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MNHQ

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

163 replies

AngelieMumsnet · 20/09/2013 16:44

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

OP posts:
Willemdefoeismine · 03/10/2013 17:44

I think I would spend it on various pampering sessions for myself and DP. We always prioritise the children. However, both DP and I seem to be turning into old crocs and some serious pampering would be most welcome and is very much needed!

ShelaghGunn · 03/10/2013 22:11

I'm a non-tester: If I had an extra £360 a year i'd pay for fortnightly piano lessons for my daughter as she already plays the violin and I can't afford to pay for any more lessons!

amazinggrace2001 · 04/10/2013 10:43

With an extra £360 a year I would use it to buy some decent shoes for the four of us.Usually buy really cheap ones that fall to bits.

rupert23 · 04/10/2013 11:08

£360 pounds a year would be put towards taking the kids on a camping trip which they would love and spending some great outdoor family time together

cashmiriana · 04/10/2013 16:33

An extra £360 a year would pay for us to have a holiday - there are so many places in the UK we'd love to visit if we could afford to.

TheFallenNinja · 04/10/2013 16:58

£360 per year = 1 formula 1 race

BadMissM · 05/10/2013 00:19

What would I do with an extra £360? I would put it to making Christmas something really special for my family every year. £360 in our house would go a long way towards buying presents and food and making it a really jolly celebration. Especially this year, as to add to me losing my job, and a new baby, DH has now lost his job too......

beepoff · 05/10/2013 09:31

Non tester here. I'd use the money so DH and I could afford to have a week's unpaid leave from work to spend with our gorgeous DS. Both of us are offered it but we can't justify taking it at the moment.

hambis · 05/10/2013 10:02

£360- would buy me 15 (ish) driving lessons and I might actually be able to pass my test!!
That would make such a difference in my sons and my life....

pickofthepops · 05/10/2013 11:33

a follow up as I realise I answered these immediately rather than after 'settling in'

~ How long did it take you to understand how to use Freesat?

still absolutely easy - just not 100% sure on the freetime and watching something that was on in last week. i can see how to scroll back but not sure if it just plays through iplayer or some other way. have misplaced manual and not had time to delve - am sure is v easy

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

hmm not really in a place where ds age 5 watches it on his own yet. he operates the dvd though so sure he will be keen to learn this.

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

got back into eastenders, and just normal live tv. like the box set feature

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

as above - not sure about the 7 day catch up.

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

me and dh - just acclimatising to tv again after months without

~ 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?

would love to 'pass time' but really catching up on missed shows, cbeebies bedtime story

and love the look of it still. definitely a convert. and it will come into its own now with dr who and the run up to xmas

ataraxia · 05/10/2013 12:21

non-tester: With an extra £30 per month disposable income I'd put it towards family tree research - at the moment it's hard to justify £10 per birth/death/marriage certificate but it would be really interesting to have the extra information they provide

hunhun007 · 05/10/2013 17:11

Non Testers: what would you do with an extra £360 a year?
I think short weekend away would be out first choice or few days out. Most our "spare" money are spend this way.

ChocolateMama · 06/10/2013 19:12

With an extra £360 I would buy a secondhand piano for the children to practice on and with the rest (hopefully!) buy myself a new winter coat.

greathat · 06/10/2013 20:27

After the other thread. I'd hire a cleaner!

VeeAndTea · 07/10/2013 16:16

I'd just use it to make my day to day life a bit easier, itd be nice to not have to juggle our finances.

IncaAztec · 08/10/2013 10:41

With an extra £30 per month, I would probably enrol in a decent gym with pool (and a spa!). Looking at it as £360 per year, I would have a nice short break somewhere posh for the 2 of us!

NeatFreak · 08/10/2013 12:23

~ Has your child/children used Freesat? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?
My dc are 9 and 5. The older one Sussex it straight away but the younger one is still learning!

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

~ Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up
Live tv mainly as the internet speed hasn't been great for on demand

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

~ 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 on programmes I've missed whilst feeding or settling the baby during the evenings

WeAreEternal · 08/10/2013 12:42

give your overall impression when it arrived

Not impressed with the delivery, at all.
But the box is great, it looks very stylish, it has a much sleeker, smarter design than other satellite/cable boxes I have seen.
I also really like the digital display on the front.

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 up the box myself. It was incredibly easy to set up, it's literally just plug it in, and follow the setup steps. I was very impressed with how easy it was.

tell us which TV is it on/ in which room

It is on our main tv, in the living 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.

I love the way the planner is set up, it is much easier to navigate than sky, being able to scroll back for the catch ups is very convenient.
I love being able to record programs and fast forwarding adverts is amazing, I have taken to pausing the beginning of a program for a while so that I can FF past the ads.

DS was very impressed with the kids channels.

And we were generally very surprised and impressed with the amount of channels that are available.

SevenOnwardsAndUpwards · 08/10/2013 13:15

~ How long did it take you to understand how to use Freesat?
Not long at all really, it's very easy to use and understand, though it took me a while to find the home button for the easiest way to get to the on demand services should have read the instructions

~ Has your child/children used Freesat? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?
No because DD1 has a habit of breaking the battery covers on remotes and I know 5yo DS will leave it laying around.

~ Which programmes have you most enjoyed watching on Freesat so far?
X factor and GBBO, and the DCs love Octonauts which we watch a lot on the Iplayer.

~ Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up
Most enjoyed on-demand services, Octonauts is usually on at tea time so they watch it after. I love being able to pause and rewind live TV, I usually switch it onto ITV before X factor and turn TV off, then rewind it when I'm ready after the DCs have gone to bed, it's always after 8 but before 9 so I don't have to wait for ITV+1.

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

~ 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?
Definitely entertaining the DCs when there's something on CBeebies they don't want to watch, and catching up on GBBO when I've missed it.

CousinArnold · 08/10/2013 15:03

Completely unoriginal choice, but the extra £360 would go towards a family holiday!

lews · 09/10/2013 09:56

Riding lessons for my daughter. She's been begging for about 3 years!

Wannabestepfordwife · 09/10/2013 15:03

Extra £360 either go and mine and dp's first holiday together- have a house and dd together but never a holiday.

Or new carpets have used a carpet cleaner countless times and there are still make-up and poo stains from the previous owner

UserError · 09/10/2013 23:50

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

Not long at all - pretty much immediately. We certainly haven't discovered any new functions through using it that we weren't aware of within minutes of setting it up.

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

Nope - our DS is three, so it's a bit beyond him.

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

Mock the Week and Match of the Day - the sort of things we'd usually watch. It has been nice having CNN and CNBC news channels for a bit of variety too.

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

7 day catch up - it's really easy to use and we're rubbish at remembering to set things to record. Case in point, just now 'Oh crap, Homeland was back on this Sunday'. Not a problem - we'll use the 7 day catch-up and watch it tomorrow.

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

A mix between me and DS.

~ 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?

Definitely for catching up on shows we've missed and for normal, everyday viewing.

MoogDroog · 10/10/2013 10:11

An extra £360 a year? I'd put a bit towards the credit card bill and a bit into a child trust fund for DD, to try and match DS's (he benefited from the money the government used to give out, she didn't)

sc00ter · 10/10/2013 13:29

With an extra £30 per month we would either go on a family bowling night or a movie evening once per month that would help keep us all sane. :)