VM V+ or SKY HD

cookie1987

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Forgive me for this never ending question.

I have a a regular NTL box on VM, upstairs and my parents (love living at home !) have Sky downstairs, I am looking at saving them a bit of money, or atleast having only one bill.

I want VM for the tinternet... Sports is not a problem as it never gets watched, HD for my parents isnt really a biggie, BUT... What would be the better option.

SKY HD or VM V+ ?

In terms of Picture Quality, At the min they are using an old 32" LCD Yusmart tv, looking to change it to a 42" Viera, i also have the 42" Viera (not sure on mod, but top end one).

SO, recap.

32"LCD scope to change to 42" Plasma panny
V+ OR SKY HD - Picture Quality for parents
Ease of use
Cost
and, HD Content?

Many thanks.

Martin
 
I'm not an expert but I would say SKY+ HD in every area.

VM have hardly any Hd channels & there customer support is probably the worst in the world, terrible.
 
I would say VM+ as upscaled SD e.g. BBC1/2/3/4 ITV2/3 etc. is far better than same on Sky+HD. HD PQ is the same. There are 7 HD channels on VM+, Sky has more but several IMHO are non events and many are just upscaled SD content a lot of the time anyway.

VM+ can record 2 while watching 1 and replay a fourth prerecorded prog to another TV or DVD recorder all simultaneously.

VM+ also has direct access to BBCiPlayer, ITV netplayer, C4OD etc inc HD content as well as asccess to large VOD library again inc HD content.

And of course VM broadband ......!

OK customer service is not always good but Sky are just as bad if not worse.
 
i have just moved and went for v+. i had v+ in the last house and after considering skyHD it came down to cost and for me V+ won it. the +ves are the on demand service - absolutley awesome and highly under rated imo!
the new samsung box is pretty quick as well.
as far as customer service goes, thankfully have not had to bother them too much - couldn;t get my internet router working but they talked me through manual setup and i was away so its been ok.
the only downside is lack of HD content but to be honest it doesn't bother me too much and as i have a bluray player for that then i don't feel i'm missing out on too much of it
 
I'm not an expert but I would say SKY+ HD in every area.

VM have hardly any Hd channels & there customer support is probably the worst in the world, terrible.

Unless you're taking Sky Sports and Sky Movies HD then Virgin only has 2/3 less HD channels than Sky
 
Unless you're taking Sky Sports and Sky Movies HD then Virgin only has 2/3 less HD channels than Sky

Not loads but still significant, especialy when you add the sky sports/movies.

Virgin HD Channels -
BBC HD
FOUR HD
FX HD
NAT GEO HD
MTV HD
LIVING HD
ESPN HD

Sky HD Channels -
Sky Sports HD
Sky Movies HD
EUROSPORT HD
RUSH HD
DISNEY HD
Sky 1 HD
Sky Arts 1 HD
Sky Arts 2 HD
Sci-Fi HD
Sky Real Lives HD
LUXE HD
CRIME HD
BIO HD
HISTORY HD
DISCOVERY HD
BBC HD
FOUR HD
FX HD
NAT GEO HD
NAT GEO WILD HD
MTV HD
LIVING HD
ESPN HD

Good points Boostrail but I seriously doubt anyone has worse customer support than VM.
 
I have just moved from Sky HD to V+ and here are my observations.

*Sky+ remote control is more intuitive.
*Sky has more HD content, but most of the programs on them I never watch. Sky Sports is the only HD channel I miss.
*Match Choice is biggest loss (if you are a footy fan) when moving from Sky to Virgin. I now have to hope that West Ham get extended highlights on MOTD every Saturday.
*Virgin On-Demand absolutely creams Sky's crappy Anytime, Movie and Music offerings. I can only see the advantage getting bigger for Virgin due to Sky's technical limitations.
*My Samsung V+ upscales SD better than my Thompson Sky HD box did.
*The best single HD channel for a sports fan is ESPN, and Virgin give it to you for FREE.
*Virgin do not charge extra nuggets for HD. They may have less HD content, but it is all free.
*Virgin provides BBC iPlayer, iTVPlayer and a few others. My wife and kids love these for catching up on missed episodes.
*For a basic package with HD channels Virgin is cheaper.
*Sky box crashed all the time and required power reset wheras V+ has been fine for th 2 months I have had it.

I am happy that I moved to Virgin. I have saved a little of money and have IMHO an overall equal or better service. I think both services are good, but I prefer to give my money to the bearded British bloke, rather than the Aussie Media Mogul with the gay American accent.

