Missed a Trick

mfceiling

Had the sky tv rep at the door last night...turns out i knew him fom a job i was on a few years back.
Told him to come in for a cup of tea but i wasn't interested in sky as i was going to throw in a free to air shortly.
After 10 mins he says "sure why not take the basic sky pack and cancel after your years contract and all the kit will be yours and you'll have your free channels"
I signed up (UPC charging nearly €30 at present for 17 channels).
Sky is €23 a month for a couple of hundred channels - i got it more for the kids channels tbh.
Is this a trick we are missing here ie. rather than pay a couple of hundred for free to air just sign up to a basic sky package and then cancel after a year?

tmcw

Great coup there for Sky, you were going to get a FTA system, but they managed to convince you to subscribe.

It's probably true that over the course of the year they won't make much profit out of you, but they'll be depending on you maybe forgetting to cancel after the year is up, or if you do ring up threatening to cancel, they might give you a reduced rate for the next 6-12 months (pure profit for them anyway). Or maybe you'll see that you're not getting the benefit of that shiny new HDTV you have (guessing) and you'll "upgrade" to a HD pack. Sure the Sports Pack is only another €X a month, would be nice to be able to see the odd exclusive football match, or other sports event. And the movie channels are only €Y per month, just think of all those family gatherings watching all those new flicks, save a fortune not going to the cinema. And do you really think you'll be able to cancel when you see your young-uns faces when you tell them that they'll no longer be able to watch Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network? You might be feeling the force of teen-angst and hatred years before they become teenagers.

You'll read lots of posts here of people relating how they rang Sky to cancel, but ended up getting a "better" deal (for a limited time). There's nothing clever or tricky on what Sky are doing, they're just using tactics that have been employed/exploited for centuries (like how kings/drug-pushers/prostitutes/religions have operated), making you believe that they're providing you with an essential service that will enrich your life, when all they're really interested in doing is making a bucket-load of cash from you and their advertisers. You might be better off putting subscription money towards a university fund for your children.

But maybe you've more bottle than I'm giving you credit for, and you'll happily cancel after a year, and no one in the household will suffer withdrawl symptoms.

Trampas

Just ring up and cancel the order.

watty

No recording or UK EPG.

It used to be a good idea before Freesat boxes came out, but with HD not manually tuning and no-recording when you cancel now it's not.

Only sign to Sky if you really want the Pay TV channels. There is legally a cooling off period. Cancel.

200motels

tmcw wrote: »

Great coup there for Sky, you were going to get a FTA system, but they managed to convince you to subscribe.

It's probably true that over the course of the year they won't make much profit out of you, but they'll be depending on you maybe forgetting to cancel after the year is up, or if you do ring up threatening to cancel, they might give you a reduced rate for the next 6-12 months (pure profit for them anyway). Or maybe you'll see that you're not getting the benefit of that shiny new HDTV you have (guessing) and you'll "upgrade" to a HD pack. Sure the Sports Pack is only another X a month, would be nice to be able to see the odd exclusive football match, or other sports event. And the movie channels are only Y per month, just think of all those family gatherings watching all those new flicks, save a fortune not going to the cinema. And do you really think you'll be able to cancel when you see your young-uns faces when you tell them that they'll no longer be able to watch Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network? You might be feeling the force of teen-angst and hatred years before they become teenagers.

You'll read lots of posts here of people relating how they rang Sky to cancel, but ended up getting a "better" deal (for a limited time). There's nothing clever or tricky on what Sky are doing, they're just using tactics that have been employed/exploited for centuries (like how kings/drug-pushers/prostitutes/religions have operated), making you believe that they're providing you with an essential service that will enrich your life, when all they're really interested in doing is making a bucket-load of cash from you and their advertisers. You might be better off putting subscription money towards a university fund for your children.

But maybe you've more bottle than I'm giving you credit for, and you'll happily cancel after a year, and no one in the household will suffer withdrawl symptoms.

It's a bit of an understatement to say you don't like Sky.

Cantona's Collars

200motels wrote: »

It's a bit of an understatement to say you don't like Sky.

:pac::pac:

Has nobody noticed that the op is already paying €30 per month for 17 channels on UPC:eek::eek: Now that is a rip off.

Sky is a bargain compared to that.Even if the op cancels their Sky sub after a year they can use the box for fta(even with crippled epg) or simply swap it for a Freesat or combo box which are dropping in price rapidly.

