Really helpful - was concerned about the EPG and usability. This looks great. I just have basic Sky Q and have stuck with it mainly because of the sky plus functions. This look like a perfect replacement.
thanks for sharing. I have the old Humax freesat box, and thinking of upgrading to the one in your video. Currently a sky q customer but considering getting rid of.
@@lessharkboy on sky q i now only tend to watch netflix, amazon the free channels even though i have the movies and multi room, my price will be going up to over £50 a month from October and i dont think sky is worth that. If you get the freesat box from amazon you could always return it if it doesn't work out, I read all the negative reviews before also.
Thanks for this, considering changing from sky q to save some money and the fact we barely watch any channels. Most of my recordings are from the original 5 channels anyway! Like others I was keeping it simply for the plus functions. I also have a firestick which allows me to watch any channels I want but you can't record on it, although handy for live sport and movies 👍
Interesting, but why did you record this in portrait mode? You display only 40% of the potential viewing area. Please, in future videos, use landscape mode..
I ditched Sky 'cos we did'nt view enough of their content and switched to this Freesat 500gb 4k model. After a couple or years the hard drive failed.....don't panic if this happens after the warranty....I replaced the hard drive with a new one for £15 and a set of security bits. It took 5 or 6 minutes and works like new.
LOL I'm guessing you must be an "old fart" like myself, I can hear people shouting "Landscape FGS !!! " .. No offence meant and cheers for the content..
Great video review Is it worth getting this over my humax 1010s on my box it shows me what is being played but how much content can you actually watch in 4K
I had the old humax box which was good, this i would say is just an upgrade. The only things in 4k are on Netflix, amazon or UA-cam. This does though upscale normal tv to 4k and uhd. Thanks for your comments.
I found it’s adequate too good around the volume program up program down home button but the Forward fast ,pause, stop and exit buttons are too close together and you repeatedly hit exit when you’re trying to forward fast it’s been built with someone with let’s say slighter fingers
Hello thanks for your nice comment, i used the hdmi cable supplied with the box on the end, the picture is good but i had to turn off the hdr picture on my Samsung tv because the box already has this on by default.
@@darrentaylor879 thanks for your reply. I have a similar situation with washed out screen. I will try the hdmi cable with Freesat box. I will have to check if I can switch hdr off on the tv. Thanks again mate.
Great review Darren. Don't the box and the TV have to HDR enabled? My ps4 has HDR but it doesn't work if I disable HDR on my TV. I can't see how the TV would should any HDR signals when disabled. Many thanks
hi, my sub runs out with sky this month and was looking at one of these also,, can i ask, as its been a few months since ur review, how r u getting on with the box now,, and also can u download the Disney + app on it also,, tia matt 😉👍
Just about to buy one of these for my mum, not really a lot of choice for her as she only has a satellite dish on her roof, her Humax HDR1100 has just died after 6 years, hoping this new box will be a lot better, but now worried after reading reviews on it!😱🤦♂️ she has a Panasonic 4K TV, how are all your Freesat boxes doing ? Reliable after latest update? Any other issues?
Good concise review. I have a quick question. My TV is a few years old now and consequently is not HDR. I understand that with this box HDR is always on. Would this cause a problem for me? Many thanks.
@@darrentaylor879 (Edited) Hi Darren, Many thanks for your quick reply. Freesat inform me that HDR as of now cannot be turned off with this box. I think this means that I will not be able to use one of these boxes on my TV.
@@Pete731 i have just set this box to hd but hdr is still displaying on my tv settings, i would think if your tv doesn't have hdr then it should default to your tvs highest settings, if i was you i would get this box from amazon and if it doesn't work correctly send it back.
I have the 2 TB version my only annoyance is it shows searching for channels (showing the satellite image) for 20 seconds before coming on and vertically always default to bbc1 every time its turned on in morning (stand by)
Few questions darren if you don't mind, can you manually tune channels, or does it only tune a set amount of channels? Can you move recordings from hardrive to an external one? And finally, can you chop up any recordings? Thanks.
