Topic: Thinking of going digital need advice

[Tony]

Right I have just bought a Sony KV28FX68 televison, and I'm thinking of maybe buying a digital freeview box. Before anybody states the obvious, why not buy a digital telly, Sony do not do a digital version in the KV FX68 range, and that is the spec I wanted.

Any recommondations regards set top boxes, would be appreciated.

[Sandra]

I cant reccommend a specific make Tony but can offer a little advice that may be of use in the future  
Most of the models available at the moment dont have a CAM slot as they arent needed for the free to air programmes and until the recent introduction of Top Up TV there didnt appear that there would be a subscription service again on Terrestrial Digital.
Whether Top Up TV lasts or is worth having or not I am unsure of but it would make sense to make sure that any box that you bought had a CAM slot so that you had the option.
I also think that twin scart out is better than the single scart so you can feed to the tv and your vcr or if youre as rich as Simon and Clive your DVD recorder.
I would be looking for a twin tuner version, havent seen any out yet but there must be some in the pipeline if none about already, because with a single tuner version you would only be able to record the channel that you were watching after they switch the analogue tv off in a few years time
Hope this has given you some food for thought  

[Simon]

Unfortunately, the only one currently available with a card reader, is the Nokia 221T, which is also one of the most unreliable, and is prone to frequent crashing.  You might be able to lay your hands on an old Nokia On Digital box, from Ebay, which also have card readers, but otherwise, if you want one now and are not worried about extra (subscription) channels, then I would recommend a cheapy, such as this one from Argos.  I have the same myself, and have had no problems with it.

[Tony]

Thanks Sandra and Simon,

You say a CAM slot Sandra? I assume that is the same as the "built in card reader" mentioned on both the Sagem ITD62 and the Strong SRT-500T digi boxes.
HERE

They look cheap enough, but are they any good I ask myself, I see Comet stock the former, so I can always bung it back if it's crap.

Now if I go for one, [mind you 5 channels are enough for me] will it improve reception quality by viewing my existing channels via the digital box ? And can I program the extra channels on to my TV, and just be able to access them via my TV remote. Meaning if I get a digi box, can I just have the box bunged behind the doors of the TV/ Hifi cabinet the TV sits on?


I bought after finding the cheapest supplier through Pricerunner, I rang the order in at 4.30pm to a London based firm, and it was delivered next day at 10.25, not bad eh.

[Sandra]

Hi Tony, the CAM (Conditional Acces Module) is the slot for the card reader or as it says on that site Common Interface Port  
A digital picture should be better than the analogue.
The usual way to control your TV/Digi Box would be to use the freeview remote and ignore the tv one apart from initially setting the TV menus up or get a multi remote to do tv/freeview box/VCR and DVD player like I have  
If your freeview box is connected via a scart socket then as soon as you power the box up from standby it will switch to the correct AV that its connected to and you can select which channel to watch from the freeview box remote and adjust the volume or mute it with it  

[Dack]

The CAM slot is just what it says - a slot for the fitting of a Conditional Access Module. You are looking at paying about £50 for the module itself on top of the box cost.

The old On digital boxes all came with the CAM built into them.

I've recently bought the Netgem box because:
1. It has USB support for wireless internet access
2. It has a CAM slot (and I already had the necesary CAM)
3. It allows you to browse t'internet on the TV screen using a wireless keyboard.
4. It was £49.95 plus VAT from Makro.

Top up TV is a bit of a con though in that only 5 of the channels are on at any one time due to them having limited bandwidth on the transmitter.

As to Digital is better than analogue....well with analogue you can get ghosting and a slightly grainy picture if the signal is a bit weak. With digital you get the great 'everyone is made out of lego' effect or no picture at all if the signal is a bit low. A good Analogue installation gives a similar picture quality to digital.

[Simon]

Unfortunately, the only one currently available with a card reader, is the Nokia 221T...

Obviously, that's no longer correct.  Sorry, Tony. :-[  The Sagem doesn't look too bad, does it?  I was looking at Top Up TV myself, as I still have an On Digital box, but if it's as Dack says, the chances are, the one thing you might want to watch, won't be on!

In addition to what's already been mentioned, another plus point of Digital is that you get 'true' widescreen, rather than the 'squashed' look you get with analogue, on a widescreen TV.

[Tony]

Cheers boys and girls for the info,

Sandra, the Sony remote allows me to control the basic operations of my VCR and my DVD along side the TV controls, but no mention of a digi box control option ?

[Sandra]

Unless its a learning remote I doubt it will control the digi box Tony.
There are quite a few multi remote controllers on the market now with learning facilities that you can use to control all your TV stuff with.
I have a One for all Mosaic which will do up to 15 devices and controls most of the functions of my TV, Digital satellite, Digital terrestrial, Analogue satellite, VCR, DVD, Surround system amplifier and Hi-Fi with tuner, cd, cassete and mini disk.
If I find I cant do a feature that I want it to do then it will learn the command from the original remote control for that particular device  

[Tony]

Well I went for it,

and glad I did, I went for the Phillips DTR 1500 after reading good reviews on it. the Sagem did not have audio out sockets, allowing you to run digital through your HiFi system, instead of the television. Also I do not need a card read facility as I aint ever considering paying for more channels.

I'll need to run some cables back to my HiFi unit when I decorate, in the next few weeks. But just been listening to digital radio via the TV, its really really good, love it.

Just read this about Freeview out pacing "pay to view" http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1230202,00.html

Hows this, I was watching that celeb dance thingy on digital in the living room. Linda was washing up the tea things in the kitchen [bunging em in the dishwasher actually] but had the portable on which is not digital. I could hear the results come in on the portable before the digital TV  

[Simon]

Don't ask me why, but Digital is always about 1½ seconds behind analogue.  

[Clive]

I think it's because Digital is bounced off the satellite so it has a longer path to travel.   8)

[Sandra]

The reason that the digital sound is behind the analogue is that the signal is beamed up to a satellite and then back to the local transmitters to be sent as a digital terrestrial signal.
Therefore the signal travels a lot farther than the analogue one does, as that only travels overland  

[Tony]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3790127.stm

Typical, I commit, and that bugger Murdoch goes into compertition with  himself. He uses the joint venture Freeview to test the water, then deciedes to go into direct compertition with his co partner.

And this is the guy who sets New Labour's foriegn policy, what a two faced turd he is. But when you look who his best mate is "Two Faced Tone of 10 Downing Street" it comes as no suprise  

[Shaz]

And this is the guy who sets New Labour's foriegn policy, what a two faced turd he is. But when you look who his best mate is "Two Faced Tone of 10 Downing Street" it comes as no suprise  

 :aarrgh:I new politics would eventually enter the conversation