Buying advice needed for Freesat box please.

aircoolsteve

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Hi to all. I've been a member on here for quite a while but not done a lot of posting.
I want to make the break from Sky. I have the Q system at the moment but I've been wanting to get away from Sky for a good few years. A couple of years ago a 1.2 Andrews dish with a motor came my way and at first I was right up for fitting it but the wind factor here has changed my mind, plus all the rules about how large one's dish should be, so its still in the shed!

The questions I have are: Now that Humax have gone from the Freesat scene what would be the most sensible box to buy (make) and the other one is who should I buy it from? I read about how bad the customer service is at Currys and all the problems with these new boxes from Freesat.
When I bought my Jaguar XF, if I were to view the forums before buying I may not have made the purchase but I really like driving it and all the problems everybody else have had, haven't happened to me! So I have pretty much an open mind about it. Thanks. S
 
There is only one freesat box maker now and it can be purchased direct from freesat and some other outlets. It works with the Q LNB.


The only other alternative is something like an Enigma box with a steep learning curve. That will need the LNB changing.

NB No C4 HD on freesat.

If you have a working UHF TV aerial and good reception predictions consider Freeview?
 
Thanks for that Rodders. The signal here on a UHF is good so I may just make the dish redundant! I have an aerial up there that feeds a couple of teles upstairs. It would mean a bit of cable sorting but I can do that. I suppose Humax are still making Freeview boxes? I'm trying to buy something that may be a more reliable product really.
Also, from a company that has the best customer service. S
 
The new Humax freeview Arura box is a brilliant bit of kit,uses Google so loads of apps...and its getting better all the time.
 
Thanks for that dts. Its buying confidence that I'm looking for as I read a lot of funny problems with some of the available kit. I don't really want to buy a Humax if its not actually made anymore. I see that some outlets are selling referbed Humax kit. If they go wrong, who would have the knowledge to mend it? The only other thing would be to buy second-hand and when it went wrong, dump it and buy another which is what a lot of people are doing.
This Arura box does look like its the thing to buy now so I'll have a closer look at it. The only thing now is, do I buy direct, or through a supplier?
 
you can manually tune C4 HD in on a manhattan freesat box...and freesports hd too which is a good channel that left freesat last year.
 
you can manually tune C4 HD in on a manhattan freesat box...and freesports hd too which is a good channel that left freesat last year.
and would need the LNB changed.
Dunno if it does recording but not via the 7-day freesat EPG so a pita...

OP Humax Aura has its own thread(s) to look at on this site - also check out Humax forums. Humax sell refurbs on their own direct site: https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/refurbished.html no Auras there today. I've bought from them before (many years ago, though) and they are often hard to tell from a brand new box.

The new boxes are not without some issues and Manhattan also make Freeview PVRs.

Check out the user report threads for all possibles: they'll make your brain ache but it'll be worth it. ;)
 
Really depends on your budget and tech levels, plus what you want. For £310 I bought a Giga Blue Enigma 2 receiver and had my LNB changed. This is more than the Humax Amura but gives me 8 tuners that are fully sharable around the house with any android box, with full HD, not it does not give me android aps but the Humax box does not do them all. So basically if the humax cant do them all and I need another box, I might as well have a 4k fire stick and a PVR that can be properly shared
 
Hi JonMace. That Giga Blue Enigma2 box sound interesting. Has it been reliable? I don't mind changing the LNB. Its an easy job where my dish is fitted. Who sells them. I may take a look. I can see some on fleabay but I don't want to buy a second-hand unit that I cant return.
That's another question really, who has the best customer service when things go wrong?

Small edit.... It looks like all the adds for this box are in Europe which would not be a good idea at the moment given that the EU are being a bit "over the top" on carriage and prices. Plus if it goes wrong??????
 
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Giga machines are readily available from World of Satellite, and others.
So are VU+ .
These are more or less sophisticated satellite receivers.
Freesat is not the same thing.
 
Your what?
Freesat is, essentially, the EPG.
 
Mine is only used for Freesat
You're not because Freesat = their proprietary, encrypted, OTA 7-day EPG - plus the automated LCN/tuning updates overnight.

