I have switched......

[gc10360]

Originally Posted by Gadgie

Well I switched over to Sky today, for the lot, TV/Phone & Net. We spent ages debating the pros & cons of it all, and in the end we went over to Sky. Have been a loyal customer to Virgin for years, but we had problems with the Net speed and our TV picture freezing and jumping, they were out 3 times to fix that, but they never did.

Now we will get 31 H/D channels, with 2 more being added every month, and the Net & Phone packages were cheaper as well.
Mind you, when we phoned Virgin and mentioned that we might be leaving, they offered me a £6.50 a month less in our payment, and upgrade our Net from 10 to 20Meg! Having said that, we were never getting near the 10Meg we were paying for before?

I feel a bit bad about it just now, but no doubt that will change on Monday when we got our 31 H/D and movie channels
Cheers, Smudger.

Wise move, its a joy to be able to have a great picture on the tv for eveyday viewing and DD5.1 sound. id be very surprised if you were disappointed when u get it installed. where did u hear about the 2 channels a month, im intrigued - all id heard was that there would be more by the end of the year, if 2 a month is true, coupled with £49 box and free install then virgin really need to pull their finger out!

[akki007]

What I don't understand is, why do people care so much? If you want HD, go to sky, if you want VOD, go to Virgin. Both have their advantages, both have their disadvantages! I will say this though, SKY blows goats.

---------- Post added at 10:34 ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 ----------

Originally Posted by gc10360

Wise move, its a joy to be able to have a great picture on the tv for eveyday viewing and DD5.1 sound. id be very surprised if you were disappointed when u get it installed. where did u hear about the 2 channels a month, im intrigued - all id heard was that there would be more by the end of the year, if 2 a month is true, coupled with £49 box and free install then virgin really need to pull their finger out!

2 more upscaled channels per month, hurrah. Virgin already have all their channels upscaled. Come on Sky, catch up.

---------- Post added at 10:38 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------

Originally Posted by gc10360

Sky are obviously investing heavily in HD so they are pushing that into peoples homes - they obviously want people to wake up to HD quality - how many people have updated their TVs and now have HD ready sets - by making HD affordable for every1 (skys words) they are opening the doors for people to actully make use of their investments which will in turn have a knock on effect - people who have seen Sky HD and Blu Ray at my house cant believe how good the quality is - and are now keen to make use of their newer TVs

Yeah, that's Murdochs dream, make sure everyone is using their TV to their fullest potential. Even if it's at his own expense cos he's just that kind of guy!

[gc10360]

Originally Posted by akki007

What I don't understand is, why do people care so much? If you want HD, go to sky, if you want VOD, go to Virgin. Both have their advantages, both have their disadvantages! I will say this though, SKY blows goats.

---------- Post added at 10:34 ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 ----------



2 more upscaled channels per month, hurrah. Virgin already have all their channels upscaled. Come on Sky, catch up.

---------- Post added at 10:38 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------



Yeah, that's Murdochs dream, make sure everyone is using their TV to their fullest potential. Even if it's at his own expense cos he's just that kind of guy!

Come on, yeh i admit there is upscaled content on the HD channels, but thats going to happen during a transitional period where studios and production companys are switching equipement over to HD but that will change in the near future - surely if youve seen HD content and upscaled content you can tell the difference. I have been with virgin (NTL) for many years now and their constant disregard for customer demand amazes me - i still have their phone and BB but in terms of TV after buying into HD DVD and BLU RAY i have been spoiled by the PQ of HD and V+ paltry upscaling no longer cuts it. People buy HD ready tvs and still watch SD broadcasts on them, they need to be educated and persuaded to invest in HD - thats what sky are doing, looking to the future and trying to get as many customers on board as possible, thus protecting their investment - cant u see that in order for broadcasting to move forward, the viewers need to move forward too!

[akki007]

Originally Posted by gc10360

Come on, yeh i admit there is upscaled content on the HD channels, but thats going to happen during a transitional period where studios and production companys are switching equipement over to HD but that will change in the near future - surely if youve seen HD content and upscaled content you can tell the difference. I have been with virgin (NTL) for many years now and their constant disregard for customer demand amazes me - i still have their phone and BB but in terms of TV after buying into HD DVD and BLU RAY i have been spoiled by the PQ of HD and V+ paltry upscaling no longer cuts it. People buy HD ready tvs and still watch SD broadcasts on them, they need to be educated and persuaded to invest in HD - thats what sky are doing, looking to the future and trying to get as many customers on board as possible, thus protecting their investment - cant u see that in order for broadcasting to move forward, the viewers need to move forward too!

