Taking up the Sky Plus Offer ?

Gun Shy

Hi
I'm planning on taking up the Sky + offer and I've seen quite a few different ones from

Introduce a friend and and collect €75 (Bro in law would be more than happy to introduce me I'm sure)
to an offer of €45 each if a friend introduces you

Just wondering on one thing and that is the Sky+ box because I've seen the new model called the Sky + 160 and want to guarantee that thats the one I will get.

So what happens should I ring sky directly or go through a local installer

Any Info around the Naas Area appreciated

Gun Shy

bigpaddy2004

Gun Shy wrote:

Hi
I'm planning on taking up the Sky + offer and I've seen quite a few different ones from

Introduce a friend and and collect €75 (Bro in law would be more than happy to introduce me I'm sure)
to an offer of €45 each if a friend introduces you

Just wondering on one thing and that is the Sky+ box because I've seen the new model called the Sky + 160 and want to guarantee that thats the one I will get.

So what happens should I ring sky directly or go through a local installer

Any Info around the Naas Area appreciated

Gun Shy

Definitley not would you get the 160 gig. Only the standard 80 gig. If you go through Sky direct, dont forget that they will contract out your installation to Sierra Communications whom will not install a dish on your chimney no matter what + will not go into your roof space even if your house is pre-wired. Go to an independant, they will do all the above.

JohnC.

bigpaddy2004 wrote:

If you go through Sky direct, dont forget that they will contract out your installation to Sierra Communications whom will not install a dish on your chimney no matter what + will not go into your roof space even if your house is pre-wired. Go to an independant, they will do all the above.

Not true. Our Sierra installer was going to put it on the chimney and I had to tell him not to. He didn't have a problem going into the roofspace without prompting either.

Gun Shy

bigpaddy2004 wrote:

Definitley not would you get the 160 gig. Only the standard 80 gig. .

So How do I go about getting the 160 Gig Sky + box

Also recomendations for installers in the Naas area, and does this mean that I will lose out on the offers if I go with an independant.

I've seen that Al O'Donegans in Naas is an agent for Sky so might give a call in later.

L1011

Kahless wrote:

Not true. Our Sierra installer was going to put it on the chimney and I had to tell him not to. He didn't have a problem going into the roofspace without prompting either.

The five houses opposite me have 5 seperate shockingly bad Sierra installs, one of which is both dishes being on the same side of the same chimney! I don't want be standing anywhere near that in the next storm...

bigpaddy2004

Kahless wrote:

Not true. Our Sierra installer was going to put it on the chimney and I had to tell him not to. He didn't have a problem going into the roofspace without prompting either.

It is true, Sierra also sub out most of their work out to independants, I think there is only 2 or 3 guys work direct for them at the moment. Your installer most probably was a contractor.

Gun Shy

Just got off the phone with Sky CS and the price for the Sky+ 160 box is €299 as apposed to the offer on the 80 gig box at €129.

So is it worth future proofing and going for the 160gig or what

watty

The Sky+ 160 is not any more future proof (doesn't do HD). YOu could get an HD box (it will drive ordinary TVs) and only have a Sky+ sub on it. But a big price premium, it will be much cheaper next year.

The only differences I have heard re 80G and 160G is that the 160 disks or box is a bit less reliable. half of the 160 is reserved space. You can at a later date replace the HDD on a Sky+ box for a larger one.

Non-Sky PVRs (only work with Sky Free Channels, not the pay channels) have up to 450G disks. (Satellite PVRs, not the analog input ones).

A 200G Byte drive cost me 99.95 Euro retail, so the Sky+ 160 does not seem worth the extra money. Assuming you can unplug from mains, unscrew cover and set the "jumper" on a new drive the same setting as the old drive, it is a 10min simple job to upgrade. I don't know what size disk an 80G Sky+ can take, but if later you want to upgrade there is no shortage of good instructions on Net. If anyone here has done the 80G box, I'll put the instructions on ICDG.