If I was paying €30 for a handful of channels I'd swap to Sky in a heartbeat.

LOL at all the sky haters here (some seem to have real issues)

watty

But you can't manually tune ANY DVB-S2 channel. All the HD is going DVB-S2

It's grand for pay TV. He must be on UPC analogue
UPC digital gives more channels for less money than Analogue.

Cantona's Collars

watty wrote: »

But you can't manually tune ANY DVB-S2 channel. All the HD is going DVB-S2

It's grand for pay TV. He must be on UPC analogue
UPC digital gives more channels for less money than Analogue.

UPC analogue is all that's available down my way-it's a complete rip off,95% of the channels they have are fta.A lot of people are ditching it and sacrificing their 'free' multiroom in favour of Sky and FTA.
The op will simply be moving from one pay tv system to a superior and cheaper option,hard to argue against that.Plus having a dish installed opens up a lot of possibilities in future.Cancel UPC no telly,cancel Sky,access to lots of fta telly.

tmcw

200motels wrote: »

It's a bit of an understatement to say you don't like Sky.

How you could infer that from my post, I have no idea (did you read it, or just pick out keywords, and make an assumption, because it's length looked like a rant?).

No, I'm not a subscriber, but I'm not a hater (indifferent is probably the closest adjective); in fact, in a way, I actually admire the way that they're able to suck some people in, keep them hooked, and continue to extract money from them, just so they "can keep up with the footie" or "keep the kids quiet". Also, the list of FTA channels/Freesat at 28E probably wouldn't be as large as it is without the presence of Sky, so perhaps it's good they exist, we'll never know for sure.

Anyway, the central paragraph in my post was intended with a bit of rhetoric, based on conversations with friends and work colleagues, and how/why they've upgraded their subscription, or how they got a reduced rate when they rang up to cancel ("Sure, I'll just ring up and cancel after the 6 months are up", "Yeah, sure you will!"). They're always bitching and moaning about how much they spend on TV, when most of the time they'll admit to watching just RTE or BBC, and are horrified when they work out how much they've given away over the course of 5 years, for example. Yet they continue with their subscription.

Yes, there are people who get genuine great value out of pay TV; it's the others who are continually reined back into the fold that make me chuckle. And there are a lot of them. So, to infer that the target of my first post was subscribers of Sky would have been a more accurate conclusion (And I don't hate them either, just to be clear).

mad muffin

So which fta channels can you watch the following in hd?

All three csi's
Ncis series
Bones
Spartacus
Game of thrones
Stargate series
Chicago code
Two and a half men
The defenders
Blue bloods
Rookie blues
Lie to me
Boardwalk empire
The law and order series
Fringe
Desperate housewives
Many documentaries

And I can go on and on as these are just off the top of my head.

It s fair to say there are many sky haters here, a the mere mention of sky produces several rants a day.

Trevord

mad muffin wrote: »

So which fta channels can you watch the following in hd?

All three csi's
Ncis series
Bones
Spartacus
Game of thrones
Stargate series
Chicago code
Two and a half men
The defenders
Blue bloods
Rookie blues
Lie to me
Boardwalk empire
The law and order series
Fringe
Desperate housewives
Many documentaries

And I can go on and on as these are just off the top of my head.

It s fair to say there are many sky haters here, a the mere mention of sky produces several rants a day.

Excellect point. Those sky haters need to be put in their box. Freesat is totally overrated. To prove my point I've made a list of all the programmes, just off the top of my head, you can watch for free when you sign up to Sky.


Here it is.....................












Feel free to extend the list.






.

mad muffin

Trevord wrote: »

Excellect point. Those sky haters need to be put in their box. Freesat is totally overrated. To prove my point I've made a list of all the programmes, just off the top of my head, you can watch for free when you sign up to Sky.


Here it is.....................












Feel free to extend the list.






.

