Freesat HD box or integrated tv

[dspit1664]

I all, in two minds whether to get rid of sky boxes and move to free sat. I know there are integrated tv's now. Does that mean there are tv's with integrated freesat or freesat hd+ ?

 

[Prime Time]

Yes, there are integrated Freesat & Freeview HD televisions mostly made by Panasonic but their is also models made by Sony.

The latest Panasonic models also offer a HDD recording facility as well as a CAM slot for pay tv on other satellites (NOT Sky/28.2E).

The downside of having an integrated TV alone is that it is only going to have a single tuner unlike the Echostar PVR which is a dual tuner box with Sling capabilites built in.

If you are thinking about buying a new TV anyway then it makes sense to look at the Panasonic freesat range.

 

[dspit1664]

Ok many thanks. Your content contains detail I am not familiar with so looks like for starters I need to do quite a bit reading. Where could i find detail if tech content used in your response Google or forum or other ?

 

[Broadz]

Two advantages of a separate box:-

(1) As Prime Time alluded to, with a separate box you will usually get two tuners (Freesat+ as opposed to Freesat alone), meaning you can record one channel whilst watching another, or record two channels simultaneously;
(2) With a seperate box, if you wanted to archive to an external recorder, i.e. a DVD recorder, you would not need to have the TV switched on to do this. If your only Freesat tuner was in the TV, then not only would the TV need to be switched on if you wanted to record from its tuner, but you might also have to have the TV showing the output from its satellite tuner, rather than watching something else on Freeview, or on DVD or Blu Ray or cable, or playing a game on it using a connected console.

The main disadvantage of having the tuner in a seperate box rather than built into the TV is the extra room taken up by the seperate box and the extra cables needed to connect the Freesat box to the TV and the power socket.

 

[logiciel]

Does that mean there are tv's with integrated freesat or freesat hd+ ?

Yes, a small number of them, all with HD, but from only the one manufacturer: freesat HD TV - freesat.
If you want Pana, and don't want easy recording facilities, then you might as well have one, but otherwise you'd be much better with a receiver or PVR as shown on other pages of Freesat's web site.

 

[lbear]

My own preference to to have separate boxes as all in one integration often means some compromise in quality or functionality. Also, having separate units means you can replace one without throwing out perfectly serviceable equipment. I suppose my view goes back to the days when hi-fi separates were always better quality than "music centres".

Ideally, I would like to be able to buy a display screen, tuner and sound unit separately and at a reasonable cost.

 

[kevkbuk]

I suppose my view goes back to the days when hi-fi separates were always better quality than "music centres".

Perfectly valid point and still holds true today.

 

[Mark uk]

If I was buying separates I would buy a new tv first and then add on each part when funds allow
To buy it all in one go would be expensive.