Replacement ideas?

[Skegg]

With the disappointment that Disney plus is no longer supported on my perfectly good smart box, I need to go shopping for an alternative as my 8 year old watches it in the spare room on an antique but perfectly good telly without a Freeview tuner. My needs are:

Freeview tuner

Disney plus

Now TV

Does not need to record

Needs to be cheap!

Would be nice if it supported Netflix & prime too but not a deal-breaker 

Does anyone have any ideas on a good buy?

[schnapps]

Hi @Skegg 

The stumbling block is an external Freeview device with the NOW & Disney + App on it and cheap (I am not aware of any devices to my knowledge).

Without forking out on a new Smart TV or a quite newish Smart TV second hand, then I can't see many clean options.

Something messy would keep the NOW Freeview Smart box for over the air TV duties if the Freeview channels your 8 year old can't watch through Apps such has BBC iPlayer, ITVX etc via the internet and look at something like a cheap Amazon Fire Stick (assuming the existing TV supports more than one HDMI input socket on the television).

Unless you need a HDMI switcher box also to get more than one HDMI input source onto the existing TV.

Using the existing TV and adding another playback device would mean using more remotes and interfaces which gets really messy and more confusing especially for an 8 year old (unless the live Freeview channels that your 8 year old watches can be directly viewed via BBC iPlayer, ITVX App etc instead of via the TV aerial,which then consider something like a Amazon Fire Stick and ditch the NOW Freeview box).

[Skegg]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. It is an old plasma screen (c. 2001!) But i am loathed to get rid as the picture is fabulous, not a million miles from our main telly, and sound spectacular - I think the RRP was about £2000 at the time......

It is that tuner and apps problem that prevails. I can get another VM box, but it does not support Now. Whilst I don't watch Now much (IMO the weakest of the on demand platforms?) I am slightly put off as I do like a few bits on there and I have a legacy deal which is super-cheap still.

Whilst I have a splitter, I don't really want yet another remote control.....

That is why the smart box was so good, all the perks of a Roku with the added bonus of the tuner.

I wonder if I can sideload the app to bypass the problem......?

[chilli2]

All of that with Freeview tuner , and cheap might be difficult , even more so if you add in antique TV without a freeview (DTT) tuner - as this may point to the TV not having HDMI inputs , and only SCART/Composite and Antenna in .

Does the TV have HDMI ports?

 Is the TV an old CRT type, or a "flat" screen?

[Skegg]

I do have an HDMI and a splitter, no dtv tuner though. I just want to avoid another remote (and I have the TV set to go straight to the now box so it is easy).

[RoyB]

@chilli2 

https://help.nowtv.com/article/what-is-a-now-box#panelcollapse3

• A TV with an HDMI port.

So yes to HDMI, must be,

[RoyB]

@Skegg 

Couple of Samsungs here, known to have Disney+, under £300:-

https://ao.com/l/tvs-g-black-14548-priced_less_than_300-cheap-2437/1-2-17-20-23-35-94/107-108/

I’ve no idea how Black and itvX got into the filter; I didn’t put them there, but I don’t think they are ruling anything much out 😛

There’s a 40in version of the 32in at £240, but not shown here.

Amazon is riddled with cheaper TVs, but I don’t know if they have Disney+, and they certainly won’t have Samsung’s quality.

Depending on how you are fixed for TVs now, you might want to replace your next-cheapest set with the £279 one here, and bump the existing one down to the spare room 😛

[chilli2]

What TV, make/ model is it?

If it has HDMI  then odds on it should have DTT for freeview

[RoyB]

@chilli2 

Indeed so, but it may only have DVB-T; DVB-T2 (for HD in the UK) didn’t start until 2009.

[Skegg]

Super old Panasonic. Has an HDMI but no dtv sadly. Top of the range plasma from 2001 ish. So it is actually half as old as me!