Sky Boxes

[themelon]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

The only suckers that I can see are the ones who are too blind to recognise the best bit of kit on the market for watching TV.

How exactly does it make television better for me?? Persuade me if im such a 'sucker'!

Baring in mind I am not the least bit interested in recording or pausing the majority of rubbish repeats on 200 channels of repeats these days.

What benefits would it have for the average 'sucker' who prefers to go out whenever possible, who doesnt really care what he/she misses on television (knowing it will probably be repeated another 7 or 8 times on the off chance it was actually any good in the first place!). For those who watch TV as a last resort or during periods when the weather isnt so good.

What exactly does it do that my ntl system or indeed a standard Sky system or even a Freeview box doesnt? (other than record and pause which doesnt interest me)

[gazzae]

Originally Posted by themelon

How exactly does it make television better for me?? Persuade me if im such a 'sucker'!

Baring in mind I am not the least bit interested in recording or pausing the majority of rubbish repeats on 200 channels of repeats these days.

What benefits would it have for the average 'sucker' who prefers to go out whenever possible, who doesnt really care what he/she misses on television (knowing it will probably be repeated another 7 or 8 times on the off chance it was actually any good in the first place!). For those who watch TV as a last resort or during periods when the weather isnt so good.

What exactly does it do that my ntl system or indeed a standard Sky system or even a Freeview box doesnt? (other than record and pause which doesnt interest me)

Optical out, so if you have a home cinema system you can link it up and get Dolby Digital

[themelon]

Not really too fused about that........as I believe only Sky Movies has Dolby Digital? I have recently cancelled that anyway because its a rip off. Better just to order the films you require when you need them........I am also looking forward to the possibilities of VOD which will hopefully mean I can cancel the majority of garbage and only pay for stuff when I want it.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by themelon

Not really too fused about that........as I believe only Sky Movies has Dolby Digital? I have recently cancelled that anyway because its a rip off. Better just to order the films you require when you need them........I am also looking forward to the possibilities of VOD which will hopefully mean I can cancel the majority of garbage and only pay for stuff when I want it.

LOL-You've just dismissed the 3 main points of Sky/+ over cable TV!!

Any other advantages that you'd like to try to dismiss?

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by themelon

How exactly does it make television better for me?? Persuade me if im such a 'sucker'!

Baring in mind I am not the least bit interested in recording or pausing the majority of rubbish repeats on 200 channels of repeats these days.

What benefits would it have for the average 'sucker' who prefers to go out whenever possible, who doesnt really care what he/she misses on television (knowing it will probably be repeated another 7 or 8 times on the off chance it was actually any good in the first place!). For those who watch TV as a last resort or during periods when the weather isnt so good.

What exactly does it do that my ntl system or indeed a standard Sky system or even a Freeview box doesnt? (other than record and pause which doesnt interest me)

If you are not interested in Sky+ or TV in general you seem to go to great lengths to rubbish them. I doubt that you have actually seen Sky+ in action with your stated thoughts on TV. It's a wonder that you ever had Sky in the first place or have NTL now if you think as you do. What NTL DTV pack do you have by the way?

[themelon]

Originally Posted by Neil

LOL-You've just dismissed the 3 main points of Sky/+ over cable TV!!

Any other advantages that you'd like to try to dismiss?

Yes but I was just proving the point that iam not a 'sucker'......I just dont need what it offers. I have seen what Sky+ can do and TiVO very nice if you like that kind of thing.

Personally I would opt for an imported TiVO if TV ever improved enough to warrant recording it!

[themelon]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

If you are not interested in Sky+ or TV in general you seem to go to great lengths to rubbish them. I doubt that you have actually seen Sky+ in action with your stated thoughts on TV. It's a wonder that you ever had Sky in the first place or have NTL now if you think as you do. What NTL DTV pack do you have by the way?

I like to have a nice selection of Channels for the winter periods when the weather is not so good and in the evenings.

Sometimes there just isnt enough on normal TV 1-5, there is the odd classic comedy or more recent comedy on UK Gold or G2 which is nice, or some interesting stuff on Discovery, music channels and a few other channels which can be interesting if just browsing when bored, I also like the football and occasional movies with the better half! Im not too fussed if im doing something else it doesnt really matter to me whats on TV.

Over the last few years in my opinion television has got worse, When Sky started there were less channels of higher quality, now there are too many low quality channels it is almost getting to the point when I say sod it, Ill get Freeview and not pay any more. But I think ill wait because VOD if done properly could be interesting.......a sort of Pay as You go TV so in the winter i could spend more in the summer less.

