AVForums

Our philosophy in our forums, reviews, podcasts and feature videos is to promote audio and visual excellence by gathering and sharing the best information and resources available.

Help

To begin please visit our help section »

Not a Member Yet?

It only takes a minute to start enjoying the benefits of AVForums membership, and it's free!

Member Log in

Which HD option are you going for?

View Poll Results: Which HD option are you going for?
Sky HD because I already have Sky 496 47.10%
Sky HD cos it seems like the best option 157 14.91%
Sky HD for other reasons (please specify) 49 4.65%
Telewest HD cos I already have Telewest 103 9.78%
Telewest HD cos it seems like the best option 38 3.61%
Telewest HD cos I want the football in HD 19 1.80%
Telewest HD for other reasons (please specify) 19 1.80%
HD via another method (please specify which and why) 172 16.33%
Voters: 1053. You may not vote on this poll

Post Reply
Old 25-05-2006, 9:49 AM   #1
Founder
 
Stuart Wright's Avatar
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Birmingham
Experience Points:
146,799, Level: 92
Points: 146,799, Level: 92 Points: 146,799, Level: 92 Points: 146,799, Level: 92
Activity: 20.5%
Activity: 20.5% Activity: 20.5% Activity: 20.5%
Blog Entries: 21
Thanks: Gave 901, Got 4,623
Posts: 9,000
Which HD option are you going for?

Which HD option are you going for?
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 10:07 AM   #2
Eminent Member
 
Tejstar's Avatar
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: London
Experience Points:
126,891, Level: 86
Points: 126,891, Level: 86 Points: 126,891, Level: 86 Points: 126,891, Level: 86
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Blog Entries: 2
Thanks: Gave 408, Got 993
Posts: 22,128
Haven't ordered it yet, but would most likley go for Sky HD. Mainly as I have Sky at the moment and like their EPG plus Sky+ functionality. Plus as far as I understand, Sky has 8 full HD channels compared to Telewest who mainly have video on demand footage (please correct me if I'm wrong).
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 10:12 AM   #3
Prominent Member
 
Kopite4Ever's Avatar
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Liverpool: European Capital of Football 2005/2006
Experience Points:
14,042, Level: 28
Points: 14,042, Level: 28 Points: 14,042, Level: 28 Points: 14,042, Level: 28
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 42, Got 76
Posts: 4,242
Was wanting sky and we have been a customer with them since the very start, not just digital but the very start of sat tv.

I dont think £300 for the STB is resonable and the way they are now trying to get this install done is very offputting indeed.

Sure atm they have the better channels but Telewest having the WC entirely in HD swung it for me. If they can do a deal in the coming months to get the Sky Sports HD on their service all the better.
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 11:01 AM   #4
Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: a little piece of England in Cardiff
Experience Points:
2,992, Level: 12
Points: 2,992, Level: 12 Points: 2,992, Level: 12 Points: 2,992, Level: 12
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 29, Got 31
Posts: 378
sky (other reasons) - can't get telewest
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 11:10 AM   #5
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Norwich
Experience Points:
11,426, Level: 25
Points: 11,426, Level: 25 Points: 11,426, Level: 25 Points: 11,426, Level: 25
Activity: 16.7%
Activity: 16.7% Activity: 16.7% Activity: 16.7%
Thanks: Gave 257, Got 219
Posts: 2,896
I'll wait until it is offered on NTL cable.
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 11:21 AM   #6
Prominent Member
 
Timbo21's Avatar
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: London
Experience Points:
15,604, Level: 30
Points: 15,604, Level: 30 Points: 15,604, Level: 30 Points: 15,604, Level: 30
Activity: 5.7%
Activity: 5.7% Activity: 5.7% Activity: 5.7%
Thanks: Gave 352, Got 263
Posts: 4,254
I'm going for Telewest.

Currently I have Sky+, but I can't afford £299 now, or in the forseable future.

Yes, Telewest's HD content is less, but you get to see the whole World Cup in HD, & the next chance will be in 2010. Additionally, Telewest can install in a few days, whereas Sky several months.

I also have a bit more trust in the TV drive, since it has been around for a bit longer. The ability to record two programs & watch a third is also excellent.