Hello. It automatically tunes into freesat channels default however you can scan for non freesat channels in non freesat mode but i believe you cannot record these and they will not be stored in the tv guide. Also you will not be able move your recordings to a hard drive and i dont think you can split them, hope this helps
@@darrentaylor879 not knocking you mate, only video I can find with the info for the freest box, thinking about ditching sky Q, don't watch that much really, in your opinion is the freesat box and using it, any good, now you been using it for a while
@@W.Keeling i still have sky q for a couple of months so I'm not using freesat for full time at the moment. The box i have is used in our bedroom, it's working perfect for me, the picture is good and clear, the ondemand works good and its not a million miles away from sky q, if i was you, buy one from amazon, try it out, if you dont like it just send it back. Thanks.
I've just not long bought the same box but the 2tb box but I'm having problems. I've tried recording the film total recall last week and it recorded but when I looked in the most recent recordings it had multiple failed recordings of the film. God knows why that happened. I've set a recording for something on Wednesday the 12th and it said it was set but when I've looked in the planned recordings it isn't there. I've even set it to record total recall that is on on Tuesday night and I keep seeing on screen recording cancelled when I haven't cancelled it. Sorry for the long post.
Sorry to hear you are having problems. I dont use my arris box full time as of yet as i am still in contract with sky q, the recordings i have set have always worked, i will set more later ton see if i have any issues, have tried to reset the box and start again?
When i first got this i did read the awful reviews of this pvr and i thought surely it cannot be that bad. When i first powered up the box yes i had issues, it didnt identify the correct lnb i had, i could only record 2 shows and alot of ondemand and channels where missing, i was just about to return this and the box updated and touch wood ever since its been working brilliantly.
@@darrentaylor879 looks like it records terrestrial channels well so think it’ll do the trick 👍🏻 For disney etc im looking to use an existing fire stick
John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Really helpful - was concerned about the EPG and usability. This looks great. I just have basic Sky Q and have stuck with it mainly because of the sky plus functions. This look like a perfect replacement.
Thanks Darren, great first vid. Only thing I would say is please do landscape mode. You sound very local to me ;)
That's a cool remote control man. I love all the dedicated buttons. Also this box is made by Freesat since Humax no longer make Freesat boxes.
Not freesat, made by Arris. (hint: virgin media also use arris for their V6 boxes and routers)
@@BiohazardX9 Yeah I found that out after I posted my comment.
thanks for sharing. I have the old Humax freesat box, and thinking of upgrading to the one in your video. Currently a sky q customer but considering getting rid of.
Thinking of replacing Sky Q with one of these, helpful video. Read lot's of problems with these so was a bit wary. Cheers for posting.
Touch wood mine is ok ince it fully updated. I still have sky q for a few months so im not yet using it full time but it has been working good so far.
@@darrentaylor879 nice one, thanks for replying. Will be binning Sky Q!
@@lessharkboy on sky q i now only tend to watch netflix, amazon the free channels even though i have the movies and multi room, my price will be going up to over £50 a month from October and i dont think sky is worth that. If you get the freesat box from amazon you could always return it if it doesn't work out, I read all the negative reviews before also.
Very nice little box
Thanks for this! just wanted to take a good look at the menus and remote
Thanks for this, considering changing from sky q to save some money and the fact we barely watch any channels. Most of my recordings are from the original 5 channels anyway! Like others I was keeping it simply for the plus functions. I also have a firestick which allows me to watch any channels I want but you can't record on it, although handy for live sport and movies 👍
great review so can you use a sky dish for this or do i need a new one ?
Interesting, but why did you record this in portrait mode? You display only 40% of the potential viewing area. Please, in future videos, use landscape mode..
Yeah but perfect for looking at TV remotes 😄
Price of box you pay is it worth the cost vs other Freesat boxes ? 😮😊
what was the price of this previously on Amazon buddy?
