you have a PS3 then one great option would be Play TV which has dual tuners and records to your PS3s hard drive.

No PS3 here, so this option's out.

E31Shrew said:

Dont bother with a freeview box. Whack a dish up and get Freesat!

I've not got a HD telly, so that part would be wasted, and the choice of channel's is different which would confuse the Mrs!

Shaolin said:

Your aerial and where you live have a lot to do with what you can recieve and how clear the picture is.

We do live in a weak reception area, but the Philips box has no problems with it. It's just the Samsung that has a hissy fit when the weather turns bad. Both boxes are fed of the same aerial and signal booster. I can only assume that some manufacturers have more efficient designs others.

[snotrag]

Humax 9200t, stick that in google and read all the praise.

Very intuitive GUI, which I agree pays a huge part in the useability and enjoyment of a product of this ilk.

[Twincharged]

I have a Toshiba one which has been very good- it looks nice and has no problems with the remote or signal issues. It also has buttons on top for power and channel change, which is ideal if you can't find the remote and your favourite programme is starting!

[tr7v8]

I've got a 20 quid woolies one & it's fine, menu is now & next but in the office its fine.

[The_Doc]

humax PVR

x1,000,000

[Six Fiend]

Humax all the way for three of our family households.

Easy to use (75yr old mother gets on fine with it).

[blueST]

Are the Humax offerings all PVR or do they do plain vanilla set top boxes? I don't need the PVR functionality.

[dave_s13]

blueST said:

Are the Humax offerings all PVR or do they do plain vanilla set top boxes? I don't need the PVR functionality.

Sorry if teaching you to suck eggs but......Nobody needs PVR functionality, until they use it.....then you don't know how you lived without it. Seriously, it's really really really really good!!

As a reference , my misses is a luddite and would never have ended up with a PVR if I hadn't got one. She couldn't live without Sky+ now.

Edited by dave_s13 on Sunday 5th October 20:00

[snotrag]

wot 'e said, basically.

It changes the way you use television. It is fantastic.

[S7Paul]

The Humax F2-FOX-T is just a Freeview box, and it's very highly rated. I had one (until I got a new TV) and it worked very well. It also has digital "audio out", so you can hook it up to a decent surround sound amp if you want. The only down side to it is that the EPG doesn't always work very well. This is a well-known issue that allegedly could be cured if Humax were to implement a modification to ditch the built-in games and use the extra capacity to get the EPG running properly, but it doesn't look like they're ever going to fix it. If I were you, I'd either get the Humax above, the Sony VTX-D800U or the Pioneer DBR-TF100 (which I think is now only available second-hand, but is a very good unit).

[bigdods]

I tried Philips and had a lot of problems. Aerial bloke laughed when he saw it and told me he made loads of money out of them as they are crap. Replaced with a Sony and its excellent. I have since put another sony box in the kitchen and also a Sony Freeview PVR. Wouldnt buy anything else.