SKY Hd - is it worth it?

trabpc

I have had sky since 2001 and sky plus since nov 2005.
I am moving house in March and considering Sky HD. Mind you I still have to buy a hd telly yet.

My first Q is is it worth spendin €450 plus €15 p/m.

Is the Quality that good (considering the price)

Or should i stick with sky+

I would like to hear from exisiting owners or prospective owners.

fat-tony

I've had SKY HD since it started in May 2006. I would give it a hesitant "thumbs up" based on what it's costing me each month. On the basis of the technical quality it's a marvel to behold, but you have to have access to the movie package if you're going to see any variety in programming.
The problem is that you see a lot of repeat programming on Nat Geo HD, the History channel etc. IMHO the BBC trial has the best of the content quality-wise (and it's free:D), but it is repeated a lot! Planet Earth is stunning, but there's only so many times you want to see Angel Falls in HD!

I'd say, if you can afford the package and have a decent HD 42" plasma (my preference) or bigger tv, then go for it!

dingding

trabpc wrote: »

I have had sky since 2001 and sky plus since nov 2005.
I am moving house in March and considering Sky HD. Mind you I still have to buy a hd telly yet.

My first Q is is it worth spendin €450 plus €15 p/m.

Is the Quality that good (considering the price)

Or should i stick with sky+

I would like to hear from exisiting owners or prospective owners.

You might get one cheaper one on ebay, for about 350 euro.

norbert64

if that SKYHD tenure thingy is still going, I think you can get it for €300

listermint

Personally id hold off. Dont think the package is decent enough and feels overpriced for what you get.

Jesper7

was thinking of getting HD for the Sky Sports especially. Would have thought these channels would be worth upgrading to, if you watch a lot of sports as I do!

Doodler

SKY HD is worth upgrading to if:

You have a 42 or bigger HD-Ready TV, and
You subscribe to either Sky Movies or Sky Sports

Not all sports are covered in Sky HD, though.

BBCHD is excellent but there's no EPG and you can't record, so if you're primarily interested in BBC, ITV, etc. wait until their new Freesat boxes come out shortly and nip up to Newry to buy a PVR.

JDxtra

...I'm waiting. I like my gadgets, but even I think it's too expensive at the moment.

Surely at this stage we are due a 2nd generation (cheaper?) HD box from Sky..? If not, the original must be getting cheaper to make - €450 is too much.

colmranger

I was also considering and i spoke to a rep and he advised me to hold on until March as there will be some price decrease then.

subway

got a letter from sky today, the box is only 299 now

Danno

Got mine this evening - paid €299. Worth it - even the SD channels are improved on my 32" LCD. Found BBC HD (Thanks Boards.ie) and well, it's AMAZING! Some detail. There is a Free-to-Air HD channel on 286.

Chet T16

fat-tony wrote: »

I've had SKY HD since it started in May 2006. I would give it a hesitant "thumbs up" based on what it's costing me each month. On the basis of the technical quality it's a marvel to behold, but you have to have access to the movie package if you're going to see any variety in programming.
The problem is that you see a lot of repeat programming on Nat Geo HD, the History channel etc. IMHO the BBC trial has the best of the content quality-wise (and it's free:D), but it is repeated a lot! Planet Earth is stunning, but there's only so many times you want to see Angel Falls in HD!

I'd say, if you can afford the package and have a decent HD 42" plasma (my preference) or bigger tv, then go for it!

This pretty much covers my feelings on it. 15 euro is a bit steep for the amount of channels you get but some programmes are stunning, two to look out for are Sunrise Earth and American Chopper on Discovery. Alot of sky one hd stuff is just upscaled SD stuff so not very impressive

One thing i did notice when i upgraded from sky+ was that the HD box was a bit slower and the FF/RWD was jerky and imprecise. Its still not as good as the old box

Oh and i found the old remote nicer to hold than the HD one, it seemed better balanced!

Danno

I just went from standard digibox to HD box, so I cant compare to Sky+

watty

Sky+ is same quality as regular Sky box, just with recording.