Currently I susbscribe to Family Pack and Sky Sports. I cancelled Sky Movies because I watched less than once a week which I didnt consider worthwhile.

[gazzae]

Originally Posted by themelon

Yes but I was just proving the point that iam not a 'sucker'......I just dont need what it offers. I have seen what Sky+ can do and TiVO very nice if you like that kind of thing.

Personally I would opt for an imported TiVO if TV ever improved enough to warrant recording it!

I've never used Tivo, if I want to record something on sky plus, I just select the program and hit R, how does it work with Tivo though? Does it have its own EPG? Will its EPG automatically update if a program starts late, over runs as the SKy+ one does so you don't miss the program?

[ian@huth]

One of the advantages of Sky+ is that you can record a box office movie and have up to 7 days to watch it at a time convenient to you. You are not restricted to having to watch it at a set time. If you decide not to watch the recording you are not charged for it. When you replay the recording it is at the original broadcast quality resolution.

[SMHarman]

Sky+ has been an on and off topic of conversation in my house over the last few months. Especially as my Mother in Law as the Scientific Atlanta 8000 cable equivilant at home in the US.

In general we've com to the conclusion that with the proliferation of mix, plus1's and multi channel strategies, the need for recording is significantly diminished. If I missed ER on Thursday on E4, I could watch it 1hr later on E4+1 the next night on C4 and on Sunday on E4 and again on E4+1, thats 5 opportunities to see the same show. I find with an infant at home if you record something it generally does not get watched anyway, so forced scheduling is not a bad thing.

So we still have NTL, a faster interface would be nice though.

[ian@huth]

Two of the big advantages of Sky+ for me are the fact that you can time shift your viewing to watch what you like when you like and more importantly you can watch a program from the start without having to wait for it to end and then watch a lower quality VCR recording. Being a F1 fan I regularly arrived home too late for the start of a race and had to wait for the race to finish before rewinding the VCR tape and watching it. Then we got Sky+ and I can watch the race from the start as soon as I get home, setting the start position to 40 minutes or whatever if I don't want to watch the pre race broadcast.

[themelon]

Originally Posted by gazzae

I've never used Tivo, if I want to record something on sky plus, I just select the program and hit R, how does it work with Tivo though? Does it have its own EPG? Will its EPG automatically update if a program starts late, over runs as the SKy+ one does so you don't miss the program?

It does have its own EPG which it downloads every night using an 0800 number, It picks up a 2 week EPG.

Im not sure if it would be possible for it to be updated if programme time changes im not really sure on the detail as ive only really had a play about with it at work.

I particulalry like the way you can give programs 'a thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' and TiVO will record programs it thinks you will like, and generally gets it right.

It learns your viewing habbits so if you watch the football of a certain team it will record all the games for that team unless you tell it not too, Im not sure however what would happen when a football match or tennis over ran.....whether it would learn.......or whether it doesnt stop recording until the program finishies. I know that you can Delay Start recordings early, or add an extra hour or so to football so you dont miss extra time.

You can now also network TiVos and watch recordings around the house.

You can use on line scheduling to set up your TiVO from a remote location

Its pretty good, but still I wouldnt pay anything like £200 for it. Its main bonus is it can be used on any TV Provider around the world even.

Series 2 looks even more impressive, doubt whether it will be available in the UK ever though due to Sky+ which is unfortunate for consumer choice. At $129 (£70) its more in my price range too:

http://www.tivo.com/0.0.asp

[etccarmageddon]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Sky+ has been an on and off topic of conversation in my house over the last few months. Especially as my Mother in Law as the Scientific Atlanta 8000 cable equivilant at home in the US.

In general we've com to the conclusion that with the proliferation of mix, plus1's and multi channel strategies, the need for recording is significantly diminished. If I missed ER on Thursday on E4, I could watch it 1hr later on E4+1 the next night on C4 and on Sunday on E4 and again on E4+1, thats 5 opportunities to see the same show. I find with an infant at home if you record something it generally does not get watched anyway, so forced scheduling is not a bad thing.

So we still have NTL, a faster interface would be nice though.

yeah SKY + isnt for everyone - it's probably only suited to those people who watch TV a lot - ie. already have a video or should have one. or it's suited to those people who like the luxury of it.

for the ocassional TV viewer, SKY + is probably not worth the dosh.