What Freeview Box

mervyncp · 09-08-2005, 11:46 AM

HI
I am on the verge of dumping Sky and going for Freeview as nobody in my house is interested in sport or films and it's costing me a fortune.
With a view to going for cheap but efficient:-

Are Freeview boxes compatible with TiVo?

Are there any features the box must have?

How is it wired and set up?

The Samsung from Argos at £29.99 seems good value. Is it any good?

Best regards

GarySargent · 09-08-2005, 01:09 PM

I've just purchased the Matsui DTR3 box from Curry's £29.99 - literally just got it home.

First impressions are very good. Current TiVo 20030 codes work fine. Works with radio channels. Has two SCART's and RF loop through.

I need to do more testing but if there are no issues I plan to have this as my recommended Freeview box on my website, since I can do my best to ensure the IR codes TiVo sends remain compatible through any software updates the box gets.

DazBarber · 09-08-2005, 01:53 PM

Please keep us updated on the Matsui Gary. I'm about to move house soon and that will require the purchase of a reliable Freeview box. Previous threads haven't really given enough info about other readily available boxes.

Any pros and cons you become aware of in the next few days (/weeks?) will be gratefully noted.

Thanks,

Daryl

GarySargent · 09-08-2005, 02:06 PM

Will do. Looks very good so far, providing it doesn't crash or turn off overnight it seems perfect for use with TiVo.

Picture and sound quality seem good too (better than the original Philips onDigital box it replaces).

mervyncp · 09-09-2005, 04:04 AM

Does the Matsui box have an RF modulator, so you can tune the tele into it via the RF aerial as well.
I have a shortage of scart sockets on the television therefore I need this so I can watch a digital programme while TiVo records a terrestial channel through its own tuner. (If that makes sense??)
Mervyn

GarySargent · 09-09-2005, 04:35 AM

Doesn't look like it. The manual describes it as RF loop-through only, and there is no config screen to set an RF output channel.

mervyncp · 09-09-2005, 04:47 AM

I've just had a look at the Curry's web site and it doesn't mention an RF modulator. Interestingly though it states the DTR has only one scart

ywu · 09-09-2005, 04:49 AM

Gary - I've found that what seems to be one person's good Freeview box is often not the same for another, even if TiVo likes it. Although we don't care about 7-epgs etc, another factor to consider is tuner sensitivity, as reception can be quite patchy for many of us. More sensitive boxes favoured in discussions on other forums seem to no longer be made, so any light you can shed on th Matsui would be good.

GarySargent · 09-09-2005, 05:45 AM

Well it is working fine with the aerial I unscientifically put up myself in the loft (just by moving it until I seemed to get the best TV picture). I get full signal strength on most channels. At least as good as the onDigital Philips box it replaces.

Problem for some is that their aerials are not wide band - they pick up a strong signal for only the original RF channels for BBC1, BBC2, ITV, and CH4. Other signals can't be picked up, but tend not to be as strong.

If you have an ancient aerial getting a new one is a good idea.

Corrie · 09-09-2005, 07:51 AM

I'm on the verge of ordering a second Freeview box. My first has a loop through RF port which will go into the second box. The Scart output from the second box (I hope) will deliver all Freview channels which through a Scart connection I can feed into the VCR socket on my Tivo. That way I hope to watch any Freeveiw channel while record from my first Freeview box. hope this makes sense - has anyone else tried this?

manolan · 09-09-2005, 08:27 AM

I have a Matsui TUTV1. It very occasionally loses the picture and has to be turned off. Nowhere near as often as my old Nokia used to freeze and much easier to put right when it happens.

timjon · 09-09-2005, 10:15 AM

Thanks Gary - this is really useful. I just dropped Sky and went back to my old Philips OnD box, but it's occasionally crashing (overheating, maybe) so I've been looking for a replacement. Since it looks like you've upgraded from the same OnD box, I can probably expect similar results.

I'll wait a few days before splashing out in case you find any problems, though!

dieselnutjob · 09-11-2005, 05:43 PM

I bought a Sagem ITD58 from Argos last week. Very basic but it seems to work fine with TiVo and only 29 pounds. It also pulls in a few channels that TiVo didn't think it would (from my postcode) during the setup ( you just put thiem in Channels I Receive manually.
Always put it on 16:9 though even if you have a 4:3 tele because on 4:3 it stretches the picture horribly. A slight odditiy is that it goes to 4:3 for a few seconds every time one changes channel though.