Thanks for making my point

liamtech

SO this is where its all happening... Sky versus FREESAT -

Thing is folks, while im not a subscriber of sky i acknowledge that for some they provide a good service - But if freesat started advertising in ireland, i would reckon a vast amount of people would switch - im sure most on this forum have had the obligatory conversation in relation to this - "So your telling me i can get all these channels for free etc etc" - Alas freesat will never advertise in Ireland for obvious reasons to do with licensing - SO SKy will always maintain a massive presence in the emerald isle.. The vast majority of people in ireland dont know about freesat/FTA28.2 and thanks to ARROGANT MORONS like Matt Cooper's "Tech Expert friend" they never will - As far as they are concerned all you get from a NON-Sky Satellite dish is Foreign channels in German -

But im still not anti sky - I just believe people should be adequately informed as to whats out there before they commit to paying 30euro a month - Sky Reps purposely mislead people at the door - I stated this in another thread but il state it here again - 3 weeks ago a Sky rep called to my door and after questioning me about what Television package i had and whether my TV was HD, he "SHARED" with me the following facts -

• Even though my TV was HD, i was not getting the benefit of this as the only way to get HD stations in ireland is with UPC or Sky
• More HD channels are being added regularly including the up and coming "BBC ONE HD" - within two months at the latest he stated
• My Free to air set up as he saw it was very limited - and didnt give me the option to record or pause live TV - Also many of the stations are in foreign languages such as russian (maybe hes thinking of Russia today!)
• there are no RTE stations on my FTA box and therefore i am getting Analogue RTE with terrible picture quality

NOW... to the un-tuned uninitiated novice this gentleman makes several important points that are well made and worth considering - To us enthusiasts on boards he was quite literally talking out of his ****! whether that be deliberate or just uninformed! and i told him as much, at which point he left!

Its a disgrace that these reps get away with this but hey - we live in a Banana republic now so we had better get used to it!

One last point - it is Skys placing of FTV and encrypted channels on the Astra 2D satellite that has limited many channels options for going FTA (Fiver and FiveUSA for example) - This is obviously deliberate -

I dont hate them folks - but there are plenty of reasons for people not liking Sky!

ftakeith

liamtech wrote: »

SO this is where its all happening... Sky versus FREESAT -

Thing is folks, while im not a subscriber of sky i acknowledge that for some they provide a good service - But if freesat started advertising in ireland, i would reckon a vast amount of people would switch - im sure most on this forum have had the obligatory conversation in relation to this - "So your telling me i can get all these channels for free etc etc" - Alas freesat will never advertise in Ireland for obvious reasons to do with licensing - SO SKy will always maintain a massive presence in the emerald isle.. The vast majority of people in ireland dont know about freesat/FTA28.2 and thanks to ARROGANT MORONS like Matt Cooper's "Tech Expert friend" they never will - As far as they are concerned all you get from a NON-Sky Satellite dish is Foreign channels in German -

But im still not anti sky - I just believe people should be adequately informed as to whats out there before they commit to paying 30euro a month - Sky Reps purposely mislead people at the door - I stated this in another thread but il state it here again - 3 weeks ago a Sky rep called to my door and after questioning me about what Television package i had and whether my TV was HD, he "SHARED" with me the following facts -

• Even though my TV was HD, i was not getting the benefit of this as the only way to get HD stations in ireland is with UPC or Sky
• More HD channels are being added regularly including the up and coming "BBC ONE HD" - within two months at the latest he stated
• My Free to air set up as he saw it was very limited - and didnt give me the option to record or pause live TV - Also many of the stations are in foreign languages such as russian (maybe hes thinking of Russia today!)
• there are no RTE stations on my FTA box and therefore i am getting Analogue RTE with terrible picture quality

NOW... to the un-tuned uninitiated novice this gentleman makes several important points that are well made and worth considering - To us enthusiasts on boards he was quite literally talking out of his ****! whether that be deliberate or just uninformed! and i told him as much, at which point he left!

Its a disgrace that these reps get away with this but hey - we live in a Banana republic now so we had better get used to it!

One last point - it is Skys placing of FTV and encrypted channels on the Astra 2D satellite that has limited many channels options for going FTA (Fiver and FiveUSA for example) - This is obviously deliberate -

I dont hate them folks - but there are plenty of reasons for people not liking Sky!

pay tv is overrated

I have freesat and saorview
I have a euro dish I see most of the pay sport tv content fta except for english football league free

all those programmes to watch on pay tv if I want a programme on pay tv, I just go online to watch it, compared such as sky one that has ads every 10 minutes

mfceiling

Jesus can of worms lads.

I won't renew the package even if it costs a euro a month....i watch very little tv and it's really only to get the free satellite set up and the box.
The kids only watch a few cartoons so they're free anyway.
I won't take movies, sports or HD (can you tell the difference - do you care when you're watching the news or fair city!!)
Just throwing it out there - is it value for €23 a month to then cancel it after the year?

