Freeview box with hard drive?

With all these free view boxes does it matter what aerial you have? It is not for me but my aunt and dad want one, they both have an analog aerial

In a good reception area a normal aerial is OK. If you are having problems the a "digital" aerial may be required.Approx £12 to £40 for a high gain one + fitting.It might be a good idea anyway as it should present a stronger signal and might be less prone to weather problems (heavy rain mainly).

thanks bigH47

If you go to

http://www.ukfree.tv/starthere.php

and then to the "Can I watch Freeview" link on the right hand side and follow that thru you can find out if you will need to change the aerial to a wide Band aerial and may get and understanding of how much gain you will need to get reliable service.

My biggest problem with digital broadcast is blocking (typically on plasma) or freezing (LCD). With analogue, all that happens is the picture quality decreases a bit, you get grain or a wobbly picture but you don't lose the continuity unless things are REALLY bad. With digital reception you can have a fab picture which will then suddenly break up or freeze which I find far more annoying/distracting.

Just looked at the ukfree site. Seems a bit patchy for reception for me (West reading), but of more concern there's no mention of Channel 5 in the ratings of signal strength...! Is Channel 5 not on Freeview???

quote:

Originally posted by KeanoKing:
Any suggestion, Only want to spend £150!

Save up for a toppy, you won't regret it. I will change the way you watch TV forever.

Kevin.

Yes a toppy is good BUT only if you like techy type gadgets.

Love mine but my partner doesn't. I upload the latest TOP and they get confused as buttons have changed!

Media PC (XP or Vista) is brilliant when it works but a load of rubbish when through some windoze fault it hasn't recorded what you wanted.

The best Freeview PVR (and one of the first) for ease of use I've seen was the Pace - but they stooped making it.

From reports if you want something simple Humax, something that's briliant if you put a bit of effort in Toppy, You want to network everything MediaPC - Aeus 510e is brilliant but their support is rubbish.

Have a look at this thread on Digitalspy. Basically the Humax PVR9200T or the Daewoo DSD-9503T are suggested, with the Humax being preferred. Word of advice having got my Mother a DVD/VCR recently - get a copy of the manual and keep it by the 'phone!
Steve

SteveGa

Cheers for tip. And i hear what your saying about the manual

Cheers munch, it doesn't get a mention on Hannington...

Humax PVR9200T. Fit and forget. Highly recommended.

Cheers

quote:

Humax PVR9200T. Fit and forget. Highly recommended.

Seconded. A couple of techno-phobe friends have just got one, it's excellent.

Steve