Thoughts on Freeview over Sky...

[imprezaworks]

As above really. At the moment its costing £40 a month and tbh we dont really watch much tv to warrant the cost anymore. The problem i may have is 2 months ago i applied for an account in my name as you get the hd box for free (long story, have been a sky customer for ten years), unaware i was signed in to hd channels for 12months. Anyone know the implications if i was to finish my contract early? Penalties etc? Anyone done the same? Cheers guys.

 

[jenic]

I presume they would just charge you the HD fee for the remaining months. So £10.50 x 10, £105. Sell the HD box on ebay to offset that cost and you probably won't be too out of pocket.

We cancelled sky once, had to give 30 days notice. In those 30 days we got a freeview PVR which won all the which and what tests. On the last day of the 30 days notice we decided the PVR was crap and rang sky up to stop it going off. Like Peter says, its up there with daylight and running water

 

[imprezaworks]

Up there with daylight and running water? You lost me (not hard btw)

 

[jenic]

Up there with daylight and running water? You lost me (not hard btw)

Lol, it's a peter kay joke, sky+ being up there with daylight and running water in terms of life's essentials

 

[olliewebbuk]

Jailbroken Apple TV2 with XBMC and Icefilms, iPlayer, 4oD etc beats ANY PVR you can find.

Costs only £99 to buy too.

 

[imprezaworks]

Ah right lol. Ive spoke to sky and they have advised to email the support team which i have. I have a feeling though if i want to cancel its going to cost me £40 x the amount of months left

 

[jenic]

Jailbroken Apple TV2 with XBMC and Icefilms, iPlayer, 4oD etc beats ANY PVR you can find.

Costs only £99 to buy too.

Disagree TBH

ATV interface is too clunky on XBMC, and the plugins are terrible. I sold mine about a month after getting it.

If its a media centre your after go with a media pc/apple tv, or a console. When 4od/ITV/iPlayer hits X360 it'll be ideal for me.

 

[olliewebbuk]

Works fine here on the latest version.

 

[Munson]

I roll with Freeview HD. Only a few of the channels are HD but it's alright. Great for me, as all I really watch is the news and whatever decent HD stuff is showing. My TV also has a built-in PVR feature with an attached hard drive, so I find it ideal, and I'm not paying anything other than my TV license.

FTW.

 

[Martin_172]

as above im using Freeview HD as my tv has a built in tuner, im not a big TV person, my TV is mainly used as my PC monitor so freeview does me, ive got Virgin HD in another room on the basic package and its no better than the freeview to be honest, only reason ive got it is i wanted Virgin 30mb internet.

 

[conneh]

PS3 + PlayTV is also good. Bluray/iPlayer/4OD/ITV Player/Freeview/Love Film/PS3 Store films then PS3 Media server on your laptop/pc to stream any other stuff.

 

[Munson]

PlayTV is good, but it can sometimes do a pretty nasty job of upscaling SD. It also doesn't support Freeview HD, which is pretty much the main reason why I stopped using it. It does make a great PVR out of the PS3 though.

 

[imprezaworks]

Just had an email back from sky, amazed at how quick. Anyway they said they will cancel my hd subscription but if i wanted to leave then it 'could' cost £233.00 to end my contract early. My monthly contract is now £30.25 a month. Still tempting to cancel though. If i did is it easy enough to use freeview straight away or is it a load of faffing?

 

[Martin_172]

some areas need a wideband ariel (or at least this was the case when i got mine) i paid a guy to come fit an ariel and 4 sockets (one in each bedroom) cant remember what it cost wasnt too much though.

plug it in, quicky get your tv or STB to scan for channels and then thats you ready to go!

 

[*Badger*]

Ask them if they want the dish back, if your out of contract its always a no, but not sure within, or buy out.
Freesat HD+. £200 for a 1Tb box, no other costs. I'm tempted to bin my sky+ off for it.

 

[James28]

Jailbroken Apple TV2 with XBMC and Icefilms, iPlayer, 4oD etc beats ANY PVR you can find.

Costs only £99 to buy too.

