Join Freesat

We thought this was worthy of a mention. Comet have had the forsight to think about the future of Freesat and the soon to be released Freesat DTR/PVR. The new DTR is a digital recorder which to utilise the record functionality to the fullist requires you to have two cables from your satellite dish.

The problem so far is that all the major retailers participating in Freesat have been selling single cable installations, which suit the current SD and HD Freesat boxes only.

What Comet have done is include a Quad LNB instead of a Single LNB and the additional cable required, for just £20 more than the standard install. A small price to pay to future-proof your satellite installation. This will mean when the time comes you literally just have to plug the additional satellite cable into the new DTR box and away you go, rather than paying out for a return engineer visit at significant cost.

FREESAT DTR INSTALLATION TO 1 TV POINT - £99.95

We highly recommend this purchase to anyone requiring satellite installation, even if you don’t fancy a DTR in the future, you may want Freesat in more than one room and this setup will make things much easier.

Well done Comet.

We all know that Freesat are keen to ensure that all retailers offer an installation option, infact, its the main requirement of their SLA, however, it seems Currys just aren’t getting it!

With all the talk on here about Currys shocking installation options, then the subsequential change only a day later, we half expected Currys had learnt there lesson, not so.

According to their website, they are now selling the Humax Freesat HD Digibox Box (hurray!)…with installation a requirement (boo).

Whilst it might not be a bad deal for those requiring the full shabang; for those with a satellite dish already installed (and setup correctly, the same as Sky), there’s no chance you are going to pay that price for something you don’t need.

Are Currys just not understanding the conditions of selling Freesat, or are they being deliberately difficult?

Visit the page in question here.

We’ve heard plenty of stories about the main retailers telling consumers in-store misleading and inaccurate information on the new Freesat service, but Currys have gone one further by publishing a product on their site that we just couldn’t ignore.

Currys have made available (albeit ‘out of stock’) an installation package for £79.99 plus £6.99 delivery. Fair enough you might think, but its what the package is and suggests that really got us started.

It seems that the package does not include a dish, LNB or cable; they simply come out and plug the existing cables into the Freesat Digital Box for you, as if thats so hard to do yourself. So what are you paying £79.99 for? Very little it would seem! All retaillers are meant to be offering a installation service, this isn’t one and hopefully Freesat are taking note.

Also, they make mention to you needing a Sky Digital dish; sure Freesat won’t be too happy about that, not apart from the fact there’s no such thing as a Sky Digital dish, merely a dish suitable for receiving channels through the Sky Digital platform.

Visit the installation product and see for yourself.

Update (16-May-08) - It would seem that Currys have now updated the product to include installation of a dish etc, in line with the other retailers. The link above now takes you to the correct product.