A Review of the Freesat+ box with free time

A couple of week's ago I was lucky enough to be sent a 500GB Humax Freesat+ box to review by the fab Mumsnet Bloggers Network. This couldn't have come at a better time for our family as we are in the process of a serious review of our household bills which seem to be spiralling out of control. With our money needed to cover the ever increasing fuel bills we just can't justify luxuries like the £50 per month we spend on Sky TV, so the appeal of the subscription free Freesat is HUGE, even with the initial outlay of the box within 6months we would be saving money when compared to our Sky subscription!

Unwrapping the box!

I am completely clueless when it comes to technology (I still call DVDs 'videos'  and CDs 'records' to the embarrassment of my children), so wasn't looking forward to the task of setting the box up!  A week and a bit ago a box arrived containing everything we needed to get going with Freesat. The actual Freesat box itself is about the size of a DVD player and actually pretty good looking (if you like that sort of thing that is!). Despite my technical ineptitude, the box was actually really easy to set up (though I did enlist the help of my other half to do the plugging in!). You literally just turn the box on and follow the on screen directions at each step. We were up an running within about 10 minutes maximum. Marvellous!

Setting the Freesat box up - testing signal strength

So, what do I think of it? It does everything it says in the blurb:

"Freesat 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 Demand5; and all subscription free."

Freesat launched 'freetime' 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."

So 'thank you' Freesat, we now have a fab array of *free* channels (195 to be precise - see below!) to watch with no costly monthly fees (hooray - we can turn the central heating on!). My kids are happy that they still get to watch their favourite programmes and my husband is getting stuck right into the 'on demand' section. It's mad to think we would pay £600 per year to Sky for a similar service!

195 free channels!

Happy smiles all round - thank you Freesat!

SPECIAL FREESAT+ BOX DISCOUNT OFFER
Freesat is a subscription free service and Freesat+ boxes are available to buy from a range of retailers - RRP from £226. Humax are offering, via GlutenFreeChild, an exclusive discount code to purchase a 500GB Humax Freesat+ box for £199, a saving of £30. Just enter the code: FT30 when ordering.


Note: I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network Research Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.