Jesper7

Danno wrote: »

Got mine this evening - paid €299. Worth it - even the SD channels are improved on my 32" LCD. Found BBC HD (Thanks Boards.ie) and well, it's AMAZING! Some detail. There is a Free-to-Air HD channel on 286.

the €299 price - I don't see this offered on the sky site - is this a special offer sent to certain customers? €299 I'd pay for HD otherwise I'll hold off a while longer. Thks

ShaneOC

In my opinion Sky HD is definately worth it if you have a HD television. The quality on the HD channels (when they're showing HD programmes) is staggering. Some of the new US imports on Sky 1 are shown in HD including

• Stargate Atlantis
• Journeyman
• Prison Break
• Law & Order

They also show their own productions in HD but no matter how good the quality of the picture crap is crap :rolleyes:

The difference in Sport is huge. Heineken Cup last weekend was brilliant. Don't usually watch soccer but even flicking through matches you notice the quality of the picture.

For movies I think it depends on each one. On some the difference is very noticable, on others not so much.

The documentaries/arts programmes have excellent picture quality but not always of interest to everyone.

Overall I am happy with Sky HD. I do think the €15 is steep. I got Sky+ when it was introduced and paid €15 a month for that. However you could record/pause all channels on the EPG, Sky HD has only 12 channels in HD (at present) on the EPG and of these not all programmes are in HD. The picture quality is great though and even on SD it's better than regular Sky/Sky+ when viewed through the HDMI cable.

subway

sorry its a little small, thems the rules apparently.
you can see in option 3 that its now 299

eoin2nc

How much for installation? Seems a bit much too have to pay someone just to swap a Sky HD box with my old Sky+ Box

subway

says 45 for installation, doesnt say whether its for upgrade or new installs.

Pascal14

No Way. My mate has it, you could hardly notice the difference. And thats before a few cans!

trabpc

Ok so far what i hear it is Ok but alot seem to think the 15/pm is a bit much

at €300 and free subscription with movies or sport id consider it.


Is it possible to carry out a poll on it?

Jesper7

thanks subway - it appears that the offer is for new customers only - might check and see if the €299 price would apply if upgrading from Sky+

slave1

My mate has it, you could hardly notice the difference

Lordie, I suggest you check your mate's setup as anyone with a large enough screen will notice a staggering difference.

IMHO Some points
HD broadcasts really kick in on the larger screens, say 50" plus, that's not to say there is no difference on a 32", there is, it's just not as noticeable
With the HD box, SD signals are improved if you connect up via component/hdmi
You also get a larger hard drive to record onto so you can record more
Apart from the picture improvement you also get Dolby Digital 5.1 on selected HD broadcasts
Because of the variety of connections on the box you can easily have SkyHD on two HDTVs via component and HDMI, I have it feeding 3 HDTVs
Bottom line, if you have a good quality large HDTV and a DD amp and enjoy your TV viewing then it's worth it.
If you have a smaller HDTV and/or no DD amp then the worth drops, not saying it ain't worth it, just your return drops.
I've had it since launch and am very happy with the service to date, yes it would be great if the box and install was cheaper, but then it was at launch, I paid a net 299 with free install as an existing sky customer who bought a Sony bravia and took advantage of a deal going at the time

Go for it, you can't bring it with you

SoundWave

so could i just ring sky now and say that i got the letter and want sky hd for 299... or is there some offer code on the letter?

mustang68

Pascal14 wrote: »

No Way. My mate has it, you could hardly notice the difference. And thats before a few cans!

There is something very wrong with your friends set up. When watching HD you can see details like lights being reflected in actors eyes, joins on face prosthetics in sci fi etc. nature films will blow you away. When people see true HD for the first time in my house they are speechless.

I very much doubt you were watch HD.

eoin2nc

I went to my local sky dealer and he said Sky HD was still E449?

subway

theres the full hi res scan, print it out and bring it with you

speedfreak

slave1 wrote: »

Because of the variety of connections on the box you can easily have SkyHD on two HDTVs via component and HDMI, I have it feeding 3 HDTVs

can you explain how this is done?

slave1

You can hook up one HDTV via the component and one via the HDMI connection, assuming the HD box itself is beside the first HDTV then I'd choose HDMI, for the second I'd choose component as if its a long run - in my case a 10M lead - the cables are cheaper, you'll also need an audio cable run but these cables are cheap. To control the box at the second location you'll need to use the RF out of the SkyHD box with a magic eye.
I have a HDMI splitter from this guy on ebay to split the HDMI out from the SkyHD box to two HDTV's so with a RF amplifier/splitter from this guy - 2 way distribution amplifier half-way down the page- , three outputs from the one box is achievable with no loss in quality.
Most leads I pick up on ebay.

