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Covenant
10-07-2012, 15:37
Got a letter from Sky yesterday informing me that my monthly subscription is going up. No it's not because I am going to cancel it.
What to get instead? Should it be a media centre or Freeview HD with a subscription to Netflicks or Lovefilms? :scratch:

northwest
10-07-2012, 15:45
Got a letter from Sky yesterday informing me that my monthly subscription is going up. No it's not because I am going to cancel it.
What to get instead? Should it be a media centre or Freeview HD with a subscription to Netflicks or Lovefilms? :scratch:

Well, we pay nearly a hundred beer tokens monthly to Sky and I have decided enough is enough. I have followed Stan's advice here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=16369
and the wireless thingy is on it's way. We are going to give Netflix a go with the free month and downgrade the whole package to the very basic minimum.

JazzBones
10-07-2012, 15:56
Got a letter from Sky yesterday informing me that my monthly subscription is going up. No it's not because I am going to cancel it.
What to get instead? Should it be a media centre or Freeview HD with a subscription to Netflicks or Lovefilms? :scratch:

Two years ago my son and his girlfriend (now his wife) sold their town house in Buckingham and moved to the countryside, about 6 miles away, He asked Sky if he could cancel his monthly subscription for three months only and then take it up again, The man from SKY said NO... mean bastard! so my son and his wife never took up on Sky again after paying for something they were not using for a short period... funnily enough they now have my grandson whose coming on for 10 months old now, we really, really rib him down at the pub :)
I've never wanted to take up Sky thinking 'why should I pay the equivalent to the cost of a brand new TV set each year when I'm not into whatever Sky has to offer... pushy bastards'!

Wakefield Turntables
10-07-2012, 16:28
my sky bill is £20 a month. The best thing to do is a channel audit to see which channels you use the most. Personally I would bin sky tomorrow but the missue enjoys watching various reality shows which are only available on sky channels. If I can find a cheaper solution which enabled me access to these channels I would take it. Sky is not value for money. It works out cheaper to get a cineworld monthly card for £14.99 and see as many films as you like. Anyway rant over... :cool:

The Vinyl Adventure
10-07-2012, 16:40
Just tell them you will cancel unless yet drop the price ... Then meet ten half way at what you are currently paying!

Tim
10-07-2012, 16:42
I have never needed anything more than Freesat and Freeview myself thank goodness.

My Dad has Virgin Media, which I think is much better than SKY - the broadband is fantastic, over 30MB download around 2MB upload, with no usage caps :)
He gets TV (75 channels) with Pay Per View and everything on demand you can imagine, a hard drive recorder box with twin tuners, telephone with freecalls in the evening and weekends, plus the broadband all for £38.00 a month which I think is not bad at all.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2055825797.png

http://www.speedtest.net/

Thing Fish
10-07-2012, 16:52
I cancelled my sky subscription over a year ago and haven't regretted it once. Freeview HD is good enough.

If I want to watch a particular sporting event I tool on down the pub or watch it on my PC (any sporting game is free to watch if you know which site to visit)

I have a WDTV live hooked up to my TV and it is networked to my home server for films.

To be honest I watch TV less and less these days.

Covenant
10-07-2012, 18:34
If I got a freesat box would the Sky dish connect to it and would I need to get it re-aligned?
The humax Foxsat-HDR/1TB seems to get good reviews.

Stratmangler
10-07-2012, 18:39
If I got a freesat box would the Sky dish connect to it and would I need to get it re-aligned?

Yes it will connect to it, and no you don't need to get the dish realigned.

prestonchipfryer
10-07-2012, 18:45
If I got a freesat box would the Sky dish connect to it and would I need to get it re-aligned?
The humax Foxsat-HDR/1TB seems to get good reviews.

I have a Humax Freesat twin-tuner. Great piece of kit. Doddle to set-up and use. Used to have SKY but the VFM it gave was very poor. Endless repeats and not a lot of substance.

Covenant
10-07-2012, 18:53
No.

Err-that was succinct. :lol: So I would need to replace the Sky dish?

Stratmangler
10-07-2012, 18:54
Err-that was succinct. :lol: So I would need to replace the Sky dish?

