upc hd box worth the extra 5?

sweetie

I have a concession for UPC to use so am leaving sky. I currently get Sky on
a hd box without the hd subscription for three reasons; i) better epg ii) extra space for recording and (possibly) iii) better sd picture than the regular sky sd box. Is the upc hd box worth getting for the same reasons? thanks

forzacalcio

sweetie wrote: »

I have a concession for UPC to use so am leaving sky. I currently get Sky on
a hd box without the hd subscription for three reasons; i) better epg ii) extra space for recording and (possibly) iii) better sd picture than the regular sky sd box. Is the upc hd box worth getting for the same reasons? thanks

For ESPN alone its worth it I think. For a fiver you cant really go wrong.

Dodge

Just make sure HD is available in your area

Hylus83

sweetie wrote: »

I have a concession for UPC to use so am leaving sky. I currently get Sky on
a hd box without the hd subscription for three reasons; i) better epg ii) extra space for recording and (possibly) iii) better sd picture than the regular sky sd box. Is the upc hd box worth getting for the same reasons? thanks

Don't do it! You might not have the HD pack on sky but at least you can get freeview HD channels - such as ITV1 HD, BBC HD & BBC1HD (if you tuned it in manually prior to a certain date). Not to mention all the other freesat channels that you get for free on Sky which dont exist on UPC.

I was with UPC & left them as soon as I could - mainly because their channel offering wasn't as good as Sky. However their HD box wrecked my head. It frequently wasnt recognised by the TV when connected by HDMI - so you have to go & unplug the HDMI cable & then re-insert it again!

There was a thread somewhere about that issue on here!

So to summarise, stick with Sky. I would!

Storm 10

UPC Digital is crap, I have it at present and also Sky HD, I am getting rid of UPC, 52 HD channels on Sky and 5 with UPC. Do the maths

bmathew

Their customer service is poor, so think twice

campo

Storm 10 wrote: »

UPC Digital is crap, I have it at present and also Sky HD, I am getting rid of UPC, 52 HD channels on Sky and 5 with UPC. Do the maths

Well in fairness the HD with Sky is 15e compared to 5e with UPC and you have to be on top pack with Sky to get the full 52 channels, think there is 12 on UPC with there top pack

Freddie59

Hylus83 wrote: »

It frequently wasnt recognised by the TV when connected by HDMI - so you have to go & unplug the HDMI cable & then re-insert it again!

Have had UPC since 2010. I have it on a 42" Viera (before that a 37" Toshiba Regza). Never had a bother with it being recognised. Ever. It's picked up by the TV as quickly as a Bluray or media player.

djimi

Stick with Sky if you can. If you are used to the Sky equipment and EPG then youll throw the UPC box out the window in frustration after a week its so bad in comparison!

There are really very few HD channels on UPC, but I suppose for a fiver extra its worth it. BBC HD is pretty sweet for F1 and ESPN/Setanta for football (no Sky Sports HD though). Bigger hard driver capacity for recording and I presume the picture is better via HDMI cable than it would be if using Scart.

djimi

Freddie59 wrote: »

Have had UPC since 2010. I have it on a 42" Viera (before that a 37" Toshiba Regza). Never had a bother with it being recognised. Ever. It's picked up by the TV as quickly as a Bluray or media player.

I get that problem occasionally but its rare (maybe once a month if even that). Its just a case of switching the TV source and then back to the UPC channel again; not really a big issue.

StaticNoise

I'm going to stick my oar in, if I may.

Yes, UPC's support can be dreadful, but I've had to call twice this week (related calls, one my fault) and I was through to support in less than 30 seconds. The previous time (again, my fault) was less than a minute on hold. The call this week guaranteed me a callback within 48 hours due to the nature of the issue, but they called back the next morning, bright and early. I really feel that they've cleaned up their act, and yes, there are begrudgers, but I don't see half of what people are saying. For such a large company, I think they are actually quite good. But back to the HD box...

As one poster said, the free ESPN is pretty ace, and the HD quality is actually very good. I recently bought myself a Christmas treat of a nice HD TV, and the picture and sound is excellent. I also found that the box is far more responsive compared with the standard version.

Bring all this down that they are far cheaper than Sky, especially when you go for a triple play package. Their broadband is also superb, arguably the best in Ireland. Yes, Sky have four million or so channels (sarcasm), but I feel that you never really watch that many, and as many would say, are shite.

My advice is, as I did, to call customer care, ask to speak to a Customer Loyalty department ("to try reach a deal in case I move to a different provider") and they'll throw you a good offer. I've got Multiroom viewing, 25mb broadband, anytime world, both HD boxes and all for the same price of the standard Triple Play they offer. Previous customers get a better deal on the phone than on the website: but ask for Customer Loyalty- the standard Sales team won't offer you anything.



TL,DR: Go for the box, definitely, but chat to Customer Loyalty to try get a deal while you're at it.

sweetie

I went for it and it's delivered tomorrow. The tv part is basically free as I have a concession of 25 euro. I might cancel sky and get a humax hd box for the other hd channels and best of both worlds. Thanks for all the input guys.

sweetie

riiight - this arrived yesterday and I set it up last night. It's soooooo slooooow compared to SKy. I can live with the inferior epg and pixelated text but why does it take an age to load up, move the selection and why isnt there a quick way of selecting something to watch without having to laod the epg again - the last time I had upc digital it was ntl and the pace (i think) box I had want that bad! I know ye told me so but this is basically costing me nothing so I can keep my sky sub if I have to but is the sd service any easier or quicker to use? I may consider getting that instead.

djimi

I have both the SD and HD boxes and they are both pretty much the same. The way the EPG is designed is atrocious and make it so slow to use.

Tbh I dont actually use the EPG any more; when your on a channel if you press the OK button (in the middle of the arrow keys) it will bring up a mini EPG which is a lot more responsive. Its slower to nagivate through the channels as you have to go one at a time, but it might save you pulling your hair out trying to use the full EPG!

Mountjoy Mugger

Avoid using the EPG - just dial in the channel number. So much less stress.

Sappy404

I was on Digital Plus and got an HD upgrade with no delivery/installation charge. It's €5, but because I was already paying something like €3.20 a month for the SD digibox, I'm only getting charged the difference, so less than €2 more a month for HD.

Spiceworld.

Just make sure you ask for the Customer Loyalty team as StaticNoise said.