FREESAT Vs SKY
I think that the FOXSAT HD box for FREESAT is quite a revelation.
£150 for a piece of equipment which quite frankly exceeded my expectations in terms of picture quality on both SD and then there is of course BBD HD and ITV HD
The picture is a fraction softer on SD compared to SKY but it is marginal and the FOXSAT trounces SKY for it's rich colour presentation of programmes.........really vivid pictures on both SD and HD alike
The two silver stick on strips that go across the middle of the box are a bit flimsy and there have been reports of these coming away slightly at the edges.....still a small blob of glue will put that right. What also helps is having 60cm DISH ( no need to go any higher in size) coupled with and a good quality LOW NOISE LNB like the Inverto 0.2db which is guaranteed for 5 years
I'm now off to watch Austria V Germany on BBC HD for FREE
ITV have also told me that :
"As part of the commissioning process we are already talking to producers to ensure an increasing amount of our drama output is filmed in high definition"
Having said that when I asked them why they couldn't simply transmit all 4 of their SD channels in HD...period through other channels also called ITV2HD ITV3HD and ITV4 HD they said:
"We looked at the possibility of doing this but there was simply not enough satellite capacity with a UK centric beam to provide a duplicate HD version of ITV1 with its numerous regional variations nor would it have been economic to offer such a service even if the capacity had been available"
I don't think Freesat has Sky quaking in it's boots........with only 2 HD channels, including ITV (who watches ITV?!) it's a tightwads only option. If you are serious about getting a decent range of HD programming including sports and movies, Sky HD is the only real option. Yes it ain't cheap, but like everything else in life you get what you pay for.
Personally I would love to see a serious competitor to Sky as it might serve to drive costs down, but Freesat ain't it.
cloverleaf146:I don't think Freesat has Sky quaking in it's boots........with only 2 HD channels, including ITV (who watches ITV?!) it's a tightwads only option. If you are serious about getting a decent range of HD programming including sports and movies, Sky HD is the only real option. Yes it ain't cheap, but like everything else in life you get what you pay for.
Personally I would love to see a serious competitor to Sky as it might serve to drive costs down, but Freesat ain't it.
At the end of the day it all boils sown to what you want out of television. I was paying £38 a month for SKY Sports which I hardly ever watched and then only because my young son wanted it to watch a few football games. All the other SKY channels showed repeat after repeat and much of it in my opinion was rot so rather than continue to line the pocket of Mr Murdoch the £38 a month will now go back into my pocket....as for FREESAT it suits me fine
As for driving down the cost of SKY..........well that could easily be done if millions of people were to cancel their subscriptions tomorrow.... TV should be a FREE FOR ALL medium .I was paying £456 a year to SKY and on top of that there's the £144 a year BBC Licence fee......so £600 a year to watch rubbish
If you read the item description, it says it won't work with anything under a 90cm dish. It will be picking up the satellite channels from Albania, by the sounds of it. It's similar to India and Asia, I was watching live premiership (3pm Saturday) matches a couple of years back whilst I was in Goa. They're not tied into Sky, must've bought the rights for their region or something.