Moving from Sky plus - advice for my parents?

[crazyc]

Hi all, not sure if I am posting in the right place, and am asking this on behalf of my parents.

They currently (and for quite a few years) have sky plus. The box they have is being problematic in terms of recordings, many are failing. They have tried the reformat the box trick a little while ago under the instructions of the sky support people I think.
They wer told they would be charged for an engineer visit if one comes out.

The box they have is actually a refurbed one that we gave them when we moved from Sky (must be at least 4 years ago) to VM.

They do not live in a VM area or we would have gone for that straight away on cost grounds.

They do not have an HD TV and do not intend getting one unless their existing 32 inch Asda one goes - it is 4 years old currently. Last time their TV went, it was also during the world cup I think and my sport crazy Mum went out and replaced it within hours.

As they wish to continue getting sky sports and Movies, they have very little option but sky I think.
Looking at the current details, sky are offering free HD boxes but charging for the sky plus boxes? If they get an HD box I presume it can output to Scart rather than just HDMI - someone mentioned annoying messages telling them they could be watching stuff in HD etc - is this true?

Could anyone suggest the best solution? Now I look through the sky HD forums, there seems to be many problems with HD boxes and especially refurbed ones etc. (I know - happy people do not bother with forums so you only see the minority with issues - I am just comparing to the VM section I normally frequent).

I see talk of self installs - as they have all the cables for the skyplus, is it just a case of swap the box and call sky to pair the cards (if that is still how it works)

I would be really grateful for any advice as they want me to call sky tomorrow for them.

Cheers.

 

[fredsie]

Quite a lot of stuff there! - but just on a few of the points you raise:

As you want/need Sky I can't see many reasons for consciously avoiding an HD box now, just go for the best deal (there is the HD sub though). Chances are the next time your Mom has to go to Asda for a cheap replacement set she will find only HD sets, and with both Scart and HDMI connectors.

Meanwhile her new Sky box of whatever type will have a Scart connector as well as HDMI.

As for reliability, I don't think there's much to choose between models. You won't avoid possible problems by avoiding HD.

Self-installs - As you're kitted out for Sky+ already the physical install consists of disconnecting the wires from the old box and reconnecting them to the same sockets on the new one, no problems. As to pairing, the Sky HD Terabyte box self-install, for example, just involves following a few on-screen instructions. The box does though have to be connected to a phone line for this to work properly. You can disconnect it again once the pairing is done.

 

[Starburst]

Worth pointing out as a paying subscriber a cancellation request based on unreliable hardware is very likely to get a free call out, also worth noting that issues may not be with the box but the reception for one or both tuners so replacing the box may not cure those failed recordings.

There are options to get an upgrade to SKY+HD (with or without taking the HD sub) as the SKY+ is being phased out purely on the basis of marketing HD and having a single reference design which makes it cheaper for SKY.

 

[961]

Hi all, not sure if I am posting in the right place, and am asking this on behalf of my parents.

They currently (and for quite a few years) have sky plus. The box they have is being problematic in terms of recordings, many are failing. They have tried the reformat the box trick a little while ago under the instructions of the sky support people I think.
They wer told they would be charged for an engineer visit if one comes out.

The box they have is actually a refurbed one that we gave them when we moved from Sky (must be at least 4 years ago) to VM.

They do not live in a VM area or we would have gone for that straight away on cost grounds.

They do not have an HD TV and do not intend getting one unless their existing 32 inch Asda one goes - it is 4 years old currently. Last time their TV went, it was also during the world cup I think and my sport crazy Mum went out and replaced it within hours.

As they wish to continue getting sky sports and Movies, they have very little option but sky I think.
Looking at the current details, sky are offering free HD boxes but charging for the sky plus boxes? If they get an HD box I presume it can output to Scart rather than just HDMI - someone mentioned annoying messages telling them they could be watching stuff in HD etc - is this true?

Could anyone suggest the best solution? Now I look through the sky HD forums, there seems to be many problems with HD boxes and especially refurbed ones etc. (I know - happy people do not bother with forums so you only see the minority with issues - I am just comparing to the VM section I normally frequent).

I see talk of self installs - as they have all the cables for the skyplus, is it just a case of swap the box and call sky to pair the cards (if that is still how it works)

I would be really grateful for any advice as they want me to call sky tomorrow for them.

Cheers.

Well, here goes, for what it's worth

At 4 years old min the box is over. Don't call an engineer. There's better ways

First, I think you'll find Sky only install HD boxes now. If you order Sky+ you'll get an HD box anyway, just set to be ready to work in HD if you ever decide to upgrade your sub

Iwould have thought that, one way or another, your folks should be able to get a new box at minimal cost. I wouldn't phone, I'd e-mail [email protected] and explain the situation and ask what he can do to help. If you want to deal with it leave your phone number but you'll need to quote your parents sky a/c number and address or at least name and post code

I would say that, having recently replaced an HD box with the new Amstrad 1Tb box I can say that it works well for me. I paid £149 for self install but of course I am paying the HD sub

Another option I suppose is to buy a 2nd hand sky plus box. There are lots about as folk upgrade to HD and sell off the old box. Don't buy one more than a few months old and don't pay over the odds. Local tv engineer/aerial contractors may have one. (Some sell new as well) Idea of prices from a scan of e-bay

Any of these boxes are just a straight change over of the cables and they all have a scart outlet. The card will need pairing but that's a simple phone call and should go ok

 

[crazyc]

Thank you all for your replies- based on the discussions with the retentions guy we just went for the free call out who will replace the box if he can't switch it.

The folks dont want to switch phone/internet to sky and and really not fussed with HD unless it is 100% free (in terms of additional cost). So didn't have much to bargain with really).

Was offered a new HD box (plus 1 year contract) for free but needed too pay the £10 a month sub, or a Grade A box for £59 with no sub.

Cheers again

 

[choddo2006]

If your mother loves sport, she should REALLY consider HD. It's a completely different experience.