Sky, Or Bt Vision

[Monster-Mat]

on returning to the UK, should i stick with my SKY, or go to the BT vision....

[cailean]

It really depends on how much you are willing to pay and what you want to watch.

Or you could just get a freeview+ box and watch for free.

[Monster-Mat]

6x entertainment package

movies package

sky+HD

1x multiroom

Sky Broadband unlimited

sky talk unlimited

comes in at around £74

the BT full package seems cheaper on initial looking, at around £60ish

but i dont fully understand the format of the BT programs...would i still get all the documentary stuff like on Sky...the BT website seems a little confusing, and doesnt really seem to indicate its viewing content.

[Parthiban]

I'm not sure if I've got the wrong end of the stick, but the way I understand it is that BT vision is not the same as cable and sky. In terms of live channels, it is the same as freeview. The difference is that instead of having all the other live channels, they offer tons of "on demand" content. You'll need to look through that and see whether that would satisfy what you need from your TV.

Are you in a cabled area? Our package with Virgin gives us TV XL (everything except movies and sports), 10meg BB (and that's 10 meg all the time) and unlimited phone for £45/month (it's a discounted pack but might be able to get the same out of them with a bit of negotiating).

The ability to record two things at once is great too but not sure if Sky+HD does that too.

[sparkystav]

you can record two things at once with skyhd but you can watch another channel on top of that,

but you can watch one of the recording channels or something on planner.

[Monster-Mat]

yup, function by function the sky seems a better package

would be intresting to hear from someone with the BT thingy...

only cable is NTL where i am going.......and im NOT going with that

[Steve ( West Mids )]

If you have the satellite dish installed and cabling already in, you could always use one of the "freeeview" type boxes to get the majority of services you already get. You'd just have to take out phone and broadband with someone else.

[Monster-Mat]

im not interested in the freeview.....

unless you get all the discovery type programs, children's programs etc etc

i have to have my dose of Mythbusters, and Time Team

i looked in the split option, when i was last back in the UK, i had Sky, and BT total Broadband....

that method means you pay more, hence why im asking which is the best overall package

sky, tv, phone and broadband

or

BT, tv, phone and broadband

[Ellz]

im not interested in the freeview.....

unless you get all the discovery type programs, children's programs etc etc

i have to have my dose of Mythbusters, and Time Team

i looked in the split option, when i was last back in the UK, i had Sky, and BT total Broadband....

that method means you pay more, hence why im asking which is the best overall package

sky, tv, phone and broadband

or

BT, tv, phone and broadband

2 mates work for sky 1 as a manager and 1 as an engineer and neither rave about them, the internet is the worst part, its really crap, Oh and then theres the telephone lines which are at the bottom of the charts with british gas lol. Remember you'd be using a BT line for the sky internet and phone anyways. I'd probably say BT out of those 2 choices.

Are you not in a Virgin area ? They replaced an old box of ours a couple of days ago and the engineer said at the end of this month they are releasing the Samsung HD box which is meant to be very good, he told me to pour some drink in our old one and it'll be replaced the next day woop woop cant wait till end of september as the current Virgin HD box is tack.

[Parthiban]

you can record two things at once with skyhd but you can watch another channel on top of that,

Did you mean you can't watch another channel on top?

Are you not in a Virgin area ? They replaced an old box of ours a couple of days ago and the engineer said at the end of this month they are releasing the Samsung HD box which is meant to be very good, he told me to pour some drink in our old one and it'll be replaced the next day woop woop cant wait till end of september as the current Virgin HD box is tack.

I was hoping for the samsung when I upgraded to V+ earlier in the year, ended up with the SA box though and it's not actually that bad - bit slow with the responses but was already used to that, otherwise it's quite a nice box (not sure if it's updated in some way from earlier ones though)

Does NTL even still exist? Isn't it all virgin now and there isn't a difference in customer service and actual service?

[shorty]

I used to work for BT till a few weeks ago and get BT Vision as part of a deal ….it’s cr@p

BT Vision is a freeview box with a hard disk you can only record one channel at a time

You also get a list of online movies to watch that you pay for

You select a movie and it downloads it over your broadband (the box must be connected to BB all the time) to the hard disk and you watch it when you like

If you look at some of the forums it still has a few problems

It has a green light on when you have a message it is the brightest green light I have seen , if you just have the TV on the lights so bright it lights the whole room

The hard disk is on all the time very noisy

They say this will be cured in the next software release ….. still waiting

Sky is a million time better I have unplugged my BT Vision as I could not stand the noise the only thing in its favour is you only pay for what you use

Hope this helps

Ade

[Steve ( West Mids )]

im not interested in the freeview.....

I wasn't talking about "freeviw" but the boxes yopu can get to view for free ;) Try eBay for some ideas ( Dreambox DM800 HD ) as an example.

