Upc or Sky Packages?

dj-kyosho · 03-10-2010 6:55pm #1

I'm Looking to get one of the following..
Sky With 6 Packages + ESPN + Multiroom for another room For 59.00
Or
UPC Max+ Pack: Digital Max, Digital+ and Multiroom Viewing For 38.75
Which Would Turn Out Cheaper At The End Of The Year ?
I heard you have to rent boxes or something with UPC will that be included in the 38.75 or not ?
I Have Upc Analogue Tv At the Moment.
Thanks.

Kensington · 03-10-2010 7:39pm

UPC. €40 for all the basics, ESPN, HD/recording and standard multiroom.
The rental is included as part of the subscription charge.

Frank2k · 03-10-2010 7:47pm

Sky. Better choice of channels, more variety, doesn't cost anything to upgrade/downgrade packs, up to 50+ HD channels (at a fee if you so should wish), no need to pay for channels you don't want (i.e. Kids, Music, News etc), you still get all the BBC's including HD (Both BBC HD and ITV HD and soon BBC1 HD), E4, More4 etc even though you don't subscribe to any Sky Packs, you get to keep your HD box if you should chose to no longer subscribe to Sky, hardly any wait to get through to CS, rock solid service = no UPC nonsense. Oh, and Sky HD is available everywhere, something UCP isn't...

dj-kyosho · 03-10-2010 7:54pm

I Wont Be Getting HD Just SD.
Does The Rental Charge For Both Boxes Be In The Subscription Or Just One Of Them?
Thanks.

Kensington · 03-10-2010 7:55pm

dj-kyosho wrote: »

I Wont Be Getting HD Just SD.
Does The Rental Charge For Both Boxes Be In The Subscription Or Just One Of Them?
Thanks.

It covers both. Also, the price works out the same whether you take standard Digital+ or Digital+HD.

Frank2k · 03-10-2010 8:13pm

Sky+HD : Your box to keep
UPC : Return after contract expires

Kristopherus · 03-10-2010 11:33pm

Well I had both systems. Sky world with Sport & no movies. Had ESPN & Setanta. Total came to €91. Now have UPC - Digital Max c/w multiroom and 2 dvrs. Have Sport, ESPN & Setanta Ireland. All for €69. Digital picture quality is the same in both cases. OP if you have UPC analogue you can easily upgrade to the digital service & still keep your analogue system. Have a look at www.upc.ie and then make up your own mind on what suits you best.

djimi · 03-10-2010 11:46pm

UPC prices are much better than Sky.

Skys TV service is superior to UPC in my opinion.

In my opinion the extra cost of Sky is worth it but YMMV.

dunworth1 · 03-10-2010 11:49pm

Frank2k wrote: »

Sky+HD : Your box to keep
UPC : Return after contract expires

Sky - your box breaks you pay

UPC - your box breaks they give new one for free.

dogpile · 06-10-2010 10:33pm

Both UPC and Sky in the house and I'd say Sky wins hands down.....both just bog standard boxes no HD but the quality on Sky is so much better, crisper picture better sound..EPG's don't even compare UPC's is just shoite

Dinarius · 09-10-2010 10:23am

I'm with UPC. Always have been. Feed enters the garage and is then split to every room in the house. (I had the house rewired a few years back with tv sockets put in every room) Thing is, I'm really a radio nut & while I only have one tv, I have radios receiving BBC throughout the house. Unless I'm mistaken. I couldn't have this with Sky? I. E. Can Sky enter at one point and be split from there or does it have to go straight to the digital box?

My ideal would be cable radio wherever I want it (wi-fi just isn't the same. Great sound but too many drop outs) & HD tv in one room.

UPC tell me that they're in court at the moment trying to get Sky to allow them broadcast in HD, but when?

Also, Sky means having a dish on the roof!

D.

slimjimmc · 09-10-2010 1:31pm

Dinarius wrote: »

I'm with UPC. Always have been. Feed enters the garage and is then split to every room in the house. (I had the house rewired a few years back with tv sockets put in every room) Thing is, I'm really a radio nut & while I only have one tv, I have radios receiving BBC throughout the house. Unless I'm mistaken. I couldn't have this with Sky? I. E. Can Sky enter at one point and be split from there or does it have to go straight to the digital box?

My ideal would be cable radio wherever I want it (wi-fi just isn't the same. Great sound but too many drop outs) & HD tv in one room.

UPC tell me that they're in court at the moment trying to get Sky to allow them broadcast in HD, but when?

Also, Sky means having a dish on the roof!

D.