Have you considered that the demands made on here for HD on Virgin are not representative of the VM customer base as a whole? I for one find HD nice to watch but SD upscaled is also nice. I haven't once thought "This is a joke, I can't accept this SD picture anymore, I just can't". And why? Because it's just TV. SD/HD, ultimately there aren't enough people who give a flying monkey funk to warrant any major investment.

[LondonRoad]

Originally Posted by akki007

Have you considered that the demands made on here for HD on Virgin are not representative of the VM customer base as a whole? I for one find HD nice to watch but SD upscaled is also nice. I haven't once thought "This is a joke, I can't accept this SD picture anymore, I just can't". And why? Because it's just TV. SD/HD, ultimately there aren't enough people who give a flying monkey funk to warrant any major investment.

How true!

[joyrider1]

Originally Posted by akki007

Have you considered that the demands made on here for HD on Virgin are not representative of the VM customer base as a whole? I for one find HD nice to watch but SD upscaled is also nice. I haven't once thought "This is a joke, I can't accept this SD picture anymore, I just can't". And why? Because it's just TV. SD/HD, ultimately there aren't enough people who give a flying monkey funk to warrant any major investment.

The last line of this quote is a contridiction. If there is not a lot of people intrested in unlocking the potential of their HD TV's then why did they upgrade to them in the first place. They should have stayed with the old CRT sets they had.

Why do people want to get PC's with high specs? Surley Pentium 2 processors would suffice, but people want more. That is just the way technology works. Innovation is constatly taking place, and then the end user makes avail of the new products.........then the innovation carries on.

The whole history of consumer technology makes it apparent that when new products or services become available the providers evolve to incorporate the new products. Otherwise we would all still be watchin B&W tv's and sending telegraphs

Tell me one company in this field that has stagnated and stayed rigid and survived? You have to keep up with the times

[gc10360]

Originally Posted by joyrider1

The last line of this quote is a contridiction. If there is not a lot of people intrested in unlocking the potential of their HD TV's then why did they upgrade to them in the first place. They should have stayed with the old CRT sets they had.

Why do people want to get PC's with high specs? Surley Pentium 2 processors would suffice, but people want more. That is just the way technology works. Innovation is constatly taking place, and then the end user makes avail of the new products.........then the innovation carries on.

The whole history of consumer technology makes it apparent that when new products or services become available the providers evolve to incorporate the new products. Otherwise we would all still be watchin B&W tv's and sending telegraphs

Tell me one company in this field that has stagnated and stayed rigid and survived? You have to keep up with the times

here here

[LondonRoad]

Originally Posted by joyrider1

The last line of this quote is a contridiction. If there is not a lot of people intrested in unlocking the potential of their HD TV's then why did they upgrade to them in the first place. They should have stayed with the old CRT sets they had.

I don't see the contradiction. There must be a lot of people buying new TVs for other reasons than them being HD ready, otherwise there would be more than the present half a million or so people paying $ky for HD.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by joyrider1

The last line of this quote is a contridiction. If there is not a lot of people intrested in unlocking the potential of their HD TV's then why did they upgrade to them in the first place. They should have stayed with the old CRT sets they had.

You are, of course, assuming that

1. People upgraded their TVs by choice rather than replaced dead ones.
2. People actually wanted a TV for a good picture rather than the fact that it is large and relatively flat (a 40 inch LCD takes a lot less space than even a 28inch CRT).
   

Why do people want to get PC's with high specs? Surley Pentium 2 processors would suffice, but people want more. That is just the way technology works. Innovation is constatly taking place, and then the end user makes avail of the new products.........then the innovation carries on.

This is a difficult one. I supect that if you analysed most people's use of their PCs (not counting PC gamers because they will always have the latest hardware), you'll find that they spend most of their time on the web or email, and some time doing other stuff, such as word processing or limited photo/video editing.