Both Sky and Virgins Customer Service required routing through Indian Call Centres. If your problem or question is not on their cheat sheet, or if you cannot understand them it is tough. The reason I left Sky was because I had a problem and got fed up talking to foreigners who simply had no clue.
 
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I have just moved from Sky HD to V+ and here are my observations.

*Sky+ remote control is more intuitive.
*Sky has more HD content, but most of the programs on them I never watch. Sky Sports is the only HD channel I miss.
*Match Choice is biggest loss (if you are a footy fan) when moving from Sky to Virgin. I now have to hope that West Ham get extended highlights on MOTD every Saturday.
*Virgin On-Demand absolutely creams Sky's crappy Anytime, Movie and Music offerings. I can only see the advantage getting bigger for Virgin due to Sky's technical limitations.
*My Samsung V+ upscales SD better than my Thompson Sky HD box did.
*The best single HD channel for a sports fan is ESPN, and Virgin give it to you for FREE.
*Virgin do not charge extra nuggets for HD. They may have less HD content, but it is all free.
*Virgin provides BBC iPlayer, iTVPlayer and a few others. My wife and kids love these for catching up on missed episodes.
*For a basic package with HD channels Virgin is cheaper.
*Sky box crashed all the time and required power reset wheras V+ has been fine for th 2 months I have had it.

I am happy that I moved to Virgin. I have saved a little of money and have IMHO an overall equal or better service. I think both services are good, but I prefer to give my money to the bearded British bloke, rather than the Aussie Media Mogul with the gay American accent.

Both Sky and Virgins Customer Service required routing through Indian Call Centres. If your problem or question is not on their cheat sheet, or if you cannot understand them it is tough. The reason I left Sky was because I had a problem and got fed up talking to foreigners who simply had no clue.

I could have written this myself, and totally agree (except perhaps the customer service problems, which I never experienced with Sky. Maybe I was just lucky).

I was in a similar situation to the OP a month or two back with Sky World on Sky HD on my main telly, and a standard Virgin box on the M package in my bedroom (only because it was thrown in free with my cable broadband). Football is the main thing for me and it had always seemed a no-brainer to be with Sky for the HD broadcasts and red button Champions League games.

A combination of a few things made me reconsider:
1) As finances got a bit tighter I increasingly begrudged paying £10 for HD, and came to the conclusion that the improvement over upscaled SD pictures was not worth a tenner a month on a 37" telly.
2) I wanted ESPN but wasnt prepared to cough up another tenner a month for that on top of my expensive Sky World subscription.
3) My Sky HD box was out of warranty and ever since the new EPG upgrade recordings on the second feed were failing all the time requiring a power reset, and the EPG itself was painfully slow and difficult to use.
4) When I decided to test the water and approach both Virgin and Sky to say I was considering switching Virgin offered me a great deal. Sky offered me nothing after 17 years on their top package.

I got my Samsung V+ box fitted on Friday, retained my second box, and I'm now so much happier with my setup, and I'm saving about £20 a month.
 
1. VOD and iplayer is superb on Virgin.

2. Broadband is fast (20mb service achieves between 14 and 19 mb consistantly.

3. If you get India on a customer care call, redial until you get the UK.
 
I could have written this myself, and totally agree (except perhaps the customer service problems, which I never experienced with Sky. Maybe I was just lucky).

I was in a similar situation to the OP a month or two back with Sky World on Sky HD on my main telly, and a standard Virgin box on the M package in my bedroom (only because it was thrown in free with my cable broadband). Football is the main thing for me and it had always seemed a no-brainer to be with Sky for the HD broadcasts and red button Champions League games.

A combination of a few things made me reconsider:
1) As finances got a bit tighter I increasingly begrudged paying £10 for HD, and came to the conclusion that the improvement over upscaled SD pictures was not worth a tenner a month on a 37" telly.
2) I wanted ESPN but wasnt prepared to cough up another tenner a month for that on top of my expensive Sky World subscription.
3) My Sky HD box was out of warranty and ever since the new EPG upgrade recordings on the second feed were failing all the time requiring a power reset, and the EPG itself was painfully slow and difficult to use.
4) When I decided to test the water and approach both Virgin and Sky to say I was considering switching Virgin offered me a great deal. Sky offered me nothing after 17 years on their top package.

