Surprised by Chorus

hawthorn

Hi folks.

I have Sky, so when my sister said her son was getting her Chorus for her birthday I went ballistic trying to persuade them to change to Sky.

Too late, he had already ordered it!

Anyway i called to her today expecting to say "I told you so" and tell her she would have got much more channels from Sky, the EPG is better, youd have all the BBCs in other channels etc etc....

Horror! I actually had to eat humble pie as she proudly flicked on the TV and handed me the Chorus remote....!

Smaller remote, smaller receiver. Its MMDS digital. I started using the guide, and much preferred it to Sky. Heres why:

All the channels are nicely stored in a well planned sequence. You can get BBC 3 and 4 there too. No"other channels". It has Chorus Sports which in fairness covers local and school matches etc. And best of all, no trapesing through RUBBISH!

There are no shopping channels (OK maybe someone looks at them..). OK I dont see an Autoview feature for changing channel if youre recording, Im not sure if there is a facility similar or not.

She just has a simple 21" TV so I couldnt see any lack of quality present.

All in all, Im just saying Chorus has received a fair old bashing here now and again, and I was pleasently surprised by it.

Oh, and of chorus, technical expert me managed to knock off the box by pressing the record button! Couldnt get it to change channels or do anything.

Imagine this happening with SKY.....and the phone calls, and music, and waiting and Scottish accents..(sorry dont mean to offend..)...

I rang the Chorus 1890 helpline and within 30 seconds a helpful girl answered, confirmed a few details, and said "Oh thats simple, just hold down buttin x for 10 seconds..."!!! And it worked!

So now. Anyone know if you end subscription do you keep the equipment and does it work? I suppose that would be another factor, in fairness.

H

mikeym

It has Chorus Sports which in fairness covers local and school matches etc

You do realise that it will be shut down in a few months time.

Anyone know if you end subscription do you keep the equipment and does it work? I suppose that would be another factor, in fairness.

You got to be having a laugh, you have to return the equipment and theres no keeping the box after one year.

I love sky digital its reliable and there are so many free channels that you pay for with cable. With cable your restricted to a very basic channel line-up. The only complaints sky digital customers make is whenever there is a price hike, i can imagine how many complaints chorus have recieved since it was formed.

watty

With Sky you own the gear from day one though you must have a minimum contract period.

If you cancel Sky you can renew in minutes over the phone and be reactivated. With cable MMDS you must wait for them to deliver a box.


With Satellite you can use your own receiver (PC or dedicated Sat PVR) for free channels or even get a sub from continental suppliers (Sky is foriegn anyway, and really a UK service tweaked for Ireland).

With cable you never own the box and are prohibited from connecting your own digital receiver. There are no free cable channels.

Satellite you can even pickup other satellites, with cable you are stuck with the provider that goes past your door.

Satellite works outside the city.

But if you want Phone, Broadband and Digital Pay TV from one supplier then cable can be the best solution.

watty

MMDS is due to be shut down. UPC are likely to concentrate on cable as it allows them to offer phone and broadband.

ixtlan

watty wrote:

With Sky you own the gear from day one though you must have a minimum contract period.

People often quote this as an advantage, but for most people it's not.

OK, if you cancel Sky you can keep the free channels, but most people end up paying for some service anyhow, so there's a big advantage in the supplier owning the hardware so that they have to repair a fault.

When I recommend Sky, I'm always careful to explain that while Chorus may be incompetent idiots, they will repair faults for free whereas Sky may charge over €100. Many people don't realise that.

Ix.

Rizzo the Rat

one phrase - Sky +

if you have Sky and get Sky + you will never go back and wonder how you lived without it

no Sky + with Chorus or anything similiar

L1011

ixtlan wrote:

When I recommend Sky, I'm always careful to explain that while Chorus may be incompetent idiots, they will repair faults for free whereas Sky may charge over €100. Many people don't realise that.

*remembering three and a half years of Sky News in black and white*

Chorus generally only repair faults they feel are important, however...

Mossy Monk

ixtlan wrote:

Sky may charge over €100

generally asking to cancel will have Sky bending backwards for you. many people get free call out charges after 12 months

channelsurfer

watty wrote:

MMDS is due to be shut down. UPC are likely to concentrate on cable as it allows them to offer phone and broadband.

well you wouldnt think so here. every cabled estate in the town centre has now those mmds aerials on the roofs not a sign of them even touching the cable to upgrade it and all I hear is this investment planned. I got rid of the analogue cable and got my ftv card and get just what I want now for a once off investment whereas they are still charging 30 euro a month for the cable.

hawthorn

Well obviously most of you prefer skk, fair enough. I was just making the point that Chorus was much better than I thought it would be. An extra 100 channels (with about 5 that Id even stop over) is not necessarily great....Id do without the 5 just to have a better epg. Even with the favourites its not great.


