Purchase Freesat or keep Sky +?

Digifriendly

My friend at present has the Sky Family pack with Sky+ box but she doesn't want to pay as much as she's doing. Think it's around £22 a month. She's considering getting rid of Sky altogether and purchasing a Freesat PVR. She likes 3 ROI channels and would lose them but is considering putting up an RTE aerial (sport not blacked out via an aerial as some of it is on Sky here in NI). I have told her to consider dropping the Family pack subscription but keeping recording facilities of Sky + (for c £9.79 she would get FTV channels only but still more than Freesat) and getting RTE aerial. This would be cheaper over the year than purchasing a Freesat box and after a year she could reconsider whether to get rid of Sky+. Anyone any advice for me to give her?

T-Square

If she's been with sky for long enough, she gets to keep the box, however I'm not sure if that would record from freesat. I doubt it.

For a clean break, a humax pvr will give timeshift functionality for freesat. To get the RTEs you already know you'll need a aerial, which could cost up to 150 to install on the roof (all depends on your location, as a coat hanger might be all that is need to get the digital transmission).

I dropped Sky and haven't looked back, spend too much time looking at TV, to be paying for the idiot lamp too!

Digifriendly

T-Square wrote: »

If she's been with sky for long enough, she gets to keep the box, however I'm not sure if that would record from freesat. I doubt it.

For a clean break, a humax pvr will give timeshift functionality for freesat. To get the RTEs you already know you'll need a aerial, which could cost up to 150 to install on the roof (all depends on your location, as a coat hanger might be all that is need to get the digital transmission).

I dropped Sky and haven't looked back, spend too much time looking at TV, to be paying for the idiot lamp too!

AFAIK if she simply keeps the Sky + box and pays no subscription the box reverts to a Sky box with FTV channels without Sky +recording facilities i.e. she could manually record programmes from this box using a video/DVD but would be unable to have PVR functionality.
Remember here in NI that RTE digital transmissions are not as strong as analogue as they are nulled slightly to the north and an extra box would be required to receive them as a Freeview box has different MPEG format. However I think analogue ROI channels will be available for some time yet so aerial would be fine for those over next few years.

STB

The MPEG4 combo box is a longer term solution. Freeview/HD Sat/DTT.

http://www.saortv.com/shop/digital-tv-receivers/combo/edision-argus-mini-2-in-1-ip-combo-hd-satellite/dtt-receiver/prod_72.html

But as you say you are in NI. Whereabouts ? Can you pick up DTT at the moment ? Or know of anyone near you that can.

Eitherway its a good investment as the UK HD stations will be receivable with the sat tuner now (as the UK HD terrestrial stations on DVB-T2 doesnt plan being on for NI until 2012).

Good thing about the combo boxes is that you can mix the dig terrestrial and satellite in one channel list. The PVR facility is an option but its not wife/gf friendly for those who have experienced Sky plus etc.

So its all about whats more important recording or RTE/Sat in one channel list.

BenEadir

STB,

Does the Combo box require a seperate ariel and cable for DTT? I'm guessing it will need a dish and cable for Satellite and an ariel and cable for DTT?

Regards,

Ben

Digifriendly

STB wrote: »

The MPEG4 combo box is a longer term solution. Freeview/HD Sat/DTT.

http://www.saortv.com/shop/digital-tv-receivers/combo/edision-argus-mini-2-in-1-ip-combo-hd-satellite/dtt-receiver/prod_72.html

But as you say you are in NI. Whereabouts ? Can you pick up DTT at the moment ? Or know of anyone near you that can.

Eitherway its a good investment as the UK HD stations will be receivable with the sat tuner now (as the UK HD terrestrial stations on DVB-T2 doesnt plan being on for NI until 2012).

Good thing about the combo boxes is that you can mix the dig terrestrial and satellite in one channel list. The PVR facility is an option but its not wife/gf friendly for those who have experienced Sky plus etc.

So its all about whats more important recording or RTE/Sat in one channel list.

My friend lives just outside Moira Co. Down and both Freeview and ROI DTT should be available from her location with proper aerials. She has partial Freeview in another room via a set top aerial but if proper outside aerial was installed she would have all channels from Divis. She's not so much interested in Freeview though, rather satellite and doesn't want to keep paying money a lot of money to Sky as there's just one salary coming into the home. She will probably either invest in Freesat PVR and put up an aerial for analogue ROI channels or keep Sky+ with recording facilities (paying cheaper monthly subscription) and put up aerial for RTE etc. Thanks anyway for your very helpful advice.