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Best FTA Satellite Receivers
Our Editors Review
the Best Free to Air Receivers
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Here at GOSatellite we are often asked "Which is the best FTA Receiver?". With dozens of top FTA brands and receiver types to choose from figuring out which will best suit your individual Free to Air satellite needs can be difficult. As GOSatellite carries the largest inventory of Free to Air Satellite Receivers in North America our editors have been able to test each and every branded FTA satellite receiver. With 8 years of satellite industry experience and a clear idea of what makes an FTA receiver right for you we have compiled our list and reviews of the best FTA receivers available today.
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Best Standard Definition FTA Receivers
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TOP PICK: Sonicview 360 Premier
| Sonicview 360 Premier |
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GOSatellite Rating: 5/5
Why?
Sonicview remains GOSatellite's top selling brand and has released some of the best FTA receiver models over the past few years. The Sonicview 360 Premier replaces the extremely popular Sonicview 4000 receiver and is joined by the massively popular Sonicview 8000 HD receiver. The Sonicview 360 Premier is easily our TOP PICK for a standard definition receiver, offering built in PVR recording capability via an external USB drive and 2 USB 2.0 ports for easy plug n' play connectivity.
Purchase an an external USB PVR hard drive now or whenever you're ready to record your favourite satellite programming. An external harddrive gives you extreme flexibility: The larger the hard drive the more programming you can record. GOSatellite has many hard drives sizes available to select from--save when you bundle an external drive with your Sonicview 360 Premier purchase.
The Sonicview 360 Premier has all the high-end features you would expect from Sonicview including a brand new 260MHz processor, making it one of the fastest models on the market. The 360 Premier model introduces an easily accessible USB port on the front of the unit, making software upgrades a snap and allowing you to leave your external PVR drive connected to the rear USB port without messy unplugging and moving of the receiver. In true Sonicview fashion the 360 Premier receiver also features all the output jacks you could ever need,including video, s-video, component video, and Dolby digital optical output.
RUNNER-UP: Viewsat Ultra
| Viewsat Ultra |
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GOSatellite Rating: 4/5
Why?
The Viewsat Ultra is our runner-up for a great starter free to air receiver because it’s a high quality Korean built FTA receiver with excellent software support from Viewtech Inc. the manufacture.
If you are new to the free to rir satellite world and do not want to invest in a lot of money at the beginning or you are looking for another FTA receiver for a bedroom or cottage then the Viewsat Ultra is a great choice.
This is a full featured standard definition receiver with an impressive list of features: This free to air receiver includes a USB port which makes the unit very easy to upgrade to the latest Viewsat software. A universal remote so you can operate your TV and this FTA receiver with one remote. The onscreen TV guide is very functional and within the menu you can search for the type of programming or themes of channels you want to watch like, movies, sports, new, family, children, educational, or adult (I guess adult can be educational for some too I suppose)
Other features of the Viewsat Ultra include: Component video output for great picture quality, blind scan for easy channel set up, Dolby digital optical output, built-in satellite smart card reader for future applications and upgrades, 200 MHz processor, 32MB SDRAM, and a full two warranty.
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Best Standard Definition FTA Receivers (with recording)
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TOP PICK:
Sonicview 360 Elite PVR
| Sonicview 360 Elite |
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GOSatellite Rating: 5/5
Why?
The Sonicview 360 Elite is another of our editors' Top Picks. This brand new PVR reveicer offers all the of great features of the Sonicview 360 Premier unit (including the option to connect an external harddrive for flexible PVR/recording capability) but with the added convenience of a Dual Tuner, allowing you to record & watch 2 shows at the same time.
As with the 360 Premier FTA receiver, the Sonicview 360 Elite PVR includes a brand new 260MHz processor, making it one of the fastest free to air receiver models on the market. The 360 Elite PVR model offers 3 easily accessible USB port on the front of the unit, making software upgrades a snap and allowing you to leave an external PVR drive connected to the rear USB port without messy unplugging and moving of the receiver. In true Sonicview fashion this receiver also features all the output jacks you could ever need,including video, s-video, component video, and Dolby digital optical output.
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RUNNER-UP: CaptiveWorks CW-800S
| CaptiveWorks CW-800S |
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GOSatellite Rating: 4/5
Why?
The CaptiveWorks CW-800S is our runner up for a standard definition FTA satellite receiver mostly because of its features to price ratio. We have access to all makes and models in North America, but if you want the lowest price best FTA receiver with a recording option then the CaptiveWorks CW-800S is the model for you.
As with all FTA receivers that have a recording option, you are required to purchase an external USB PVR / DVR hard drive in a size that based on your recording requirements. The most popular size is the 500GB give you approximately 250 hours of recording. See the satellite accessories section of the site for a hard drive to go along with this receiver.
The CaptiveWorks CW-800S has a great list of features like live recording or time shifting so you can select the date and time of the program you would like to record, user friendly onscreen menu, universal remote, component video output, Dolby digital optical output, blind scan, 6000 channel memory, and a simple installation setup menu.
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High Definition FTA Receiver
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There are a few models in this category and found it difficult to pick one model only, but we have narrowed it down to 3 models to help with your decision.
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TOP PICK: Sonicview SV-8000 HD
| Sonicview SV-8000 |
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GOSatellite Rating: 5/5
Why?
As there are so many high quality HD FTA Receivers currently on the market it was difficult for our us to select our Top Pick but once again Sonicview edged out other few competitive models. This is the Version 2 model of the SV-8000 HD that includes a cooling fan.
If you read our review of the Sonicview 360 Elite or Premiere models you will see why GOSatellite likes this HD FTA receiver model. The Sonicview SV-8000 HD's remote and on-screen menus are truly the best we have seen and the most user friendly. This high quality Korean built receiver has all the powerful features you would expect from a Sonicview box including a 200 MHz processor, 32MB of ram, USB and serial ports for easy software upgrading and accessibility and all the output jacks you w
ould ever need, including: Video, s-video, component video, HDMI, and Dolby digital optical output for AC-3 surround sound as well as two tuners, one for FTA satellite and one for an outdoor HD antenna (called an OTA).
As with the other Sonicview models you have the option to connect an external USB PVR hard drive to this receiver, allowing you to record from either tuner. The most common size harddrive is 320G and GOSatellite offers a number of high quality external harddrives you can bundle with your receiver purchase.
We also like the Sonicview's smart internal design as it is very easy to add an upgraded tuner now or in the future. If you are looking for a solid, long-term HD receiver purchase we highly recommend the Sonicview SV-8000 HD.
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