Yes, a P2 would suffice for that, and I suspect a lot of non-technical people would probably be happy with one if they could get it. Look at the PS2. It's an 8 year old console, and it is *still* outselling most of the "next gen' consoles. Also, look at the netbooks.. A lot of people are buying these instead of laptops.

Remember, although this forum tends to attract technically minded people, most of the poeple have little clue or do not care that much about technology

The whole history of consumer technology makes it apparent that when new products or services become available the providers evolve to incorporate the new products. Otherwise we would all still be watchin B&W tv's and sending telegraphs

Tell me one company in this field that has stagnated and stayed rigid and survived? You have to keep up with the times

VM haven't stayed rigid. OK, so their DTV service lags severely behind Sky's, but they have advanced in other areas, such as faster broadband (STMed though) and On Demand, neither of which Sky can match.

[demented]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

You are, of course, assuming that

1. People upgraded their TVs by choice rather than replaced dead ones.
2. People actually wanted a TV for a good picture rather than the fact that it is large and relatively flat (a 40 inch LCD takes a lot less space than even a 28inch CRT).
   

Remember, although this forum tends to attract technically minded people, most of the poeple have little clue or do not care that much about technology

I agree with both sides of this. There are plenty of people who got tvs as they were smaller and mums secretly resented these superlarge CRTs in the front room, my parents were the same. I know very few people who have plasmas and LCDs have always been a budget technology that keeps on giving. I don't know many people other than gamers who are really keen on HD but other people who are not enthusiasts do mention it. It is something they want but they aren't that bothered about it and don't want to pay a large amount of money for it. They'd really rather it was there but they won't worry about it unduely. On the other hand it's 2009 and Virgin really have slacked on this. It was acceptable to have 1 or 2 HD channels in 2006 and 2007. 2008 and 2009 it's unacceptable. I think for what bandwidth could be reasonable be expected and contracts signed we should be on about 6 or 7 by now (going up all the time as new HD channels carry on appearing slowly).

VM haven't stayed rigid. OK, so their DTV service lags severely behind Sky's, but they have advanced in other areas, such as faster broadband (STMed though) and On Demand, neither of which Sky can match.

I do disagree with this. VOD was innovated by Telewest in 2005. In terms of content and newbies it's stayed very static for much of that time, only starting to improve the last 6 months or so. VOD's great, things have been allowed to wallow in complacency though.

[Gadgie]

Quote gs10360 "Wise move, its a joy to be able to have a great picture on the tv for everyday viewing and DD5.1 sound. id be very surprised if you were disappointed when u get it installed. where did u hear about the 2 channels a month, im intrigued - all id heard was that there would be more by the end of the year, if 2 a month is true, coupled with £49 box and free install then virgin really need to pull their finger out!"

It was the woman in the call centre that told me about the future channels coming, when I was giving my details for the switch. They are coming this Monday for the TV change over and the Internet/Phone the week after. So I will let you know how it goes

[akki007]

Originally Posted by joyrider1

The last line of this quote is a contridiction. If there is not a lot of people intrested in unlocking the potential of their HD TV's then why did they upgrade to them in the first place. They should have stayed with the old CRT sets they had.

Why do people want to get PC's with high specs? Surley Pentium 2 processors would suffice, but people want more. That is just the way technology works. Innovation is constatly taking place, and then the end user makes avail of the new products.........then the innovation carries on.

The whole history of consumer technology makes it apparent that when new products or services become available the providers evolve to incorporate the new products. Otherwise we would all still be watchin B&W tv's and sending telegraphs

Tell me one company in this field that has stagnated and stayed rigid and survived? You have to keep up with the times

Yeah, sorry, not a contradiction. Now to respond to your points, I will set you a challenge... find me a TV for sale (new) that ISNT at the very least HD Ready.

Your point about PCs: Again, people have PCs that are not Pentium 2s because that is what is sold. Am I missing something here? Let's say you have a Pentium 2 PC and it blows up, what are your choices on the market? Any Pentium 2s....no? How odd!

And finally, your doozy of a comment about the evolution of providers catering for new technology...Not overly sure what you mean here BUT, like I said, the HD market is miniscule compared to the SD market....why...THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DONT CARE. It makes no odds that their TV is HD ready...thats all they could buy. It makes no odds that their PC is a Quad Core...thats all they could buy.

