Freeview is known for its cheap one-time-fee set top box. Digitalswitchoverreview recently got a hold of a Freeview unit and took it for a test run.

Before purchasing the unit, we checked out Freeview’’s availability checker located at http://www.freeview.co.uk/availability/. This service is provided by Freeview to potential buyers and allows you to check how the digital reception is in your area. Unfortunately the website told us we may not have any reception, however, upon contacting a nearby Freeview user we discovered that reception was indeed acceptable. This may be an internal issue with the Freeview availability checker which may have slightly out of date information on reception. If your area is reported to have no signal, you may want to ask a neighbor whether or not Freeview works for them.

After purchasing the unit, set up was simple for a HIFI unit and the box itself blends well with existing Television hardware. Although not of an extremely high grade build, the Freeview box is solid and build quality was not of concern. We already had a digital-ready antenna which made setup fairly simple. The Freeview box can connect to a television through an aerial cord however a SCART connection yields significantly better image quality and is worth using if your Television supports it. The automatic channel installer did exactly that and there were no issues picking up all of the free channels on offer. Some have reported needing to re-run the “add channel” option to pick up some channels which may be necessary if reception is particularly poor in your area.

The free channel offering included the obligatory selection of junk channels, however Freeview boasts some big names such as BBC 3, 4, News 24 and the kids channels. There is also Sky News, Sky Sports, ITV News, ITV2, ITV3 and apparently new channels are being added to this list almost monthly at no cost. Overall the quality channels far outweigh the small selection of filler channels that serve only to slow down a session of channel surfing. There are several radio channels available which may appeal to those who often use their television for background noise. A great feature, especially for a one time payment device, is the EPG (Electronic programme guide) which is essentially a digitized and interactive version of a paper Television channel guide. This makes it possible to check out what’’s on and even set yourself reminders straight from the unit itself. This was an impressive inclusion considering the budget price of the Freeview box.

Overall the Freeview set top box is aimed at those on a budget but offers excellent value for money with a growing selection of popular channels and even some interactive gadgets such as the EPG. We would recommend this unit to anyone wanting to test out Digital TV even as a stepping stone to a more expensive system for serious Television users looking for an even larger set of channels. Things to keep in mind are whether or not you will have reception issues (although this is something to consider with all set top boxes), check to see if your Television supports a SCART connection for better video quality and also keep in mind that Freeview offers a basic installation guide (http://www.freeview.co.uk/installation) with no real technical support as far as we could see. If you are less technically inclined, online support groups such as http://www.digitalswitchoverforum.com may be able to address any concerns you have about hardware installation, a common hurdle for those new to Digital TV.

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