[plonky]

Just thought it might be useful to start a thread comparing/contrasting the 2 systems to help anyone thinking of making the switch. Been using TVDrive for a few days now and I have to say Sky have got some serious competition.

Little features I like about TVdrive that Sky+ doesn't have:-

1) When using fast forward followed by a press of the play button, the playback jumps back a few seconds in a Tivo-like way to avoid overshooting when whizzing past the adverts.
2) The back arrow button that jumps back 6/7 seconds each time you press it
3) Autodelete old/viewed recordings when space is low
4) You can set general recording priorities in case a clash occurs
5) You can press record from live TV and then one more button to initiate series recording - then you can specify all occurrences/this week/choose certain ones
6) The help screens
7) 3 tuners

[Cable Monkey]

I really don't think there is any need to compare the 2 because it will only attract the wrong type of input from fanboys. Also there is limited value in this because Telewest is available to a relatively small number of the population. Perhaps when NTL: of old come into the 21st century there may be more of of a case for comparisons as it will be a genuine head to head for a much larger section of the population.

[dis_1]

The obvious one for me was when viewing the TV guide, you can still view the channel (PiP)
Can't say how much i smiled this morning once the instsaller left and I tested HD.

Now off to pick up a 15m HDMI lead so I can put the telly back on the wall!

I don't know if the Sky+ box does this or not but I liked the way the TVDrive remembers where you are up to when viewing recorded programmes so if you stop watching then go back later it asks if you would like to continue watching from where you left off or would like to start again. Great feature.

[KevinPedrick]

The PiP is a top feature.

Its really handy to check through whats on later while the ads are on!

[plonky]

Originally Posted by dunum_sin

I don't know if the Sky+ box does this or not but I liked the way the TVDrive remembers where you are up to when viewing recorded programmes so if you stop watching then go back later it asks if you would like to continue watching from where you left off or would like to start again. Great feature.

Yeah, Sky+ resumes where you left off unless you override it

[mitchep]

The one thing I miss from Sky+ however, is that when you're watching a programme or film and halfway through you decide to record it, because you want to watch it again or think that your better half might want to watch it later, you can only record from the point that you press record.
I know that sounds obvious, but with sky+ it started from the either the start of the programme (if already on the channel) or the point that you turned it on to that programme, which is in my mind much better. TV Drive is still recording from the time you switch channels but only for the time slip function, surely this is something that could easily be incorporated, if only as an option?

[safekidda]

Originally Posted by Cable Monkey

I really don't think there is any need to compare the 2 because it will only attract the wrong type of input from fanboys. Also there is limited value in this because Telewest is available to a relatively small number of the population. Perhaps when NTL: of old come into the 21st century there may be more of of a case for comparisons as it will be a genuine head to head for a much larger section of the population.

I see your point, I for one can't stand all the lcd vs plasma, xbox360 vs PS3 etc... arguements, it drives me crazy. But if for the continuation of this thread, everyone could agree to be NON BIAST, and fair, then i would really like to know what people have to say. Getting knowledge from people on here gave me enough info to make my own mind up, I decided to cancel my sky and order telewest when i move house at the end of this month.

Originally Posted by mitchep

The one thing I miss from Sky+ however, is that when you're watching a programme or film and halfway through and you decide to record it, because you want to watch it again or think that your better half might want to watch it later, you can only record from the point that you press record.
I know that sounds obvious, but with sky+ it started from the either the start of the programme (if already on the channel) or the point that you turned it on to that programme, which is in my mind much better. TV Drive is still recording from the time you switch channels but only for the time slip function, surely this is something that could easily be incorporated, if only as an option?

Isn't it possible to skip/rewind back to the start of the recording, then just press record? Surely the program must already be stored on the hard drive in the instant rewind buffer.

A couple of features i really like in sky+ (which i hope are available when i get my tvdrive) are when you hold down the RW or FW for a few secs then it takes you to the start/end of a recording.

Another really cool feature is, if you stop watching a recording part way through, you can simply press the play button at any time, for example when watching live tv, and it takes you back to where you left off.

[mitchep]

Nope, tried that. It tells you something like it's not possible to record from delay TV.

That said overall I think TV Drive rocks. The SD picture through HDMI leaves Sky+ for dead, teleport is the nuts, HD content for much cheaper than Sky (roll on the world cup!) and 80hrs of recording. Very happy overall.

[safekidda]

Thats a shame, it seems stupid because it is being recorded anyway, there must be a reason why they didn't include the facility to do this.

I dedided to go with telewest for a number of reasons. The main being that (IN MY OPINION) the sky epg isn't very good. There are simply too many channels and no way of quickly flicking through them without using the guide (I'm not a fan of the guide i generally only want to see whats on now and next). What swayed it for me is the favourites, once selected you can then flick through only the channels you want and you can also view the info for any program other than the one you are watching. You can't do this on sky. Also sky they insist on including all the channels you don't have as well as the ones you do.

Funny thing happened to my TVDrive last night . About ten minutes into last night's episode I decided to record the Time Team series on Discovery Civilisations. Everything went OK but I noticed the red LED didn't come on the front of the TVDrive. I thought it was strange that when I told it to record a series it didn't record the episode currently showing. However the EPG was red for the currently airing program and it had the "series" icon showing.

