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

[aliciaflorrick]

Non-tester here:

An extra £360 a year would make a huge difference to me and when you lay it out in cold hard figures like that it makes me all the more determined to give Sky the boot. The first year I'd use the £360 to buy a Freesat box, because the only thing keeping me with Sky is I can't afford the initial outlay for the new box.

After that, I'd probably put it towards a family day out for me and my DCs, money is tight and we don't have much left over for fun things. One day where we could let our hair down and not have to be aware of how much food would cost in a restaurant or say no to cokes and ice-creams because we've only been able to afford petrol money and entrance fees.

[TTCnightmare]

If I had an extra £30 a month, I'd save it up so we could go on our first family holiday

[showmethemoneyhoney]

With an extra £360 I'd treat the DH to a weekend away, just us, to somewhere nice as a thank you for putting up with my terrible moods and stress whilst I've been doing a degree as a mature student.

[lifeishunkydory]

How long did it take you to understand how to use Freesat?
Not long, it was easy to navigate and find my way around, I have had no problems with the basic use of it.

Has your child/children used Freesat? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?
Children haven't used it on their own as it has more channels I want to ensure they are only watching programmes that I feelare appropriate for them.

Which programmes have you most enjoyed watching on Freesat so far?
Moto GP in HD on the red button channel.

Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up
I have only used it to warch live TV, recorded programmes and BBC iPlayer.

Who in your family has used your Freesat box the most?
My husband has used it to watch films on the channel 4 films channel.

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?
Easy recording and playback, quick to watch on iPlayer and lovefilm.

[ckkj]

I would use £360 towards childcare costs

[WeAreEternal]

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

Not very long, it is a pretty sim

~ 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?

[WeAreEternal]

And we will try that again....

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

Not very long, it is a pretty simply set up, although we did have to figure out the catch up thing as we had never used a feature like that before.

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

Yes he loves it, he figured it out fairly quickly, he now know the channel numbers of the children's channels by heart.

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

Probably xfactor and the soaps, I have never been able to get into them before and I can't commit to sitting down at a specific time on certain days to watch them, but now with catch up and recording I can watch them when I want.

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

The demand/catch up is fab, because of that I have been able to get into shows that I would normally have missed or never had chance to watch.

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?

Again it's probably just being able to watch programs I would not have been able to watch otherwise.
DS loves the extra children's channels he now has, but I don't really let he watch any more tv than I did before.
I love the box, it's fab (I don't like the remote much though).

Thank you MN.

[Justtrying]

If I had an extra £360 a year I'd use it to have a date night every other month with dh, baby sitter and for us to get out for a few hours chill time. It's not easy to schedule working shifts and money is tight at the moment.

[DoctorTwo]

I have a Freesat box and usually love it, but recently both Aljazeera and RT disappeared from the listings so I've switched back to Freeview to get my fix of news. Life without Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert is unbearable.

[AngelieMumsnet]

Hi everyone - thanks so much to all the testers who have posted feedback, and to all the non-testers who have posted comments here.

Here's a message from Freesat:
"We’d like to thank all of the testers for their feedback, this has been incredibly beneficial and please be assured that we will be referring to all your comments when making decisions at Freesat. We hope you continue to enjoy your Freesat box and for non-testers we’d like to offer you £30 off a 500GB Humax Freesat+ HD with Freetime box by using the code FT30 when ordering. We hope you agree that great TV doesn’t need to come with a monthly bill."

The non-tester winner of the Freesat box is bluebump, congratulations! I'll PM you to get your details :)

[mymummysworld]

Seems I missed this so will do a late reply.

Give your overall impression when it arrived
Much more attractive then I remember Sky being, and a lovely shiny box, which is very compact. Makes for great storage though, and I love that it shows you what channel you are watching (Although I'm not sure you need this). The only thing I don't like it how noisy the remote is.

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?
The Freesat box was extremely easy to set up, just a few wires to insert and away you go. One thing I didn't know was it needed to be connected to the internet via a cable, cue buying an external plug :)

Tell us which TV is it on/ in which room
We have the Freesat set up on our Living Room television.

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
Having not used Sky for a long time, getting used to a 3 digit television number was a bit tricky again, but slowly we are getting there. The quality of the television programmes is a lot lot clearer - especially on the HD ones (Yes I know you would expect this) The only downside we have found is it can take a while to scroll through all of the channels unless you know exactly what your looking for.

Follow-up questions:
How long did it take you to understand how to use Freesat?
It didn't take very long at all, maybe all of 10 minutes, the only thing we are still getting our head around is the channel numbers.

Has your child/children used Freesat? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?
Jack is too young to be using it, however he does like the remote and knows how to work the volume.

Which programmes have you most enjoyed watching on Freesat so far?
I've enjoyed watching the soaps, which I know sounds weird but I never get chance to watch (good old record) I've also enjoyed some more cheesy American cookery programmes.

Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up
I have enjoyed the on demand the most. We would normally watch programmes we missed on the wii/xbox which was so hit and miss with connection or via the interenet on the desktop or iPad which leads to a smaller screen. Not really the same effect as watching it on the television so this has been fantastic!

Who in your family has used your Freesat box the most?
Quite possibly myself as I am at home the most, however I am closely followed by OH who enjoys watching some cheesy programmes on there!

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?
I have found it most useful for watching catch-up and being able to record things when I know we will be out! I've also managed to find more programmes for Jack to watch when I need to keep him occupied for 5 minutes.

[HappyMummyOfOne]

Still loving mine, very simple to use and i have not yet had to refer to the manual once. DS can use with ease and has started recording shows and anticipate as the weather grows colder he will use it far more.

Have cancelled my Sky, this does much more and has a good selection of channels. Already have two friends considering switching.

[Littlemissexpecting]

We love ours too. Went on holiday for a couple of days and missed not being able to record or pause.
Remote still annoys me though.