Replacement Sky Digibox

[oli_ramsay]

My old Amstrad box stopped working about a year ago and I've been struggling along with terrestrial TV ever since. i was wondering if I could simply get a new digibox off ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/REPLACEMENT-S...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1308&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Grundig-GDS31...=39:1|66:2|65:2|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I was unsubscribe from sky and wasn't receiving/paying for it any more and I don't intend to get Sky again. I mainly want the quality of digital TV and the ability to get channel 5 and BBC3, ITV2 etc.

Could I simply hook it all up and it would work again? Would I need to get Sky involved? Would I need to re-activate my viewing card?

Thanks

Just to reiterate, I don't intend to get sky again, I just want the basic free channels 1-5, BBC3 etc.

 

[Broadz]

I've bought several second-hand Sky boxes from ebay - and never paid more than a fiver for any of them. They all work fine, two as replacements for standard Sky boxes where the owner didn't want to pay £65 to Sky to come out and repair or replace it, two for people who had a satellite dish and fancied watching Freesat rather than Freeview in their bedroom.

Your expired Sky card should allow you to receive Five, Five US, Fiver etc on your replacement digibox, and will also ensure you receive the correct local BBC and ITV channels (based on your postcode), whereas not having any card in the box will give you BBC London, ITV Midlands and none of the Channel Five offshoots.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Thanks for the quick response!

That's good news! If I get a cheapo one and pop my old card in there I can get the free set of channels I got before my old Amstrad went to heaven.

Shall I just get the cheapest one I can find? Is there any brands/models to avoid?

 

[Andy98765]

Get a brand new Freesat box from £45 http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ no cards, no pairing and brand new with a 1 year warranty. They use the same dish as SKY so if yours is all in order then plug in and watch.
HD boxes from £105

 

[oli_ramsay]

Get a brand new Freesat box from £45 http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/ no cards, no pairing and brand new with a 1 year warranty. They use the same dish as SKY so if yours is all in order then plug in and watch.
HD boxes from £105

Sounds cool, few questions though:

Is freesat like freeview except it comes via satelite dish?
Would I need to get my skydish repointed/adjusted for it to work? Are there any advantages of getting freesat instead of a new skybox? Will it DEFINATELY be compatible with my existing dish?

Cheers

EDIT: I've just answered my own questions here (http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/faqs)

I guess the main advantage of freesat over sky's free channels is that freesat offers you more channels like E4, more4, film4 etc. Also they promise more channels to be added by the end of this year. I think I'm gonna have to get me one of these freesat boxes then

 

[sonygeek84]

Im also thinking of getting a Freesat box, probably going to be an early christmas present to myself But I think paying 100 quid for one is still a bit steep. Theres one from Bush which is only £50 from Homebase, but i've read some great reviews about the Humax Foxsat HD...personally i'd like one with a PVR built in but I guess thats asking too much

 

[Broadz]

I guess the main advantage of freesat over sky's free channels is that freesat offers you more channels like E4, more4, film4 etc. Also they promise more channels to be added by the end of this year. I think I'm gonna have to get me one of these freesat boxes then

Be aware, there are a lot more channels available free on a Sky box than there are on a Freesat box (around 200 on FreesatfromSky, around 120 on Freesat) - including many many more radio channels. Whether this situation will be resolved at a later date is still unknown. If you are going down the Freesat route, and you have a HD Ready television, then it may be wise considering a Freesat HD box - that way, you will at least have a couple of high definition channels. No standard Sky box will give you high def.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Im also thinking of getting a Freesat box, probably going to be an early christmas present to myself But I think paying 100 quid for one is still a bit steep. Theres one from Bush which is only £50 from Homebase, but i've read some great reviews about the Humax Foxsat HD...personally i'd like one with a PVR built in but I guess thats asking too much

I'd never heard of Freesat until today and I'm quite excited about getting it. They say that more + more channels are going to be added so it's all good

Their site says boxes with Digital Video Recorders will be available soon and you'll be able to record 160 hours of TV

Dixons have a goodmans one for £45, but it's unfortunately sold out. You can get 10% off if you use this promo code too which is cool.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Be aware, there are a lot more channels available free on a Sky box than there are on a Freesat box - and many many more radio channels. Whether this situation will be resolved at a later date is still unknown.

I guess I'm kinda torn between the two

The skybox replacement is cheaper + has more channels. Maybe this is a better option after all. Hmmmm, what would you do?

 

[Broadz]

I guess I'm kinda torn between the two

The skybox replacement is cheaper + has more channels. Maybe this is a better option after all. Hmmmm, what would you do?

I have Sky (including Sky World and Sky HD). So I'm not in your situation. Don't know which to advise.

For simplicity, Freesat is best. Freesat doesn't list channels that you can't watch. FreesatfromSky lists all channels that the Sky EPG has access to - then gives you a snotty message about upgrading your subscription when you try to watch channels that you have to pay for.

But, Sky does offer you more channels. Whether you would ever want to watch or listen to those extra channels is down to you.

The beauty of a Sky box is it will also allow you to subscribe to Setanta if you ever decide to (no Freesat box will let you do that, as Freesat boxes don't accept Sky cards) and it will also allow you to re-activate your Sky subscription (for as short a period of time as you wish) should you ever decide to. No Freesat box will ever give you access to pay channels.

I guess if you are adamant that you will never want to subscribe to Pay TV and the extra channels that the Sky box gives you aren't channels that you would ever want to watch, and you want the guarantee of a brand new box, then Freesat is the way to go. If you can't tick all those boxes, I'd still consider getting an old Sky box and going with that. If it turns out to be a pain, well, you've only spent a fiver on it. And you can always relist it on ebay if you do decide to go down the Freesat route.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Maybe Sky freesat would be a better option. They offer a LOT more SD channels than freesat and sky's free thingy. Could I just get a digibox off ebay, phone Sky, pay a one off fee of £? and start watching?

Reading their site, it seems that the one off fee is £150 which is waaay outta my budget. Guess a cheapo digibox off ebay is the way to go. Then as you say maybe get freesat if/when the choice of channels improves.

 

[Broadz]

You don't need to pay a one-off fee of anything to start watching FreesatfromSky. The box gives you all channels apart from three without any card in the slot. With your old (expired) Sky card in the slot you will get these channels as well. No need to phone Sky or pay anyone anything apart from a fiver to the guy flogging the Sky box - it just works.

 

[oli_ramsay]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Grundig-GDS31...39:1|66:4|65:15|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Just bought this box

Will hopefully be enjoying the joys of flawless digital TV again soon! w00t!

Thanks for all your help

 

[oli_ramsay]

Hi again

My new digibox has just arrived and it's a Pace 2200:

It's a bit slow when browsing channels and using the EPG etc. The software version is 3.6.4.18, is there a way to do a forced upgrade? Will this make it a bit faster?

Thanks

 

[oli_ramsay]

Did a little research and I'm updating software using the unplug + hold backup method.

Hopefully this should speed the old girl up

Though I have heard that this particular model is a first generation of skybox and probably over 10 years old. Still, can't complain for a tenner!

 

[oli_ramsay]

Just done the forced update and it's still on the same version