UPC v Sky for TV

jobseeker999

Hi. I currently have UPC broadband, telephone and TV (for 2 rooms) but I have Sky in the main room. I could save a decent amount of money if I went with UPC for all and got rid of Sky but have always been reluctant to do so as I (possibly incorrectly) considered it to be far inferior. The Sky I have is the full HD pack, movies, sports etc. Would I be disappointed if I switched to UPC?

who_me

UPC has been catching up quite a bit (adding HD channels, DVR functionality, On Demand, EPG etc) so there probably isn't as much difference as there previously was. UPC doesn't have all the sports channels in HD, and has no 3D channels (not the end of the world in either case).

IMO, the EPG is fairly slow and sluggish, but I haven't tried the Sky one so can't compare. *IF* the UPC Horizon box is ever released here, they'll be well ahead of Sky, I reckon.

Eamo71

who_me wrote: »

UPC has been catching up quite a bit (adding HD channels, DVR functionality, On Demand, EPG etc) so there probably isn't as much difference as there previously was. UPC doesn't have all the sports channels in HD, and has no 3D channels (not the end of the world in either case).

IMO, the EPG is fairly slow and sluggish, but I haven't tried the Sky one so can't compare. *IF* the UPC Horizon box is ever released here, they'll be well ahead of Sky, I reckon.

Agreed the Horizon box looks like being a game changer for UPC. From what I've seen of clips and so forth it's vastly superior to the Sky EPG. Horizon should be here in 2-4 months and the Irish trials are already underway. i'd stick with UPC for your TV and see what develops over the next few months.

Infoanon

Firstly check what is available in your area - eg in Dublin there are a number of areas where HD & on demand are not available.

Also watch out for the hidden UPC charges eg initialisation costs / HD box costs etc

After that research the price/package - eg Sky+ comes at no extra cost but UPC charged €5 pmth last time I did a comparison.

UPC EPG is very sluggish and crashes a lot - things like series link have been improved but still not as good as Sky, interactive is also not available which may be an issue if you are a sports fan.

UPC has better prices for its limited HD package and is a lot cheaper €10 pmth for multi-room BUT again check what deals are available (and in my experience Sky will do a deal on the add ons like HD).

Spend a bit of time researching and costing the options available and then 'fight' for the best deal.

Deicida

If you add on HD as an extra room/box they don't charge the €60, it's free. I got it recently you get like 20 extra channels in HD.

zg3409

From a TV point of view Sky is better but more expensive, Personally if I had to go from a Sky box to a UPC + box I would throw it out the window.

Compared to Sky they are slow, sluggish, unreliable and have far less channels to choose from.

As suggested ring UPC on 1908 and find out in your area if there is

1) HD TV available

2) 120Mb internet

3) On demand

As said multiroom costs are probably less with UPC. If I was strapped for cash and wanted HD channels I would just use a FreeSAT box and my Sky dish. Even if you go with UPC you can still use the old dish and box to access some free HD channels such as BBC HD.

If you threathen to leave Sky they will probably offer you 6 months at half price.

icdg

jobseeker999 wrote: »

Hi. I currently have UPC broadband, telephone and TV (for 2 rooms) but I have Sky in the main room. I could save a decent amount of money if I went with UPC for all and got rid of Sky but have always been reluctant to do so as I (possibly incorrectly) considered it to be far inferior. The Sky I have is the full HD pack, movies, sports etc. Would I be disappointed if I switched to UPC?

This comes up every so often. There are pros and cons to UPC TV. Pros include a more logically ordered EPG (Irish and UK terrestrials at the top), inclusion of the "Saorview" channels, inclusion of the ITVs on the EPG, nothing blocked on Channel 4, inclusion of Setanta and ESPN (although the latter is almost certain to close after the end of the football season) and the On-Demand service.

Cons include a lot smaller channel selection (although a lot of the missing channels are the shopping channels and low-budget stations no-one watches), no Sky Atlantic, all sports programmes on ITV4 are blocked, no red button services aside from on-demand.

Panrich

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but was thinking of moving to UPC from Sky and I watch Football first on Sky where the red button allows me to select any match. Is this available (or a workaround) on UPC?

icdg

We don't drag up old threads but the answer to that is a straight no, with UPC you just get highlights of whatever game Sky decide that you will get. AFAIK Match Choice is only available on Sky and no other platform in the UK and Ireland.