I got my Samsung V+ box fitted on Friday, retained my second box, and I'm now so much happier with my setup, and I'm saving about £20 a month.

Having just made the jump from Sky (after 4 and a half continuous years) to Virgin yesterday I will be saving nearly £30 a month. I will miss Sky Sports HD like mad, but the money saved is significant. I have sky for one more month but am having virgin installed on 7th December.
 
I'm like you I have both. The only reason I keep Sky is for Sky sports HD that will almost certainly be with Virgin fairly soon, if it were not for this I'd be purely Virgin. I echo most of the comments above.

The Sky program guide is much better and of course it has more channels both SD and HD. But it's easy to see what channels they have and then you can decide whether the missing channels are a deal breaker. The Sky box is yours once you have bought it so you can upgrade the capacity without affecting your terms and conditions which is a big deal. The biggest plus for Virgin is the much better SD picture, as your screen gets bigger the more this will mean. Also Virgin is far more future proof, it has more capacity and will have even more as time goes on possibly a lot more. The future is VOD and Virgin is well ahead and will only pull further ahead once it gets an advertising model that will satisy the providers and advertisers.

Add to this the broadband (although in the medium term most other providers will catch up I am sure) and price savings, then it's easy for me. Customer services are average at best for both of them but the actual Virgin service is more reliable on the whole and the upside of not owning the box is that if it goes wrong they change it free of charge and that, if they choose to, Virgin could change the broadcasting format without losing customers or having to provide a legacy service.
 
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A friend of mine just moved to an area that isn't cabled. He now has sky+ and is missing the virgin service. So far his experiance of sky's customer service hasn't been good either. I personally think that both sky and VM are pretty poor on customer service and I wouldn't attempt to pick between them on that.
I am a big fan of the V+ box, the ability to record 2 shows without limiting what can be watched is great, also having access to the on-demand is a feature that I wouldn't want to be without.
And having un-capped 50Mb broadband is just a bonus. Although its upstream is a little stingy at 1.5Mb/s
 
Can someone advise me which one is the new samsung V+ box, I was thinking of getting the service but want to make sure it is the new box that upscales the SD better.

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or

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Also doesn't this Virgin service come with SD sky sports, how does this look upscaled compared to Skys HD service, obviously its not as good but I would really like some decent footie.

Cheers
 
The top one is the newer Samsung box and the lower one is the Scientific Atlanta V+. You are more likely to get the older SA box as the Samsungs are in somewhat short supply.

However its the older box that has the reputation for superb upscaling. The opinions on the new Samsung box are somewhat mixed with a few saying its as good and some saying it isn't. Trouble is that there are as yet not many Samsung boxes out there to give a good feedback sample.

Sky Sports in SD upscaled on the V+ is very good. Footie on ITV however still leaves a bit to be desired but I think this is down to ITV. ESPN (which is inclusive in the XL XL+ or VIP packages) shows a Premier League game in full HD every weekend usually the Saturday 5 pm game - yesterday Man U v Everton.
 
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Not that it might swing your decision as it may be a little while off yet but TIVO have signed up to deliver VMs next Gen DTV services.
 
I was with VM since 2001. Just switched to Sky about three weeks ago. The reason? Because I wanted Sky movies in HD which VM simply don't supply. I also found, when I moved over, that Sky charge £16.00 for all movie channels while VM was charging me £25.00 for the same thing and their image quality was, to be honest, pretty ropey. Even with paying for the HD package on sky I'm still paying the same amount as I was forking over to VM to now have ALL of the movies in HD. In addition Sky provides more HD channels than VM. So, for the same money I was paying to VM for poor quality movie channels, I now get all of those movie channels in lovely HD and quite a few other HD channels to boot. Some of which I may even watch occasionally:). I've no interest in sport so I don't know who VM compares to Sky in this respect (but would be interested to read the experiences of others who are more into the sports than the movies package) but if you are a huge movie fan, like me, then Sky compared to VM is simply a no brainer. I'm not knocking VM, they gave me a number of years of good service but, with recent changes in technology, particularly HD, they simply can't cut the mustard anymore. I think it won't be much longer before everything is broadcast in HD and if VM carry on as they are they will find customers leaving in their droves.
 
Once you get used to having the quite frankly amazing (If your a big music fan or series watcher) Virgin On Demand service, I couldnt imagine not having them and switching to Sky.
 
V+. I had a V+ box fail recently (the old silver style one). It was replaced with a new one for free.
 