My guess is that you have the UPC analogue service, and what you described works fine with that because your TV decodes the analogue signal.

With a subscription digital service, be it Sky or UPC, you need to use their decoder to convert the signal into something suitable for your TV. If you split before the decoder then you will need a decoder in the other rooms (this is the multi-room add-on that both services provide). It may be possible to have a single decoder and split the output from that but I don't think either boxes have co-ax outputs to supply the other rooms and, even if they did, every room will get the same channel.

Dinarius · 09-10-2010 1:54pm

SlimJim,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Let me see if I've got this straight........

You're saying that I can't have HD/Digital tv in one room (which is all I want - I will only ever own one tv!) while having the existing analogue/coax radio signal fed to the other rooms. Correct?

If so, then if I want HD/Digital tv, I'll have to go with wifi radio in my office/bedroom/kitchen. Right?

Thanks again.

D.

Ps. I also have CAT5 throughout the house. Could I feed Sky's digital service from the dish into my garage and from there throughtout the house?

Would my bedside radio need a digital box just to be able to receive BBC? Right now the coax does the trick.

Finally, what really annoys me about UPC is the lack of Red Button. During Wimbeldon, for example, you are effectively down about 15 channels without it. Bummer!

slimjimmc · 09-10-2010 5:45pm

Dinarius wrote: »

SlimJim,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Let me see if I've got this straight........

You're saying that I can't have HD/Digital tv in one room (which is all I want - I will only ever own one tv!) while having the existing analogue/coax radio signal fed to the other rooms. Correct?

If so, then if I want HD/Digital tv, I'll have to go with wifi radio in my office/bedroom/kitchen. Right?

Thanks again.

D.

UPC seem to leave the analogue signal live so you have both, for now. However I suspect they may switch off the analogue signal sometime in the future if they manage to get all their customers in your area onto digital, but it might take years if they do.

Dinarius wrote: »

Ps. I also have CAT5 throughout the house. Could I feed Sky's digital service from the dish into my garage and from there throughtout the house?

I can't see why not but it's not quite a matter of simply joining the wires together. Coaxial and Twisted Pair cables usually have different impedance so you'll probably need to fit a balun (cheap) in each room to get it right, but it's not a big job.

Dinarius wrote: »

Would my bedside radio need a digital box just to be able to receive BBC? Right now the coax does the trick.

Finally, what really annoys me about UPC is the lack of Red Button. During Wimbeldon, for example, you are effectively down about 15 channels without it. Bummer!

Sorry, I don't know really, I'm not well up on the subject. But at a guess I assume both UPC and SKY encode their signals even for the FTA TV/radio channels otherwise anyone could cancel their subscription after a while then just use their network for the FTA stuff. Anyway, if even you could just hook up the digital service wouldn't you need a DAB radio.

brick tamland · 09-10-2010 5:49pm

If you have a landline go with Sky, if not go for UPC. I've no landline and thats the only reason i'm not with sky, I'm not paying for a landline just for multiroom

dj-kyosho · 09-10-2010 8:57pm

How Would I Order Upc Because I Wont Be Paying By Direct Debit ?

Kristopherus · 10-10-2010 12:46am

Order online at upc.ie. They would prefer DD. They charge €3 for non DD payments.If you have a look around the Bargain Alert threads where you can find a link through which you may order and also get a voucher for €50:)

dj-kyosho · 10-10-2010 12:00pm

I Don't Have Direct Debit Though

djimi · 10-10-2010 1:16pm

dj-kyosho wrote: »

I Don't Have Direct Debit Though

Direct debit means you sign an agreement that they can take the monthy charge directly from your bank account. So long as you have a bank account you can set up direct debit.

in your face · 10-10-2010 2:31pm

i signed on this week with UPC, they told me that I have to be on DD for 4 months before I can pay by other means.

Virgin Media: Jason · 10-10-2010 10:20pm

Guys

It is here www.upc.ie/boardsoffer

Regards

Jason

Kristopherus wrote: »

Order online at upc.ie. They would prefer DD. They charge €3 for non DD payments.If you have a look around the Bargain Alert threads where you can find a link through which you may order and also get a voucher for €50:)

dj-kyosho · 10-10-2010 10:42pm

I Don't Have A Bank Account And Don't Want To Have To Set One Up For This Only..

So Is There Anyway I Can Do It Without DD?

Thanks Jason For the link

Kristopherus · 10-10-2010 11:24pm

Personally I think you're mad not to have one. I use DDs to pay all my utility bills and have my account in a Bank that don't charge me. That way I get them to work for me:):):) . PM Jason & see what he can do for you.

Upc or Sky Packages?

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