Great help, looking to get rid of my Sky Q but was unsure about the reviews on these and they are pretty expensive.
How is it holding up?
I ditched Sky 'cos we did'nt view enough of their content and switched to this Freesat 500gb 4k model. After a couple or years the hard drive failed.....don't panic if this happens after the warranty....I replaced the hard drive with a new one for £15 and a set of security bits. It took 5 or 6 minutes and works like new.
Freesat is a great system. I'll never sub to sky again. Is there a non freesat mode and what is the fastest fast forward option ?
There is a non freesat mode but i feel it is comersombe to use, i normally find if you press forward a few that turns into fast forward
@@darrentaylor879 hmm ok but I mean the speed of fast forward x32 probably but maybe x64 or faster
@@digitalmediafan just tried it now it only goes upto x32
Can ya swap out the 500gig hard drive for a 1tb hard drive?
Cheers good demo. Looking for Sky Q replacement
LOL I'm guessing you must be an "old fart" like myself, I can hear people shouting "Landscape FGS !!! " ..
No offence meant and cheers for the content..
I hate the fact remote doesn’t have a button to change sources/inputs.
What did it cost you ?
Great video review
Is it worth getting this over my humax 1010s on my box it shows me what is being played but how much content can you actually watch in 4K
I had the old humax box which was good, this i would say is just an upgrade. The only things in 4k are on Netflix, amazon or UA-cam. This does though upscale normal tv to 4k and uhd. Thanks for your comments.
I have had one since June 2020, had many problems with it see the Freesat reviews on Trustpilot before you waste your money on this.
@@darrentaylor879 thanks for your reply does this Freesat show showcase on the menu can't see it here watching this video back
I’ve got Sky Q and looking to cut the cord, is it easy to install?
Yes, just connect the satellite cables to the freesat box and let it update
Yes it is pretty much a straight swap. You don't have to do anything to the dish just disconnect the Sky box and connect the freesat.
Will that remote turn tv and freesat box on…I don’t want to use two remotes. 2:33
why film with the phone vertically, can’t see stuff, I’ve heard these boxes have some terrible issues & don’t last long.
I found it’s adequate too good around the volume program up program down home button but the Forward fast ,pause, stop and exit buttons are too close together and you repeatedly hit exit when you’re trying to forward fast it’s been built with someone with let’s say slighter fingers
Is there another aerial hole so I can run a coaxial cable to up stairs Tv
Hi
Very good review.
Did you change the hdmi cable or put on a different hdmi port for better quality?
Thanks
Hello thanks for your nice comment, i used the hdmi cable supplied with the box on the end, the picture is good but i had to turn off the hdr picture on my Samsung tv because the box already has this on by default.
@@darrentaylor879 thanks for your reply.
I have a similar situation with washed out screen.
I will try the hdmi cable with Freesat box. I will have to check if I can switch hdr off on the tv.
Thanks again mate.
Great review Darren. Don't the box and the TV have to HDR enabled? My ps4 has HDR but it doesn't work if I disable HDR on my TV. I can't see how the TV would should any HDR signals when disabled. Many thanks
So this cant replace Sky Q multiroom just the main box?
Can you series record with this box?
hi, my sub runs out with sky this month and was looking at one of these also,, can i ask, as its been a few months since ur review, how r u getting on with the box now,, and also can u download the Disney + app on it also,, tia matt 😉👍
Just about to buy one of these for my mum, not really a lot of choice for her as she only has a satellite dish on her roof, her Humax HDR1100 has just died after 6 years, hoping this new box will be a lot better, but now worried after reading reviews on it!😱🤦♂️ she has a Panasonic 4K TV, how are all your Freesat boxes doing ? Reliable after latest update? Any other issues?
Can you connect a WD Mycloud to this wirelessly? or any nas server?
Cheers for the review. Can you do series link type recordings or do you have to manually choose day corrie Street every time you want to record it?
Hello you can do a series link
@@darrentaylor879 thank you
Good concise review.
