hi there,
not sure where to post this ... but figure some of you guys might have both
anyone got both a freesat HD pvr and a freeview pvr ?
I've currently got a tivo hooked up to freesat sd, thinking of replacing it but not sure if I should go the freesat or freeview route.
Most of the programs I watch are on both freeview and freesat, the picture quality of freeview seems much better for most channels than freesat - tho I haven't seen the HD stuff yet.
I think it comes down to the software; which has the better software between, say, the humax hd pvr and the topfield (which seems to be the best freeview pvr)?
I have a Topfield 5800, A Humax 9200T and the Foxsat-HDR.
Best SD picture quality a tie between the two Freeview pvrs, ITV1 particulary on satellite is very poor.
Best software - In the as delivered form there is not a lot to choose between the two Freeview pvrs, there are some features on each that the other does in my opinion a little better. The Topfield however has a major advantage in that you can make it work more or less as you wan't using add ons called taps. This makes the Toppy a little more complex to operate if you add taps.
There are some features of the Toppy that are better for me notably
The USB archiving off the Topfield is 100% reliable. The 9200 is very iffy. (The newer 9150 and 9300) don't have usb archiving at all. You can however modify the Hummy to give a direct connection to the HDD (invalidates warranty) to give a very fast reliable transfer. It's likely that someone will manage to do this eventually for the Hummy 9150 and 9300.
As both of my Freeview pvrs are connected to an AV scaling amplifier (Denon 4306) the best connections are component. The Toppy has component built in, the Hummy required an external converter.
The Toppy is virtually silent (It has no fan)
Firmware upgrades on the Toppy are over usb. The Hummy requires a serial port (rare on newer computers) or a usb to serial adaptor.
The Foxsat-hdr delivers great HD pictures and this would probably be the only reason to buy one over either of the freeview offerings. In Freesat mode the SD offerings have a few channels missing that are on Freeview (Notably Fiver and Five US) but does give you loads (hundreds in non freesat mode) of extra channels most of which are total rubbish.
A second reason you might buy the Foxsat is it's support for multiple dishes or controlling a motorised dish that can give you access to thousands of channels, if for example you wanted to watch foreign language channels that could influence you to choose the satellite route.
One thing in conclusion if I remember rightly the Tivo is unique in it's capability to record from a external source (It's really a hybrid machine) if you currently use this capability and you replace it you will also need a DVD recorder.