Lesley Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Since my last falling out with Sky I have spent the last few months researching alternatives to Sky+ I am fed up with having an ancient box which continually locks up, has jumpy pictures which break up, a planner which locks up and refuses to play recordings........loss of signal when it rains........and really poor and rude customer support..........all the usual stuff according to other users on the DigitalSpy forum. I worked out what I really wanted from my TV and looked around. We've bought a Humax 9300T PVR - it will do all the things that Sky+ did except it can only record from the Freeview channels. As there are now plenty of channels to choose from I'm happy with that! I'm also looking at Topup TV to use as a possible add-on should we need it. We've set it up and it is brilliant - we're going to test it for a few days and then I will be able to tell Sky where to go I really can't wait!!!! We could buy 3 of these boxes in one year, and still have £15 left over compared to what we are paying Sky in a year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 We have a Humax as well and find it really easy to use. Never had Sky so can't compare but no problems with the Humax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 how weird, we have a Humax also with DVR built in (I think that's what its called ) has a built in harddrive. I never thought anyone else had heard of them (Sky bloke commented when he fitted our sky he'd never heard of them ) its a good tv. No probs so far touch wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Sounds good - freeview hardly works here and I couldn't live without my Sky + I got back from holiday at 12.15 on Sunday and by the time I went to sleep last night (couldn't sleep - jet lag!) I'd already watched 2 musicals, 3 episodes of Casualty, the top gear Vietnam Special and 11 episodes of Eastenders!!!! It's a good job Neighbors and Home and Away were off for the holidays otherwise I would have filled my hard drive twice over!!! Actually can anyone else see a Sky+ version of 12 days of Christmas in there??? Scuse me whilst I start another thread..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joojoo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Lesley you've bought exactly the same one as me . Mine arrived last week and I'm over the moon with it. We had BT Vision for 18 months and although it was great for recording (apart from missing the end as the clock was always out) it drove me up the wall as it kept locking up. The Humax is fab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Ive never heard of these. but it sounds interesting , my mum and dad are planning on ditching sky as they cant really afford it just a few questions (if you dont mind) where do you get the box from? do you have to pay any subscriptions? do you just "plug and play" so to speak? do sky want the dish and box back if you stop subscribing to it? thank you cathy x (edited to add more questions ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joojoo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Hi Cathy I bought it from here http://www.homecinematv.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=HUM-PVR9300T after trawling everywhere. I couldn't find it any cheaper. All the usual shops eg Currys, Comet, John Lewis etc sell it so it must be quite good. The reviews are pretty good on it too. Some of them mention a noisy fan which needs a software upgrade but ours is very quiet so I'm assuming they had already had the upgrade when we bought it. Re subscriptions - you don't have to subscribe to anything but I believe you can, if you want, subscribe to Setanta etc. It was really easy to set up. I just took the leads out of my old freeview box and plugged them straight into the humax box and switched on. It automatically started installing the channels which took about 3 mins and it was ready to go piece of cake even for me Re your existing Sky box etc I don't think they want them back if you are out of contract but I'm not 100% certain on that. Someone else will hopefully be able to answer you. The one thing I think is great about the Humax box opposed to some of the other PVRs, is that this one has twin tuners meaning you can record one channel whilst watching another Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 thank you cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 the sky box is your box, they do not ask for it back. Although if you ever re sign with them they do not give you a new one, so handy to put in loft or something. Sky are pants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janty Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 We ditched sky about four months ago after loads of problems but we missed the recording and rewinding / pausing of tv. We bought a HDD freeview/top up tv box over Christmas. It's much better and cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ardene5 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi everyone We understand that there is a Free view Plus but do not know if is any better that Sky because we have not got either We keep on meaning to find out about it when we are out shopping but never seem to have the time. We would be interested if you find anything out or a link to a web site. Best regards for 2009. Ian & Valerie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 If you have Sky, you can get FreeSat instead. And if you get the new Humax Foxsat PVR it is just like Sky+ (except you only get the free channels). And you get HD too!!! We got it just before Xmas and it is great. You keep your dish and just plug in the new box instead. It is about £300. If you have Sky+ you only need the box, but if you have ordinary Sky you need to get a dual LNB and an extra cable. The dual LNB allows you to receive two channels at once (i.e., record one and watch another or record two channels at once). We can't get Freeview here, so Freesat was the only option. I am loving the new PVR, I can record all the progs I like and watch them as and when I feel like it and DS now cannot say when called to dinner/do his homework/go to bed "Can I just watch this first?" because we say, "No, record it and watch it later/tomorrow" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 We have