Several months ago I got rid of my Sky family pack subscription after realising I was paying a ridiculous amount of money each month and only watching free-to-view channels anyway. Sky duly banished, off I went to get myself a freeview set top box. After a nasty experience with the cheapest I could find (a Mitsubishi that didn't work properly from day one and also interfered with my terrestrial channels and video), I got myself a Daewoo Setpal and haven't looked back.
LOOKS
The Daewoo Setpal is about 3 inches high, 10 inches wide and 7 deep, and comes in a silver coloured plastic-type material. It isn't the most t beautiful or expensive looking piece of equipment, but then no set top boxes are, and it's not so ugly that you have to hide it away either. It's also very light, so if you've no room to sit it alongside something you can place
it on top of your DVD or VCR without covering up the air-holes or putting pressure on the casing.
The accompanying remote control is black, with a very neat size and look, and all buttons are easy to use and read.
PRICE
The set topboxes I looked at ranged in price from £79.99 to £99.99, and the Daewoo is one of the £99.99 ones. I believe there are even cheaper ones around, but after my experience with the Mitsubishi I'd advise paying full whack rather than saving ten or twenty quid, especially when you consider that this is a one-off payment and your viewing is totally free.
SETTING UP
The Setpal comes with a scart and a traditional cable, and you can use either to connect. As my TV only has the one scart and it's connected to my DVD, I used the traditional cable to connect the Setpal to my television, with the aerial that was going into my television now going into my Setpal box.
Once the physical setting up is done, you select the channel on your TV from which you will watch freeview, and then tune in.
Tuning in is simplicity itself with the press of one button. The Setpal does the rest and takes about 5 minutes to do it, at which point you are presented with a list of all available channels on your screen which you choose to accept or reject.
One good thing here is that the Setpal keeps your terrestrial channels at numbers one to five, unlike many televisions these days which order channels according to frequency and you then have to spend an hour rearranging them again with the help (or not, as the case may be) of an often unfathomable manual.
Also, whenever you switch on your Setpal, it automatically searches for new channels or better reception of existing ones, and then asks you if you would like to install them. Again this is a very simple one button process that takes about two minutes.
WATCHING FREEVIEW
Turn your TV to the channel you selected for freeview, then use the freeview remote control from that point on.
THE REMOTE
Your remote is the key to freeview TV. As well as using it to change channel, you use it for:
Teletext Switching screen size (i.e. 4:3, widescreen etc.) Information (signal strength, frequency etc.) Interactive services Guide
The guide button is especially useful as it enables you to see at a glance what's on now and next on all channels. From this screen you can then select the channel you want to watch, or you can return to the TV screen and select your channel with the 0-9 buttons or the scroll button.
CHANNELS
So, what do you get for free after spending your £99.99 then?
All terrestrial channels ITV2 BBC THREE BBC FOUR UK History C Beebies Another BBC children's' channel BBC News 24 ITV 24 hour news Sky News Sky Sports News TMF (24 hour music) The Hits (24 hour music) BBC Parliament QVC bid-up tv Community channel UK Bright Ideas ftn All BBC radio channels, including digital Teletext (which is alas very slow and not much use)
I think there are a couple more too but can't remember off hand, and there are new channels being introduced fairly regularly, and anyway this op is about the Daewoo Setpal and not freeview television.
RECEPTION
I am watching freeview via a traditional cable connection and the picture quality is perfect. I have never had trouble with images breaking up or pixellating.
If you connect to your Setpal via scart, reception is supposed to be even better (though frankly I don't see how my current reception could be bettered).
Please note here that if you have a very old or poor quality aerial, it may not be able to receive digital signals, in which case you'd need to get a new aerial. Having said that, my own aerial is about 10 years old and as I've said, I get perfect reception.
OVERALL
I can't think of any reason not to have freeview television. Even if you hardly ever watch it, you'll surely get your money's worth over the years considering you've paid less than a hundred quid.
And if you are getting freeview, then the Daewoo Setpal is a reliable receiver that is simplicity itself to set up and use.
Highly recommended.
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Oh how I'd love to stick it to Sky and get one of these. But could I live without my Simpsons? Paul
mrpaella 24.05.2003 20:46
A brilliant op, Sandra. Even I can fix this to my TV. I already drive a Daewoo Matiz. Thanks for your kind comments on my Disneyland Hotel op. Take care...Paul
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