Sky Plus HD Box

Kethridge · 10 Sep 2010 at 13:54

Am gonna buy a Sky Plus HD Box off of ebay.

On some of them they say "only 2 weeks old" bla bla, is there a way to check how old the box is once you have bought it?

iamtheoneneo · 10 Sep 2010 at 15:07

no not really.lol.it might be dated on the back but wont mean much considering its probably sat in a warehouse for a good 6 months.

MissChief · 10 Sep 2010 at 16:04

Check the manufacturer and model number. The only boxes that Sky are producing are Amstrad's, the 890C with a 500GB hard Drive and the 895 or 1TB/1.5TB box. Any other manufacturer won't be 'new'. Samsung did make 500GB boxes for a while late last year and early this year but if it's a Pace, Thomson or 'large' Amstrad it's unlikely to be new at all.

Kethridge · 10 Sep 2010 at 16:26

I've heard that Pace is the one to get though...

MissChief · 10 Sep 2010 at 22:14

Not necessarily. Pace boxes only come with a 300Gb hard drive (160/140) and there are quite a few reports coming through on AVForums of pace boxes starting to have problems. Avoid the Thomsons with a bargepole unless they've had the PSu capacitor fix and boxes with larger hard drives fitted can be problematic.

Any particular reason you're not buying from Sky? is this a second box or don't want the HD sub for 12 months or what? If it's your first HD box then the box is free, 12 month guarantee and £30 install but you need the HD sub for 12 months.

dbmzk1 · 10 Sep 2010 at 23:17

Kethridge said:
I've heard that Pace is the one to get though...

No, the new Amstrad (500GB) is the one to get.

Matteysan · 11 Sep 2010 at 11:41

MissChief said:
Any particular reason you're not buying from Sky? is this a second box or don't want the HD sub for 12 months or what? If it's your first HD box then the box is free, 12 month guarantee and £30 install but you need the HD sub for 12 months.

We had a phone call from Sky here yesterday.

We've been offered free install, free box & 6months free HD sub. Can't complain with that installation next Friday

Deleted member 77746 · 11 Sep 2010 at 12:43

Sky are offering all existing customers free upgrades to Sky +HD right now.

Memphis · 11 Sep 2010 at 12:53

Unless you already have an HD box and want another one... which is annoying.

neil_g · 11 Sep 2010 at 14:46

MissChief said:
Check the manufacturer and model number. The only boxes that Sky are producing are Amstrad's, the 890C with a 500GB hard Drive and the 895 or 1TB/1.5TB box. Any other manufacturer won't be 'new'. Samsung did make 500GB boxes for a while late last year and early this year but if it's a Pace, Thomson or 'large' Amstrad it's unlikely to be new at all.

interesting i just had an 890 with 250gb drive installed?

MissChief · 11 Sep 2010 at 16:36

It's a 500Gb hard Drive but you get 250GB of personal space. The other 250GB is for Sky's use with Anytime.

neil_g · 11 Sep 2010 at 16:47

MissChief said:
It's a 500Gb hard Drive but you get 250GB of personal space. The other 250GB is for Sky's use with Anytime.

ahhhh..

Kethridge · 12 Sep 2010 at 18:24

MissChief said:
Any particular reason you're not buying from Sky? is this a second box or don't want the HD sub for 12 months or what? If it's your first HD box then the box is free, 12 month guarantee and £30 install but you need the HD sub for 12 months.

Yeah I just don't want the subscription, I don't watch enough TV to warrant it. I went for a Pace 160gb, got it for 60 quid. I'll be getting the free to air card.

Alpherah · 12 Sep 2010 at 18:49

Speaking of Sky HD boxes, just put in an order and will be installed next sat, what kinda' box should i be getting? one of the new ones?

MissChief · 13 Sep 2010 at 01:30

Kethridge said:
Yeah I just don't want the subscription, I don't watch enough TV to warrant it. I went for a Pace 160gb, got it for 60 quid. I'll be getting the free to air card.

You are aware that you'll only have access to BBC HD, ITV HD if you're in England, Ch4 and Ch5 HD channels (oh and Luxe TV!) and WON'T be able to record/pause/rewind?

Alpherah said:
Speaking of Sky HD boxes, just put in an order and will be installed next sat, what kinda' box should i be getting? one of the new ones?

You should get an Amstrad DRX890 with a 500Gb HDD in it.

neil_g · 13 Sep 2010 at 11:15

MissChief said:
You are aware that you'll only have access to BBC HD, ITV HD if you're in England, Ch4 and Ch5 HD channels (oh and Luxe TV!) and WON'T be able to record/pause/rewind?

does that mean the program i sent through on remote record on 5-HD wont actually record?

MissChief · 13 Sep 2010 at 22:06

Correct. Well, it will record, but you won't be able to play it.

Sootie · 13 Sep 2010 at 22:27

Kethridge said:
Yeah I just don't want the subscription, I don't watch enough TV to warrant it. I went for a Pace 160gb, got it for 60 quid. I'll be getting the free to air card.

Good price for a Pace box

Corasik · 14 Sep 2010 at 01:18

Sky gave me a great deal to upgrade my Thomson HD box to an Amstrad 1GB box.. And while I am not a huge fan of Amstrad in general, this box is great. Its a bunch faster than the old Thomson boxes. I have had no failed recordings since I bought it, and it didnt take them too many software updates to get the box both speedy, and reliable. Oh and it gets a much better signal from the dish too. Almost never get any dropouts even in really bad weather.

Corasik · 14 Sep 2010 at 01:20

I am fairly sure that even if you have freesatfromsky, that you can still opt in to Sky+ for £10 a month to enable the PVR mode of the boxes. However, thats not all that much cheaper than the cheapest channel package, and all channel packages include Sky+ now.