Hopefully, Telewest will be able to secure more HD channels. They are apparently offering episodes of Lost & Desperate Housewives in HD, but charging £1 per episode is a bit much IMO; 50 pence I feel would be more reasonable.

Reports of mackroblocking on Sky movies HD sounds worrying.

T.

Last edited by Timbo21; 25-05-2006 at 11:24 AM.
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 11:40 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
the porter's Avatar
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: lancs
Experience Points:
13,478, Level: 27
Points: 13,478, Level: 27 Points: 13,478, Level: 27 Points: 13,478, Level: 27
Activity: 7.6%
Activity: 7.6% Activity: 7.6% Activity: 7.6%
Thanks: Gave 240, Got 304
Posts: 2,564
all the world cup in hd no 300 quid upfront costs= no brainer!!
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 11:47 AM   #8
Prominent Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Experience Points:
12,192, Level: 26
Points: 12,192, Level: 26 Points: 12,192, Level: 26 Points: 12,192, Level: 26
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 1,130, Got 518
Posts: 3,946
Only option for me is to get SkyHD
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 12:52 PM   #9
Member
 
archfiendkain's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: the vampire citadel
Experience Points:
2,528, Level: 11
Points: 2,528, Level: 11 Points: 2,528, Level: 11 Points: 2,528, Level: 11
Activity: 0.3%
Activity: 0.3% Activity: 0.3% Activity: 0.3%
Thanks: Gave 14, Got 6
Posts: 90
Sky HD only option for me also
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 2:51 PM   #10
Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Essex
Experience Points:
7,951, Level: 21
Points: 7,951, Level: 21 Points: 7,951, Level: 21 Points: 7,951, Level: 21
Activity: 1.8%
Activity: 1.8% Activity: 1.8% Activity: 1.8%
Thanks: Gave 3, Got 0
Posts: 511
Telewest HD, because I moved into a flat where you can't get Sky and when I was signing up for Cable, Broadband and telephone I heard about the TV Drive box and had it installed at the end of March.

Gary A
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 6:28 PM   #11
Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: boston
Experience Points:
5,244, Level: 17
Points: 5,244, Level: 17 Points: 5,244, Level: 17 Points: 5,244, Level: 17
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 2, Got 31
Posts: 324
I've bought a Humax HDCI2000HD satellite receiver. This receives all FTA hd programming from whichever satellite you point at. All BBC hd programming will be free to air and nothing to pay to Sky. Looking forward to the footie.
  Quote
Old 25-05-2006, 6:33 PM   #12
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Cov, UK
Experience Points:
5,616, Level: 17
Points: 5,616, Level: 17 Points: 5,616, Level: 17 Points: 5,616, Level: 17
Activity: 0.8%
Activity: 0.8% Activity: 0.8% Activity: 0.8%
Thanks: Gave 84, Got 48
Posts: 1,221
thers no ntl/telewest in this area so its sky or other and i would say HD via another method until SkyHD offers a better package or better prices. i cancelled sky after getting our HDTV and seeing what xbmc can do. and im not a football fan but im sure someone will upload a rip of it so some football fans can rejoice even if sky doesnt get thier installs done. im hoping to get HD content from 360(wen i get it), PC, and maybe HD-DVD, and upconverted dvds.
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 2:12 AM   #13
Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Experience Points:
3,088, Level: 13
Points: 3,088, Level: 13 Points: 3,088, Level: 13 Points: 3,088, Level: 13
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 4, Got 1
Posts: 57
SKY HD for me, voted for other reason because no telewest or ntl in my area so its the only choice atm
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 7:49 AM   #14
Prominent Member
 
Cable Monkey's Avatar
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Birmingham
Experience Points:
18,572, Level: 33
Points: 18,572, Level: 33 Points: 18,572, Level: 33 Points: 18,572, Level: 33
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Blog Entries: 4
Thanks: Gave 13, Got 252
Posts: 3,485
Award-Showcase
I have been with Telewest and the previous cable franchise from the beginning and see no reason to change. I see value in both products and would happily use Sky if I had no choice, but I also take great solace in the competition between the two companies. Regardless of wether you consider one or the other better the winners are the customers who benefit from the best available services. Recent events have caught Sky on the back foot but I remember when Telewest had to halt their digital roll out due to interruption in the supply of the Pace boxes they used exclusively. It led to the relationship with Scientific Atlanta who now make TVDrive. Sky customers can expect them to bounce back in similar fasion and hindsight should ensure the problems are avoided in future.
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 8:58 AM   #15
Member
 