The guy that signed me up - i keep in touch with his brother and he was telling me how they get you to renew. He gave me his mobile and told me to give a quick bell near the contract end and he'll finish it up for me.

Nforce

We cancel our Sky package (basic pack with children's and music channels as an extra)every 12 months and renew as a new customer,;)
I was going to dump them completely this year,only for the fact that I got a great deal with cashback's from both Sky and Fatcheese.ie...meaning the subscription costs a relative pittance this year (~€11 a month).
I also have Freesat and Saorview(through my htpc's tuners),so I can enjoy the free HD channels.

Dozen Wicked Words

Nforce wrote: »

We cancel our Sky package (basic pack with children's and music channels as an extra)every 12 months and renew as a new customer,;)
I was going to dump them completely this year,only for the fact that I got a great deal with cashback's from both Sky and Fatcheese.ie...meaning the subscription costs a relative pittance this year (~€11 a month).
I also have Freesat and Saorview(through my htpc's tuners),so I can enjoy the free HD channels.

How do you work out its going to cost you 11 a month?

I can only see the deal where its €25 back from Sky, €75 from Fatcheese.

Nforce

dooferoaks wrote: »

How do you work out its going to cost you 11 a month?

I can only see the deal where its €25 back from Sky, €75 from Fatcheese.

It was ,iirc, €65 from fatcheese and €100 from Sky when I signed up a few months ago(there was a thread in the bargain alerts forum).

Dozen Wicked Words

Ah, makes sense, I missed out on that one.

HappyHarry

This is cure Irish hoor syndrome. Thinking you are being smart and getting a great deal. The reality is, you are getting a poor quality dish, it's rust away in a few years and a STB that as already pointed out is designed primarily for Sky not FTA.

Even if you were to cancel after a year, you'd be better off with buying a better dish, FreeSat PVR box (not FTA), and using SaorView too.
You'll have HD RTE2, BBC, ITV & C4, and can record/rewind the FreeSat.

mfceiling wrote: »

Had the sky tv rep at the door last night...turns out i knew him fom a job i was on a few years back.
Told him to come in for a cup of tea but i wasn't interested in sky as i was going to throw in a free to air shortly.
After 10 mins he says "sure why not take the basic sky pack and cancel after your years contract and all the kit will be yours and you'll have your free channels"
I signed up (UPC charging nearly €30 at present for 17 channels).
Sky is €23 a month for a couple of hundred channels - i got it more for the kids channels tbh.
Is this a trick we are missing here ie. rather than pay a couple of hundred for free to air just sign up to a basic sky package and then cancel after a year?

Stinicker

HappyHarry wrote: »

This is cure Irish hoor syndrome. Thinking you are being smart and getting a great deal. The reality is, you are getting a poor quality dish, it's rust away in a few years and a STB that as already pointed out is designed primarily for Sky not FTA.

Even if you were to cancel after a year, you'd be better off with buying a better dish, FreeSat PVR box (not FTA), and using SaorView too.
You'll have HD RTE2, BBC, ITV & C4, and can record/rewind the FreeSat.

What's wrong with the Sky dish, I'd rate them far ahead of some of the crap dishes Lidl and Aldi churn out. I have my own Sky minidish on the house with ten years this year and while a small bit of rust has appeared on the rear bracket; I am expecting to get at least another two or three years before it needs replacing.

I had an 80cms Channel master dish installed in 2005 and it was ate by rust as early as 2008 and it went to the dump.

HappyHarry

Stinicker wrote: »

What's wrong with the Sky dish, I'd rate them far ahead of some of the crap dishes Lidl and Aldi churn out.

It's less crap that stuff that crapper... that's not much praise. They are light weight, badly painted and a bit on the small side compared to a decent dish that can be bought for €60 or about two much of Sky sub.

BTW I'm using one myself ;-)

mad muffin

Wow :eek: now the dishes are crap too!

I must have a magical one, ten years old and not a bit of rust on it.

Plus signal strength and quality has been spot on since the day it was installed.

liamtech

mad muffin wrote: »

Wow :eek: now the dishes are crap too!

I must have a magical one, ten years old and not a bit of rust on it.

Plus signal strength and quality has been spot on since the day it was installed.

The answer to this is obviously quite simple - your dish is not from ..... THIS Universe!



In this alternate timeline Sky's dish's use Subspace gradation and Tilithium based Quantum LNB's (QLNB)!

