Freeview dilemna

[Stereo Steve]

I want to cut the cost of my TV veiwing to basically just the license fee. I have Sky movie world with Sky+ at the mo and it's a brilliant system. I was thinking of keeping my sky stuff and just getting the FTA and FTV channels but there seems no way of using the Sky+ PVR that I have paid for without paying Sky £10 a month. I'm sure it doesn't cost them anything if I use it or not so I consider this a rip off.

So, freeveiw. I can get a pvr like the Pace twin and that's fine. My dad has it with a smaller Pace box (one of the early ones, cresent shaped) and while the picture is brilliant, the interface is as clunky as I remember it from Ondigital.

Fo instance, if I'm watching BBC1 on Sat and I want to quickly scan 2, ITV and CH4, I can press the up cursor and it will tell what's on now and next on those channels without interupting BBC1. On freeview you have to change up like analogue or switch to the Guide. Is this common to all boxes or just this little Pace? Secondly, the epg which is at the moment now and next but I gather moving to 7 day is really slow and clunky as well as being hideous to look at.

So, I want the user interface of Sky+ but without the cost. I want to be able to scan the epg and timeshift at will but I also want a speedy and intuitive user interface. At the moment I'm considering getting my DVDR to control a second sat box in some way but it's still a long way from Sky+.

Any ideas?

 

[Spok]

I suggest you dump all your Sky equipment, get an outdoor aerial and a Pace Twin (they are at rock bottom prices now) and you will not look back.

The Pace interface is excellent and very flexible. Go for it!


Spok.

 

[Stereo Steve]

I think I'll have to try and get a demo as it would have to be better than the Pace box my dad has. It's an appealing idea but has to be as good as what I'm used to. I suppose for a tenner a month less I could put up with a bit less but not much.

 

[ElchenUK]

Your not going to get a better interface than the Sky + box. The EPG on that is excellent. Saying that though the Pace interface is good, yes the guide is slow and cumbersome, but since upgrading it to the latest software there are some nice touches to it.
I'm very happy with my Pace and is certainly good value for money.

 

[DJW]

Originally posted by ElchenUK
Your not going to get a better interface than the Sky + box. The EPG on that is excellent.

Don't say that to a TiVo guy

 

[ElchenUK]

Sorry, I meant compared to the Pace Twin

 

[Stereo Steve]

So is the interface the same on all freeview boxes as it is with Sky boxes? Is it broadcast over the transmitters or generated by the box?

Is there any freeview box where I can scan through the channels without changing up and down?

 

[MarkE19]

Your not going to get a better interface than the Sky + box

Don't say that to a TiVo guy

You called?
Seriously though, if you like Sky+ then you'll love TiVo!

If you are willing to pay the money out to start with then you could get all the functions of Sky+ and more with any Freeview box and TiVo with lifetime sub. I would guess you would be looking at around £400 one off payment (s/h TiVo with lifetime sub ~£350 plus a Freeview box of choice).
Once you have TiVo you can hack it to get it on a network so you can set the timer over the internet. Add an additional or upgrade the HDD to 2x 160Gb giving around 96hours recording at best quality. Extract the digital data to DVD (but we don't mention that ). There is so much you can do to improve the TiVo from its out the box standards.

Mark.

 

[DJW]

Thought that would be a red rag to a bull Mark .....but your right.....TiVo's rule