How much does the quality of a freeview box matter?

Inazuma · 6 Jan 2010 at 21:02

I'm about to spend £100 on a 37" HDTV (good deal

) but the catch is that it doesn't sport inbuilt freeview. So I need to buy a box. I see the price can range from £15 to over a hundred. I'm a poor student so am wondering what the difference is between the cheap and the expensive ones.

MiNxYyY · 6 Jan 2010 at 21:05

Other than a few added channels i cant see the difference. my mate has a £29.99 and a £69.99, top model and a low range model and the picture quality is just the same.

Mp4 · 6 Jan 2010 at 21:08

wouldn't bother with freeview anyway , check on the site to see IF / What is enabled in your local area.

Al-Ectrician · 6 Jan 2010 at 21:10

why not get freesat and use the free hd channels for the new tv

uchuff · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:12

Some freeview boxes can be a bit slow to change channels, or have menus/remotes that aren't totally intuitive - so check those if possible.

I had a super cheap one before we had a TV with it built in, was made by Sagem and was actually pretty decent.

I'd imagine the expensive ones are Freeview+ which would include the ability to record / pause live TV. Probably not worth spending a load on a Freeview box as FreeviewHD is on the way (unless said box includes FreeviewHD)

Wayne~ · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:16

I paid £15 for a cheap one from Tescos, does the job fine!

Pho · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:18

Al-Ectrician said:
why not get freesat and use the free hd channels for the new tv

Freesat tends to be lower quality for the normal channels compared to Freeview (at least it was last time I checked)..

JIM_BOB7813 · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:19

I've had cheap and not-so-cheap freeview boxes, and the more expensive one had faster menus and overall better firmware/interface. IIRC most boxes all carry the same firmware made by some company in turkey?
Tvonics have different firmware and the better interface, but I don't know if there has been much change in the last 2 years though.

Kemik · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:24

Got a PS3? Buy PlayTV - you can watch freeview and record TV.

Westyfield2 · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:27

Humax Freeview PVR tbh.

m4cc45 · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:28

Another thing to bear in mind is if you want HDMI connectivity - normally a little more expensive to get this.

M.

LizardKing · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:32

Picture quality will be pretty much the same regardless of cost.
Your simply paying for the guide, connectivity and remote ergonomics

However my cheap one from asda has a good guide but lacks in the remote department

Stretch · 6 Jan 2010 at 23:35

m4cc45 said:
Another thing to bear in mind is if you want HDMI connectivity - normally a little more expensive to get this.

M.

Or just get a cheep one and bin it when freeview hd comes out. Not much point in having a non hd hdmi box.