COSTS
Sky can be received on a dish as small as 60-80 cm. However, you won't get much in the way of free channels on this size, almost all are pay channels. Sky Sports, some Movies and many HD channels can be picked up on this dish size. A Sky subscription costs between £216/year for one basic pack and £702/year for all packs, premium channels and HD. You won't get any BBC channels on a 60 cm dish, apart from BBC News, but you will get ITV1 which will normally be in 'other channels'. In this case, it won't be in the Sky guide and cannot be recorded. The first year cost will be lower than a Freesat installation. Freesat has a higher initial cost but nothing to pay subsequently. On most installations, Freesat is usually cheaper after about two years.

DISH SIZE
Freesat needs at least a 1.2 metre dish, which will cost more to install than a 60 cm. You'll get BBC One and BBC HD on this size, plus ITV. You won't get Channels Four and Five. The best size is 1.8 metres, which will bring in all channels. Sky can work on a dish as small as 60 cm, but to get all the main public services such as BBC, ITV, Channel Four, E4, Film Four, More Four a 180 cm is needed, just like Freesat.

ELECTRONIC GUIDES (EPG)
The Sky guide has around 650 TV channels and 200 radio. It cannot be edited.

The Freesat guide has 140 TV channels and 30 radio. Unwanted channels can be deleted and re- ordered. A Freesat box can be used in multi-channel installtions, such as with an extra dish for another country's programmes. Freesat's EPG is superior to Sky's and also has listings for radio.

PARENTAL CONTROL
Both Sky and Freesat have parental controls. Sky's is the more restrictive: Movies with an age rating greater than 12 will be PIN protected before 9pm. Freesat boxes have no PIN. PIN management has become more problematic recently. See 'Keep your PIN handy'
RECEIVERS
Sky's new Sky+ HD boxes have 500 GB hard drives, but only around half is available for recording. The remainder is used by the operating system and Sky Anytime (whether or not it is enabled) Freesat's Humax new HDR also has a 500 GB hard drive, all of which is available for personal use. It divides the media types into folders for TV and radio, making it easier to find things. Both systems have folder creation to store multiple recordings of a series. Deleting items is very easy on Sky, Freesat requires more button presses. Sky has 32x fast forward/reverse, Freesat has 64x. Sky cannot easily record radio programmes, but the Freesat HDR can. A Sky box boots up instantly, Freesat's HDR takes much longer. Power consumption of a Sky box in standy is reputed to be about 45 watts, a Freesat HDR is only 3 watts. (This is the reason boot-up is slow). The new Amstrad DRX 890 has a 'deep sleep' function which consumes the same amount of power as the Humax, ( following a new EC rule ) but boot up is slow, and normal functions are supended during sleep. Sky's remote control is far superior to that of the Freesat HDR. Both systems have instant rewind/ fast forward/ live pause. Sky boxes will record a whole programme if the record button is pressed after it has started, Freesat boxes will only record a programme from the moment the record button is pressed. TUNER
Sky boxes are now Sky+ HD only and have two tuners. Freesat still has a single tuner model without a hard drive, but this is shortly to be discontinued.The Freesat HDR requires two cables from the dish, as does a Sky box. Freesat boxes have much more sensitive tuners than Sky boxes, meaning weak channels such as BBC 2 will be received better.
PICTURE
Freesat boxes have superior picture quality on standard definition channels, and slightly better on HD channels. Both Sky and Freesat give outstanding HD quality pictures. Freesat boxes are slightly temperamental on a small proportion of older HD televisions, and will sometimes show a 'green screen' caused by an 'HDMI handshake' problem.