No but in all seriousness, although im no fan of sky, i have used their dishes and they are fairly decent albeit basic - but that suits most users - as long as they are aligned properly there grand!

For me, Freesat is virtually useless. I can't remember the last time I watched a programme on the BBC or ITV, most of the programmes I do watch are either on RTÉ or on pay services. It really depends on your viewing habits, there's no "one size fits all" solution.

Since moving here last year I've only had Saorview and UPC analogue, I rarely watch the latter as the picture quality is rubbish and the only proper widescreen channel is Discovery (probably by chance more than anything).

Cantona's Collars

mfceiling wrote: »

Jesus can of worms lads.

I won't renew the package even if it costs a euro a month....i watch very little tv and it's really only to get the free satellite set up and the box.
The kids only watch a few cartoons so they're free anyway.
I won't take movies, sports or HD (can you tell the difference - do you care when you're watching the news or fair city!!)
Just throwing it out there - is it value for €23 a month to then cancel it after the year?

The guy that signed me up - i keep in touch with his brother and he was telling me how they get you to renew. He gave me his mobile and told me to give a quick bell near the contract end and he'll finish it up for me.

You are getting the equipment installed for free and saving €7 a month also so it's a win win situation for you,the one bit you have wrong is the cancelling of your sub after a year-Nobody else except the Sky account holder can cancel it,so you'll have to ring Sky yourself to do it.
Keep putting the €7 a month you save in a jar and put it towards a combo box in a years time to avail of fta and saorview.Then use the Skybox for fta in a second room.
You'll never go back to UPC again once you've changed.

mfceiling

zerks wrote: »

You are getting the equipment installed for free and saving €7 a month also so it's a win win situation for you,the one bit you have wrong is the cancelling of your sub after a year-Nobody else except the Sky account holder can cancel it,so you'll have to ring Sky yourself to do it.
Keep putting the €7 a month you save in a jar and put it towards a combo box in a years time to avail of fta and saorview.Then use the Skybox for fta in a second room.
You'll never go back to UPC again once you've changed.

Thanks^^

I know i have to cancel it but he told me to give him a quick call and he'll talk me through the process - in other words what to say and to hear the "tricks" they'll try to get you to stay on.

I'm happy enough as the channels on upc are basic - they only seem to give special offers to new customers and basically feck the existing ones.

STB

mad muffin wrote: »

So which fta channels can you watch the following in hd?

All three csi's
Ncis series
Bones
Spartacus
Game of thrones
Stargate series
Chicago code
Two and a half men
The defenders
Blue bloods
Rookie blues
Lie to me
Boardwalk empire
The law and order series
Fringe
Desperate housewives
Many documentaries

And I can go on and on as these are just off the top of my head.

It s fair to say there are many sky haters here, a the mere mention of sky produces several rants a day.

In HD indeed. At what cost to joe public?

Unfortunately for your arguement, your personal choice does not reflect the general Irish publics viewing preferences for television. You have become a Sky zombie, brainwashed as it where....but thats okay, there is good news!

Consistently, 9 out of 10 of the most watched channels in Ireland are Free to Air. Yes that right, the Irish public dont actually know it but they are paying the likes of a massive corporation like Sky for TV programs and stations that they can actually receive free to air with a FTA (not Sky) HD Combo Box wich is available at a once off cost of €83 incl postage. No more bills.

Heres the latest figures from AGB Nielsen for TV Share in 2010.... the likes of the sky channels are <1%, most dont even feature on the radar.



Many of the best documentaries are on the BBC which is FTA. Those programs listed above ? Those TV series that you cannot do without are apparently freely available for download on the net, whatver that is

STB

STB wrote: »

Many of the best documentaries are on the BBC which is FTA. Those programs listed above ? Those TV series that you cannot do without are apparently freely available for download on the net, whatver that is

Yes, but should we be encouraging that?

evilivor

mad muffin wrote: »

So which fta channels can you watch the following in hd?

All three csi's
Ncis series
Bones
Spartacus
Game of thrones
Stargate series
Chicago code
Two and a half men
The defenders
Blue bloods
Rookie blues
Lie to me
Boardwalk empire
The law and order series
Fringe
Desperate housewives
Many documentaries

And I can go on and on as these are just off the top of my head.

It s fair to say there are many sky haters here, a the mere mention of sky produces several rants a day.

Desperate Housewives in HD is free to air on C4HD.

mad muffin

STB wrote: »

In HD indeed. At what cost to joe public?

