What TV gizmo should I get for watching stuff apart from Freeview?

[AskBasil]

I know there are these new-fangled things like Android boxes etc. which you can buy to watch TV on but have no idea what type, what things offer etc. or where to start.

Any pointers? (I don't want to buy Sky or virgin or a monthly package)

Apple TV is fabulous!! You can put on loads of apps etc, now tv, you name it. DS stole ours for his room upstairs - we only had use for one week. He swears by it. Dd has Amazon tv. Very happy with that. Again apps but she's delighted and gets most terrestrial freeview tv channels too

We have Now TV and an Amazon Fire stick.

Amazon is good if you already have Prime as you get a lot of box sets and movies included already. You can also access Netflix through it.

Now TV is good if you don't mind paying for a pass (monthly contract so no long term commitments), you usually get free trials when you buy a box for a category i.e. kids, entertainment, movies, sports.

Both allow you to watch catch up TV for free and essentially turn your TV into a smart tv.

My TV is smart, but I can't see what's particularly smart about it. It's got Freeview recording on it (7 days) but when I tried it it looks as though it's recording but then a message comes up saying to plug something like a HDD thing in. No idea what it's on about.

What do you want to watch ? If you have a smart tv, you already have access to the catch up apps etc.
Do you want / need a better recording device? Do you want to watch different tv services?

I think I want to be able to record programmes like I could with my TV package.

I thouight I'd be able to and it would last for 7 days, but that doesn't work

bump

Still not made up my mind.

Any more advice?

Basil's comment about Freeview recording from a Smart TV caught my eye. We have a Panasonic Viera smart tv. It appears to have recording capability but it doesn't contain any storage devices. It's therefore necessary to add one, either an external disk drive using a USB port or a memory card using an SD slot. Take a look at the instruction manual to see if it recommends what capacity to use.
I haven't tried either option yet as I have a record-capable set-top box.

We have a Samsung smart TV up on which "BBC iPlayer is no longer supported"? I've bought a Roku streaming stick (and for our old kitchen TV) which works really well. Have also now got Netflix. Don't know if it (Roku) records but can't see why you need to these days?