Sky+, but I am keen to keep the bills down, so this might be an option for us too. A couple of questions. Firstly,we have multi room - will we need 2 of the nw boxes? Secondly,what ARE the free channels, & what can you subscribe to as an extra? If there is a link to a site I can trawl trhough,that would be great. I am afraid that being a long time Sky+ customer,I have no idea about freeview at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Freeview+ is just a collection of PVRs which can record from Freeview. The Humax is one of the PVRs This site has comparisons of a lot of PVRs http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/compare/index.htm - there are lots of tabs along the top for you to check out. It is as simple to use as JooJoo says - plug and play!!! It is just as easy as Sky+ to use - just slightly different so you need to refer to the manual for a while. We looked at price comparisons but in the end we decided to buy locally so that i could march in and dump it on the counter if it was complete rubbish! - something you can't do with Sky Currys were out of stock so we bought from Argos - £30 more than JooJoo paid though Sarah - check out a site called Digital Spy - lots of sections within their forum, you could be there all day!!! We have multiroom but we just changed the TV in the office for a cheap TV with Freeview and DVD instead. No recording.....just TV or DVD. Our second Sky box for the multiroom was even older than the one in the lounge and only worked when it felt like it We were paying Sky £50+ per month for a really rubbish service! - £600 per year!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 We had a Freeview box that we were given a few years ago, but it has gradually stopped working. I think that I read somewhere that they had changed the coding on some of the channels and that old boxes would cease to work. I shan't bother to get another one as the reception in Banbury is so poor anyway and we never watched all the channels. I've never had Sky, but Phil used to and I understand that he was able to keep his dish when he cancelled the subscription and was able to view about 20 free channels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I am very interested in this thread as I have been saying for ages that we should get rid of Sky it is a complete waste of money, we don't have sky+ but are still paying £36 a month for the package we have. I have worked out that it would be cheaper to move over to Freesat via a Humax PVR and subscribe to "I love film" for the movies, at least then we could pick which films we wanted and still pay less...Thanks for the link Lesley i am going to check it out and try to persuade my OH that it would be better for us..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Just to be clear: there are two ways to get away from Sky: Freeview and Freesat from the BBC/ITV They have a slightly different channel line up and you need different boxes. Both offer a PVR system (like Sky+) that allows you to record (and also pause, rewind etc live TV). Freeview is not available everywhere but Freesat ought to be as it is from the same satellite as Sky. Don't confuse Freesat from the BBC/ITV with Freesat from Sky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I need to work out what you can actually get free now because we would love to cancel Sky which costs us £47 per month and Setanta which costs another 12.99 it is either that or cancel out private swimming membership which we would all miss and out health would suffer too. Hubby likes watching horse racing and football hence Setanta but to be honest we hardly ever watch movies etc on Sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Well you could get freesat from Sky and keep the Setana subscription so OH could watch the sports that would save you £47/month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Thanks for that, I will look into that as an option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I must be stupid,but I am really confused by all this So there is FreeView or FreeSat (BBC) They both have similar although slightly different channels available,right? And I can add more wtih Top up TV..... So depending on which one I choose to get dictates which Humax box I need? And it will plug striaght in to my Sky+ leads? And actually work? Do I have to buy the Freeview/Freesat? Sorry, so many questions, & the Digital Spy forum,whils good, has only served to actually confuse me more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I must be stupid,but I am really confused by all this So there is FreeView or FreeSat (BBC) They both have similar although slightly different channels available,right? Yes And I can add more wtih Top up TV..... Only with freeview, I think So depending on which one I choose to get dictates which Humax box I need? And it will plug striaght in to my Sky+ leads? the Freesat box plugs into your sky+ leads, whereas the Freeview box works through your aerial And actually work? Well our Freesat box worked first time, even with a techno-numpty at the helm! Do I have to buy the Freeview/Freesat? You just buy the box (making sure you get the PVR model if you want to have the sky+ type functionality) after that it is all free Sorry, so many questions, & the Digital Spy forum,whils good, has only served to actually confuse me more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Thanks I think I have got it now. I am looking more seriously at Freesat, as we already have all the Sky + gubbins here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Sarah, does this help here We've only got freeview but are wondering about freesat although I'm not sure there'd be anything more on that we want to watch. Tend to get dvd's now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I bought a Pioneer PVR/DVD recorder 2 years ago and I still love it. We receive our TV, Broadband and Telephone through cable (Virgin ) but it all works brillantly and we have loads of channels for the package price. We can watch one channel while recording another and (like Sky+) watch the recording programme from the beginning while it records the rest. We also have a little gadget which changes the channel on the cable box if we want to record a programme off there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
