Grabbed a mighty today with free shipping…
“This product has been professionally refurbished by Fetch. This process involves rigorous testing in order to qualify as a re-sellable unit to the Australian public. All refurbished Fetch Mini'sn have been restored to working order, are placed within new Fetch official packaging and include all accessories.” - 12 month warranty
Nvidia shield is better as a smart box for streaming services, etc.
The fetch however has onboard storage (1Tb I think?) and 4 TV tuners for recording simultaneous free-to-air or fetch channels (if you pay for subscription)
Many thanks for your help 🙏
The fetch however has onboard storage (1Tb I think?) and 4 TV tuners for recording simultaneous free-to-air or fetch channels (if you pay for subscription)
Only the Mighty. The Mini is only useful when used in conjunction with a mighty…or you want to stream Fetch channels.
TV tuner
A review of Fetch for non-tech savvy users:
I'm renting a Fetch Mighty through my ISP ($15/mo with AussieBB) for my parents use. They're both in their 60s.
They wanted a new "smart TV" but weren't sure exactly what that meant. I bought them a 65in Sony with a decent panel but a crap smart system and rented this to take over all of the TV's smart duties.
The Sony remote control is on the coffee table and almost never used. I've never even tuned the TV channels on the Sony. The TV is left on hdmi input, the Fetch plugs in there, and the antenna plugs into the Fetch.
The Fetch has a nice tutorial when you set it up. I gave the remote to mum when the tutorial started and we walked through the first basic tutorial together. She was all over it. Mum and dad don't necessarily do things the most efficient way on the Fetch, but they can usually figure it out. They are getting used to pausing live tv, but not yet using that potential to then fast forward through the ads. They've recently started accessing Netflix through the box on their own.
I've setup Home & Away to automatically record (like the old TiVo), but mum's already figured out the channel 7 catch-up app as well. I've seen them more than once watching TV with 80% of the screen taken up with the TV guide and just the tiny live TV show in the top corner. Weird, but they know how to get full screen when they want to.
The current remote (3rd gen) is quite good. It's got a clean, simple layout. There is a 4th gen remote in the works which is similar but with a dedicated Netflix button. I don't think it's out yet.
The app support is good for most Aussie users, but the range is not great. You'll get all of the free to air catch up services (7, 9, 10, SBS and ABC) which is better than most TV boxes. You'll also get Netflix, Stan, YouTube and… that's about all of the semi-useful apps.
Amazon Prime Video? Persistent rumors, but still no. Foxtel or Kayo? No, Foxtel is Fetch's main competitor and Kayo is a Foxtel stable mate. If you've got any music streaming subscriptions, or bought movies/TV shows on Google Play, iTunes, or any other service, then forget it.
Fetch has subscription channel packs which look really good, but I'm not interested in paying extra for them at this point. It also comes with a free Hillsong channel subscription, which my parents enjoy.
The Fetch doesn't have voice control, which can be odd for those used to Android TV, but no voice control is better than a poor implementation of it. You can pair a Google Home with the Fetch for voice control, but I haven't tried that yet.
You can't plug a Chromecast, Blu-ray player, or any other HDMI device into the Fetch, which means that you still need to keep the TV remote around to swap HDMI inputs.
There's no universal search across all services. If you want to watch the Handmaid's Tale then you'd have to Google separately to find out that S3 is on SBS and previous seasons are on Stan. A universal search covering recorded shows, the TV guide, the catch-up services, and Netflix/Stan would be really appreciated.
The main Fetch competitor would be the Foxtel box which is also in the "one box for all of your services" market, and supposedly doing a decent job of it. I haven't seen one in recent years so can't say much about them.
I'd like a new Shield when they come out later this year, but with no TV Tuner and the 3rd party tuners being less than rock solid, my parents aren't in their target market.
I was quite unsure about the Fetch at first, which is why I rented instead of buying, but it's much better than I expected. It's annoying that I can't mix a rented machine with one I bought outright, otherwise I'd be tempted to add a Fetch Mini from here to my mum and dad's home. The rental machines are tied to your ISP (as is your Fetch account) and won't play with Fetch's from other ISPs or retail Fetches (like the ones in this deal). They're ISP specific, so if you rent your box through Optus for example, then you get Optus Sports; it's not just about customer lock-in. If you go with a retail box from this deal, then you avoid any lock-in at the cost of additional ISP-based Fetch services or freebies.
All in all, my parents are happy with it, and so I'm happy with it. The Fetch is primarily used to enhance the live FTA TV that they're used to and slowly ease then into the smart TV functions as they need them. Consistent support for all Australian FTA TV services is fantastic. Non-technical folks, with a bit of patience can wrap their heads around it easily enough. The tutorials are good. The remote is friendly enough.
The Fetch box and service gets a thumbs up from me.
Hey yak thanks for the post. I read your whole review. It's great to read an open and honest opinion. I got fetch TV a couple of years ago after much research. I was thinking about going back to Foxtel but the price was the main turn off. All the channels I use to watch on cable were on Fetch anyway- ESPN (NBA), Mtv, TLC, Syfy and a couple of other. I mean you really can beat it for $25 a month. I'm stuck with internode. I reckon I'm going to buy one outright and shop around for a cheaper NBN plan.
my parents are happy with it, and so I'm happy with it.
And that’s the most important part.
They wanted a new "smart TV" but weren't sure exactly what that meant.
Your parents sound like my in laws 🤣
This new (or perhaps renewed) trend of 'renting' stuff worries me. Why not just buy a box and sell it on ebay if you don't like it? $15 per month for a little less than 2 years and already you might as well have bought a mighty - less than 12 months for a mini - and you have no ownership of it the whole time.
Having said that, I'm a big fan of Fetch and would also recommend. The multi-room works absolutely flawlessly as well. If paytv is your thing, it beats foxtel everytime, just add kayo for foxsports and you've got a package that foxtel sells for 80-100/month
Were they in an Amish type cult at some stage? I say that because having one input and not using the TV's tuner seems important somehow. If you had said the were in their 80's I may understand, but considering they are in their 60's and therefore part of the "modern era" of technology, how did they not experience VCR's and TV's in the past?
Multi-room on these is amazing. Example, if you only have one antenna, your other fetch box can stream FTA through the other boxes antenna over wifi
Not as simple of course, but there are many DVB server backends such as Mediaportals's server, TVheadend etc. These work with Kodi. Mediaportal and other PVR clients, on Android, Apple, Windows, Linux etc. They can be configured for programmed recording on unlimited tuners and to automatically remove ads, and recompress the recordings if required. This make all of your tablets, Pc's, and phones, live and recorded TV clients.
Some info here.
https://kodi.wiki/view/PVR_recording_software
These units come with 24 month warranty and are not bound to any ISP.
How is there no android fetch app.
Such a waste - now I have to buy new hardware for the privalage of subscribing
I think you still need a fetch box
"Download and install the Fetch Mobi App from the App Store or Google Play.You’ll need the Activation Code (also called the Fetch ID) you got from your Fetch Service Provider to sign in. You can find your Activation Code / Fetch ID on your Fetch box at Menu > Manage > Settings > Mobile & Tabletor Device Info > Options (you’ll need your PIN to see your code)"
Yes you do, I thought you had a box already, I've got the mini and use the app with the activation code that is available on the system settings.
I got a mighty for my dad and works great. He can record no issues
This offer seems to have ended.
Try POPPER10
code PADDLE now works for 10% off this deal
Excuse my ignorance, but how is this better than the NVIDIA shield?