I own one of these boxes and to honest with you I think it's well worth the money. I have it attached to a 90cm dish with motor and although HD content at the moment on most satellites is pretty sparse, what you reecive in HD looks fantastic. It also upscales the SD content to 1080i, if you have the chance to compare the upscaled to the standard, it is surprising the difference it makes!
Freesat has just been launched and the good news is that Channel4 and E4 is now available through the Astra28.2E satellite, Fortec have also released a new firmware which when updated via USB on the box will update the channel list for you automatically.
For first time users to satellite, if you have a Sky Dish sat there doing nothing the initial setup is very easy. Simply plug it in, tell the box where you live and it will then sort out all the channels for you (all the Freesat boxes default you to BBC/ITV London). Also, unlike Freeview, you can actually see all of the news throughout the UK.
If you don't have a Sky Dish - putting a dish up can be tricky (the DIY side isn't too bad) as the alignment is key. Meters can be purchased for around £10 to help you out - without one it is a nightmare!
The EPG on the box is intuitive and very easy to use. The remote (although the supplied batteries are pretty poor) is very user friendly and can also act as your TV and DVD remote also.
There are parental features for family use and unlike Freesat this box can tap into other satellites and give you all the listings.
The front USB can also play MP3 from an external storage device, and if you have hooked up the Passion to an AV amp (either by coaxial or optical) then the sound is fantastic. The same can be said from the satellite radio stations - crank that volume up!
If I was to choose between a Freesat box or this unit, I would favour the Passion no doubt. I would hate to be restricted to the one satellite when there is a world of TV content out there on other satellites. Shame there are no HD Satellite PVRs yet!
