Ack! PVR DVDR type noob needs some help

ALienBC

ALienBC

ALienBC

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16 Jan 2003
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Right: the other half has been badgering me for years now to get Sky+. We've just got normal Sky at the moment. I'd like to take the box outside and stomp on it, cos it's crap, but noo... she likes it. And wants to do the HD record pause yer live crap TV and all that. So for Xmas, she wants some sort of shiny pausey live tv thing. And I don't know what to get:

1) At the moment we have Sky. Can I get anything other than a Sky+ box and use it to record Sky progs?

2) We're gonna be moving house next year, into an NTL area. Which might mean swapping one Big Evil TV company for another... again, what kind of unit would be most flexible to cope with recording anything from any provider?

3) I like the look of Topfield and Humax PVRs; but I can't tell if they'll let me record external sources, or just Freeview

4) I've no idea about DVD recorders... would they provide a bit more flexibility, as per my comments above? Ie, getting something without a tuner praps. Tho I do like the idea of Freeview, it's just so... free :]

Ta muchly
abc
 
Sky+ is great and easy to use, although there is some major problems with them. Saying that i've never had a problem in the 4 years ive had one.

Telewest box's are ment to be even worse though. If your moving house they will more than likely give you a free sky+ box, if you set up a new account, and if it ever does break down you can just threaten to cancel anyway.

Can't comment on the rest as never used one.


O you could get like a tivo box and plug that into your sky box.
 
Yeh, I know the Sky+ box is supposed to be dead easy to use - I just object to having to buy something and then rent it as well. And I believe it's only single tuner.

Tivo, hmmm...
abc
 
Actually you do rent it. As far as I can tell, Sky+ at the moment is:

- 99 quid for the box
- free installation if you take multiroom, which is 10 quid a month (ie, rental)
- 60 quid installation if you don't take multiroom
- and potentially another 10 quid a month (ie rental) if you don't take two premium channels on top of your standard mix

Sadly I've lost the argument with the missus, and it looks like we're doing it anyway. Great :)

abc
 
Sky+ is awesome, probably the best thing since colour TVs. I really cannot reccomend it highly enough. Twintuner so you can record 2 channels or record one watch one, and you just browse the program guide you have now, and press a red button and its recorded - week in advance. Flicking over onto a chanel, if you watch it for a bit, and miss whats happened just rewind - no need to pause it or anything - you can rewind to the point you turned over - its great, just so well integrated that i feel i've had a limb removed when i lived without it for a while.

As for costs, yeah you buy the box, then if you have 2 premium channles its free, if not its £10 a month. You could hav freeview on it, and just pay the £10. You pay £10 for multiroom as you're taking another feed - hence another subscriber. Installation is installation, and is a fact of life (as would getting an aerial fitted for freeview if yours was incompatible).

I would reccomend a DVD recorder as well tho, as its the best way to get stuff off your Sky+ box for archiving...

Should mention Sky will be releasing their TV on demand soon too - which will only be available with Sky+
 
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Well I recently had the NTL HD box installed, cheaper than sky and the SD channels are a lot nicer to watch than normal sky was, less obvious macroblocking .
Has all the other features of sky+ .. 80 hrs HDD recording, ability to watch one channel while recording 2 others etc, but the software is a bit iify, sometimes the menu/guide thing stops, and nothing happens for 30 secs or so, then because you have been frantically pressing buttons it all happens at once when it decides to move again :rolleyes:
There is only the BBC demo channel in HD ATM, but I am sure more will come before much longer, watching a clip of Torchwood on the HD preview earlier and pic was superb :)
 
Thanks both. I just spoke to NTL, and had an amusing conversation with someone who was supposed to have training this morning on their new "Tivo" system but it got cancelled, so she knew almost nothing about it. There's an updated price list on the NTL website that talks about the V+ box, which sounds promising (although it'd be much more sensible if they just resold Tivo... who knows, I guess it'll be some kind of PVR they're rebadging). Usual thing, 80hrs recording, record two watch one, etc etc. Sounds a bit like what you're talking about, Vogon, tho she didn't mention HD. 10 quid a month rental (she thinks) on top of the usual tv mix, and available everywhere (she claimed) by the end of Feb.

I guess that's ok... would still be cheaper than Sky. Perhaps I'm just old and crotchety but I still think the hardware should be free. Without it you can't pay them for TV subs so... ah well, anyway - more to think about.

As for the Sky+ box... see, that's great. Buy a PVR, rent it too, and you still have to buy another box to archive recordings. Same with NTL I guess? Life'd be so much easier if you could just network it. I've already got several DVD recorders in tower cases :)

abc
 
aye i know what you mean. What annoys me more is that you get a digital signal, which gets converted to analogue through SCART into a digital recorder which convertsit back to digital - meaning you lose quality as well...

Not sure how the telewest works out cheaper tho? is their box free/less? or do you get multiroom for free? as Sky charge £10 if you dont have premium channels.
 
AlienBC:
Yes most of the phone bots dont know a lot at all, it is HD capable, but only the one demo channel in HD so far.

Pug:
ATM the box is cheaper I believe .. £75 mine was, but free if you have multiroom at a fiver a month extra.
As for the channels, I have the family pack (no premium channels), which was (at least until recently) half price for 6 months, so with the new HD PVR box and family package its costing me £19.50 pm and was free instalation.

Sky HD is £299 to buy the box £60 instalation (free if already a customer ??) and then £31 PM with no premium channels, I don't know if it has a built in PVR ?

Sky+ is £99 to buy the box, £60 instalation (free if already a customer ??), then £31 PM with no premium channels. obviously no ability for HD.
 
If NTL's new "Sky+" thing is indeed the "V+" box they now have on their price lists... and if the woman I spoke to is to be believed:

- you get free installation for V+
- it costs 10 quid a month for a V+ box if you have their uber TV package, or 15 quid a month otherwise
- additional normal settop boxes are a fiver a month if you have V+, or 15 a month without

On the plus side, apparently I have two premium Sky channels already (news to me, they're all ***** as far as I'm concerned) so Sky+ would only cost me the install fee. The place we're moving to doesn't have a dish, so it'd cost me £40 for a new dish install, then £99 for Sky+. But they made me a great offer: after "speaking with his manager" the guy at Sky customer support offered to install Sky+ at the new place, with a new dish, for... £139 :)

I can't believe how complicated the whole thing is. I need two phone lines, one for work, one for home; at least one broadband connection for work; and TV; and the missus wants SKy+ or something equivalent. I'm trying to compare NTL, Sky and BT, each of which offers a confusing mix of options I don't really want, but need some of.

Do I need NTL (with the PVR stuff after February) for TV, for phone or for neither? Do I need Sky with BT for phone and Interweb? Do I get NTL phone, broadband and TV, and just use BT for work phone? Do I get NTL broadband and ADSL on the BT line too? Aaargh :) I know they're all scrambling for our business with their triple plays, quadruple plays etc, but it drives me nuts.

abc
 
do consider that Sky will give you free Bband (with caps) which isnt to be sneezed at (do telewest do similar?)
 
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