Question:
I'm looking at getting a freeview box and wondered if anyone has purchased one recently they can recommend please? The prices seem to vary from £28 to £80+; I just need a basic one as I want more channels.... so if anyone knows of anywhere where I can pick one up - any help and advise would be great thanks...
Answers:
Hi, I'm looking for the best cheap freeview box that has a decent epg and isnt 'crash-happy'. Nothing specatacular, but more than a 'now and next' guide would be nice.
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
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Cheap in this area is not always best
Have a look at this one from argos at £49,
or
This one which is a little more but considered very good by many it is a little more expensive at £90 -
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I have tried a few and the best for reception and programme guide is the Echostar which I got from Woolworths for £40. Reception quality does vary a lot with different makes so be wary particularly if you are in a bad or marginal reception area.
Good Luck
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That Sony is an excellent price now - I paid £100 for it a year or so ago, and I would whole heartedly recommend it, especially for the price it is now.
Excellent sound and picture quality.
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Thanks for all the advise above, will look through the links. Appreciated!
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i got a goodmans from currys for about £40 at xmas and it seems to do the job nicely
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I started with an Ecostar, this packed in after a while so tried a different make, this I found had poor reception and again didn't last long. We bought a philips one for my dad which has permanently stuck and can't be tuned in (now being sent back to Philips). I currently have the pacific cheapo one from Asda as does my bf's 89 year old gran it has proved reliable for both of us and the fact that you can use the basic on off function and programme up down function from the buttons on the front gets my vote too
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the £27 Matsui one from Dixons/Curry's is very good
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I bought 2 of the Sony ones from Currys just before Xmas and used a discount code from the vouchers board, so it made them £75 each.
They've been great, no freezing at all, perfect picture. Dead easy to set up. Was going to get cheap ones at first but I'm glad I paid the extra now, judging by some of the reports of probs with the various cheaper models.
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Mine's a Matsui and cost about £30 and does what it says on the tin
Asda usually have them even cheaper.
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Have you tried Richer Sounds?
They normally have some good deals.
Did a search and came up with the following results:
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I'm looking too - I'll have a look through your links.
I'd just like to add I DONT recomend the alba one that sainsburys are selling for around £30 quid. It often freezes & you have to unplug it, the box is very slow to respond to remote button presses & often does random things compared to the buttons you press even with new batteries in the remote.
Now after 3 months it's packed in all together just saying no signal in a blue box - I mailed thier tech support who told be to call out an aireal specialist as it was definately something wrong with my aireal out but after borrowing my friends boz last night which worked fine I'm just going to buy another box instead but a more expensive one & not an Alba one!
Shame I lost the reciept or I'd try to get my money back
cheers,
worto.
Answers:
I'm looking too - I'll have a look through your links.
I'd just like to add I DONT recomend the alba one that sainsburys are selling for around £30 quid. It often freezes & you have to unplug it, the box is very slow to respond to remote button presses & often does random things compared to the buttons you press even with new batteries in the remote.
Now after 3 months it's packed in all together just saying no signal in a blue box - I mailed thier tech support who told be to call out an aireal specialist as it was definately something wrong with my aireal out but after borrowing my friends boz last night which worked fine I'm just going to buy another box instead but a more expensive one & not an Alba one!
Shame I lost the reciept or I'd try to get my money back
cheers,
worto.
My Alba Freeview box also packed up, but after about 15 months. Like you I didnt have the reciept but I complained to Maplin (where I bought it) and got a £15 good will payment. At the same time I complained to Alba, who not only passed me around the houses, but refused to do anything about it.
I have now bought the Digilogic box from Tesco's for £27.97, which I suspect is made by Goodmans/Alba/Bush, but seems quite good - has a 7 day EPG 2 scart sockets, comes with a scart lead, has the stereo audio out sockets so you can hook it into the Amplifier on your Hifi (good cheap way to get DAB) and does not lock up in the same way as the old Alba one used to. I did have some concerns that I was letting myself in for trouble by buying another "Alba" product, but I feel reassured that it this one gives up shortly after the 12 month guarantee runs out Tesco's will probably do more than Maplin (Maplin's customer service isnt the best in the world!)
Also noticed in Argos Hull this morning that they now have a box for under £25, but didnt get a chance to look and see what it's like.