[KingOfGondor]

if i got sky+ but a year dow the line didn't wanted to pay the extra £10 a month, what kind of functionality does the box retain?

any recording facilities or just as a digibox?

[Nick_UK]

No recording facilities, no programme pause, no instant rewind.

[KingOfGondor]

ok thankyou. i'd just bung the HD into my PC in that case then

[Starburst]

You still have the s-video and optical output though which some people will find useful.
I would hope that in the year or so SKY lower the requirment for the "free" SKY+ service, surely the most practical method to improve the "value" of a subscription package.

[KingOfGondor]

what do you mean "free" sky+

yeah i'd appreciate the optical out
i wouldn't get rid of the box if i could use the HD in my PC and still have digibox functionality

[Starburst]

If you have two or more SKY Premium channels (SS1, SS2, SM1 or SM2 in any combination) then you don't have to pay the £10 a month for the SKY+ service.

I am not 100% sure if the SKY+ still works without a HD, there were a lot of complaints when SKY made the HD spin down when in standby and when it failed to spin up again the STB wouldn't work.
I'd get positive confirmation of a HD less SKY+ working before making a purchase

[Taylorg]

Just a quick question if just wanted to use the Optical out and not Sky+ features could I just buy a Sky+ box and hook it up to my Sky wall socket in place of my current Panasonic Digibox with the same functionality as my current box?

Living in a flat I cannot get Sky+ directly from Sky although that's not a problem because I'm looking to purchase a DVD recorder.

Thanks in advance
Grant

[KingOfGondor]

thanks for that warning starburst. i'm probably gonna get it anyway i just wanted to know if it had a life beyond the '+'.
i will definately upgrade the box anyway so if it comes to a time when i don't want to pay to record i'll just swap the drives again

[johndon]

Originally Posted by Taylorg

Just a quick question if just wanted to use the Optical out and not Sky+ features could I just buy a Sky+ box and hook it up to my Sky wall socket in place of my current Panasonic Digibox with the same functionality as my current box?

Yes, you can make use of the optical out and therefore DD5.1 by connecting a Sky+ box to your existing setup.

John

[Taylorg]

Originally Posted by johndon

Yes, you can make use of the optical out and therefore DD5.1 by connecting a Sky+ box to your existing setup.

John

Thanks John

[phattanglo]

Excuse me butting in but I have a question regarding Sky boxes that have optical outut. I cancelled my subscription to Sky following what I regard as "sharp practice" insofar as I received an offer with my Sky magazine inviting me to take out multiroom for £99. On enquiring about this I was told by Sky, that was for a basic box only not Sky +. On pointing out to them that their literature never mentions this I was told, TOUGH!
Strangely since my contact with themthe £49 extra for Sky+ does now appear on their Bumf.
Anyhow my question is this the optical output on my Sony box is still working but has always been in stereo rather than dd5.1, given skys reputation for inducements to regain customers is it possible to change the optical output to decode dd Sony model VTX-575OU.

Does retaining the s-video and optical out mean that with no subscription I could watch one channel and record a different channel onto a conventional VCR?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by phattanglo

is it possible to change the optical output to decode dd Sony model VTX-575OU.

Nope.
The OS for the SONY has never included that option and that's assuming the hardware does support DD5.1 audio if present.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by berrisford5

Does retaining the s-video and optical out mean that with no subscription I could watch one channel and record a different channel onto a conventional VCR?

Nope.
SKY+ regardless of the subscription status can only output a single video stream from any/all it's outputs at any one time.

[sinbrad]

Originally Posted by Taylorg

Just a quick question if just wanted to use the Optical out and not Sky+ features could I just buy a Sky+ box and hook it up to my Sky wall socket in place of my current Panasonic Digibox with the same functionality as my current box?

Living in a flat I cannot get Sky+ directly from Sky although that's not a problem because I'm looking to purchase a DVD recorder.

Thanks in advance
Grant

Just to add a little further.....If you have a current subscription with sky (which looks like you do?) and it includes two premium channels, then you will get the recording facility of sky+ free, just let them know that you now have a sky+ box when you marry the card to the new box. However, if you don't have two premium channels you can still get the recording facility for an extra 10 pounds a month (better to get two premium channels if you don't already have them?). You will at least be able to record one channel (has to be channel that is being viewed) whilst watching something which you recorded earlier using a single cable from your dish.

[Taylorg]

I have the full £42 a month package from Sky. The reason I asked was because I live in a flat that has a shared dish and a single Sky cable feed to a wall socket in my flat.

Grant

Originally Posted by Starburst

Nope.
SKY+ regardless of the subscription status can only output a single video stream from any/all it's outputs at any one time.

Thanks Starburst. So the only way to be able to watch one Sky channel and record a different one without subscribing to Sky+ is to have two separate digibox's?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by berrisford5

Thanks Starburst. So the only way to be able to watch one Sky channel and record a different one without subscribing to Sky+ is to have two separate digibox's?

Yep, the £10 a month multiroom deal would be ideal unless of course Freeview/TUTV supplied you with a decent selection then have one STB from each platform.