I have a quick question. My TV is a few years old now and consequently is not HDR. I understand that with this box HDR is always on.
Would this cause a problem for me?
Many thanks.
Hello you can change the settings to hd and turn off the hdr.
@@darrentaylor879 (Edited) Hi Darren, Many thanks for your quick reply. Freesat inform me that HDR as of now cannot be turned off with this box. I think this means that I will not be able to use one of these boxes on my TV.
@@Pete731 i have just set this box to hd but hdr is still displaying on my tv settings, i would think if your tv doesn't have hdr then it should default to your tvs highest settings, if i was you i would get this box from amazon and if it doesn't work correctly send it back.
@@Pete731 You could use this on a non HDR TV as the HDR is only active when it detects that the TV is HDR ready.
@@kevinmcguinness Great! Many thanks for that.
I have the 2 TB version my only annoyance is it shows searching for channels (showing the satellite image) for 20 seconds before coming on and vertically always default to bbc1 every time its turned on in morning (stand by)
Does it have the tv player app
Just to ask is remot, bluetooth or IR?
Few questions darren if you don't mind, can you manually tune channels, or does it only tune a set amount of channels? Can you move recordings from hardrive to an external one? And finally, can you chop up any recordings? Thanks.
Hello. It automatically tunes into freesat channels default however you can scan for non freesat channels in non freesat mode but i believe you cannot record these and they will not be stored in the tv guide. Also you will not be able move your recordings to a hard drive and i dont think you can split them, hope this helps
great video and info, but please use landscape and not portrait
It was my first one lol
@@darrentaylor879 not knocking you mate, only video I can find with the info for the freest box, thinking about ditching sky Q, don't watch that much really, in your opinion is the freesat box and using it, any good, now you been using it for a while
@@W.Keeling i still have sky q for a couple of months so I'm not using freesat for full time at the moment. The box i have is used in our bedroom, it's working perfect for me, the picture is good and clear, the ondemand works good and its not a million miles away from sky q, if i was you, buy one from amazon, try it out, if you dont like it just send it back. Thanks.
I've just not long bought the same box but the 2tb box but I'm having problems. I've tried recording the film total recall last week and it recorded but when I looked in the most recent recordings it had multiple failed recordings of the film. God knows why that happened.
I've set a recording for something on Wednesday the 12th and it said it was set but when I've looked in the planned recordings it isn't there.
I've even set it to record total recall that is on on Tuesday night and I keep seeing on screen recording cancelled when I haven't cancelled it.
Sorry for the long post.
Sorry to hear you are having problems. I dont use my arris box full time as of yet as i am still in contract with sky q, the recordings i have set have always worked, i will set more later ton see if i have any issues, have tried to reset the box and start again?
You must have got the good one Darren, most others have had lots of problems with them.
When i first got this i did read the awful reviews of this pvr and i thought surely it cannot be that bad. When i first powered up the box yes i had issues, it didnt identify the correct lnb i had, i could only record 2 shows and alot of ondemand and channels where missing, i was just about to return this and the box updated and touch wood ever since its been working brilliantly.
@@darrentaylor879 o
Disliked for vertical video...
Does it now have the ability to add Disney plus as an app
Not as of yet
@@darrentaylor879 thank you
@@Vultoor no probs. Its not a bad system, not as good as sky q but you pay alot for that
@@darrentaylor879 looks like it records terrestrial channels well so think it’ll do the trick 👍🏻
For disney etc im looking to use an existing fire stick
Hi is there sky sports and bt sports on there?
Sorry no bt or sky sports in here
I absolutely hate that remote. No support whatsoever for my last two fingers when pressing the number buttons
Have you ever come across landscape mode during your video recordings? Maybe you should look at a TV or cinema screen.
Do you see the orientation?
Hi can you series link with this?
Yes you can series link on this pvr
@@darrentaylor9872 cheers why freesat & not freeview?
John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Freesat remort you sale