Paulie_D's Avatar
Join Date: Dec 2005
Experience Points:
4,694, Level: 16
Points: 4,694, Level: 16 Points: 4,694, Level: 16 Points: 4,694, Level: 16
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 22, Got 14
Posts: 231
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart Wright
Which HD option are you going for?
NTL via PVR whenever it comes out!!!
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 10:12 AM   #16
Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Bristol, UK
Experience Points:
6,801, Level: 19
Points: 6,801, Level: 19 Points: 6,801, Level: 19 Points: 6,801, Level: 19
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 1, Got 2
Posts: 190
Other method - going to wait until it becomes available terrestrially!
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 10:26 AM   #17
Member
Join Date: May 2004
Experience Points:
5,791, Level: 18
Points: 5,791, Level: 18 Points: 5,791, Level: 18 Points: 5,791, Level: 18
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 3, Got 4
Posts: 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sicton
Other method - going to wait until it becomes available terrestrially!
Same with me (unless the government decides to sell off spectrum currently used by analogue channels thus hampering chances of HDTV coming to freeview).
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 12:17 PM   #18
umar_rao
Guest
Posts: n/a
At the moment going for both -
initially had signed up to 2 sky hd boxes and was well suprised when the sky lady said it would be 2x£10 for the hd subscription in addition to the 2x£10 for multiroom (was upgrading from 2 sky+ boxes to 1 sky+ and 2 hd). I could just about live with paying upfront for the two hd boxes but not then also paying a subscription for each box. On exploring Telewest options, I have upgraded my basic subscription to supreme and had two teledrive boxes installed, with each box costing just a tenner a month, so potentially saving
on an initial outlay of £600. And not having to worry about what happens after a year when the sky boxes are out of warranty.

Still getting a single sky HD box, as I want to maximise what I can view in HD (and compare quality)

At the end of the year will look to cancel Sky outright and just stick with telewest. Another factor in this is that the sky multiroom isn't multiroom for additional subscribed channels we have (eg B4U), can only watch these on the main box, whereas with telewest all the stb's have all the channels
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 12:47 PM   #19
rato
Guest
Posts: n/a
Free HD for now. Wait until more HD channels arrive & then choose what & how much.
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 1:01 PM   #20
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: London
Experience Points:
8,078, Level: 21
Points: 8,078, Level: 21 Points: 8,078, Level: 21 Points: 8,078, Level: 21
Activity: 2.3%
Activity: 2.3% Activity: 2.3% Activity: 2.3%
Thanks: Gave 22, Got 82
Posts: 2,142
Will go for Sky HD

1) Received a court summons due to telewests incompitence previously - ended up not having to go to court and did receive a reasonable compensation cheque but dont want to have to deal with them again if I can help it

2) Live in a block of flats at the moment which was prewired for Sky+ and I know the problems there can be trying to get telewest to install into a new block when there are no prewiring
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 1:18 PM   #21
Member
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Essex
Experience Points:
4,489, Level: 15
Points: 4,489, Level: 15 Points: 4,489, Level: 15 Points: 4,489, Level: 15
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 14, Got 21
Posts: 680
what about if you went for two options.....
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 3:56 PM   #22
Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: chesterfield
Experience Points:
5,645, Level: 17
Points: 5,645, Level: 17 Points: 5,645, Level: 17 Points: 5,645, Level: 17
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 1, Got 15
Posts: 121
sky hd for other reason

never ending quest for quality, why does it have to cost so much?
Brian.
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 4:26 PM   #23
Senior Member
 
colinwheeler's Avatar
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Basel
Experience Points:
4,167, Level: 15
Points: 4,167, Level: 15 Points: 4,167, Level: 15 Points: 4,167, Level: 15
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 394, Got 187
Posts: 2,415
I will upgrade to Sky HD when it has all settled down or when my Sky+ box dies, which ever comes first. Sky I think will be my option due to the larger range of content.

