On Digital / ITV Digital Freeview Boxes : eBay Guides

Greetings!

Freeview has been around for a few years now, initially it was launched in the UK as On Digital and the notorious ITV Digital - infamous for nearly destroying the football league through lost advertising revenues etc. A by product of these early forays into Digital Television is that there are now a great number of obsolete On Digital and ITV Digital receivers around. These devices look rather like a Sky Digibox / Satellite Receiver. In fact they can still be used today to receive freeview tv broadcasts without having to pay any subscription or needing a viewing card. The most common models are made by Pace, Philips, Pioneer and Nokia. Unlike modern freeview receivers the On Digital / ITV Digital receivers are 'full-sized', i.e, they are the same size as a vhs video recorder / dvd player etc. Often you will see the old On Digital / ITV logo still attached. They are very easy to set-up without any manual and you can often do everything required to automatically scan for digital channels without needing a remote control. Ideally you want either the original remote control that came with the box, but I have found that the 'one-for-all' or universal programmable remote controls work well too when you find the code by using the search function. Also most of these boxes have a card slot that can be used for the freeview subscription channels - Top-Up-TV etc. The only drawback with this type of receiver is that they arent set up for digital text, although you do get the basic tv guide service and subtitles. All the models I have seen all have a virtually identical set up menu system which as I've mentioned is pretty idiot proof. So if you are looking for a cheap  / no frills freeview box that you dont need to have a degree in rocket science to operate / set up I'd recommend buying one. Finally as these boxes were all made by well known manufacturers you can be sure of a quality product, the same which cant be said of some of the freeview boxes currently retailing in shops and supermarkets around the £25 price range. I have already had two cheapo digital boxes made by budget end manufacturers go wrong, yet my old On Digital boxes seem almost bombproof in comparison! Anyway folks, hope this helps someone when making a decision on buying one of these boxes.

Littlecamden.