RE: Sky+ HD - Lower Hardware Price

["Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I do have movies in my package, so I've (fortunately) never been
stiffed fo=
r the =A310 premium for sky+, although, as Mark said, that was dropped a
wh=
ile back.

I pay:

My package sub (entertainment + movies), - not sure what that comes to,
abo=
ut =A338-ish I think
Multiroom sub - =A310 extra
HD sub - =A310 extra
HD sub for 2nd room - =A310 extra

The total per month for that is a whopping =A368... - this is far too
much,=
and I'd like to stop giving $ky so much money for old rope all the time...

Sky have actually done themselves in IMHO.... I was previously
"content" to=
keep paying them somewhere round this amount, but they kept getting greedi=
er & greedier. At one point a year or two ago, I actually had to start
canc=
elling channels out of my package to keep to the same overall sub, - I
used=
to have the sports package as well, but that went when I learned I'd have =
to pay TWO lots of HD subs..

Plus, I don't think they've done themselves any favours with the state of
t=
he HD boxes... - we're several years in from the original product launch,
a=
nd they STILL haven't sorted out some of the basic functionality of the
PVR=
(FFWD & REW speeds spring to mind). Add to that the boxes themselves
seem =
to be notoriously flaky & unreliable with far too many failed boxes,
failed=
recordings, and just really weird, annoying, and plain stupid behaviour, l=
ike:

- go into live pause, then the box refuses to unpause. Only way out is tur=
n box into standby & on again, - thus losing the buffer of what you've
paus=
ed.
- Series links will disappear at the drop of a hat. Seems to be possibly r=
elated to gaps in the schedule maybe? - I've had plenty of occasions of
mis=
sed programmes because a series link I'd setup at the beginning of a
series=
has disappeared some way through the series.
- Descriptions in the planner have been known to get mixed up. - I recorde=
d one of the Star Wars films over christmas, I'm fairly sure the
descriptio=
n was right originally, but several weeks later when I went to watch it,
th=
e recording description was for an episode of Only Fools & Horses...
- Recordings will often start playback with no sound. Only fix is once
agai=
n to go into standby & turn on again, whereafter playback is usually
OK.
- Failed recordings are far too common. I've experienced loads. Some of th=
em have even said the recording failed *before* it was even broadcast!!
(go=
figure). Other times it says failed due to power failure (my arse! - comfo=
rt would go into alarm if there is a power failure, and my boxes are not
on=
X10 modules). I now habitually schedule all my recordings on both my boxes=
, in the hope that at least one of them will get it...
- The boxes are also seemingly prone to die after approximately 1 year
& 1=
day (i.e. just after warranty expiry). Sky want to charge =A360 for an eng=
ineer call out to repair/replace in this situation. (I told them where to
g=
o, & threatened to cancel the lot unless they replaced it for free, -
which=
, funnily enough, they did). Replacements are usually refurbished/repaired
=
boxes though..

All in all, that's a p1ss poor showing for what is supposed to be their
*pr=
emium* product & service. I'm pretty much just waiting for one of my
boxes =
to die again, or freesat HD to launch a decent PVR box (a TiVo one would
be=
fabulous!) in order to start moving away from Sky. One thing is for certai=
n; - I'm absolutely not going to pay them =A360 to repair/replace a failed
=
box - not unless it goes for about 5 years that is.... Also, Freesat
aren't=
getting any of my money unless & until they drop their stupid
restrictive =
practises regarding dish installation... (like you *have* to have
installat=
ion, even if you already have a perfectly suitable dish installed)...

I live in a Virgin Media cabled area, so switching over to a cable service
=
is also an option for me, and since I already have phone & broadband
from t=
hem, I reckon I could get a fairly competitive bundle deal.

Gosh, perhaps I should go to that pub that was on the news last night &
hav=
e a go on their grumble soapbox!

Paul G.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of John Murray
> Sent: 02 July 2008 14:05
> To: UKHA Group
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Sky+ HD - Lower Hardware Price
>=20
> If you don't have movies or sport in your package, you have to pay
=A310
> to use Sky +, so is that:
> Basic Ents sub =A318 + =A310 to use skyplus + =A310 for multi room +
=A31=
0 for
> HD room1 + =A310 for HD room2 =3D =A358/month for FTA equivalent
package
> which is erm =A30/month
>=20
> Or worse, do you have to pay an further tenner for the 2nd Sky+
> facility?
>=20
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Paul Gordon
> Sent: 02 July 2008 13:41
> To: UKHA Group
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Sky+ HD - Lower Hardware Price
>=20
>=20
> It's even worse if you have multiroom & a 2nd HD box... - then you
have
> to pay TWO =A310/month HD subs... - complete ***ing rip-off!!
>=20
> *seriously* considering cancelling at least one of my $ky subs &
> getting a freesat HD box when they bring out a decent PVR one...
>=20
> Paul G.
>=20
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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> ------------------------------------
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