Freesat feedback thread - Non Testers: what would you do with an extra £360 a year? You could win a Freesat+ box NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 15 testers who have received a new Freesat+ TV box and who are currently trying it out in their homes.
Freesat say "Hello. We're freesat. We believe you shouldn't have to pay a monthly subscription to watch and listen to 180 channels of the best comedy, drama, sport, lifestyle, music and news. We offer free HD services from ITV, the BBC and Channel 4; freesat+ to record pause and rewind, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand; and all subscription free."

Freesat launched last Autumn which includes a Roll Back TV Guide that allows you to watch programmes you've missed from the previous seven days across 21 channels, a new showcase section providing top TV picks chosen daily by Freesat's reviewers, on-demand services and enhanced recordings.

Freesat is a subscription free service and Freesat+ boxes are available to buy from a range of retailers - RRP from £226.


If you're not a tester, Freesat would love to hear from you. An average satellite TV bill (including On Demand services) is around £30 per month, if you could have Freesat what would you with an extra £30 per month (£360 per year). Everyone who adds a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a Freesat Humax box.

Testers: we'll be asking you to add feedback twice - we'd like your first impressions now and in a couple of weeks (or when you're ready) we would like you to answer the follow-up questions.

So, in terms of your first impressions. please....

~ give your overall impression when it arrived

~ describe the set up: did you set up your Freesat box yourself? If not, who did? How easy did you / your DH/DP etc find it to set up your Freesat box?

~ tell us which TV is it on/ in which room

~ share what you/ your family think the first couple of times you used it - what was the best feature and what, if anything, have you struggled with

Follow-up questions:
~ How long did it take you to understand how to use Freesat?

~ Has your child/children used Freesat? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?

~ Which programmes have you most enjoyed watching on Freesat so far?

~ Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up

~ Who in your family has used your Freesat box the most?

~ What have you found Freesat most useful for so far? Catching up on shows you've missed? Entertaining the kids? Finding something to watch to pass time?

Thanks,

MNHQ

PS: Humax are offering a Mumsnet and Gransnet an exclusive discount code to purchase a 500GB Humax Freesat+ box for £199. Up to 199 MNers and GNers can buy a discounted box using the code FT30

[hjmiller]

For an extra £360 a year I'd take my little family on a weekend break to a lovely little cabin in the woods.

[Littlemissexpecting]

Does anyone know how to get rid of the time displaying in bottom right corner? I didn't notice it yesterday so not sure if dh has pressed something?!

[Theincidental]

I would save an extra £360 for emergencies. That's a reasonable sum of cash.

[MummyBtothree]

Non-tester:
If I had £360 spare, I would book a little family holiday on the coast. As a family we have had a really bad two years and have been through a lot and our children have really been through so much, all beyond our control. I would love to have a seaside holiday simply as I think we all deserve a break after all this.

[supermariossister]

with an extra 360 pound I would finally start learning how to drive as its currently a distant possibility

[gazzalw]

Non-tester:

With that amount saved I would either use it towards a holiday or buy myself and DW a really good quality pair of shoes/boots (we don't have car so our feet and shoes get quite a pounding) that will last for years!

[UserError]

Tester here:

Give your overall impression when it arrived:

It was packaged well. The box itself is very shiny and yes, attracts dust, but it looks expensive and well-made. The remote control looks cheap and it's far too clicky when you push the buttons. That was one of the first things we noticed about it. I am the type of person who'll turn off key noises, so I can tell already that long-term, the remote is going to drive me mental.

~ describe the set up: did you set up your Freesat box yourself? If not, who did? How easy did you / your DH/DP etc find it to set up your Freesat box?

We had someone come round to check our cabling as we weren't sure whether the cables had been cut when we had Virgin installed. They hadn't, but the man who came round installed it for us. He was really friendly and it was done very quickly.

~ tell us which TV is it on/ in which room

The FreeSat box is on our main TV in our living room. Our Virgin TiVo box is also there. We've bought a HDMI switch to flick between the two for a proper comparison, as our TV doesn't have enough HDMI ports for the PS3 (DP is a gamer), Virgin TiVo and the FreeSat box.

~ share what you/ your family think the first couple of times you used it

DP used it first, as he seems to think that it's his right to have first access to any new gadgets. Fool. He especially likes the small preview screen that appears in the top right corner, so you can continue watching the channel when you're browsing the menu. He was very impressed with the way there is no 'flicker' when you go back to watching the channel on full screen and that the transition between menu/preview screen and full screen is seamless.

• what was the best feature and what, if anything, have you struggled with

We've not struggled with anything so far. I've deliberately not read the instructions to give it a real 'Let's see how easy this is' test. It's very straightforward. Comparing it to the Virgin TiVo box, I like that there aren't endless steps you have to click through to actually do something.

[WeileWeileWaile]

Give your overall impression when it arrived - Unfortunately, my first impressions were poor as I was sent two boxes that didn't work! I have to say though - customer services were excellent even when they didn't know I was a tester, and on my second call with my second box, we managed to sort it out.

The look of the box is really nice, but like others have said it's a proper dust magnet as it's so glossy. It's very sleek looking and the lack of buttons on the front make it look streamlined.

Describe the set up: did you set up your Freesat box yourself? If not, who did? How easy did you / your DH/DP etc find it to set up your Freesat box? We didn't have a satellite dish so the man who came to install the dish was going to install the box, but it wasn't working. The new box came the next day when I was on my own, and I was worried about setting it up on my own, but it was really simple with step by step instructions on screen. I don't think it could have been easier.