I was with VM since 2001. Just switched to Sky about three weeks ago. The reason? Because I wanted Sky movies in HD which VM simply don't supply. I also found, when I moved over, that Sky charge £16.00 for all movie channels while VM was charging me £25.00 for the same thing and their image quality was, to be honest, pretty ropey. Even with paying for the HD package on sky I'm still paying the same amount as I was forking over to VM to now have ALL of the movies in HD. In addition Sky provides more HD channels than VM. So, for the same money I was paying to VM for poor quality movie channels, I now get all of those movie channels in lovely HD and quite a few other HD channels to boot. Some of which I may even watch occasionally:). I've no interest in sport so I don't know who VM compares to Sky in this respect (but would be interested to read the experiences of others who are more into the sports than the movies package) but if you are a huge movie fan, like me, then Sky compared to VM is simply a no brainer. I'm not knocking VM, they gave me a number of years of good service but, with recent changes in technology, particularly HD, they simply can't cut the mustard anymore. I think it won't be much longer before everything is broadcast in HD and if VM carry on as they are they will find customers leaving in their droves.

There is a reasonable amount of HD on VM. If your VM picture was prety ropey you cannot have been using a V+ or if so it was not set up correctly. Generally a lot of HD on Sky is in HD terms pretty ropey anyway.

I do not agree that everything will be broadcast in HD soon, I think it will be a very long time before we see that. The only reason that VM do not carry Sky movies in HD is that Sky will not sell the HD rights to VM. There are moves afoot to compel Sky to do this. This is nothing to do with VM technology.

As has been said by other posters the introduction of Tivo based systems will actually attract customers in droves. Like others I find the VOD service, a more capable pvr, superb upscaling of SD, fantastic BB, and a very good phone service mean that I get far more than I can get from Sky and at a better bundle price.
 
For anybody interested in HD then I would say Sky all the way. I have V+ and the HD programming is too limited. What there is is good e.g. ESPN sport. Sky has far greater content, including the popular things that people like to watch such as movies and sport. If my building allowed dishes then I would ditch Virgin and get Sky straight away purely for this reason.
 
Interesting info and you should all think yourselves damn lucky that you have a CHOICE. There is no cable choice for me despite a main route passing down the road that passes our estate! Bah humbug , moan ,moan.:(
 
I was with VM since 2001. Just switched to Sky about three weeks ago. The reason? Because I wanted Sky movies in HD which VM simply don't supply. I also found, when I moved over, that Sky charge £16.00 for all movie channels while VM was charging me £25.00 for the same thing and their image quality was, to be honest, pretty ropey. Even with paying for the HD package on sky I'm still paying the same amount as I was forking over to VM to now have ALL of the movies in HD. In addition Sky provides more HD channels than VM. So, for the same money I was paying to VM for poor quality movie channels, I now get all of those movie channels in lovely HD and quite a few other HD channels to boot. Some of which I may even watch occasionally:). I've no interest in sport so I don't know who VM compares to Sky in this respect (but would be interested to read the experiences of others who are more into the sports than the movies package) but if you are a huge movie fan, like me, then Sky compared to VM is simply a no brainer. I'm not knocking VM, they gave me a number of years of good service but, with recent changes in technology, particularly HD, they simply can't cut the mustard anymore. I think it won't be much longer before everything is broadcast in HD and if VM carry on as they are they will find customers leaving in their droves.
Interesting. As a big movie lover myself I couldn't do without Film Flex on VM. For me, Film Flex is much more valuable than Sky Movies HD. Sky Box Office is crap in comparison. I could never go back to Sky (unless of course I moved to a non cable area :eek: )
 
I just had my cancellation for Sky confirmed and I am having Virgin (VIP Package) installed on the 22nd February. I have had a torrid time with Sky customer service for the past four months and although I am sure I will miss the HD channels I am really looking forward to getting this new service.

The way I am seeing it at the moment is this; I am loosing HD, better box sofware and Sky plus recording in the bedroom, I am getting VOD, the ability to record 2 while watching another, More reliable box, free box repairs when faulkty, ESPN, Better Broadband and Better phone call charges and all for ten pounds less (it would be £20 but I had a deal for Sky multiroom which gave it to me free for twelve months).

As said I will miss the HD channels, especially the movies and sports, and the better, more intuitive software, but for what I'm gaining i'm happy. The only thing I am worried about missing is the red button sports on sky? can someone confirm if I will lose these?
 

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