Loading ...Nov 17 2008
We have opened up the comment section of the individual product pages in the hope that some of you will add your opinions/reviews on the Freesat product(s) you own.
With the expanding range of Freesat receivers and televisions, we feel it’s important to give as much information as possible to potential customers, and your help would be appreciated, so please if you can, spare a couple of minutes to add your thoughts:
Freesat products – Reviews and price comparisons
We intend introducing a star rating system at some point too, as an easy visual aid.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Bought one of the first Humax receivers , May 9th 2008, problems from day one really. The tevevision I have, LOEWE INDIVIDUAL 40″, worked well until the component output was disabled, the HDMI output made the screen go green after a couple of hours viewing. The box regularly said that the post code was invalid or,that there was no signal, both incorrect. Contact with Humax was regular and various over the air software corrections did not solve the problems. In September Humax suggested that I should return the box to the retailer, which I did,for a refund.
I now await the Humax PVR with the hope that I have better luck. Despite this,I still think Humax is a good buy.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
BOUGHT HUMAX FOXSAT HD RECEIVER 02ND JUNE 2008.
ONLY SMALL PROBLEMS REALLY.
1. RED BUTTON ON ITV IS A JOKE. YOU MISS THE FIRST FEW IMPORTANT SECONDS OF THE PROGRAMME TRYING TO ACTIVATE HD. ALSO SOMETIMES IT TAKES LONGER THAN EXPECTED TO SEE THE RED BUTTON ACTIVATION PROMPT.
2. I WAS EXPECTING MORE HD CHANNELS INTRODUCED. AT THE MOMENT ALL WE HAVE IS LESS THAN 1 HOUR A DAY ITV HD AND 5 HOUR A DAY BBCHD
3. STILL PICTURE QUALITY ON SD THROUGH FREEVIEW MUCH BETTER THAN FREESAT ALTHOUGH PIXELLATION PROBLEM OF FREEVIEW RECEPTION IS MORE OR LESS CURED WITH FREESAT.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I purchased the Bush Freesat HD (£119 plus got a £10 voucher!) box from Argos and it came with a free HDMI cable, the box is compact and silent with an external power supply, The box is cool on top, but rather warm on the underside though it has never crashed.
Unfortunately it has no RGB on scart, though most people will use the HDMI cable. It has a really bright blue LED for standby mode (too bright, not unlike an LED torch!), but nothing for when it’s actually switched on?, the menu system is usable, though hardly polished (could be improved with an over the air update) and on air upgrades have fixed most of the early problems. Never ever had any lip sync issued which can effect Sky HD and Humax HD boxes, but the remote is rather basic and very directional i.e needs to be pointed directly at the box.
The picture quality is very good for both the SD and HD material, and no problems with HDMI connections.
I would give the box 8.5/10, would have been higher if the remote was better quality and the standby led was less torch like!. A cheap introduction to HD and recommended for ease of use and the credit crunch price tag!.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Shouldn’t people be posting reviews on the appropriate review page. Not on this page ?
November 17th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Doh!
November 17th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Should be
Can you all please post your reviews on the relevant product pages. Thanks.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Had the opportunity to play with the Humax FoxSat Box in
Curry’s Digital (Brighton) this weekend. The EPG worked
as expected, no problems anyway and the BBC HD was first
class, well what little you get.
The SD was IMO in the OK bracket. The Box was hooked up (HDMI) to a Samsung Plasma and next to it was a Freeview Box also hooked up to a Sam P.
I did not see either of the Samsung’s settings but the Freeview
picture looked a sharper picture to me. If the Humax PVR SD
Is no better I’m sticking with Sky + HD at least until the Tech’s
have had their say and will probably even wait until the Metronic (Maplins) has had an airing in the new year.
Bye the way if I cancelled my Sky + HD sub (which I’m not) and used my box with the FTA card (£20 one off payment)
I’d still have, as good as it gets at present, Freesat facility.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Bought Humax on day one. Worked well until the famous lip-synv problem due to firmware upgrades. Got bored waiting for solution and exchanged it at Comets for a Grundig. The remote of the Grundig is far inferior. It is light weight, with naff buttons that have no logical lay out. The box will do until I get a panasonic all singing PVR in March! ( PS the Humax was much nicer)
November 17th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
CANT PEOPLE READ !!!
check out posts 4 ,5 and 6 ..
November 17th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
David Leek has Sky told you that if you go for the FTA £20.00 one off payment card you won’t be able to use your hard drive? That’s nasty.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Well, I’ve left my reviews for the Humax Foxsat-HD and the Goodmans SD box. Quite apart from the fact that one’s an HD box and the other an SD, it’s interesting to see how very different they are from one another (I didn’t mention it in my reviews, but their non-Freesat modes are very distinct from one another). This would suggest that Freesat allows manufacturers a little more flexibility than Sky (where there’s comparatively little difference between receivers in terms of operation).
November 18th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I think it is worth mentioning that in the price comparison sites for Panasonic Freesat sets that although some retailers appear cheaper than John Lewis do they include a free 5 year warranty?
Also you can buy a top range Panasonic 37 LCD 800 + Humax Foxsat HD cheaper than an integrated set.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
To Russ Dring
“The box regularly said that the post code was invalid”,i had the same problem myself, how to fix it, you need to put a SPACE between eg not BR24GB but BR2 4GB, i hope this helps you.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I have the Panasonic 42″ Plasma with FreesatHD integrated, i have found it to be better than SD i saw the difference when i was watching the same program on Freeview, it looked like the picture jumped out on Freesat, rather than Freeview.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Thanks for all the reviews so far, please do keep them coming, they are greatly appreciated. Don’t forget to use the specific product pages to leave your review/opinion, http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/digital-boxes.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
admin – perhaps you should close comments on this page to force those that cannot read to use the right pages…!
November 19th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Good thinking Al Catraz…done