Unfortunately for your arguement, your personal choice does not reflect the general Irish publics viewing preferences for television. You have become a Sky zombie, brainwashed as it where....but thats okay, there is good news!

Consistently, 9 out of 10 of the most watched channels in Ireland are Free to Air. Yes that right, the Irish public dont actually know it but they are paying the likes of a massive corporation like Sky for TV programs and stations that they can actually receive free to air with a FTA (not Sky) HD Combo Box wich is available at a once off cost of €83 incl postage. No more bills.

Heres the latest figures from AGB Nielsen for TV Share in 2010.... the likes of the sky channels are <1%, most dont even feature on the radar.



Many of the best documentaries are on the BBC which is FTA. Those programs listed above ? Those TV series that you cannot do without are apparently freely available for download on the net, whatver that is

Yes a mindless zombie that's what I am :rolleyes:

Regardless of your statement you have proven that if one is serious about HD fta, at this time is not an option.

Also, regardless of the legalities of downloading said programs in HD.

1. I don't have the time to trawl the Internet for every episode of every show.

2. I'd be lucky to find anyone seeding older shows that I like to watch.

3. And most importantly, where I live Internet is merely adequate and definitely is not up to the ask of downloading gigabytes of show in 1080P/i in a timely manner.

evilivor wrote: »

Desperate Housewives in HD is free to air on C4HD.

OK so one show, which we actually watch on E4 HD.

boomslang

Regardless of your statement you have proven that if one is serious about HD fta, at this time is not an option

Compare the irish HD channels against the same in the UK!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HD_channels_in_the_UK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HD_channels_in_Ireland
This has greatly improved. But I don't want to pay near €100 p.m. to watch tv

We currently get 4 HD channels fta and all the other freesat chan
nels with plenty of content and are now saving the €45 p.m. four months in and the fta box is paid for! More than happy here, also easilly coped with the bbc hd move to dvb-s2

mad muffin

boomslang wrote: »

Compare the irish HD channels against the same in the UK!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HD_channels_in_the_UK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HD_channels_in_Ireland
This has greatly improved. But I don't want to pay near €100 p.m. to watch tv

We currently get 4 HD channels fta and all the other freesat chan
nels with plenty of content and are now saving the €45 p.m. four months in and the fta box is paid for! More than happy here, also easilly coped with the bbc hd move to dvb-s2

€100 lol :rolleyes:

I had no problem with the BBC move with sky.

Macy0161

Each to their own regarding sky, I'm surprised that people are so defensive over what they do with their own money. The stats are there that nearly all (maybe even all) of the top 10 channels watched in Ireland are either on saorview or are freesat channels. When you compare it to the numbers subscribing to pay TV it's nuts - there's massive savings to be made by many households for a once off outlay.

I think the debate was sparked by the logic opening post - if ultimately it's a FTA set up they want, they should pay for the install (with a decent installer), and get decent equipment routed in a way that makes sense to their future needs. Don't get tied into the sky way of thinking/ marketing. Or get the family used to the channels, if you ultimatly want to go to Free TV. However, if it's to simply save on the UPC sub, well then it's a no brainer decision you've made to switch to sky.

Capt'n Midnight

Just a reminder that RTE will show most of those series, (eventually).
not sure about the HD what with the upscaling and stuff but with saorsat / saorview it's likely and possible that even TV3 might do HD too

Of course for SciFi series we can't really rely on the Irish broadcasters, though Firefly would be perfect for TG4 what with all the cowboy stuff.


Pro for SKY
After the first year you can get a one month SKY subscription for christmas , then again it's not as big a deal as it used to be to see films before they make it to terresterial channels.
The EPG is nice too if you are too lazy to look up stuff on line.


Con for SKY
re SKY blocking FTA, I've dug out an old digibox. It's on a master/slave power socket from the TV so uses no power in standby
I've forced an upgrade to latest EPG because it will be off at night.
it will search for and let me add "other channels" but when I try to watch then it complains about not having a SKY card. It's an old box so don't have the card , just have two old blue ones

I'll just leave a random card in the box, and the box on , for three days to get some sort of pairing (why should I have to do this :rolleyes:)

Point is at present I can only view channels on the London EPG :mad:

watty

London EPG is default on non-HD boxes with no card. That's what the upside down card and 501 tricks revert an Irish EPG to.

