Freesat Recordable 4K TV Box 1TB

This unit connects to a Satellite dish (traditional or broadband) and lets you record a programme and potentially watch or record something else at the same time (Requires 2 cables from the traditional dish - otherwise of course it's one thing at a time) I already have a TV that 'can' receive and record Freesat but when it's recording you are often unable to change to or watch another TV channel. I bought this so that recording could go on separately from the family 'channel hopping' around as usual. Compared to the TV the Box HD output quality is as good as the original programme on the TV and recordings don't show any quality loss. Signal quality levels reported from the dish were also fine and similar to those on the TV's own signal meter Audio output on HDMI or Optical can each be selected as Stereo or Surround (although the latter is only going to be noticed if a surround track is being broadcast Otherwise you just get Stereo but its all managed seamlessly and works well). The box remote has its own volume control which can get confusing if someone turned it right down - I just leave it on full volume and use the normal TV volume as everyone knows where that is The unit as delivered had 2 year old firmware and operation (while fully functional ) did seem a bit clunky/slow sometimes in the guides/menus. The Manual had nothng to say on updating this manually but I had connected it to a wired internet network connection, left it in standby overnight, and next day it had updated itself to the latest 2023 firmware. This may have included a few menu improvements but the main difference was there were now no unreasonable hesitations when moving around menus and functions. Timed recordings started and stopped as expected and where available captured both the surround and stereo tracks so you can (re)select what you want to listen to after the recording which is nice. SO generally this would be great for providing improved FreeSat 'box functionality to a TV that doesn't include it or (as in my case) to provide a 'child proof' stand alone free-satellite dish recording capability. With the latest firmware installed there is nothing to complain about and operation is easy and quality is great.

Brought as replacement for over priced Sky tv, easy to install and connect to existing sky dish. First problem was finding correct code to pair with TV as codes do not appear on screen, you have to keep using the up and down buttons in hope you strike lucky which I didn't , contacted customer help who then sent list of codes to input, again had to sit putting code after code in till I found right one. Remote can have mind of its own as to if its going to work or not, you can press TV guide button then list button and the list does not always come up its as if its making its mind up whether to show it or not. On Demand did not work at first had to reboot box to get it up and running, instruction book that's in box could be more informative instead of having to spend time looking on internet to solve any issues. Picture is clear, easy to use once you can hang of it. Remote could be better than it is, buttons are close to one another so you can end up pressing edge of one next to it. Already subscribed to Amazon prime and Netflix which you do get in On Demand, does work out cost effective as Sky replacement but do also have Amazon Tv Fire stick. Box is a lot smaller than a Sky box as well as less cables, so does not look out of place sitting under TV. Have not as yet used to record anything but as with Sky you can pause live TV, rewind, fast forward.

Overall, I am impressed as I purchased this to replace my sky Q box as I found I was watching more channels that were free than the paid ones. There are however some minor things that can be annoying after awhile but isn’t a showstopper. When you switch the box on there is a period of time of it configuring the satellite signal so you have to wait. Also, the guide is a bit clunky it sometimes takes its time to download and display the programs would’ve thought this could potentially use the Internet and speed up the display. I find that when using the apps and exiting the apps there is a long delay in getting back to the normal TV. I do like the fact that you can set reminders which was a function that used to be present on sky but they removed. The majority of apps like Netflix prime YouTube are installed on the device and are quite easy to use and set up.

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. Don’t listen to the naysayers, this box is near perfect. Early adopters got the bugs which are now all sorted. It gave the best initial user experience out of all the boxes I’ve ever had including Sky, BT and Freeview. If some of you are still experiencing bugs then they must be associated with your individual box and you should arrange a replacement under the terms of the guarantee. Why move to Freesat? Well, in the STV area they recently rejigged the transmitter frequencies and despite three aerial visits by Freeview they were unable to facilitate a reliable signal. They would leave it working but in the days following all the HD channels would intermittently disappear and some SD channels occasionally got pixellated. Apparently it had to do with nearby wind turbine interference. Some pros of the box are that it is quiet, fast, has a quality remote which is responsive, is relatively cool running, has a small footprint and a good choice of energy management settings. Other reviewers have criticised the guide as being outdated but I love it because actions are clearly explained in logical steps. One reviewer complained about excessive clicks to delete a recording but I prefer that to the instant delete on Freeview - will likely lead to fewer mistakes. The only improvement which comes to mind is the registration process on the box to obtain a Freeview account. This is slightly confusing. A couple of subsidiary comments that may help. During setup I tested the record function but it wouldn’t let me record and view at the same time. I checked in settings and it declared only one cable despite my having fitted two. Examining the cables I saw one had got loose which I fixed and retested but still no joy. I fiddled for half an hour, repeatedly swapping cables, was about to send it back as faulty but a quick Google search led to the word RESCAN and bingo two cables were declared and the record function then worked properly. The other point is about picture quality. All in the household mentioned that the picture was a “bit garish” which hadn’t manifest itself on Freeview. That was fixed by going into my Panasonic TV settings and deselecting “Dynamic” mode in the picture section. This is variously known as “Vivid”, “Movie”, “Pro”, or something similar. Of course some people prefer a vivid setting but I don’t and after this adjustment the Freesat picture is now perfect for my mid-range equipment. The picture is deep, rich, focused and a smidgeon better than Freeview! All that’s now left to do is to replace the LNB with a wideband one so that I will be able to record up to 4 programmes at the same time.

Having good experience of BT TV humax in the past I was quite keen to try this option after yet another absolutely awful experience with Virgin TV & Broadband in 2017/18 for which I was paying £960/annum. Had an engineer install the system as we needed a sat dish and I also needed an internal house Ethernet network extended. Great install, straightforward operation, good picture & sound. This seemed as good as the old Humax. We then had a few teething troubles which a very capable and responsive support team sorted out quickly. Since then we have had very good service from the system, costing us only the initial purchase & installation of £450 instead of what is now an unbelievable £2900 with Virgin. Now I really would love to give the box a five star rating, but I have to slightly downgrade that on the basis that we need to reboot the box about once every two months for various minor blips. That seems really harsh even as I’m doing it, but there’s no 4.8* rating available, which is what I would choose to give. Seems to me that the occasional blips are a build up of old instructions to the software that for some reason don’t get wiped as part of normal process. Really not a big deal though, and something that we experienced with Virgin a lot more regularly, I mean a lot more. Oh damn it, I’m going back to change to 5*.