i'm after a bit of assistance pls...

Sky have gone & changed their packages recently & i've just reduced down from SkyWorld to 2 mixes & the sports pack BUT i'm now wondering if the time is right to upgrade to Sky+?

from what i've seen - i can get it for £99 including installation if i have multi-room too (then an extra £10 subs per month).

reading on DigitalSpy website, it seems the boxes are now version 3 PACE models (i 'think' this is what's been referred to? ) Amstrad boxes don't seem that popular & Pace seem to be highly thought of.

lots of current problems with Sky & the new mixes tho - i still have 1 of my mixes 'missing' at the moment... but hopefully will be sorted soon.

i was looking at getting a pretty basic DVD recorder as the prices are crashing at the moment, but now i've looked into it - Sky+ seems to be the better option.

i'm just a bit concerned as quite a few people are having probs with lost/missing recordings after Sky sends an 'upgrade' to the box (but then there are probably thousands of people who AREN'T having any problems?!) also lots of talk about system re-sets & other terms i have no idea what they are on about!

i just don't know!! i don't want to pay £99 & then see them upgrading all Sky customers to + in 6 months time, don't want to pay extra & end up getting a rubbish service & poor customer service backup.... as you can tell, i'm a bit fuddled on this one so any thoughts/recommendations will be gratefully received.

p.s. i'm not bothered about HD tv when it appears next year.


cheers
Abbie

I had Sky+ two years and it's the business. Yes, it does screw up and fails to record a program - *but* very rarely. It's great to just put the TV on and see what it has recorded to watch! We never actually watch anything when it's *actually* on anymore! Plus you can spin through the adverts a x30 speed!

[quote name='javaboss' date='Sep 30 2005, 11:37 AM']I had Sky+ two years and it's the business.  Yes, it does screw up and fails to record a program - *but* very rarely.  It's great to just put the TV on and see what it has recorded to watch!  We never actually watch anything when it's *actually* on anymore!  Plus you can spin through the adverts a x30 speed!
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I echo that, it is *the* best thing I have ever bought, it crash's and it randomly records things that you did not ask for, but series link is fantastic, wheeler dealers, green button, off it goes and records them all regardless of time or date change.

I'd say Sky+ is great when it works - I'm on my ninth Sky+ box now!

I'm on the V1's and they've been *******.

I've had multiple failed hard drives, PSU's, you name it, one of them exploded in a shoewr of sparks 3 days after being replaced - now that was awesome

I replaced the HDD myself the last time it went and so far so good (touches wood)

I did have multiple occasions where the box lost everything after software upgrades, but for the last few months everything has been hunky dory, think the V1's are as stable as they'll get for now, don't tend to have much problems with it nowadays!

I like the live pause feature best, great for when you're watching something you're not recording (I disabled the constant 30 minute record as it was stressing too many of the older boxes out and I never really used it anyway!!)

Good luck Abbie

Sky+ is awesome.
Everyone thinks i'm on commission 'cos i'm always gushing about it.
Series link is great and what we do if there's 2 programmes on at the same time on BBC and Channel 4/ITV is record the one on 4/ITV and watch the one on BBC in "realtime", then watch the recorded one fastforwarding all the adverts/ titles, it saves ages.
Blimey, here I go again...
Highly recommended

Yup I'd go with saying sky plus is fantastic. It sometimes doesn't record something ( I found annoyingly it was the last episode of any series I was linking). Just a hint but give sky your notice telling them that you are moving to NTL or whichever cable company and wait for them to let you have the box much cheaper. At the least you'll be offered this deal [url="http://www.sky.com/ordersky/equipment/skyplus"]http://www.sky.com/ordersky/equipment/skyplus[/url] and that doesn't include having to take multi room.

If you have Sky and you want a PVR then it's the only real option. When it works it's quite good but there are many bugs and it seems more get introduced than fixed with each software upgrade.

Anybody who has used a TiVo will know how ordinary the Sky+ is in terms for features and easy of use but as I said it's really the only thing available.

Sign up for one of the cable services, buy a D-Box (£80) off fleabay and watch all the channels you want for free

Sky + brilliant. It's one of those things that once youv'e had it ,you wonder how you did without it!

sky plus is great , the only problem i've had, is it needs rebooting now and again

I'm a gadget fanatic and Sky+ is without a doubt the best gadget that I've ever owned.

thanks guys

hmmm, lots of recommendations then - seems like '+' is the way to go!

re-booting - is that just turning it off at the mains for a bit? or something more complicated??

BTW, we can't get cable at my house - nearly the whole area around us is done but something about permission being denied for the digging up of the roads etc on our particular bit...

i've heard of Tivo - USA thing is it? possibly a daft question , but why can't/don't we get it here?

talk about perfect timing...

as of today, there is a new online offer for Sky+ at £49 instead of £99!!! (i double checked this was for a brand new box & not a refurb which they have been doing at £49)

needless to say i have phoned Sky & a nice Mr Sky man will be coming to see me on Tues 11th with all his lovely goodies!!

blimey - i really am dipping my toe in the 21st century aren't i?!

