Therefore, the Freesat offering from the BBC really helps islanders make that jump to digital without subscribing to the - much of it quite frankly crap - content available on Sky. For a one off purchase of between £100-£200, it is possible to get either a standard box or one with HD functionality. I'm not sure of whether the island's retailers have taken Freesat on board, having bought mine from Currys. (Note that I thought the box didn't come with an HDMI cable, so bought one for £18, turns out it does)

My set-up is quite complex, my installed Humax Foxsat-HD outputs an SD content through the RGB SCART output into my Windows Vista Media Centre and a second HDMI content straight into the back of my Panasonic LCD TV. The box therefore is particularly useful as it outputs to both SD and HD connections, enabling me to integrate it into my PVR functionality of Media Center, yet still watch HD content "live". Unfortunately, as UK HD content is broadcast in H.264 format, which Microsoft don't support, there is no option at the moment to integrate HD content into my PVR set-up.

The box itself is quite petite, and has buttons hidden behind the flip down panel on the left for when you can't find the remote. An LED display shows the current channel, a useful improvement on a Sky box. On the back, outputs are available for RGB SCART, VCR SCART, Component Video, HDMI and digital audio via a TOSLink port. Additionally, the box also sports a USB slot and an Ethernet port. While I don't expect the USB port to support anything other than firmware upgrades, the Ethernet port is exciting particularly as it is required in any Freesat platform - BBC iPlayer will surely appear on these devices soon.

The Humax device fits well within a Windows Vista Media Centre set-up, although I did have to teach Media Centre the remote codes for the device. Once done, channel switching can be done on "Fast" and is reliable. The GUI on the device is attractive enough, and a full EPG is provided. Obviously, as I primarily use Windows Vista as my schedule planner I am not able to really give any detail on the EPG function but I have found key features such as programme descriptions, auto-turn over functionality and the data is pretty comprehensive and up to date. One issue I did find in setting the device up with Windows Vista Media Centre is that the Freesat platform is not yet configured as a complete EPG, instead only "Freesat unmapped" is available. Obviously, an unmapped configuration is next to useless, so I had to opt for my Manchester postcode on a Sky platform and walk through the channels renumbering the ones I did receive. A couple of hours doing this, though, you should be sorted.

The BBC have obviously been key to the whole process of developing the Freesat platform, and much credit has to go to their technical teams in being able to roll out the platform in time for the European Cup, Wimbledon and Olympics. Unfortunately, the schedule was particularly tight, so the Euros and Wimbledon did not see the multiscreen functionality that the Sky and Freeview platforms sport. As a Wimbledon fan, this is a bit disappointing, but as the BBC output to so many platforms, I can hardly complain! While I am truly struggling to receive a reliable signal, I am enjoying what WImbledon coverage I can receive. Unfortunately, my annual holiday watching WImbledon (either there or on TV) has been ruined this year by a tree that has grown too much in the last few weeks and is now blocking my dish. That said, the content I have received is very good, particularly BBC HD. I am not exagerating when I say that you can pick up the detail in the scuffed grass at each baseline. (Wimbledon is broadcast in 1080i.)

More credit also has to go to Humax for their involvement in the userbase. As I have said before, in particular at the previous Work Connexions site (which I wrote ;) ) companies must open up to the internet community in their product development. Both the BBC and Humax have done this. The various BBC blogs all provide opportunity for users to feedback to the editors - who do reply to posts to show that they are at least taking notice of feedback. Also, Humax have also contributed to a support thread at the very good site Digital Spy, further showing that they are open to feedback and are willing to act on it in as transparent manner as possible within their corporate policies.

In the future, I'm looking forward to a high likely iPlayer implementation, further bug-fixes and software updates on the platform and more channels becoming available. While the BBC is planning some exciting content and services for the Olympics, which I'd love to see, I won't be watching it for reasons of principle (Human Rights, Tibet not being autonomous), but I'm pig-headed like that.