Have your say & ask the experts

I own a Panasonic G10 plasma, which has an integrated Freesat tuner, though haven't taken advantage of this feature yet. I'm currently in rented property for a year -- or maybe longer, depending on how things pan out -- so have not installed a satellite dish, because I didn't think it was worth the hassle/outlay for a short period of time.

I thought I would make do with Freeview for the time being, but since the retune I seem to get intermittent reception on quite a few channels. This had almost convinced me to invest in a dish, even if I only reap the benefits of receiving more channels for slightly less than a year. 

However, having read many of the posts from disgruntled users of the Freesat service on this forum, about the decreasing birate on BBC HD etc, I'm having second thoughts. Are there any Freesat users out there who would advocate the service? Any comments/advice would be welcome, thanks!

Only you can decide whether it's worth the outlay of installing a dish or not.

As i've mentioned in another post "Freesat" is a platform/EPG provider not a broadcaster.The bitrate/PQ issue's are down to the individual broadcasters,ie the BBC and nothing to do with Freesat. The channel's that Sky/Freesat have in common are the same transmission/signals so the bitrate/PQ issues are the same on both platforms for those channels they have in common.

But yes i have Freesat and would still happily recommend it.So long as people have realistic expectations of what it is/what it can deliver.

People really should do their research when it comes to Freesat and realize that it was set up as joint venture between the BBC/ITV to provide access to the  main PSB channels for people who cant/wont be able receive DTT signals after DSO,and because they had an obligation to do so and no more or no less.

They have no obligation to provide HD or the other SD channels available on the Freesat platform and therefore should be looked at as a bonus and not a right,

It's still hoped that  more HD channels/output will come and i dont doubt that it will eventually,but probably only from the main PSB's and i'm sure more SD channels will be added as and when the broadcasters can afford to do so .

So in short if you're thinking of joining Freesat  you need to be content with the fact that it only has 2 part time HD channels and a reasonable amount of SD.

It's a Free after all and cant offer a premium service which HD content pretty much still is.

dvdaudio:

i would wait a bit as i think freesat is doomed and will fail soon,
good if you like the shopping channels as this is what they have been adding to there line
up recently nothing else it becoming a joke ..

Thanks for the posts guys.

My concern is more with whether Freesat offers any tangible benefits over the Freeview service I currently receive (albeit intermittently); and I'm less concerned with the longevity of the service because, like I said, I will only be living in my current accomodation for relatively short period of time. 

I can't get that excited about whether I can watch Strictly Come Dancing in HD, but for sports -- particularly when it rolls round to Wimbledon -- I would probably appreciate the quality of a HD broadcast. I assume, however, that we can only watch one match in HD (due to there being just one BBC HD channel)?

If people advise that there's still a noticable leap in image quality for the limited number of HD programmes, despite the decreasing bitrate factor, then it's probably worth the investment! 

Is it worth investing in Freesat?

depends how skint you are ... if money is no prob, install sky ... if like me you are always skint, get a used £10 freeview box and make do with what's on offer ... I cannot even afford a freesat dish at this stage ...

dim_span:

Is it worth investing in Freesat?

depends how skint you are ... if money is no prob, install sky ... if like me you are always skint, get a used £10 freeview box and make do with what's on offer ... I cannot even afford a freesat dish at this stage ...

Well, as my tag suggests, I'm a man of limited means at the moment, so a Sky subscription is definitely not on the cards. Besides, when I subscribed to Sky quite a few years back, I found that I hardly ever watched the movie channels, because most of the films they showed that I actually like I already owned; not to mention the fact that the same films are almost endlessly repeated. Miss the sports though... Footie, Grand Slam Tennis; I even enjoyed watching Steve Davis take on the world's 9 ball pool elite!

As far as I know, Richer Sounds will install a Freesat dish for £80. I'll call them to see if this is true; and if it is then I think I'll have to invest. I can always take the dish with me when I leave...

strapped for cash:

As far as I know, Richer Sounds will install a Freesat dish for £80. I'll call them to see if this is true; and if it is then I think I'll have to invest. I can always take the dish with me when I leave...

 

If your DIY skills are up to much, you can buy something like this, install it yourself, and have everything to re-install it when you move...

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/85448/Electrical-Supplies/TV-Range/Aerials-Fixings/Freesat-Installation-Kit

We went to Freeview from Virgin a few years ago.  We've now moved to Freesat.  Whether its worth it depends on your viewing habits.  Part of the reason we gave up virgin (and didn't consider Sky) was because most of the time we ended up back watching BBC or ITV and I don't really watch sport.  What made an enormous difference was having an easy to use PVR (topfield 58000) - this meant we always had enough to watch.  My parents recently bought a cheap freesat box and connected it up to their old sky dish and my daughter loved watching the additional kids channels when she went to stay with them at weekends.  So, when I started looking for a new PVR freesat seemed like a good choice.  I bought a humax foxsat PVR and fitted a satellite dish myself (It really isn't difficult and only cost £40 as a kit from Amazon for everything I needed (including a quad LNB and twin cable to allow me to watch one channel whilst recording another) ).  Is freesat better than freeview - in my view it is, but there isn't much in it.  Are the HD channels any good - in my view, yes - they are definitely better than the other SD channels.  Would I spend £40 on a satellite dish for a limited period of time - yes I would

Just to confirm what is said here: is it right that I can buy a Freesat box, connect it to an existing Sky satellite dish and enjoy the full range of channels, including some HD channels? We've just canceled our Sky subscription because of their rubbish service and wonder what to do next.

Hedgehog