GarySargent · 09-13-2005, 01:51 PM

At least 4 crashes now from the Matsui DTR3 requiring a power cycle (which means pulling the plug as the cord does not come out of the box).

Back to the shop I think. Any suggestions for a replacement?!

GarySargent · 09-13-2005, 03:06 PM

Ok avoid the Matsui. Just took it back to Currys and they have had another 7 returned recently! Said they were going to speak to head office about it.

Have now gone for the Sony VTX-D800U which if people are to be believed is very stable.

First impressions are very good. I'll report back.

DazBarber · 09-13-2005, 03:50 PM

Crikey - thanks for the heads up Gary. I'm going to go with your recommendation whatever you decide to stick with. I'm sorry you appear to be playing the guinea pig!

Daz

Ian_m · 09-14-2005, 04:13 AM

I would still say SetPal boxes, despite them not being made any more. My mates just got a Daeweo box off Ebay for £25 for use on bedroom TV with set top aerial. He's disabled absolutely everything interactive on it (as I have for TiVo use) so it just provides a picture.

He reports it works 100%, where as the existing analogue was affected by people moving in the room this box has no problems. All signal levels (strength and SNR) are all too low (all are red), but no picture problems at all. Occasional on screen "your signal is too weak" display, but no breakup of picture.

GarySargent · 09-14-2005, 04:48 AM

Boxes that aren't readily available anymore aren't much use though to most people.

No problems with the Sony yet. Channel changing is very fast, and signal quality magnitudes better than the Matsui which after initially appearing good soon had picture breakup (especially when I walked behind it!). Some users on Digital Spy report the Sony has better signal quality than the SetPals.

pgogborn · 09-14-2005, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarySargent

Boxes that aren't readily available anymore aren't much use though to most people.

That may be true, but it is rather a harsh thing to say about the UK TiVo.

Fred1 · 09-14-2005, 07:03 AM

Gary.

How much was the Sony?

Hope you dont mind me asking.

I notice that Tesco has a box for £29.99, has anyone tried this?

Also this site has a good feature list for most boxes http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/freeviewreceivers.html

GarySargent · 09-14-2005, 07:10 AM

The box was just short of £100 but I did see Currys have it for £80 if you buy online (not in their stores).

Seems priced high, but if it is reliable I figured it is a price worth paying.

iankb · 09-14-2005, 07:59 AM

I've used the latest Bush (same as the Daewoo) box from Tesco (the one that came after the SetPal box) for several months, and I've never had a problem with it. I don't use it with a TiVo, but I can't see why the reliability would be any different.

Fred1 · 09-14-2005, 08:01 AM

Thanks

I agree, it sounds like you get what you pay for and the "cost" of the cheaper boxes is higher than it first appears.

PatP · 09-14-2005, 09:36 AM

Isn't the main issue whether the Tivo can control the Freeview decoder? Everything else must come second to this, surely?

GarySargent · 09-14-2005, 11:35 AM

Not in my case as I can add support for any Freeview box

GarySargent · 09-15-2005, 04:00 PM

So far the Sony box seems orders of magnitude better than the Matsui DTR3 I tried, and the Philips onDigital box I used to have. Not one crash, and not one picture breakup!

PatP · 09-15-2005, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarySargent

Not in my case as I can add support for any Freeview box

Is it a secret, or will you enlighten me?

GarySargent · 09-15-2005, 07:19 PM

No not a secret, I can capture remote codes with my Pronto remote, and know how to convert and upload them into my TiVo.

happy_red · 09-15-2005, 07:57 PM

Just out of interest, why don't they make SetPal boxes anymore?

the_hut · 09-15-2005, 09:05 PM

Gary,

I bought a sony box but was then put off using it because of posts on this forum that occasionally the sony box would show a screen along the lines of "select this channel again" when it encountered an error displaying red button/text displays upon selecting the channel.... that left the tivo recording pretty useless.

Has this been cleaned up?

Oh, and just one other thing, happy_red, Mrs Hut completely agrees with your sig!