SKY+, fair enough, but 149 for box, minimum around 60 per month (otherwise around 400+ for box) etc etc

I gave up and got me a Pioneer HD DVD 530 recorder, goodbye Sky+ dont need you!!!

cheers

h

gav14

e.g Freez button sky dosent have but Chorus dose (and sum nomal sat boxes have it 2) well my friend reported he press yellow or sumthing & freez it but was only test well they dont have proper button & also Chorus has the 'RECORD' fuction & on sky see info on outher channels without going sky guide.
& the box is smaller & you get few channel wich arent on sky.
But 2 my knowlage Chorus dont have any interative servis like sky new Active or any thing.
Iherd sum were that have net tv wich sum sky doinh now.

Mossy Monk

gav14 wrote:

e.g Freez button sky dosent have but Chorus dose (and sum nomal sat boxes have it 2) well my friend reported he press yellow or sumthing & freez it but was only test well they dont have proper button

a freeze button? i have this on my cable box and have to ask what good is a freeze button. with Sky+ you have a pause button which is infinately better

gav14 wrote:

also Chorus has the 'RECORD' fuction

is it a PVR like what Sky+ is or an auto channel change like what a regular Sky box will do

gav14 wrote:

see info on outher channels without going sky guide.

this is something that would be good on Sky

gav14 wrote:

the box is smaller

not an issue for most people i'd imagine

gav14 wrote:

you get few channel wich arent on sky

like what? Channel 4? granted ITV or the extra BBC channels aren't on the Sky EPG but at least you can watch ITV 1, 2, 3 or 4, all BBC channels and if you choose to get a FTV card then Channel 4 and five are available too

what do Chorus have that Sky dont? Channel 6, Channel 4, the Chorus Sports Channels. what about the channels on Sky that Chorus don't provide, and i am not on about the shopping channels

are all channels that are available widescreen actually widescreen? don't think they are with Chorus

gav14 wrote:

But 2 my knowlage Chorus dont have any interative servis like sky new Active or any thing.

you're knowledge is correct, they have no interactive

gav14 wrote:

Iherd sum were that have net tv wich sum sky doinh now.

not going to try guessing what that means

gav14

That Record thing stop peopel the channel.
Pause thing cida handy for a normal no pvr box.
I heard that u can get the netvia chours boxes.
Size dos matter 4 bedroooms 7 stuff. (I can put the chours box on the Hifi not a sky box not even a minibox & cant put ion my TV cus that LCD & my DVD Player under that )

Mr E

Can we get a translator in here, please?

Jumpy

watty wrote:

MMDS is due to be shut down. UPC are likely to concentrate on cable as it allows them to offer phone and broadband.

Source please?

recyclebin

when did ali g join boards.ie?:D

gerryo

watty wrote:

MMDS is due to be shut down. UPC are likely to concentrate on cable as it allows them to offer phone and broadband.

What!, I thought they were testing wireless triple-play in Meath/Louth??

Or do you mean MMDS is being shut down & replaced with something else/better??

ixtlan

Mossy Monk wrote:

generally asking to cancel will have Sky bending backwards for you. many people get free call out charges after 12 months

Hi Mossy,

Yes, I know this is true, and ironically it really annoys me. I think they should give a free callout if you commit to say another 6 months of service.

Instead whether you pay depends on your aggressive phone manner. As I understand it you have to insist that you will cancel, wait to get through the cancellations department, insist that you don't want it anymore, then wait for an offer from Sky, and usually, but not always , they will waive the fee.

So, I have to tell people that the official line is that you pay €100 to fix any hardware fault, otherwise they will blame me for misleading them. Sometimes (depending on their personality) I'll add that they may be able to talk their way out of the fee.

Fortunately for the world, not everyone can lie so convincingly on the phone.:D

watty

gerryo wrote:

What!, I thought they were testing wireless triple-play in Meath/Louth??

Or do you mean MMDS is being shut down & replaced with something else/better??

The frequency was "illegally" utilised for MMDS (polictical expediency). 2.5G Hz belongs to other services. it is definately going.

There are other frequencies.

gerryo

watty wrote:

The frequency was "illegally" utilised for MMDS (polictical expediency). 2.5G Hz belongs to other services. it is definately going.

There are other frequencies.

Ok, I think 2.5 GHz was "borrowed" from ISM, but do you mean the MMDS service is being moved to a new band, ot that it is being discontinued by UPC?

I had assumed it might evolve into a Wi-Max type service, i.e, TV, phone & internet all over one connection, say around 10 Ghz, all from one provider.

If MMDS is killed off for economic reasons, fair enough, that's UPC's decision.