Enigma boxes rely on an internet-user-led/sourced 'equivalent of' that EPG data (and perhaps tuning updates?). But it may not do series linking quiet as well, and have issues with late schedule / EPG changes that the broadcasters can make.
This is why I suggested they have a steep learning curve (which I may need to climb if/when my Foxsat-HDRs die).
 
I stand corrected however the box and software all works as I want it to.
My box is in another room but I program it with my PC and it streams in on my monitor next to my PC.
 
I stand corrected however the box and software all works as I want it to.
My box is in another room but I program it with my PC and it streams in on my monitor next to my PC.
But can your 60-70-80+ year old relative able to use the box to set recordings and then later watch those programmes on the TV with a remote control ?

{That is the acid test of how simple a PVR is to work ;) }
 
All a bit technical for the average living room viewing I think. Don't need any learning curves at my age! Just freeview/freesat TV will do for me.
 
But can your 60-70-80+ year old relative able to use the box to set recordings and then later watch those programmes on the TV with a remote control ?

{That is the acid test of how simple a PVR is to work ;) }
Yes ones its setup, on the EPG select show, press blue button press OK press OK series link setup. or if you just want a one off its green button rather than blue, does not get a lot more simple
 
Hi JonMace. That Giga Blue Enigma2 box sound interesting. Has it been reliable? I don't mind changing the LNB. Its an easy job where my dish is fitted. Who sells them. I may take a look. I can see some on fleabay but I don't want to buy a second-hand unit that I cant return.
That's another question really, who has the best customer service when things go wrong?

Small edit.... It looks like all the adds for this box are in Europe which would not be a good idea at the moment given that the EU are being a bit "over the top" on carriage and prices. Plus if it goes wrong??????

are very reliable, they also have their own forums where you can find step by step instructions and loads of help.

All enigma2 boxes work in a similar way but some have extra features are better quality are faster etc, a bit like android phone.

VU+ as a manufacturer and are a bit like the rolls royce of Enigma2 boxes but have a price to match, Giga Blue are 1 step down but alot cheaper a bit like android phone.
 
But can your 60-70-80+ year old relative able to use the box to set recordings and then later watch those programmes on the TV with a remote control ?

{That is the acid test of how simple a PVR is to work ;) }

My 85 year old dad could do that easy peasy, it even says Freesat.
I can even change the colours and spacing etc.
I normally programme from my PC which is the bottom picture.

And to play back recordings just like a normal PVR it has a dedicated button on the remote.
You can see what the remote looks like on the bottom picture, it's what I use when sitting at my PC.

Like JonMace said, they are very highly programmable so you can make them look however you want. I always go on the VUPlus Images forum and there are people who have already
made their own images so I usually find the one I like the look of and then adapt to me.

Think of an Enigma 2 box as a Smart PVR, it does the Freesat stuff but then you can add your own APPs. Enigma boxes have been doing this for a long time but TVs have only just caught up.

vu+epg.jpg
vu+web.jpg
 
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Just not sure why you took the first picture with a phone rather than screen captured?

The second picture is a screen capture of OpenWebif on the PC, the first picture is the EPG on the TV. Mind you thinking about it I can see the TV EPG on a PC window if I want to but it doesn't look as authentic. I wanted people to see what it looked like on a TV.
vu+epg2.jpg
:)
 
Rather the screen grabbing from the PC if you right click on the screen image on the openwenif you save that image so you dont get all the openwenif stuff.

Also try installing Kodi on your PC and use the Enigma2 PVR client, its alot nicer interface to watch on the PC than openwenif
 
Rather the screen grabbing from the PC if you right click on the screen image on the openwenif you save that image so you dont get all the openwenif stuff.

Also try installing Kodi on your PC and use the Enigma2 PVR client, its alot nicer interface to watch on the PC than openwenif

I don't use OpenWebif on the PC for streaming, I only use it for programming or the remote control. My VU+ feeds through via HDMI to my left monitor (that's why I took a picture of it to show it is the box straight into the TV). Kodi on my PC is used for my Synology server and IPTV. However, I might set that client up for fun.
 

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