Sky+

[richard3330]

We had a leaflet through this morning about Sky+

We already have Sky Digital, but this upgrade seems extremely expensive (£250 one-off and an extra £10 a month on top of subscription) what exactly does it do?, I understand that it records programmes, but why not just have a VCR, and why the monthly subscription?

Anyway, thanks if you can enlighten me!

Richard.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Sky+ has two sattelite tuners built in, so you can watch one sattelite channel while you record a second. Plus you get all sorts of pause & instant replay stuff.

With Sky regular you only get one sattelite tuner.

VCRs have only an off air tuner like a TV set. You can watch a sattelite channel while you record a regular 'off air' channel (BBC 1 & 2, ITV, C4 & possibly C5), or vice versa.

The box is more expensive because it has two tuners plus a hard disk for recording on. The extra subscription is for the extra tuner - you effectively have two sky subscriptions.

The fact the box records on hard disk means it can record and play back at the same time. Unlike a VCR, you can start to watch the start of a programme while it is still recording the end

I have excellent 'off air' reception where I live, and seldom have conflicts between off air & sattelite channels that I want to watch, especially as most of the best stuff gets repeated. I manage quite nicely with TV, a VCR and regular Sky.

aNDREW

 

[elisebutt]

I've been thinking about this as well as we have awful reception thro our aerial, we can't even get ch5, but as you say £250 is an awful lot to shell out in one go. Maybe in a year or so if the price goes down.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

We got one as well and I was thinking of going down this road - because I want to be able to record one sky channel and watch another sky channel at the same time which isn't possible with a VCR.

I also want to get installed the facility to watch sky from another TV in the house I know it would be cheaper if I just do the "watch the same channel" and don't know if it'd be worth getting the facility to watch 2 different sky channels in the same house. Has anyone else done this?

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I have this facility.

My VCR and Sky box are connected to a a signal amplifier which sends my aerial signal and VCR & Sky signals to all TVs in my home. Upstair in my bedroom, I have a little infra red receiver wired back to the Sky box which I can control with a second Sky remote. It works well, except when my cat walks over the magic eye & it falls down the back of the set.

Andrew

 

[Peebee]

One thing you guys need to be aware of is that Sky+ can only play back one programme at a time, even if you have it connected to two (or more) TVs. You are currently able to record one channel whilst watching another, and you can even pause the 'live' TV channel. Sky are meant to be producing an upgrade that is automatically downloaded to the box that will allow two programmes to be recorded at once.

Sam, if you just want to have two Sky boxes without the recording capability, I think Sky do what they call a dual-subscription. Not 100% sure on the price, but I think it's more than the £10 per month, and you might have to buy a second box as well.

Sky+ is expensive - especially the £10 per month, but it really does change the way you watch TV. We hardly ever watch anything live anymore, but just sit down and catch programmes when we have time. Not having to remember to put a tape in the VCR or wondering if it has enough space left is great also.

I wish Sky would make it a little cheaper though and either reduce or get rid of the monthly charge - i'm sure they would get a lot more takers then.

Paul

 

[Janice]

We got Sky Plus at the beginning of December.

I dont know or can never fathom the technical issues so I'll leave that to others, but what I can tell you is that we took up the offer and got the package for £160 - plus £10 per month extra. We had to agree to keep this package for 12 month.

They then came along and installed a new box in the lounge with a new handset - this is the PLUS box. This came with a new Card. The original box was then installed into another room in the house.

The reason we decided to go with this option was basically because Chris likes to watch Skysports and the music channels - my mum likes to watch the soaps and she likes the UK Channels and also Hallmark. By having the second set this gave us the flexibilty. I record the soaps and I watch them early the next morning when I get up and do my ironing - so we all get the flexibility we want, when we want.

But.........the best thing is that we never miss a programme. We like Friends and ER - you can just press a button to record and then press another button, and the Sky Plus automatically records every episode......you dont have to remind it. So you never need miss it. Also, if you are watching a programme, even a LIVE programme, and the phone goes, or someone knocks on the door, or even if you want to make a cup of tea, you can just press PAUSE - and it freezes the programme/film - and automatically starts recording the rest. When you're ready to start watching again you just hit PLAY and it carrries on from where you PAUSED it - in the meantime carrying on recording, so you are basically playing catch up!

I think it is a brilliant system and it works really well for us - I dont have to sit and watch what I want where everyone is smoking all around me - I just disappear off and do my own thing and watch my programmes when I want.

Sorry if this is all a bit jumbled but I couldnt think of how else to put it! LOL

Hope this helps - we think it is worth the money, since we moved we are not near a video shop so we can now record as many films as we like and watch them at our own leisure.

 

[richard3330]

Thanks for your replies everybody.

It sounds quite interesting, it sounds good that you can pause a live programme and watch the rest from where you left off.

I think we'll consider it....hopefully the price might come down soon.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Janice

You're wasted you're such a sales person

BTW - you should tell all those smokers to quit

 

[Janice]

..........tell me about it Sam! LOL