beolight

so with a RF amplifier/splitter from this guy - 2 way distribution amplifier half-way down the page- , three outputs from the one box is achievable with no loss in quality.

is this the T120? connects to RF2?

slave1

yeah, I have an earlier model I've been using the last few years, no problems and works perfectly, I originally had a problem as I was joining two coaxials for a long run to the attic and it would not work, but when I got a new cable and the run was continuous eureka
did a quick search on ebay and found this cheaper version
if you're thinking of this, it's well worth it to get another few sky remotes, I got mine off ebay

kippy

I must say, I am still very skeptical on this whole HD lark.
I have a 32 inch CRT with Sky + and to me that is perfectly sufficient for my viewing needs. The picture quality isnt THAT important to me to fork out over a grand for a new TV, 300 yoyo for a new box and almost 200 euro a year extra (maybe more) for HD content.

Now, I must admit I have looked at the flatscreens but every time I do I feel that I am going to end up buying something that will end up paying more for in the long run to get the best out of it. Not something I can say I am comfortable with. Hopefully more and more channels go like BBC.

Kippy

Dman001

Is there any news on any other channels going HD and can you just buy the HD box without getting a HD subscription (I want to use BBC HD)?

watty

You can buy a wide variety of HD boxes, not just the SkyHD. The SkyHD box won't record without a sub. Non-Sky HD boxes can't use Sky card for pay TV, but ones with a HDD can record.

ITV will be HD later in year and C4 HD may be FTA in the autumn.

watty

32" is too small for HD.

In fact for my room I'd need 37" approx for SD TV. So I would not see hardly any difference. HD was invented for BIG screens. Ordinary TV (esp the USA 480 pixel kind) is terrible on 48" to 60" (depending on room size).

Unless you want a really big screen there is marginal value to HD. At 60" a projector (1080 line about €2000) is better value than Plasma/LCD.

kippy

watty wrote: »

32" is too small for HD.

In fact for my room I'd need 37" approx for SD TV. So I would not see hardly any difference. HD was invented for BIG screens. Ordinary TV (esp the USA 480 pixel kind) is terrible on 48" to 60" (depending on room size).

Unless you want a really big screen there is marginal value to HD. At 60" a projector (1080 line about €2000) is better value than Plasma/LCD.

Cheers for the advice watty.
Kippy

Dman001

So if I just buy the Sky HD box and tune BBCHD into other channels, I can watch BBCHD with no HD subscription?

givecredit

Dman001 wrote: »

So if I just buy the Sky HD box and tune BBCHD into other channels, I can watch BBCHD with no HD subscription?

Yes. And hopefully Ch4hd in Autumn and ITVHD in "Spring 2008". Currently there is one free HD channel on the Irish Epg "Luxe TV"

Dman001

Cheers.

DC

No Way. My mate has it, you could hardly notice the difference. And thats before a few cans!

You have to be kidding me! The difference is very noticeable.

There are some other benefits to Sky HD. If you have a large TV, say 37"+ in size, then watching SD content at a distance of less than 12 feet distance makes the image appear blocky / pixelated. HD content can be viewed much closer to the screen, making it better to watch if your living room is a bit on the small side.

To get the full value out of it, make use of Sky+ and record well in advance. Series Link Lost, for example. There is less choice, obviously, so record the programs you like and watch when you can. The one disadvantage is that the programs will take up about 4 times as much space on the 160GB hard-drive. A 500GB drive would be ideal, but you would have to wait until you are out of warranty to upgrade, otherwise your cover would be gone.

If you won't miss 15 euro a month, I would say definitely worth it. Just look at the premium being charged for Bluray / HD-DVD. I got Planet Earth on HD-DVD. There is no difference in quality between that and BBC HD on Sky.

Also, for Sky Sports HD and a lot of the HD documentary programs, you are getting Dolby Digital 5.1 instead of the stereo your surround system will decode as prologic II or Neo 6 or whatever. DD 5.1 makes a big difference to a big match.

Another benefit is Sky Anytime. You get a lot of HD content on that.

