FreeSat Recorder -alternative to Sky+

[monoloco]

Does anyone still make a decent FreeSat Recorder box? I’m in the middle of nowhere so no cable and the house is surrounded by trees so terrestrial Digital TV reception is crap and ‘Freeview’ is a non-starter . However, I do get a decent signal off my satellite dish. I’ve been using Sky+ for years but only ever use it for the main channels and don’t need any of the fancier ones all of which means I’m paying through the nose for a Sky+ subscription for channels I could otherwise get for free. I’ve got a basic Humax freesat box in one room which is great, but this doesn’t have recording facilities and the wife wants to record things. I’ve had a hunt around but I can’t seem to find anyone making a recording version of a FreeSat box any more. Humax used to do them but I can’t find anyone still selling them. There’s a couple of Linux based boxes available but these are pricy and a bit too ‘tekkie’ for me. Any ideas or suggestions?

[sjg]

Contract with Humax expired so the existing stock was all sold and not resupplied. The replacement will be made by Arris (who do the Virgin Media boxes) - the non-recording one is already out, the recording versions are due really soon. Although they've been saying that for ages.

This thread is probably best to keep an eye on: https://www.avforums.com/threads/new-generation-fr...

Last post links this article: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-techn... which reckons out by the end of Feb, recording version 500GB for £200, 1TB £230, 2TB £270.

[Big_Dan]

If you're a bit techie (or don't mind learning) a Zgemma box fits the bill, something like an H.2S - can even be made to look like a Sky box

[S6PNJ]

There are still a few manufacturer refurbished items available off their Humax Direct website - https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/refurbished.html

I bought my freesat box (4000T) secondhand from Facebook Marketplace but I've bought around 5 Freeview recorders from the refurbished side of Humax, all with no issues (2 were ours, 3 were other family members).

Edited by S6PNJ on Saturday 4th April 09:42 to remove incorrect link

Edited by S6PNJ on Saturday 4th April 09:42

[bitchstewie]

That new box looks interesting as I'm similar to the OP in that I want to tell Sky to stick it but don't know what to replace it with.

That box + a streamer of some sort looks like an interesting combo.

What are the major differences between Freeview and Freesat if you have a good enough Freeview signal?

[Biker 1]

My TV has Freesat built-in, with the option to hook up a hard drive for recording via USB. There is only one satellite input, so I think I'm limited to recording whatever I happen to be watching, or setting up timed record when I'm away.

[monoloco]

sjg said:

Contract with Humax expired so the existing stock was all sold and not resupplied. The replacement will be made by Arris (who do the Virgin Media boxes) - the non-recording one is already out, the recording versions are due really soon. Although they've been saying that for ages.

This thread is probably best to keep an eye on: https://www.avforums.com/threads/new-generation-fr...

Last post links this article: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-techn... which reckons out by the end of Feb, recording version 500GB for £200, 1TB £230, 2TB £270.

Ahaa -explains all ! I wondered why they'd suddenly vanished off the shelves. The new Arris product sounds good though so I'll keep an eye open and grab one when they appear on the market. All I have to do then is sit on the phone for a few hours to get through to Sky and cancel my subscription.....

[fuzzymonkey]

Currys are now selling the new recorder boxes, just ordered one of them.