Freeview TV boxes

[TitanTim]

Hi all,

Just wandered if anyone can recommend a good Freeview TV box. I've currently have a Sony Bravia with Freeview built in etc and pleased with the TV so don't wish to change it just yet.

I currently have an EE TV box as part of my broadband package which does all the Freeview stuff, on demand, recording etc but I've been contacted by EE this week to say they are pulling the plug on their TV service at the end of March. They have said I could take out Apple TV as part of my current package but I don't think it supports Freeview and I don't want to pay any subscription.

I've been looking at Amazon's Firestick but again I think it might be too limiting and I think you can only access Freeview thought a third party app install.

Not really that clued up to be honest as it's been a few years since I've looked into this.

I'm currently looking at this box but unsure if any good or not,

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertainment/digital-and-smart-tv/set-top-boxes/manhattan-t3-r-freeview-play-smart-4k-ultra-hd-digital-tv-recorder-500-gb-10193979-pdt.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=4d7eb93e-055f-499d-8ee5-1cdcc50d67d1&istItemId=itlxpiapp&istBid=tztx&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~0042%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20Vision%20Content%20-%20Generic%20Vision%20Content%202021~0042%20(PLA)%20VISION%20CONTENT%20ad%20group~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=m&ds_kids=92700060713159337&tgtid=0042%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20Vision%20Content%20-%20Generic%20Vision%20Content%202021&gclid=CjwKCAiAg8OBBhA8EiwAlKw3koGK16a95oqVygs9DnbFBXfh7FJSAFU7mVBLeZnO_lpx6ZQM9KDGphoC5usQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks alot,

Tim.

 

[Zedebee]

Hi Tim, stupid question but if you have a Freeview TV, why do you need a Freeview box or is it to record stuff?

 

[TitanTim]

Hi Tim, stupid question but if you have a Freeview TV, why do you need a Freeview box or is it to record stuff?

Hiya, yes that's correct, my current Sony is around 7 years old and has Freeview but no on demand or ability to record etc.

I'm pretty sure most of these boxes are pretty much of a muchness in what they can do but just wandering if there are any alternatives.

Tim.

 

[Zedebee]

I have a Panasonic HDD, lots on eBay second hand for not much money. There are Sony as well but there doesn’t seem to be so many around. Or you could buy a smart TV if you want Amazon Prime, Netflix etc.

 

[TitanTim]

I have a Panasonic HDD, lots on eBay second hand for not much money. There are Sony as well but there doesn’t seem to be so many around. Or you could buy a smart TV if you want Amazon Prime, Netflix etc.

Thanks alot, I have a month or so before the current box is redundant so will look around, didn't really want to renew the TV just yet as I've always stuck with Sony Bravias which whilst not overly expensive are still a reasonably pricey.

Tim.

 

[Greg 01]

Hi .
We have a humax pvr , freeview recorder .
Records two channels while watching a 3rd .
Had it a few years now great bit of kit .

 

[Mr Tidy]

+1 for Humax, mine has the same features except it is a FreeSat one so it uses the Sky dish (aerial reception here is hopeless)!

 

[ronk]

Richer Sounds is where I got my Panasonic HDD box - Not a lot of money
They do a telephone chat / ordering service -The Panasonic box interfaces with my Bravia without a glitch.

(I have no affiliation with Richer Sounds other than as a customer)

 

[Stevo1987]

Do people still record TV? I thought with catch up it wouldn't be necessary. Then again I don't watch much TV so what do I know?

 

[Mr Tidy]

Do people still record TV? I thought with catch up it wouldn't be necessary. Then again I don't watch much TV so what do I know?

I do, but that's because I can't do catch up. TV is like me, not Smart! :lol:

 

[Chris_D]

I stopped watching telly a couple of years ago but my setup consisted of a HUMAX pvr which was tip top and a PC running Kodi.
If you want to record using Kodi you need to have a decent spec CPU as it can be quite process-intensive when recording.
Just google 'Kodi' and see if it's for you. You can build and install a Raspberry Pi Kodi box for not much money these days.

Failing that, I can whole-heartedly reccommend stopping watching telly altogether! My life feels so much better without it these days.

 

[TitanTim]

Thanks guys and for the suggestion to look the Humax which I did a little earlier, seems its probably between this and the Manhattan version as they look and seem to do similar.

I do actually record films a fair bit although seems everything I've recorded on the EE box will be lost once they close it down :x

Having said all that I'm not an avid TV watcher always just news 24 in the background but even less so these days with all the doom and gloom

Tim.

 

[blunderthumbs]

Richer Sounds is where I got my Panasonic HDD box - Not a lot of money
They do a telephone chat / ordering service -The Panasonic box interfaces with my Bravia without a glitch.

(I have no affiliation with Richer Sounds other than as a customer)

Richer Sounds are brilliant. Have bought several telly's from them because they offer 6 years warranty. Great on price too.

 

[Stevo1987]

Richer Sounds is where I got my Panasonic HDD box - Not a lot of money
They do a telephone chat / ordering service -The Panasonic box interfaces with my Bravia without a glitch.

(I have no affiliation with Richer Sounds other than as a customer)

Richer Sounds are brilliant. Have bought several telly's from them because they offer 6 years warranty. Great on price too.

I have bought from there as well. The main telly is a Panasonic plasma (yes, really) that must be 10 years old now. I bought it because it had two tuners Freesat HD and Freeview HD. The picture is still brilliant and it heats the room as well. I also bought a Yamaha surround sound systems there too, Bloomin' hell! I have that 8 years.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Yes, Richer Sounds have some great deals and it's nice not to have to deal with Currys/PC World!

I bought my Humax FreeSat from them, as well as two TVs and a stereo.

 

[dr_john]

I have the Humax, it’s good as a recorder but doesn’t have the catch up feature. For the latter my Sony TV has all the smart TV features.

I still use recording over catch up as it’s a bit handier for playback, especially fast forwarding through the adverts!

 

[Chippie]

Catch up is great when you’re internet connection is good, I have 100mb service and the other night trying to watch something it was 1mb, the program kept pausing and was unwatchable, so where possible I try and record

 

[Tommo61]

I'm very happy with my Amazon Fire TV Cube. it was on offer for about £70, but streams pretty much everything in HD/4K where you can get it. The only niggle is voice commands can get drowned out if you have the volume up a bit (via Sonos PlayBase in my case). They say position it away from speakers, but on a 1m HDMI lead I can't see how! If you're not too fussed about the latest and greatest, I'd agree with the suggestions to look at eBay. I've got an old BT YouView box for PVR recordiong, which is a HUMAX. They go for next to nothing second hand!

 

[ronk]

When I bought my latest kit just over two years ago from their (Richer Sounds) Newcastle store, I decided to set it up myself.
Av Amp / Smart Tv / Digi Box _ It wasn't as straight forward as I thought, but the next day I 'phoned and they talked me thro the set up, Button push by Button push 3/4 Hr very patient.

I had some equally good service from them ten years ago as well. I wrote my thanks directly to Julian Richer and he replied with a non standard letter personally signed with a £50 voucher.

Thats what I call good service and good to be advised by someone who knew what he was talking about and someone who seemed more than a shop assistant.

Im another one who likes the Digi box to skip the adverts!