Leaving Sky after 20 years. Help Needed

corm500

Hi

Looking to pick the brains of the good and wise folk on this forum.
I have finally decided to ditch Sky as they are now too expensive for what i watch from them.
I cannot continue to pay €50 just so i can watch Sky Atlantic. At present I am on the Sky HD package minus the Movies/Sport. What I will miss most is the Sky+ function so I am wondering what is the set up that would mirror Sky+ the closest.
I have a Humax PVR so I can record the UK channels, but what would you recommend for the Irish channels. Is there a Saorview box with a PVR function? If that box exists is it a combi box so I can record Uk channels from the same epg.
I hear a lot of the Saorview boxes have recording through USB. Is this easy to manage? could I hook up an external hard drive to one of the USB ports and record/playback that way?
Sorry if its too many questions but I find it all a bit of a minefield having been under the safety net of Sky for all these years

Mr. Rabbit

but what would you recommend for the Irish channels

The Humax boxes work well with Saorview, and display all the relevant programme info etc. Series link also seams to work when it's available.

The only downside is the Saorview channels appear in the 800's on the EPG. Not sure if there's anyway around this.

I assume your Humax PVR is Freesat ?

mcg1987

have a saorview box that has all the irish and uk channels on it with a usb slot at the front that i record stuff on all the time and plug in other hard drives I have that have films on etc. If you can get signal from a UK aerial and an irish aerial then you'll have all the free to view channels and can record as much as you like.
I also HATE sky and the extortionate money they get away with charging but you likely will miss some of the stuff. There are a lot of threads on here, maybe in another forum, that tell you which box will suit you best i'd say. Have a read through!

The model of saorview box I have is TV STAR T1020...pick one up for €50 easy

steveon

mcg1987 wrote: »

have a saorview box that has all the irish and uk channels on it with a usb slot at the front that i record stuff on all the time and plug in other hard drives I have that have films on etc. If you can get signal from a UK aerial and an irish aerial then you'll have all the free to view channels and can record as much as you like.
I also HATE sky and the extortionate money they get away with charging but you likely will miss some of the stuff. There are a lot of threads on here, maybe in another forum, that tell you which box will suit you best i'd say. Have a read through!

The model of saorview box I have is TV STAR T1020...pick one up for €50 easy

Tv star is not a saorview box, its a cheap chinese box that are nothing but trouble keep clear...have had nothing but problems with these makes of boxes.....if you want a saorview box with full functions I would advise staying with saorview approved boxes...a little more expensive but give a full 7 day guide which the tv star boxes wont...

mcg1987

steveon wrote: »

Tv star is not a saorview box, its a cheap chinese box that are nothing but trouble keep clear...have had nothing but problems with these makes of boxes.....if you want a saorview box with full functions I would advise staying with saorview approved boxes...a little more expensive but give a full 7 day guide which the tv star boxes wont...

true there's no 7 day guide but I've yet to see one give any bother in the year they've been around..and I know a lot of people with them. This is just a cheap solution say if you have a lot of TVs needing saorview...Obviosly if you want it for a main one there are plenty of other boxes out there like I already said when directing to another forum.

steveon

mcg1987 wrote: »

true there's no 7 day guide but I've yet to see one give any bother in the year they've been around..and I know a lot of people with them. This is just a cheap solution say if you have a lot of TVs needing saorview...Obviosly if you want it for a main one there are plenty of other boxes out there like I already said when directing to another forum.

I have seen hundreds of a cpl of different models of tv star giving problems....there cheap and that really is the only good thing to be said about them. For pvr functions a box will need a proper guide. Yo are also not guaranteed that the box will offer any new functions saorview may introduce such as interactive as the box does not have an MHEG5 engine.

mcg1987

steveon wrote: »

I have seen hundreds of a cpl of different models of tv star giving problems....there cheap and that really is the only good thing to be said about them. For pvr functions a box will need a proper guide. Yo are also not guaranteed that the box will offer any new functions saorview may introduce such as interactive as the box does not have an MHEG5 engine.

Ha clearly you know a lot more about it than me! All I know is that it does the job I need...well for now anyway!

Almost set on getting a dreambox now anyway just looking for the right deal or best place to get one. If you have any knowledge of these steveon maybe you could PM me and the OP the details...he may be ineerested also to soften the blow of loosing Sky !

steveon

mcg1987 wrote: »

Ha clearly you know a lot more about it than me! All I know is that it does the job I need...well for now anyway!

Almost set on getting a dreambox now anyway just looking for the right deal or best place to get one. If you have any knowledge of these steveon maybe you could PM me and the OP the details...he may be ineerested also to soften the blow of loosing Sky !

Dreamboxes well overrated...

Vu Duo 2 best box out there...but expensive...

Vu Solo2 cheaper alternative

Amiko Alien 2 awsome box for the money...

Gigablue quad 800 no experience of but get amazing reviews for the money....

corm500

So if I get a Saorview box with USB function I can hook up a hard drive like a 1tb wd passport and record through the epg and playback on the tv?

westies4ever

why are you paying €50pm? downgrade to the basic €27pm. you'll still get sky atlantic. HD isnt all its cracked yp to be.

michael999999

corm500 wrote: »

So if I get a Saorview box with USB function I can hook up a hard drive like a 1tb wd passport and record through the epg and playback on the tv?

That's what my dad does and it works great.

mcg1987

steveon wrote: »

Dreamboxes well overrated...

Vu Duo 2 best box out there...but expensive...

Vu Solo2 cheaper alternative

Amiko Alien 2 awsome box for the money...

Gigablue quad 800 no experience of but get amazing reviews for the money....

Really I thought dreamboxes were meant to be the job!
So I've just put up a dish and it's pointed @ 28.2 east or whatever...same as sky...this was with the intention of getting a dreambox. but I had a look at that Amiko Alien box there and wondering how that works?

What all can be got on that if I hook it up to satellite dish and the two aerials I have for terrestrial TV ??

Definitely like the look of the twin/triple tuner and combined with satellite...

The Cush

corm500 wrote: »

I have a Humax PVR so I can record the UK channels, but what would you recommend for the Irish channels. Is there a Saorview box with a PVR function?

There is one Saorview approved PVR on the market, the Walker WP6500TTR.

This PVR comes with a built-in HDD with twin-tuner recording (record one/watch one or record two/playback one), series link recording, 8 day guide etc. These options are not available with a standard Saorview box with external HDD attached.

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-WP6500&pages=1&prod=WP6500&brands=WALKER&image=

corm500

The Cush wrote: »

There is one Saorview approved PVR on the market, the Walker WP6500TTR.

This PVR comes with a built-in HDD with twin-tuner recording (record one/watch one or record two/playback one), series link recording, 8 day guide etc. These options are not available with a standard Saorview box with external HDD attached.

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-23-WP6500&pages=1&prod=WP6500&brands=WALKER&image=

Ok this looks good. could be just what I am looking for.:)