If you have a standard Sky box and won't miss 15 a month, then upgrade straight to HD rather than just Sky+ if you have that big screen HD display. If you have Sky+ already, then it comes down to whether you can afford the extra 15 a month and must have the best viewing possible.

LarMan

Hi

I have HD for the last year and i have to say that I am not blown away by it. I bout my Samsung 40" plasma at the same time as I got HD installed. The picture is excellent both in SD and HD but the difference is not Huge and you would certainly not be amazed by the difference. Comments on this thread make me think that there is something wrong with my system. It was installed by a SKY engineer and used HDMI and looks like it is setup properly but I just don't think it is that great. My neighbour has a 50" plasma and I don't think his is much better. I wish there was a way of verifying that the system was working and that the picture I am getting is as good as I am getting.

In my opinion based on what I am seeing it is not worth it.

LarMan

jesus_thats_gre

The biggest improvement comes from the use of HDMI in my opinion.. If I could go back, I would get the box and not enable the HD channels..

Danno

One thing I notice... if I switch on BBC-HD for a few minutes, then go to say RTE1, the picture is much improved - like as if the TV or the SkyHD box has "upscaled" the SD RTE Channel! Wierd!

mathias

It was installed by a SKY engineer and used HDMI and looks like it is setup properly but I just don't think it is that great.

Well , I have mine since launch , and the so called Sky " Engineer " didnt set it up right at all , he had it connected with both a Scart and a HDMI and the HDMI was set to 576p , so I was only getting SD regardless , even on the HD channels.

Luckily enough I knew what to do , ripped out the scart , just left in the HDMI , check the HD settings , which should be on auto or set to match the TV , that would be 1080i for most 1080p sets and so on.

To start with mine was on a Panasonic 32 inch LCD , and even on that the difference was jaw dropping , everyone who seen it commented on it , especially Nat Geo , and Discovery ,

Now its on a 50 inch Plasma , could not be happier with it , especially for sports.

saphire

I have sky + at the minute along with a 37" screen and just the basic sky sub of 30 euro a month.
I have an opportunity of getting a hd box for 149 under the introduce a friend
scheme. I'm not really interested in paying an additional 15 euro a month for the
current hd channels. However if I was to get this hd box would i still be able to record programs as I do currently while staying on the basic package of 30 euro.
Thanks

fat-tony

saphire wrote: »

I have sky + at the minute along with a 37" screen and just the basic sky sub of 30 euro a month.
I have an opportunity of getting a hd box for 149 under the introduce a friend
scheme. I'm not really interested in paying an additional 15 euro a month for the
current hd channels. However if I was to get this hd box would i still be able to record programs as I do currently while staying on the basic package of 30 euro.
Thanks

Yes you can record SD programmes as usual. You won't have access to the HD channels on the EPG without paying the sub. You will be able to view the BBC HD trial on the "extra channels", but no recording that I'm afraid:(

eirebhoy

I have a 37" HDTV. There's not much difference in quality using the Xbox 360 on that TV compared to a standard 28" so I doubt I'd see much difference with Sky HD (considering other people see a noticeable difference with the Xbox in HD).

Just out of interest though, I thought you were required to pay the sub if you buy the box off Sky?

remoteboy

saphire wrote: »

I have an opportunity of getting a hd box for 149 under the introduce a friend scheme.

Wow! :eek: Where are you getting that offer from? I can't see anything on their website?

saphire

Thanks lads, I didn't pick that up when reading the letter but i think you could be right about having to subscribe for the year in which case i wouldn't really be interested. As you say eirebhoy on a 37 " screen it may not make much difference. Remoteboy it was part of the offer they were running before Christmas and it was supposed to be for a free sky box. However when they sent out the letter you also had the option of the hd box for 149 plus the 45 installation fee.

thenobody

Thats the offer i got and got it installed early Jan.
You cant just get the box. You have to subscribe and you have to be subscribed to certain packages in order to be able to get HD too.

Offer for the installation ends by Feb 15th by the way.

HD reception is incredible. Lot better than Standard.
Was happy with my 32 inch tv before and with HD and HD DVD it just seems too small.

So today i am picking up a HD projector instead of getting a massive tv ruining the whole room.

saphire

Well that settles it for me then. I'll stick with the free box. Good luck thenobody with your hd projector.