I am sort of tempted though to wait and see what will be the other HD possibilities in the future as Sky is irritating me and Telewest is not available to me.
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 6:48 PM   #24
Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Lancaster
Experience Points:
8,112, Level: 21
Points: 8,112, Level: 21 Points: 8,112, Level: 21 Points: 8,112, Level: 21
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 161, Got 30
Posts: 601
I will go for HD-DVD when it launches in the UK, want one that plays PAL and accepts 240V @ 50 Hz

Rooster-X
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 7:03 PM   #25
Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Experience Points:
2,894, Level: 12
Points: 2,894, Level: 12 Points: 2,894, Level: 12 Points: 2,894, Level: 12
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 14, Got 5
Posts: 143
I dont like the Sky corp ethos way of making money but I like the technology I was one of the first, I used to buy their new kit immediately but then they started giving it away some got their money back I didnt...now the first question I say to their questions is I'll have it when its free...hence I'm only just now on sky+ 160, I 'll wait until sky hd is available on recommend a friend.. We have to cater for a wide range of prefernces in this house otherwise freeview would do..

I also run MM Pc with DVB T and would go that way via separate dish and am continually reading how it will become do able in the near future...

With true broadband reaching 8Mb/s down it will all be on demand soon anyway pick and choose mind you it will be a bit tight with the bandwidth given the data in an hd signal...

Nicp01
  Quote
Old 26-05-2006, 9:29 PM   #26
Member
 
Stoke192's Avatar
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Wirral..Cheshire
Experience Points:
3,823, Level: 14
Points: 3,823, Level: 14 Points: 3,823, Level: 14 Points: 3,823, Level: 14
Activity: 3.1%
Activity: 3.1% Activity: 3.1% Activity: 3.1%
Thanks: Gave 32, Got 37
Posts: 520
sky (other reasons) - can't get telewest or ntl in my area.
  Quote
Old 27-05-2006, 12:44 AM   #27
Member
Join Date: May 2006
Experience Points:
4,059, Level: 15
Points: 4,059, Level: 15 Points: 4,059, Level: 15 Points: 4,059, Level: 15
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 0, Got 3
Posts: 73
Gave up on telewest when skly plus came out
poor picture quality
Sky sports not in wide screen
No sky sports extra
unable to contact telewest helpdesk, unless preapred to wait for ages

Sky plus. one of the first generation boxes, upgraded to 120gb, no poroblems with it.
  Quote
Old 27-05-2006, 6:08 AM   #28
New Member
Join Date: May 2006
Experience Points:
3,997, Level: 14
Points: 3,997, Level: 14 Points: 3,997, Level: 14 Points: 3,997, Level: 14
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 1, Got 0
Posts: 21
I'm another waiting for HD via NTL.

Will they ever pull their finger out? Have your heard their new motto? "Where other companies lead, we follow".
  Quote
Old 28-05-2006, 9:17 AM   #29
Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Experience Points:
4,018, Level: 14
Points: 4,018, Level: 14 Points: 4,018, Level: 14 Points: 4,018, Level: 14
Activity: 1.1%
Activity: 1.1% Activity: 1.1% Activity: 1.1%
Thanks: Gave 23, Got 52
Posts: 561
Telewest

Better STB/PVR record 2 channels watch another etc, archive to DVD while still being able to watch another channel, EPG is now far better than Sky, All World Cup in HD, far better customer service, SKY STB/PVR = £300 Telewest gave me 3 yes 3 !!! TV drives for only £15 a month Xtra. complete Broadband 10 Mb telephone & TV from 1 provider, TELEWEST !!

I had SKY + since it launched Telewest is better for HD and general customer satisfaction all of course IMHO.
  Quote
Old 28-05-2006, 10:58 AM   #30
Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: London
Experience Points:
6,008, Level: 18
Points: 6,008, Level: 18 Points: 6,008, Level: 18 Points: 6,008, Level: 18
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 1, Got 5
Posts: 96
Waiting until I can use it via MCPC. Since I'm not interested in footie, and there's nothing I'm desperate to watch.
  Quote
Post Reply



Thread information and display options
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off