Sky or NTL

M

martincooper

Guest
I currently have NTL (TV,Phone and Broadband) which I am quite happy with. I am moving to a new house which has neither Sky nor NTL - which should I go for ?
Sky seems to have more channels for less money, has a better program guide and (I think) some kind of text service.

However, NTL's Phone and Broadband do work well and my impression is that their cost is lower than the BT equivalent. I have also heard terrible stories about BT Broadband and am no fan of BT in general (former customer).

I only really want a subscription service for the kids TV (my kids will kill me if we don't have nickelodeon!), so would be getting a very basic channel package. The Sky website mentions that you need a viewing card to get ITV - what does this mean - will a basic package give me this ?

Does the Sky box need to be connected to a phone line ?
Would Sky for TV but NTL for Phone/Broadband be cost effective?
Which is the best picture quality ? I'm getting a plasma screen for the new place.
 
I'm in the middle of working out whether to switch from NTL (all three) to Sky, BT and ADSL.

So far, apart from the installtion cost, dumping NTL seems cheaper!

I'd probably go for Sky+ Family Pack, the basic BT phone and PlusNet ADSL. I think ITV thing basicly means it's not free to view, you need at least a subscription to see that channel. So will work with the Family pack that you probably want for the kids anyway.

Sky family pack + BT phone line is cheaper then the NTL Family Pack + phone. You just want to shop around for the ADSL package, PlusNet or Zen have been highly recommended to me.

The biggest cost is that you must buy the equipment, Sky box, ADSL modem. Some packages include the cost in the monthly charge. My NTL BB has been going down hill for months and I now basicly don't play games any more as it's just not worth it most the time, I'm drawn to the 20:1 contention ratio ADSL packages and the Sky+ record and watch another channel features.

You can get digital audio with Sky and Dolby Digital on some channels.

EDIT: Yes you need a phone line attached to the Sky box for occational updates and interactive feed back. Cable does have the edge in this respect but I've yet to see NTL make good use of this and the NTL interactive stuff is just too SLOWWWW. I would miss the occational NTL ondemand movie but then I live opposite Blockbuster so just need to get off my arse. :D
 
For channel choice and all the extra benefits.... live pause, recording 2 programmes on different Sky channels at same time etc.... There is no competion. Sky+ wins hands down over NTL.
 
Originally posted by martincooper
I currently have NTL (TV,Phone and Broadband) which I am quite happy with. I am moving to a new house which has neither Sky nor NTL - which should I go for ?

I only really want a subscription service for the kids TV (my kids will kill me if we don't have nickelodeon!), so would be getting a very basic channel package. The Sky website mentions that you need a viewing card to get ITV - what does this mean - will a basic package give me this ?

Does the Sky box need to be connected to a phone line ?
Would Sky for TV but NTL for Phone/Broadband be cost effective?
Which is the best picture quality ? I'm getting a plasma screen for the new place.


Three years ago I had the option of a cable modem from NTL or ADSL via BT, I chose the CM and have had no regrets whatsoever both in terms of price and performance.
I've had both SKY digital and NTL Digital television and SKY was far far better both in terms of picture and reliabilty although the "loan" nature of NTL hardware has it's benefits. I use BT for my landline because NTL didn't have any spare capacity in my area but I would have had their phone service when I had the cable modem installed after switching from BT's HH service.

There are benifits in having a single company supply the whole bundle especailly if there are cross product promotions so if you have been happy with NTL previously and as long as they do a good installation deal on the new property why bother changing.

Any SKY subscription package will also give you access to ITV1, CH4 and Five by default.
If you are buying a Plasma screen is a few quid here and there that important? I would be more interested in performance and reliabilty.
Plasmas really like a good source, DVD is excellent but broadcast mpegII (SKY, NTL, DTT) are far from perfect and you might be a little dissapointed with the results depending upon how good the Plasma is in the first place and which channels you are watching. A demo using SKY or DTT as a source would be invaluable before paying thousands for a display.
 
I had NTL Dig from when they first started and was always pleased with it.

Recently I changed to SKY beacuse wanted SKY+ but I kept NTL BB on a Cable Modem and kept them for the phone.

I was worried about changing because of previous experience of SKY PQ but needn't have worried - SKY+ PQ is as good as NTL.

Overall v. pleased with the change but wouldn;t have bothered other than for SKY+
 
I'm getting Sky+
I'm going to keep NTL for phone and BB, but get sky+


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thats what i have done, being installed on sunday the 8th feb.
would have done it a while ago but only just found out that you can use any phone line for sky, years ago it had to be bt.
 
Considering the same. Makes me wonder what rate NTL are haemorrhaging TV customers, you never know it might force them to sort out their TV services, but then again they're probably to debt ridden to try.

John
 
I've had NTL digital TV for six years and their broadband and phone service for about two... I've toyed with the idea of switching to Sky many times but have always been put off by the hassle/cost... I have now gone for the £99 Sky+ deal and as I'm a new customer I'm getting a second standard digibox for the bedroom FOC... NTL are replacing my STB with a cable modem and I've switched back to BT for the phone...

Sky+ facilities and Dolby Digital were the main reasons... Fingers crossed on the picture quality as I've always found my NTL okay..!
 

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