TV3, TG4 and RTE1 will eventually be HD between 2012 and 2014

Capt'n Midnight

Also it may be worth holding off spending big bucks on an FTA box for the moment as it may be possible to have FreeSat and SaorSat with EPG's and PVR using one box and one dish , (with 2 LNB's and a diseq splitter).

Early days yet.

cullenswood

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Also it may be worth holding off spending big bucks on an FTA box for the moment as it may be possible to have FreeSat and SaorSat with EPG's and PVR using one box and one dish , (with 2 LNB's and a diseq splitter).

Early days yet.

I know it would only be a guess but how long before this happens? If ever....is there a big enough market for it?

mfceiling

So lads......is it an alright system (the sky one) to basically pay off over the space of a year and then have a dish and box for the free channels?

I really don't care about HD this or that - it'll still be a dvd on a saturday night with fair city, top gear, the apprentice, the news and a few kids programmes during the week - so channel choices etc are pretty immaterial to be honest.

Is the sky box a decent enough piece of kit for the money?

Cantona's Collars

mfceiling wrote: »

So lads......is it an alright system (the sky one) to basically pay off over the space of a year and then have a dish and box for the free channels?

I really don't care about HD this or that - it'll still be a dvd on a saturday night with fair city, top gear, the apprentice, the news and a few kids programmes during the week - so channel choices etc are pretty immaterial to be honest.

Is the sky box a decent enough piece of kit for the money?

It's a good piece of kit,Sky heavily subsidise them hence the cheap/free box offers,a new one off the shelf is several hundred euros,they are also childs play to use which is a big plus for a lot of people.

Funny how this thread degenerated into a free for all over fta vs sky when all you wanted was a bit of advice on getting sky installed.

mfceiling

^^

Suppose it's a bit of a win for me as i'll get my fta service for €23 a month, i'll not be paying €30 a month for 17 channels and after a year i'll cancel and have my satellite dish and box installed and ready to pick up the free stuff.
Just a footnote lads - €30 a month for 17 channels - think about that!!!!

Cantona's Collars

mfceiling wrote: »

^^

Suppose it's a bit of a win for me as i'll get my fta service for €23 a month, i'll not be paying €30 a month for 17 channels and after a year i'll cancel and have my satellite dish and box installed and ready to pick up the free stuff.
Just a footnote lads - €30 a month for 17 channels - think about that!!!!

After the year if you cancel simply get a ftv card,use a relation in UK to get it for you (simplest way) and you get the UK epg and more ftv channels such as Ch4 hd,the extra channels on the 5 network plus some others that are not fta.

dmm1000

mad muffin wrote: »

So which fta channels can you watch the following in hd?

All three csi's
Ncis series
Bones
Spartacus
Game of thrones
Stargate series
Chicago code
Two and a half men
The defenders
Blue bloods
Rookie blues
Lie to me
Boardwalk empire
The law and order series
Fringe
Desperate housewives
Many documentaries

And I can go on and on as these are just off the top of my head.

It s fair to say there are many sky haters here, a the mere mention of sky produces several rants a day.

but then again some people may find most of that list uninteresting garbage - apart from the odd documentary & Game Of Thrones of course ....... :rolleyes:

STB

zerks wrote: »

It's a good piece of kit,Sky heavily subsidise them hence the cheap/free box offers,a new one off the shelf is several hundred euros,they are also childs play to use which is a big plus for a lot of people.

Funny how this thread degenerated into a free for all over fta vs sky when all you wanted was a bit of advice on getting sky installed.

@zerks. It didnt degnerate into a SKY vs FTA debate. But people need to know what they are buying into.

This chap is asking what the catch is ? The catch is €23 per month for 12 months. Now in my calculations that is €276. You can buy a HD FTA combo box for €83 (that records and plays MKVs), a dish for €30, an aerial for €20. Guess what in a years time you wont have to cancel anything and you wont get monthly bills.

Has anyone told this chap that in 12 months time when he cancels that he will not receive the Saorview channels (RTE1/2HD/TV3/TG4/3e/Nes now etc) and will be stuck with a kludged Sky box that is difficult to get around and will have to resort to FAV lists. Never mind no record facilities.

Thats a genuine answer. I'll hold my hand up here. I dont install Sky or any Satellite dishes commercially. Infact I dont sell anything. My advice is just what it is..... some people will not like it for whatever reasons. I have my own theories as to why.

