Freeview+ Confusion - help!

[polska1979]

Hi all

First time post here but have browsed in the past when buying new kit etc. But I just have to post as my head is aching!

Ok, Ive decided to get rid of Virgin+, trying to cut costs due to new baby.

Ive decided to opt for the freeview option. But as with most things there is certain criteria that the wife as set me.

1) ability to record 1 channel whilst watching another
2) ability to pause, rewind and fast forward etc
3) ability to play divx movies through usb

Ive done a bit of research and have tried to pick out a few butI'm struggling.

I understand that the box needs to have a dual tuner to support record and play of another channel. But does this mean I will need 2 coaxial connections from the same aerial. Or will the box be able to do this off the one aerial. This is to record freeview digital channels etc.

Also, whats the difference between pvr and freeview+ boxes?

I cant believe how confused I am with all this. Ive got 30 days to make a decision on whch box to buy. Thats when the Virgin is switched off and I start to get earache from the wife!

Ive been looking at the following models. Would these do the trick?

Panasonic DMR-EX769EB-K Freeview+
Humax Foxsat HDR
Humax pvr9300t

Look forward to your comments. Cheers

 

[polska1979]

just to add....i figure ive got 2 choices. I have a satelite dish (approx 2 years old) which used to supply my sky+ box so i could go the freesta route. Or I can get a new aerial fitted and go freeview. ad a quote for £85 fitted for a good quality aerial.

I'm leaning towards the new aerial simply because of the age of the dish.

 

[ramjet]

no problem using the dish as 2 years is nothing

if you use a freesat option with twin tuners , you need a dual feed from a quad lnb from the sky dish , same as sky plus would use

if you use the aerial option , you need a pvr with twin tuners like the humax

this is assuming you want the box to watch one channel and record another , bearing in mind the tv may have a freeview or freesat tuner inside , depending on make and model , so viewing may not be an issue here depending what you have and what you buy

just remember each option requires a tuner somewhere for it to work , so an aerial , a freeview tv and a freeview pvr or dvdr may suffice

 

[Sonic67]

Also, whats the difference between pvr and freeview+ boxes?

Essentially they are the same. Calling it Freeview+ is a bit of rebranding. I imagine most people have heard of Sky+ so it's a way of saying Freeview+ does the same thing. Pause live TV, records programmes from a TV planner etc.

 

[akiratoo]

just a quick comment
The Panasonic is only a single tuner so unless you had a TV with freeview you would not be able to record one channel while watching another.

 

[grahamlthompson]

Hi all

First time post here but have browsed in the past when buying new kit etc. But I just have to post as my head is aching!

Ok, Ive decided to get rid of Virgin+, trying to cut costs due to new baby.

Ive decided to opt for the freeview option. But as with most things there is certain criteria that the wife as set me.

1) ability to record 1 channel whilst watching another
2) ability to pause, rewind and fast forward etc
3) ability to play divx movies through usb

Ive done a bit of research and have tried to pick out a few butI'm struggling.

I understand that the box needs to have a dual tuner to support record and play of another channel. But does this mean I will need 2 coaxial connections from the same aerial. Or will the box be able to do this off the one aerial. This is to record freeview digital channels etc.

Also, whats the difference between pvr and freeview+ boxes?

I cant believe how confused I am with all this. Ive got 30 days to make a decision on whch box to buy. Thats when the Virgin is switched off and I start to get earache from the wife!

Ive been looking at the following models. Would these do the trick?

Panasonic DMR-EX769EB-K Freeview+
Humax Foxsat HDR
Humax pvr9300t

Look forward to your comments. Cheers

With a freeview twin tuner pvr the aerial loop to the second tuner is usually internal except on Topfield ones that have 2 ins and 2 outs you simply loop one out to the other in in this case. Humax and Topfield pvrs allow you to watch a limited choice of 3rd channels while recording two and all let you watch a previous recording while recording two. The Foxsat-hdr is a high definition twin tuner Freesat+ stb not a freeview one. It needs a dish with two outputs to work 100%, ie the same dish as a sky box uses