We are just about to start looking for a new TV, should be buying in a week or 2..

Saw some today that have either Freeview or Freesat, I know what Freeview is as I have a box. But had never heard of Freesat, but saw it needs a one off payment?

Is it worth it over Freeview?

Thanks

Do you have a dish already? I would say not at the moment, only BBC HD and ITV HD over freeview (and you aren't one for footie IIRC)

No dish.

I wouldn't bother then...get a better TV without Freesat for the same money Unless the one you want has Freesat (Panasonic G & V series in LCD or plasma)

cool, ta

We are happy with freeview anyway, hardly watch any of those channels, apart from Topgear!

You don't need a one off payment afaik? I don't know much about freesat other than its free and is like freeview but with some free HD channels (bbc,itv etc) and you need a satellite dish to receive it.

My mate bought a Panasonic TV which has freesat built in. He just connected the TV to his sky dish and it was plug and play. He didn't pay any one off fee?

I'm 99% sure it's free, hence why it's called freesat.

Yeah it's free but you need a dish + Freesat box/Sky box or Freesat tuner in TV

Sky used to do a one-off payment version but have stopped it. You can, however, as suggested, just connect up and get a basic range of channels for some reason different than those you get on Freeview. An old Skybox works just as well though it's kinda neat to have it all in the one TV. That said, like I have Freeview built into my TV, it isn't much use if you can't get a signal....

Freesat is very good though and a bonus if you can make use of it. Shame that will not apply to you JimO.

Sky still do it... http://www.freesatfromsky.co.uk/

Worth it for us - as we cannot get freeview, and I doubt our local transmitter will be getting modernised this century.

You need a dish and a receiver (be it a box or built into the TV). Sky were charging about £120 for it a while back - to supply the dish, box and set up which I guess isn't a bad price.

I went the DIY route - scrounged an old dish, bought a couple of LNB's and a box off of ebay. Great, so we can now get a whole bunch of crap channels with hardly anything worth watching - it's nice to know what I haven't been missing on C5 over the last few years!

I have also set it up to receive European broadcasts from another satellite at the same time. So my girlfriend can watch even more rubbish in Spanish as well, and I can watch the news and Countdown version of Spanish which is quite good for learning.

If you can get Freeview and do not require the ability to pick up foreign stations, then it would be hard to justify the cost of setting up Freesat if HD isn't an issue to you - unless you fancied trying it just because it is there.

The "real" freesat (as opposed to "freesat from sky") still has the same channels as a year ago (give or take a few, like freeview there have been some additions but hardly worth a second look) and for me that's been a real disappointment, still only BBC HD (still not a 24/7 channel) and ITV HD when they can be bothered (altho' Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels the other night was pretty grainy looking even in HD). Still no Channel 4 HD, and no sign that BBC are going to do any more (except maybe over Xmas).

If you can get a new TV with built in Freeview (pretty much all of them these days) and you have a good reception (uprated aeriel perhaps) then you should be OK, but if I was gonna buy yet another set, I'd ask the seller if I could return it if it didn't pick up freeview if all the other TV's in the house work. (My Pioneer plasma doesn't work on freeview )

Are you sure that's the same thing as before? The previous version was stripped-down Sky, was just a viewing card and was pretty good. They certainly stopped it at one point because I was going to get it and couldn't. This looks like a Freesat installation using a Sky box. But I haven't looked too hard.

We already had a dish, so I bought a dual lnb plus a Freesat HD PVR which is excellent.

Depends on what your Freeview reception is currently like and if you will be satisfied with the channels available whether it makes sense for anyone else.

Panasonic make TVs now with Freesat HD tuner built in so you don't need an additional box just plug your dish straight into the TV and that's it.

Freeview it is then..

Freeview works very well, had a new aerial put in last year, and the signal quality is quite strong.

Freesat has some specific advantages over Freeview which if they don't apply to you then you're better off getting Freeview as you say above.

The obvious advantages are better reception and a very small amount of HD content, another is regional programming. I brought Freesat for my parents last Christmas, partly to get over their Freeview reception problems but also so that they can get regional channels. My parents are Welsh but live in England, using Freesat you can get BBC Wales and S4C which you can't do using normal Freeview in England...so they love it but I would guess the vast majority of people don't car about regional programming....!

There are also a few channels on Freesat not available on Freeview but they're all specialist eg Al Jazeera!

Gareth

itv champions league in HD is worth it for the sake of a dish

there is currently three HD channels on freesat
bbc hd, itv hd and Lux hd

had mine about a year and a half and only ever whatch it for the HD

it is completly free hence Freesat

i beleive it came about becouse when we switch off teresteral tramsmission there has to be a minimum amount of the population that can recieve digital and with freeview that amount wasnt reached due to poor signal or other obstructions...but the freesat platform uses a dish so nearly everone can use it .

oh ,,,on sat night they had star wars in HD .....it was great,dont really like the film but the HD was worth a watch

there is also tons of foreign satalite channels too

there are rumours that when channel 4HDs agreement with sky finnishes they will also go onto freesat platform

Yes altho' I whinge about the lack of HD broadcasts, it doesn't stop me filling the hard disk up with recording, and the Humax FoxSat HDR is a brilliant PVR, makes the other Panasonic HDD PVR I've got look like it was designed by a clown

And altho' I'm not a real footie fan, it's great to watch a match in HD, it really feels like you are there! And damn, I missed the first one or two Star Wars movies in HD on ITV, but they are showing all the rest AFAIK.

But is there really anything to watch on Luxe? And when I switch to non-Freesat I get all the "adult" channels too

I seem to of gone back in time