I wonder if the issue is that the TV doesn’t fully support Freeview Plus. Perhaps it has hbbTV enabled, but is not Freeview Plus certified. Please let me know the brand and model number, as I’d like to investigate this further. We may need to expand our TV test method.
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I had never heard of “hbbTV” but, looking at the specs online, the TV does support that. When I get some time, I will see whether it can be disabled / enabled i.e. whether it makes any difference.
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hbbTV - hybrid broadband TV - is the technology that makes Freeview Plus possible. If you turn it off, Freeview Plus won’t work.
Because we do all of our testing in Sydney, I’m not fully across what the various regional and rural broadcasters are doing, but I can understand that some are not part of Freeview Plus.
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I don’t even know what the point is, of Freeview PLus.
If I can get it working, I’ll let you know. 
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It is an opportunity to watch a select collection of programs you may have missed but want to watch anyway as well as embedded commercial announcements, all without having to record the programs (or commercials) yourself 
Missed the last 5 minutes of your fav blockbuster? You often have to watch all the commercials to get there. An advertisers dream!
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I knew there was a good reason I ignore FV+ and stick with a device that records everything and lets me speed thru the ads… or else just netflix/amazon prime.
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A more palatable example might be … missed one episode of a good mini-series?
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And yet, there are other ways and means. EG, the ABC stuff turns up on Netflix or other places sooner or later.
I imagine that getting Netflix working could be as difficult as getting Freeview Plus working, maybe more so.
Freeview Plus is of course … free.
Why do you say that? Although, your TV may be one of those which is only partly smart. Seriously I’d recommend forgetting FV and get an external device plugged in. Your issues will vanish.
General cynicism about how easy consumer technology is to get working and keep working, particularly when it is all opaque. Bitter experience. 
You may be right but my interest has been piqued, I have taken up the challenge. I would at least like to know why it doesn’t work.
Find out who we ranked as the best brand TV (member content):
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We’ve updated our article on TV buying tips:
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Hi I read with interest your latest review of recommended tvs and yet again you have included a discontinued item. I think that in the interest of accuracy only items that are available for purchase should be reviewed.
Hi @richard2,
Sorry for any frustration we might have caused. We keep discontinued items for a number of reasons - sometimes people might like to compare their existing TV score with a new one, sometimes discontinued items remain available in stores or online after manufacturing stops.
Discontinued items are not displayed in the review by default, they must be selected using the filter on the left. As long as you leave this box unchecked, you shouldn’t see any discontinued items.
Let me know if there is a discontinued item displaying by error, and we’ll update the review.
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samsung ua65ru7100 is discontinued…
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Thanks @richard2, appreciate the info. Unfortunately with COVID, it has played a bit of havoc with TV model release times, so we’re working to get the correct information and make sure our site is updated. We are currently testing the Samsung UA55TU8000WXXY, which is the closest to the RU7100 series for this year. We will also be testing the Samsung UA65TU8000WXXY in labs soon and should have results for that available in August.
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