[Parthiban]

I wasn't talking about "freeviw" but the boxes yopu can get to view for free ;) Try ebay for some ideas ( Dreambox DM800 HD ) as an example.

I knew you could do that with cable, does it work with satellite too?

[Steve ( West Mids )]

I knew you could do that with cable, does it work with satellite too? whistling.gif

So I believe.

Also if you have official SKY HD you can now get ITV HD unofficially on the SKY box whistling.gif, I only found out this morning :)

[Monster-Mat]

I used to work for BT till a few weeks ago and get BT Vision as part of a deal ….it's cr@p

BT Vision is a freeview box with a hard disk you can only record one channel at a time

You also get a list of online movies to watch that you pay for

You select a movie and it downloads it over your broadband (the box must be connected to BB all the time) to the hard disk and you watch it when you like

If you look at some of the forums it still has a few problems

It has a green light on when you have a message it is the brightest green light I have seen , if you just have the TV on the lights so bright it lights the whole room

The hard disk is on all the time very noisy

They say this will be cured in the next software release ….. still waiting

Sky is a million time better I have unplugged my BT Vision as I could not stand the noise the only thing in its favour is you only pay for what you use

Hope this helps

Ade

that pretty much seems the clincher.....Elliot are you saying the SKY broadband and phone is crap, and to still go with the BT stuff then

[gabbler69]

I have got Bt vision and it's very limited, it would take too long to go into all the detail but needless to say contract is up soon so I am readying myself to go to Virgin or sky.

We went with vision because they were putting out good offers but if you look at the overall cost of vision, broadband and the phone all from Bt it is very expensive compared to competitors.

As a recorder I think it's pretty good, you can do all the usual pause and rewind tv and program recording but the on demand service is not often used. This is because the user interface is so clunky it takes ages to find stuff.

Final word if you just want on demand and be able to record freeview then vision can do that job but if you want cable etc go with sky or virgin, vision is a good idea badly implemented by Bt.

[whiteman]

I went for sky+HD with the phone line and broadband and had the option for BT crap...as you guess I went for sky and I think it is good as I have got all the docs and kids stuff and always recordind stuff to watch later....never run out of things to watch. Tis good that i am up early so I can record while in bed and watch when I come home.... broadband is ok for free with the package....

Oh matt I got a voucher somwhere where you get a sky+HD box and install for free and broadband will have to look for it if you are interested

To the guys who know about my problem with my picture on SD via Hd lead well it seams I need a software update forthe TV

[Monster-Mat]

I went for sky+HD with the phone line and broadband and had the option for BT crap...as you guess I went for sky and I think it is good as I have got all the docs and kids stuff and always recordind stuff to watch later....never run out of things to watch. Tis good that i am up early so I can record while in bed and watch when I come home.... broadband is ok for free with the package....

Oh matt I got a voucher somwhere where you get a sky+HD box and install for free and broadband will have to look for it if you are interested

To the guys who know about my problem with my picture on SD via Hd lead well it seams I need a software update forthe TV

are you happy with the Sky phone and line rental/broadband package.

i already have normal sky over here, but want to upgrade to SKy+HD with multiroom when im back in the uk

[Ellz]

Yeah I'm not sure why there internet is so crap but it just is, maybe its the router you get I'm not sure.

Your surely going to have to pay more to sky for them to get a BT engineering out to install your internet and phone (which is a massive pain in the arse apparently, many of the jobs Doddy (u no him from JAE) gets cancelled as BT engineers havent turned up/install correctly) then to get a sky engineer to come out and install, o yeah the free install is a joke from sky its very limited, so if your house faces wrong way etc the bill goes up steeply and very quickly.

The TV side of Sky is pretty good though I must say but nothing you can't get from Virgin.

All in all theres no point in paying for BT phone and broadband then Sky TV you'll probably be bent over for it. You'll probably just have to bite it and see how it is as it looks like from the comments the BT TV stuff is crap.

Im guessing you cant get Virgin where u are then ?

[whiteman]

I went for sky+HD with the phone line and broadband and had the option for BT crap...as you guess I went for sky and I think it is good as I have got all the docs and kids stuff and always recordind stuff to watch later....never run out of things to watch. Tis good that i am up early so I can record while in bed and watch when I come home.... broadband is ok for free with the package....

Oh matt I got a voucher somwhere where you get a sky+HD box and install for free and broadband will have to look for it if you are interested

To the guys who know about my problem with my picture on SD via Hd lead well it seams I need a software update forthe TV

are you happy with the Sky phone and line rental/broadband package.

i already have normal sky over here, but want to upgrade to SKy+HD with multiroom when im back in the uk

I don't seem to have a problem as of yet with the package... I just pay sky for the lot...I got free phone calls evening and weekend but use my mobile most of the time, jst got the phone line for the broadband...pretty easy to set the router up.

My mate has multi room and he has no problems up to now... overall good..