So we have no red LED suggesting nothing is recording but the EPG saying it was recording. When I tried to stop the recording it wouldn't let me. It seemed to stop but each time I went back to the EPG it was still red so I had to cancel the entire series. At this point the red highlighting disappeared from the EPG.

There was also nothing showing as being recorded in the recorded programmes list.

I restarted the recording of the Time Team program that was showing. Not the series this time, just the one instance.

When I went back later to watch it, the entire episode was recorded without interruption start to finish.

I thought it was cool that even though I had only started recording fifteen minutes in, the whole episode had recorded.

[plonky]

Originally Posted by safekidda

A couple of features i really like in sky+ (which i hope are available when i get my tvdrive) are when you hold down the RW or FW for a few secs then it takes you to the start/end of a recording.

doesn't work on TVDrive. I never knew that existed Guess I won't miss it!

Another really cool feature is, if you stop watching a recording part way through, you can simply press the play button at any time, for example when watching live tv, and it takes you back to where you left off.

Tried that before and it doesn't work, TVDrive has play/pause on the same button rather than "2 parts of the same button" like Sky+

[safekidda]

Originally Posted by dunum_sin

Funny thing happened to my TVDrive last night . About ten minutes into last night's episode I decided to record the Time Team series on Discovery Civilisations. Everything went OK but I noticed the red LED didn't come on the front of the TVDrive. I thought it was strange that when I told it to record a series it didn't record the episode currently showing. However the EPG was red for the currently airing program and it had the "series" icon showing.

So we have no red LED suggesting nothing is recording but the EPG saying it was recording. When I tried to stop the recording it wouldn't let me. It seemed to stop but each time I went back to the EPG it was still red so I had to cancel the entire series. At this point the red highlighting disappeared from the EPG.

There was also nothing showing as being recorded in the recorded programmes list.

I restarted the recording of the Time Team program that was showing. Not the series this time, just the one instance.

When I went back later to watch it, the entire episode was recorded without interruption start to finish.

I thought it was cool that even though I had only started recording fifteen minutes in, the whole episode had recorded.

It would be nice to keep this thread on topic rather than talking about bugs. I'm expecting a few teething problems but I'm not to worried about that because my parents have been with telewest since the cable and wireless days and they have given excellent customer service.

One disadvantage of sky+ is that you own the box so if it goes wrong you might have to pay a call out charge and if its out of warranty you'll be paying for a new box too. I know telewest have been out to my parents house a few times over the years and they've never once paid for a call out and quite often they would come out the following day.

[Karma]

I was involved in a conversation last night with someone about my TV.

They commented on how good the picture looked, better than he remembered. I said that I, too, had noticed a significant improvement in picture qualtilty (and I mean an excited.. "cor look at that picture" kind of improvement)

We both speculated that it must be something to do with the fact that the TV had been running for six months and had, maybe, run in.

It was only when fiddling with the back and moving scarts, that it dawned on me.

The improvement co-incides with the installation of TVDrive and SD tv watched via HDMI.

Going back to the Sky feed (which I was stripping out) the picture lost....something. Can't put my finger on it, but it looked slightly softer, woolier and flatter. (Does that make sense?)

Big vote for TVDrive......after picture quality is more important to me than a half second improvement in speed when changing channels.

K

[Cable Monkey]

Originally Posted by safekidda

I see your point, I for one can't stand all the lcd vs plasma, xbox360 vs PS3 etc... arguements, it drives me crazy. But if for the continuation of this thread, everyone could agree to be NON BIAST, and fair, then i would really like to know what people have to say. Getting knowledge from people on here gave me enough info to make my own mind up, I decided to cancel my sky and order telewest when i move house at the end of this month.

Cool. Any misdemeanours, just hit the report button and the relevant mod (not me) will clean the thread up and keep it on topic.

Originally Posted by Karma

I was involved in a conversation last night with someone about my TV.

The commented on how good the picture looked, better than he remembered. I said that I, too, had noticed a significant improvement in picture qualtilty (and I mean an excited.. "cor look at that picture" kind of improvement)

We both speculated that it must be something to do with the fact that the TV had been running for six months and had, maybe, run in.

It was only when fiddling with the back and moving scarts, that it dawned on me.

The improvement co-incides with the installation of TVDrive and SD tv watched via HDMI.

Going back to the Sky feed (which I was stripping out) the picture lost....something. Can't put my finger on it, but it looked slightly softer, woolier and flatter. (Does that make sense?)

Big vote for TVDrive......after picture quality is more important to me that a half second improvemt in speed when changing channels.

K

Agreed - only had the TV Drive a few days but SD material is deinitely sharper and crisper than Sky+.

Only had to reboot the thing twice so not too bad!

[plonky]

Originally Posted by sirshambling

Only had to reboot the thing twice so not too bad!

Mine rebooted itself last night, how clever is that !

[forumhound]

Which channels aren't available on telewest which ARE available on sky ??

(thinking about changing to telewest now I'm getting my new 42 inch plasma)

[Timbo21]

Just got my TV Drive installed today. The rgb scart connection is considerably better than Sky+. The HDMI connection to my Optoma H79 projector is fantastic. I've never seen Sky movies look so good. It really does an excellent job upscaling SD, way better than my Sky+. Only downside is no DD 5.1 except on BBC HD. Before if there was something I wanted to watch on Sky movies I would end up renting the DVD, but the TV Drive does an excellent job.

Even if I had to watch the World Cup in SD I wouldn't be too upset, since it's looking so good.