nicholasc1585:bay24:edsib1:
Freesat SD pictures are generally slightly better than their freeview counterparts.
As for channels - Freeview has Dave, Freesat gets CBS and a +1 for itv3,more4,film4 etc. and a load of shopping/religous/world channels.
If u have a satellite dish I'd recommend freesat. Channel4 HD is set to join shortly, along with itv player
Of course you could buy a panasonic tv with both a freesat and freeview HD tuner built in and have best of both worlds.
It's interesting you say that, I have just got a panasonic v10 so I have a freesat tuner. I want a pvr so am trying to decide between the two for hd content. I have just been doing a bit of an ab comparison on the SD picture from freesat and freeview and the freeview looks a bit better to me (not by much though). I think I am in quite a strong freeview area so I think that a freeview hd pvr will be the best bet and I will still have the bonus of iplayer and the extra channels on freesat. I think the profs recommendation of the digital stream is going to be the one. I have just ordered a Sony s370 bluray player so I think next month I will try one out!
After much perseverance with the Philips HDT 8520 Freeview HD PVR (as Prof knows), I have finally had enough and exchanged it for the Humax HDR-Fox T2 . only got it today but first impressions are....... superb!
everything is very slick and well laid out IMO. On the HD picture quality, I have to say the Philips just shades it on detail and crispness. I still need to play around with the best video quality format setting as the Humax does not have an Auto/Native option (as yet). Humax is definately worth considering if your in the market for a HD Freeview PVR.
If money wasn't an issue I would get the humax but the digital stream is about a third less money so think that pamper in my range. I think my wife would kill me if i spend much more, tv bluray and pvr just before xmas! I had a similar hell with a sagem freeview hd box which got sent back so I want to get it right this time!