You're right on the reboot Abbie, just unplug the box for 30 seconds and plug it back in!

The firmware updates happen over the air automatically, if for whatever reason your box hasn't picked up the updates or it is acting up sometimes it's a good idea to force a firmware update - you can do that by unplugging the box, holding the back up key down, and plugging the box back into the mains, keeping the back up key pressed, after 30 seconds or so the box will turn on and display a message saying it's updating - takes 10 mins or so

Tivo is a mainly USA thing, similar to Sky+ but a lot more feature rich, as far as I know the Tivo only does recordings at an analog level, ie the MPEG stream is decoded, and the Tivo records this decoded stream, a Sky+ box records the raw stream as it is broadcast so is identical to the original transmission, clever stuff really

I think they did sell Tivo over here for a while, sure I saw one once at Currys?

I think it was the suscription that put people off tivo over here.

[quote name='dangerous brain' date='Oct 1 2005, 06:07 PM']I think it was the suscription that put people off tivo over here.
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It was launched about 5 years ahead of it's time and people just didn't understand it.

You also pay for a Sky+ subscription unless you receive two or more premium channels.

[quote name='ColinBarber' date='Oct 1 2005, 07:35 PM'][quote name='dangerous brain' date='Oct 1 2005, 06:07 PM']I think it was the suscription that put people off tivo over here.
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It was launched about 5 years ahead of it's time and people just didn't understand it.

You also pay for a Sky+ subscription unless you receive two or more premium channels.
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I only pay for the films and get it free. You can also pay for the extra box in another room which is a tenner and get it free so technically you can have sky+ for a tenner and get sky in another room for nowt.

[quote name='dangerous brain' date='Oct 2 2005, 07:16 PM'][quote name='ColinBarber' date='Oct 1 2005, 07:35 PM'][quote name='dangerous brain' date='Oct 1 2005, 06:07 PM']I think it was the suscription that put people off tivo over here.
[right][snapback]290246[/snapback][/right][/quote]

It was launched about 5 years ahead of it's time and people just didn't understand it.

You also pay for a Sky+ subscription unless you receive two or more premium channels.
[right][snapback]290301[/snapback][/right]
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I only pay for the films and get it free. You can also pay for the extra box in another room which is a tenner and get it free so technically you can have sky+ for a tenner and get sky in another room for nowt.
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This is all a bit off topic but:
If you have a basic package then you pay extra for the sky + features. Most people get qualify for the + features without having to pay but people should check rather than just assuming they will get it for free.

Also you need to have a valid subscription to watch anything already recorded, so don't cancel your movie subscription and then expect to play back any stored movies.

[quote name='Lexxy_703' date='Oct 1 2005, 12:47 PM']needless to say i have phoned Sky & a nice Mr Sky man will be coming to see me on Tues 11th with all his lovely goodies!!   


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Mr Skyman been & gone - very impressed with this bit of kit, but i'm going to be 'watching' far toooo much TV now....!!! (only educational programmes of course )

anyway, had a look at the numerous scart leads etc dangling from the back of the TV tonight & it would appear that we've got the following -

1 scart coming from the Sky box to the VCR ( i know..., it's being moved to a dark & secluded corner of another room soon)
1 scart from VCR to TV
1 scart from Sky to TV direct
my left&right audio connections from Sky to DVD/Home Cinema
1 TV ariel from the wall socket direct to the TV (i think it should go thru the Sky box but we need to upgrade the connection cable - Skyman said it was carp! )
1 little yellow connector from DVD/HC thru a scart converter thingy to TV (yes, i got it working after i blew all the dust out of the connections - flippin
building work...)

now, i THINK that's about it! i'm pretty sure you'll be horrified at this set-up & i need to know what's the best way to go about getting the best out of the equipment i've got (that's sounds a bit , but you know what i mean )

when i was having probs with the DVD, RGB cables etc were mentioned & i think this is the way to go?? we haven't got any Sky movie channels at the mo', are these the only things in true 5.1 DD? (i'm thinking that i won't need an optical cable if that's the case?)

any suggestions will need to be 'female compliant' as i'm a bit of numpty on all this , i'm ok when i've done a bit of research, but just have to keep it simple first...

thanks again in advance guys

Abbie

Most modern tellies support RGB on the scart 1 plug. It'd be worth using that as the picture is soooo much better.

On your Sky remote, press SERVICES 401 SELECT and select RGB under the picture options - you'll notice a big improvement in the picture. It's worth buying a decent scart cable for this too.

You're right about Dolby Digital - it's only on the movie channels at the moment. If you want to start using it you need the optical cable and you'll need to turn DD on in the audio settings.

yes you should get a big improvement in picture quality using RGB.

If you have set the box to use RGB then to see the difference when watching a program press the TV button on the sky remote to switch to composite and then press the Sky button to switch back to RGB.