Tell us which TV is it on/ in which room - It's on a smallish flat screen TV in the front room. We don't tend to use the front room and all congregate in the sitting room at the back of the house (sounds much grander than it actually is ), but since we've had the new box, we're in the front room each evening.

share what you/ your family think the first couple of times you used it - what was the best feature and what, if anything, have you struggled with I haven't struggled with anything to be honest - we've all found it easy to use.
We already have Virgin, so are used to the catch up services and this is what I would most struggle without, but this is even better! The programmes I like I have set up on series link so I never miss an episode - I can just delete it if I see it, and I'm not tied to just a few channels on the catch up services, but if I see something recommended that I hadn't seen originally I can use them then. It's like the best of both.
I love pausing and rewinding TV too - I've been doing this just for my own amusement, but I can see how handy it would be.
My children love it too - they're into the gadgety side of it and are enjoying exploring (and recording their rubbish shows!)
DP is enjoying the extra channels we have - especially the CBS ones with Star Trek

Overall very positive impressions here!

[mindingalongtime]

Freesat is something I have seriously been considering over the last couple of weeks. I think for the amount of TV DH and I watch, probably less than an hour a day, Sky is costing a fortune, and that's without any Sport (it's not something we watch on TV)

The thought of removing the Sky box terrifies me, what do we have instead? I'm not even sure how the TV would work without it! We also have Sky HD in the bedroom.

I'd invest in a new television or PVR so we could still record University Challenge and Downton, but i'm sure we could watch them on some form of catch up!

TV is moving too fast for me, I can't keep up with the developments, so go simple and get rid of it all. With £360+saved, perhaps I'd get an iPad for the minded children to use, take photos on, play games, learn letters and have fun!

[aristocat]

Non-tester!

I would use £360 to pay for a weekend away for myself and my family.

[GetKnitted]

I would purchase a nexus, no competition :)

[Tinlegs]

£360 would buy us a big night out as a couple and the rest I would send to my Mum as Internet shopping. We can't afford to help her as much as we would like and she only has a state pension. £300 would give her little treats every few days for a year.

[BetterWithCheese]

I'm another one that would put it towards a cleaner. With both of us working full-time our house is a tip . Will look into Freesat next year when virgin contract is up.

[Lent1l]

With an extra £30 a month I would start saving for my second child. Once they come along (next May) it would go into Premium Bonds for them in the hope that that little bit each month could turn into something much bigger and provide for us all - I dream the mortgage free dream, one day it will be a reality and I hope I'm still young enough to enjoy it!!

[nowthenmardybum]

with an extra £360 a year we could have a family day out each month. any leftovers would go into DD's piggy bank!

[ShatnersBassoon]

I'd put £360 per year into Premium Bonds.

[daimbardiva]

If I had an extra £360 a year, I'd employ a cleaner - I've just started working an extra day a week, and am struggling even more than usual with housework!!!

[WowOoo]

Non tester.

If I had an extra £360 a year I'd save it towards a holiday, a nice weekend break in the UK would do me.

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

Non tester

For the first £360 I would pay a data retrieval company to try and recover the dd's baby photos from a damaged external hard drive. With the following years I would buy a really nice camera to record our 'best bits' and have some fun.

[CheeryCherry]

Ii I had that spare cash I would treat us all to a weekend break somewhere as luxurious as possible, we are having a hard time at the moment and a short time away would be break from all the stress.

[pickofthepops]

~ give your overall impression when it arrived

I love the box - it is by far the smallest and sleekest tv box I have had. no problems with static here.

~ describe the set up: did you set up your Freesat box yourself? If not, who did? How easy did you / your DH/DP etc find it to set up your Freesat box?

I set the Freesat up myself; took 10 mins absolute max. a doddle. I was concerned that because I didn't set up the broadband connection initially that I'd have problems after, but I didn't. I did this piece the next day and again, easy peasy. iplayer added, which we're thrilled about. I'm not a technophobe and do have a tendency to plough ahead with technology - but i'm sure this would be easy for anyone -

~ tell us which TV is it on/ in which room

on the family television in the lounge.

~ share what you/ your family think the first couple of times you used it - what was the best feature and what, if anything, have you struggled with

we all love it. have recorded, played back; set series link, used iplayer - seemless compared to our old bt vision which buffered and booted us out constantly. also like the tv guide. haven't yet gone back up to a week to watch something that way. going to try that next.

Follow-up questions:
~ How long did it take you to understand how to use Freesat?
no time at all.

~ Has your child/children used Freesat? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?

he is five, so working on this. we've been without television since end of april so balancing watching this with not creating a pattern of it being constantly on in background.

~ Which programmes have you most enjoyed watching on Freesat so far?

some old favourites - cheesy stuff from the channels like itv 2 - second thoughts and faith in the future. just quick 1/2 hour progs which i stick on when doing the ironing. also the radio and some of the progs I've wanted to see in the week but missed on iplayer, like the miranda meets bruce programme.

~ Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up

live tv and on demand. really looking forward to watching 7 day catch up. will come back and post about that soon.

~ Who in your family has used your Freesat box the most?

my husband - he's thrilled - stays up late catching up on his favourites and has series linked match of the day which he has missed very much.

~ What have you found Freesat most useful for so far? Catching up on shows you've missed? Entertaining the kids? Finding something to watch to pass time?

catching up and just getting away from the same old dvd's we've had on through the long! summer holidays. now looking forward to seeing some of the stuff we've heard people raving about - and the radio - excellent choice of channels through freesat

thanks again mumsnet!

[themummyonthebus]

I would pay for my dm and ddad to come and visit us with an extra £360.

[Heath27]

With an extra £360 a year we could have a couple of night away with the kids in December to see xmas lights

[Belo]

That works out at £30 a month. That would pay for a babysitter once a month for me to go out with DH.

[NotShortImFunSized]

Non tester - If I had a spare £360 a year I would I would pay £60 each in to my 6 kids bank accounts. There's never enough spare to do it regularly