I've further clarified above :)

Covenant
10-07-2012, 18:54
I have a Humax Freesat twin-tuner. Great piece of kit. Doddle to set-up and use. Used to have SKY but the VFM it gave was very poor. Endless repeats and not a lot of substance.

Do you have Netflicks or similar John?

Covenant
10-07-2012, 18:55
I've further clarified above :)

Cheers Chris.

prestonchipfryer
10-07-2012, 19:04
Do you have Netflicks or similar John?

No, haven't got anything along those lines at the moment. Might be worth the free one-month trial though.

Mark Grant
10-07-2012, 19:12
If I got a freesat box would the Sky dish connect to it and would I need to get it re-aligned?
The humax Foxsat-HDR/1TB seems to get good reviews.

As Chris says you wont need to re-align just connect it up.
If the dish has been there for years it might benefit from a slight bit of realigning to get nearer 100% signal and quality, it will work though.

The Humax HDR are good and reliable.
A bit slow sometimes when navigating the EPG but if you have a sky box you will be used to that :eyebrows:

check humax direct for 'graded' that can save a bit
http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/prodCat.asp?cat=factory&type=sat

also there is Raydons firmware for the humax HDR that allows a few 'tweaky bits'
http://myhumax.org/blog/?page_id=166

northwest
10-07-2012, 19:22
Right, I need some help here. I have just wasted half an hour on the BT website trying to determine what I can and can't get - and I don't have a clue!
I have no cable, I am some distance from any cable, and my broadband only goes to 8mb according to BT's own site. What's the sketch? Do I get broadband and add TV or do I just forget the whole idea and buy a Humax box?

StanleyB
10-07-2012, 19:25
Try Virgin Media. I am with them and they offer Broadband and phone. Speed is better than I got from BT and I can access a lot more websites without being blocked by my ISP ;).

guyhayton
10-07-2012, 19:30
I have Netflix (since it was launched in Jan12) and I am pleased with it.

Admittedly, the kids get more out of it than I.
Its good for boxset type stuff, and they are constantly adding stuff the library.

Technology wise its great and as you can try it out for a month for free then you can see whether it suits.

Covenant
10-07-2012, 19:59
As Chris says you wont need to re-align just connect it up.
If the dish has been there for years it might benefit from a slight bit of realigning to get nearer 100% signal and quality, it will work though.

The Humax HDR are good and reliable.
A bit slow sometimes when navigating the EPG but if you have a sky box you will be used to that :eyebrows:

check humax direct for 'graded' that can save a bit
http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/prodCat.asp?cat=factory&type=sat

also there is Raydons firmware for the humax HDR that allows a few 'tweaky bits'
http://myhumax.org/blog/?page_id=166

Thanks Mark, useful information. Humax is looking favourite ATM.

Audio Al
11-07-2012, 11:13
I was paying £62 a month , got the letter saying it was going up £2 a month
Phoned to cancel and the nice man then said " If I do the same package for £48 a month will you stay

I then told him to poke SKY right up his @*^+:steam:

Purchased a Sony HD recorder freeview box instead , and to be honest ,

Have I missed SKY ?

NO

chelsea
11-07-2012, 11:21
Sadly sky is the best for telly.(if your into sports and sky arts)

Covenant
31-10-2012, 19:27
Got the Youview box installed today. My God it's slow compared to Sky. No favourites on the remote. Netflix and LoveFilm instant not available....:(
First impressions are not good. I will have to keep thinking about all the money saved...

Beechwoods
31-10-2012, 20:54
Topfield PVR, MyStuff Firmware, Freeview. No problem.

Mr Nad
31-10-2012, 21:18
As I always tell my children, we don't need hundreds of channels: We can only watch one at a time.

What do I watch: News (France 24 and Russia Today are excellent), documentaries (BBC4, Russia Today), comedy (E4, C4). That's all I need.

I also like watching the French equivalent of Countdown which is much better than the English version.

Beechwoods
31-10-2012, 21:28
I only watch about 2 things a week but I like to watch them when suits me, rather than the scheduler!