HD : Virgin v Sky TV

[paultrademark]

Spot on Andy, I feel the same too.. we have loads of series's of stuff to watch, some going back 12 months ago (2 full seasons of Homelands for example).

There is plenty out there, use thumbs alot...

[andy_m]

Oh yeah, Homeland, and Southland as well. The list goes on...

[kop32]

Personally I have no loyalty to any Service Provider (TV,Gas,Electric etc,etc),in this day and age with the transparency that is provided by Internet searches and comparison web sites the customer is king,if I sign up for any service then IMO it is up to that provider to offer me the service/product/content etc required to keep me as a customer!,if not, then I will take my custom to one that will.In that vein I now have Sky HD with multi-room,BT phone line and BT Infinity broadband,I will review each of my services when the offers I have have expired and if I find a better service elsewhere I will not hesitate to move to that provider,IMO there is no use whinging and moaning about what one provider is or is not delivering just do a bit of research and move your services to one that does deliver what you want,I don't believe Virgin,Sky,BT etc take much notice of forum web sites but will start to take notice if they loose customers and therefore revenue.....just my opinion,but hey,isn't that what these type's of forums are about!

[Qtx]

Originally Posted by Chad

The in laws have bought me a 3D Blu-Ray for my Christmas with the Avengers 3D and the original Star Wars trilogy in Blu-Ray format. I'm really looking forward to trying Empire Strikes Back converted to 3D, especially the opening scenes on Hoth.

Fun viewing ahead

Being a star wars film it will be converted to 3D in a decent way. I have found most normal films that do a 3D convert instead of actually doing it all 3D from the start, are rarely any better than the tv's own on the fly 3D conversion.

Building on what Maggie said, the main thing I watch is wildlife documentaries so having Sky gives me a few more in HD.

Just found an end of October list of channel differences, not sure how valid it still is: http://www.cable.co.uk/guides/sky-tv...a-tv-channels/

I get quite a lot of HD channels..trouble is recording them means I use up my V+HDD space far quicker.Each HD recording is worth double the space.

So I save them for when I'm actually watching the show.

[andy_m]

That's a really interesting link because I actually thought the difference would have been bigger than that.

[muppetman11]

Main reason I subscribe to Sky is superior range of HD channels which is important to me with 3 TV's 42" or greater.

Originally Posted by andy_m

I'd barely looked at TCM, for example, but am thoroughly enjoying Hell on Wheels

Yes recording it now , in HD as well

[Qtx]

Originally Posted by andy_m

That's a really interesting link because I actually thought the difference would have been bigger than that.

Had the same thought when I first looked at that page. Then realised you could expand all the sections below and all the differences become clearer.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Main reason I subscribe to Sky is superior range of HD channels which is important to me with 3 TV's 42" or greater.


Yes recording it now , in HD as well

I'm only two episodes in, but it's really good so far.

---------- Post added at 10:33 ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 ----------

Originally Posted by Qtx

Had the same thought when I first looked at that page. Then realised you could expand all the sections below and all the differences become clearer.

I knew to expand the sections. Still don't think the difference is as big as I was expecting, certainly not in entertainment or factual. Lifestyle, maybe.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I get quite a lot of HD channels..trouble is recording them means I use up my V+HDD space far quicker.Each HD recording is worth double the space.

Actually HD shows take up four times the space of an SD version. V+ total recording space is the equivalent of 80 hours SD or 20 hours HD. Extra recording space is one of the massive pluses of Tivo over the V+. It's a shame that VM don't use mp4 as Sky do, as that increases recording capacity even further. But it's legacy boxes such as V+ that are preventing that from happening.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by andy_m

That's a really interesting link because I actually thought the difference would have been bigger than that.

I thought the difference was pretty big.

Sky have:

8 more entertainment channels
10 more lifestyle channels
6 more movie channels
6 more sports channels
5 more factual channels
9 more kids channels
16 more music channels
21 more shopping channels
7 more news channels
48 more international channels
4 more gaming channels
7 more specialist channels
33 more +1 channels

In total that's 174 channels. I'm not suggesting they are all quality channels, far from it, however if Virgin announced they would add all of these channels what do you think the general reply would be from Virgin customers? A massive yes please or no thanks as their mostly niche channels? I'm guessing the Coming Soon thread would go into melt down.

[andy_m]

I read the list from the stand point of not being overly fussed about hd or +1s,which I recognise means I'll view it differently to you. However, what I saw was an entertainment section with really only one obvious omission. In terms of actual content then I stand by what I said - I thought the difference would have been bigger than it apparently is. Your own list makes it clear that the bulk of the difference is made up of lifestyle, shopping and international channels with the link showing that hd and +1s accounting for a large chunk of what's left. As is often said on here, each to their own, and they're not for me.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Chad

if Virgin announced they would add all of these channels what do you think the general reply would be from Virgin customers?.

"Wow, did you see that pig that just flew by?"

[mike_gain]

Originally Posted by passingbat

"Wow, did you see that pig that just flew by?"

Or "What do you mean my box only has enough memory to show 2 hours of this larger EPG each day?" from non-TiVo users*



*In reference to the reduced EPG that cam in as a result of the Olympic channels

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Chad

I thought the difference was pretty big.

Sky have:

8 more entertainment channels
10 more lifestyle channels
6 more movie channels
6 more sports channels
5 more factual channels
9 more kids channels
16 more music channels
21 more shopping channels
7 more news channels
48 more international channels
4 more gaming channels
7 more specialist channels
33 more +1 channels

In total that's 174 channels. I'm not suggesting they are all quality channels, far from it, however if Virgin announced they would add all of these channels what do you think the general reply would be from Virgin customers? A massive yes please or no thanks as their mostly niche channels? I'm guessing the Coming Soon thread would go into melt down.

There is no question that if the number of channels, both SD and HD is your main priority, then Sky is the place to be.

But it is worth looking at the channels that Sky has, that VM doesn't have, that personally apply to you as an individual. I did that a little while ago and was surprised how little I was missing in terms of content (one channel) and HD (around two, if I remember correctly).