This sounds interesting. I've got a TV in my room but no access to an aerial, so been looking for a solution as to how to get TV on it.
Where can I find more information about it/how you do it etc?

 

[olliewebbuk]

This sounds interesting. I've got a TV in my room but no access to an aerial, so been looking for a solution as to how to get TV on it.
Where can I find more information about it/how you do it etc?

Google.

XBMC Forums.

Redmond Pie.

 

[conneh]

http://www.laskys.com/ipod_mp3_and_...+And+Gaming+/+Games+Consoles+/+Accessories+/+

and

http://www.ps3mediaserver.org/

Ofcourse if you are using PlayTV you do need an aerial.

 

[Munson]

FYI I've also just discovered (through watching Frozen Planet) that BBC broadcast some content in 1080p. Most stuff is interlaced 1080i, but this looks shockingly good in 1080p. Pretty impressive considering its coming in free, via a 15 year old antenna in the loft.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

I've been thinking of sacking Sky but for £35ish a month for all channels (no premium movies/sports) it's not too bad.

Regarding your cancelling and paying up for the rest of the year, why don't you make a note of the date your contract is up, and just roll with it until then ?! You've already paid for it... you might as well use it.

Nonsensical to pay them for the next x months and not even have the chance to watch anything IMO :S


RE: 1080p - I hope Sky get their act together soon. 720p is so 2010 !

 

[James28]

FYI I've also just discovered (through watching Frozen Planet) that BBC broadcast some content in 1080p. Most stuff is interlaced 1080i, but this looks shockingly good in 1080p. Pretty impressive considering its coming in free, via a 15 year old antenna in the loft.

I noticed this too. First time I'd noticed a 1080p. Although now I've been paying attention Quite a few programs are in 1080p actually, ones you wouldn't expect.
Top Boy on C4 HD was 1080p last week too.

 

[Tom]

f**k Sky. Freeview HD and an Apple TV. All you need.

 

[Munson]

OK cheers. I'll keep an eye out. Frozen Planet in 1080p may as well have been a Blu-ray to my eyes. Incredible for free-to-air broadcast TV.

 

[Munson]

f**k Sky. Freeview HD and an Apple TV. All you need.

I'd like Apple TV but I'm not comfortable with having to stream everything. AFAIK it has no local USB? Well it does but not for connecting drives?

 

[ColinG]

Freeview HD here as well! The only thing I miss is the chance to record programmes..

 

[Tom]

I'd like Apple TV but I'm not comfortable with having to stream everything. AFAIK it has no local USB? Well it does but not for connecting drives?

I'm not really bothered. Suits me.

JOKE.

Nah, its a bit limited. But US itunes account and XBMC and Plex make a jailbreak worth while.

I went from Sky HD (single feed because of a s**tty shared dish.) to a twin tuner freeview HD box with built in iPlayer, Sky Go (thanks dad) and DNLA etc etc. Never looked back. Apple TV just bolsters this with all my online/networked content.

 

[imprezaworks]

Thought you can record with freeview?

 

[cava83]

Disagree TBH

ATV interface is too clunky on XBMC, and the plugins are terrible. I sold mine about a month after getting it.

If its a media centre your after go with a media pc/apple tv, or a console. When 4od/ITV/iPlayer hits X360 it'll be ideal for me.

I agree.

Everyone raves on about XBMC but it just doesn't work well [my personal thoughts] it's too clunky, doesn't look polished enough, a bit of a mess. !

Plex feels a bit tidier for me.

We cancelled Sky + as we were paying a fortune, still using the standard satellite box, but going to change it for a FreeSat HD Humax box.

 

[Chris n nic]

I tried to cancel Sky months back and they said we can have it half price for 6 months...after the 6 months I did it again and got the same deal so I'm happy enough for the moment tbh

 

[bully]

Cancelled Sky a few years ago, got Humax Freesat HD PVR.

You get used to it tbh, no its not as good as Sky but its free!! Couple of HD channels and a pretty reliable box, just plugged it straight in instead of my sky failbox.

We watch less TV which isn't a bad thing and watch a bit more online. As Roy says, fcuk paying anything other than my TV licence.