Anyway, thats my rant over. HD looks nice, but so does SD upscaled. END OF.

[joyrider1]

Originally Posted by akki007

Yeah, sorry, not a contradiction. Now to respond to your points, I will set you a challenge... find me a TV for sale (new) that ISNT at the very least HD Ready.

Your point about PCs: Again, people have PCs that are not Pentium 2s because that is what is sold. Am I missing something here? Let's say you have a Pentium 2 PC and it blows up, what are your choices on the market? Any Pentium 2s....no? How odd!

And finally, your doozy of a comment about the evolution of providers catering for new technology...Not overly sure what you mean here BUT, like I said, the HD market is miniscule compared to the SD market....why...THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DONT CARE. It makes no odds that their TV is HD ready...thats all they could buy. It makes no odds that their PC is a Quad Core...thats all they could buy.

Anyway, thats my rant over. HD looks nice, but so does SD upscaled. END OF.

Thats your opinion, but as said before, time will tell, but from what we know, people are abondining VM's TV service in their droves.
When the next quarters figures are released then we will see how much of an uptake there is of SKY's HD offer, I bet its huge. Why not when it costs more or less the same money..?

You might be happy to pay for what I would consider an inferior TV service for roughly the same price, a lot of people will want to utilise the potential of their TV's they paid quite a few quid for.

Anyway, must go, Ross Kemp in Afgananistan is on in Full HD.........makes all the difference, you can hear the bullets fly in 5.1 surround sound.

If you want to discuss this further then I will get two bean tins and a piece of string for us to communicate with, you obviously havent evolved too far.....lol

BTW, who gives a stuff aboutt 50meg BB, VM are always banging the drum about that one and putting a lot of resources into its development and roll out? mabye they could have channeled some of that cash into moving with the times and sorting out the poor HD content......

[akki007]

Originally Posted by joyrider1

Thats your opinion, but as said before, time will tell, but from what we know, people are abondining VM's TV service in their droves.
When the next quarters figures are released then we will see how much of an uptake there is of SKY's HD offer, I bet its huge. Why not when it costs more or less the same money..?

You might be happy to pay for what I would consider an inferior TV service for roughly the same price, a lot of people will want to utilise the potential of their TV's they paid quite a few quid for.

Anyway, must go, Ross Kemp in Afgananistan is on in Full HD.........makes all the difference, you can hear the bullets fly in 5.1 surround sound.

If you want to discuss this further then I will get two bean tins and a piece of string for us to communicate with, you obviously havent evolved too far.....lol

BTW, who gives a stuff aboutt 50meg BB, VM are always banging the drum about that one and putting a lot of resources into its development and roll out? mabye they could have channeled some of that cash into moving with the times and sorting out the poor HD content......

Ok, if we are sinking to these levels (and I will skip over the abondining guff) then how about this...while you are watching Ross Kemp on Gangs, I will be recording it whilst recording a further channel whilst watching a third. Also, I will then peruse the VAST on demand library available at my finger tips, oh and perhaps I will do some surfing at 50 meg. All at the same time as you are watching Ross Kemp (!) with a few hundred more pixels! ha ha. WAKE UP!

---------- Post added at 21:32 ---------- Previous post was at 21:28 ----------

Also, you aint getting the HD Ready TV thing are you. Again, find me a TV for sale that is NOT HD Ready. You really have not got a point.

[joyrider1]

Originally Posted by akki007

Ok, if we are sinking to these levels (and I will skip over the abondining guff) then how about this...while you are watching Ross Kemp on Gangs, I will be recording it whilst recording a further channel whilst watching a third. Also, I will then peruse the VAST on demand library available at my finger tips, oh and perhaps I will do some surfing at 50 meg. All at the same time as you are watching Ross Kemp (!) with a few hundred more pixels! ha ha. WAKE UP!

---------- Post added at 21:32 ---------- Previous post was at 21:28 ----------

Also, you aint getting the HD Ready TV thing are you. Again, find me a TV for sale that is NOT HD Ready. You really have not got a point.

Yawn........

---------- Post added at 21:39 ---------- Previous post was at 21:38 ----------

You really should look over the posts on this forum and actually see how many are about the lack of HD on VM. mabye you should wake up Fred Flintstone..lol