Something I must add by the way RTE2HD is only available free to air on Saorview. BBC HD, BBC1 HD, CH4 HD, ITV HD and STV HD are also available free to air. Beware of those who try and tell you that Sky is the only with HD stations in town. You will pay through the nose for it.

mad muffin

dmm1000 wrote: »

but then again some people may find most of that list uninteresting garbage - apart from the odd documentary & Game Of Thrones of course ....... :rolleyes:

Oh yeah like fair city and it's ilk are such quality shows.

Cantona's Collars

STB wrote: »

@zerks. It didnt degnerate into a SKY vs FTA debate. But people need to know what they are buying into.

This chap is asking what the catch is ? The catch is €23 per month for 12 months. Now in my calculations that is €276. You can buy a HD FTA combo box for €83 (that records and plays MKVs), a dish for €30, an aerial for €20. Guess what in a years time you wont have to cancel anything and you wont get monthly bills.

Has anyone told this chap that in 12 months time when he cancels that he will not receive the Saorview channels (RTE1/2HD/TV3/TG4/3e/Nes now etc) and will be stuck with a kludged Sky box that is difficult to get around and will have to resort to FAV lists. Never mind no record facilities.

Thats a genuine answer. I'll hold my hand up here. I dont install Sky or any Satellite dishes commercially. Infact I dont sell anything. My advice is just what it is..... some people will not like it for whatever reasons. I have my own theories as to why.

Something I must add by the way RTE2HD is only available free to air on Saorview. BBC HD, BBC1 HD, CH4 HD, ITV HD and STV HD are also available free to air. Beware of those who try and tell you that Sky is the only with HD stations in town. You will pay through the nose for it.

The op stated they wanted to get Sky tv installed and were willing to pay €23 per month for it,which compared to what they are currently paying for is great value.
You state prices for boxes,aerials and dishes-reasonable enough if you know how to install them yourself,but the gist of the original post intimates towards the fact that the op has very little knowledge of satellite tv and would end up paying a lot more to have the kit installed.He has stated that he will review his options (and probably go fta) after a year with sky.I recommended getting a ftv card then to allow access to more content that it seems won't be available fta on a skybox(unless sky pull their finger out and fix the problem)
My gripe is that every time Sky is brought up in a thread as an option for people to use as a tv provider the thread is hijacked by a baying crowd championing fta and the thread rapidly degenerates and goes off topic.

efb

Two and a Half Men in HD!!! Where do I sign!!!

Freesat HD and Saorview FTW!
RTE2 HD
BBC1 HD
BBC HD
ITV1 HD
C4 HD

Watch RTE1/News Now/BBC1/2/3/4/News C4 E4 More 4 alot. RTE2/ITV1/2/3/4 less so

mfceiling

The plot thickens...will I be able to get my rte, bbc and the likes from the dish after the year or will I need an external ariel?
I'm happy enough to get the sky at this price and have all the equipment supplied and installed for €23 a month.
That's interesting about the ftv card..mum and dad still live in Tyrone so I could get the card through them?

Cantona's Collars

efb wrote: »

Two and a Half Men in HD!!! Where do I sign!!!

Freesat HD and Saorview FTW!
RTE2 HD
BBC1 HD
BBC HD
ITV1 HD
C4 HD

Watch RTE1/News Now/BBC1/2/3/4/News C4 E4 More 4 alot. RTE2/ITV1/2/3/4 less so

Rubbish content is still rubbish-even in HD.
Corrie,Eastenders,Fair City and the rest in HD-no thanks,and the less said about X Factor etc. the better.
Saorview is still the same terrible programming albiet with a better picture,I still hate how RTE insist on clogging schedules with constant doom+gloom stuff while most decent shows are on at crazy times.
I'll stick to pay tv thanks.

John mac

you will have to get an aerial if you cancel for rte, and have a compatible tv or set top box.

efb

zerks wrote: »

Rubbish content is still rubbish-even in HD.
Corrie,Eastenders,Fair City and the rest in HD-no thanks,and the less said about X Factor etc. the better.
Saorview is still the same terrible programming albiet with a better picture,I still hate how RTE insist on clogging schedules with constant doom+gloom stuff while most decent shows are on at crazy times.
I'll stick to pay tv thanks.

GAA Championship HD
Champions League HD
Wimbledon & French Opem HD
Masters & British Open HD
Springwatch HD
Summer Festivals HD
6 Nations and Magners League HD
Euro 12 Qualifiers HD