Switching from NTL to Sky

pH

So if I switch from NTL(Old Dublin CableLink) to Sky digital what will I lose out on?

UTV and Channel 4 go (but can be gotten again with a UK FTV card?)

I also guess the standard 4 Irish channels can be picked up on a smallish internal Aerial? i

What's video recording like?

I guess the days of watching on program and recording another are gone?

Are all stations recordable?

What's it like to record? Can my Sony video change the station on the decoder or do I have to leave the decoder on the channel I want to record and then time the video? What about stuff liek video+

TIA

pH

dmeehan

if you are not gonna be there while its recording
you can use the autoview function in the personal planner to change the channels on the digibox for you

_Kaiser_

Hi,

here's some more info...

UTV and Channel 4 go (but can be gotten again with a UK FTV card?)

yes, but UTV and in fact ALL the ITV1 regions can be turned in manually thru the "Other Channels" option on the Digibox. Note that ITV2 is NOT available - even with a FTV card but check out the "Tuning ITV" and "Clarity on FTV Cards" topics for more on this.

I also guess the standard 4 Irish channels can be picked up on a smallish internal Aerial?

Yep, tho depending on where you live that aerial may need to be a bit bigger...also, RTE 1, Network 2 & TG4 are scheduled to appear on Sky in April (assuming they can defeat this legal challenge by one of the regulartory groups whose name escapes me right now! ). TV3 are supposedly in negotiations as well.

What's video recording like?

Guess this depends on how who connect the Digibox to the video but the signal itself is fantastic - I had Sky Analogue for years which itself was a vast improvement over the Cablelink/NTL signal but Digital is FAR superior.

I guess the days of watching on program and recording another are gone?

Fraid so, unless you get a Sky + box or a second Digibox and mirror subscription card (neither option currently available in ROI but should appear in next few months from what I've read elsewhere)

Are all stations recordable?

Yes, with the exception of Box Office movies (and some events)

What's it like to record? Can my Sony video change the station on the decoder or do I have to leave the decoder on the channel I want to record and then time the video? What about stuff liek video+

I've read of videos that have the ability you're talking about but myself I just set it to EXT and set the Digibox to whatever channel - as dmeehan said, you can also use the Personal Planner feature of the Digibox to automatically change channels for you - there are some drawbacks tho - eg: if its an "Active" channel you'll get that red dot in the corner that annoys everyone (including me! ) so much

Anyway...hope this is of some use to you...