What is BT Vision and how does it compare to Sky?

[MrSkipsey]

I live on the 1st floor or 14 floor tower block.
I can either get a standard Sky subscription or a Freeview box as Im unable to receive Sky HD [Communal dish on the roof].
My AV is based on receiving HD sources....PJ, Amp, BRP and 360 and Im itching to get some more channels rather then using channels 1-5 and a few extras I can find via the cancelled Sky subscription box that I use as Freeview.

Is BT Vision any good? What is it? Freeview plus programmes on demand that you can watch at anytime? Do you have to pay for on demand?
Will it supply HD channels? Or films on demand?
Whats the best deal?
Can i get a TV, BB, landline and mobile deal with BT all in one package???

Most of all. Has anyone got BT Vision and are happy with it or is it a worthless gimmick? 18 month contract is alot to be tied in for!!!

Mike.

 

[fernandez]

I can either get a standard Sky subscription or a Freeview box as Im unable to receive Sky HD [Communal dish on the roof].
...Im itching to get some more channels rather then using channels 1-5 and a few extras I can find via the cancelled Sky subscription box that I use as Freeview.

To correct the first statement, as you have a communal dish and are already receiving Sky, you *can* have SkyHD (same satellites/same signal).
You would not be able to use some Sky+ features if you only have a single feed from a communal dish.

When you say Freeview do you mean through an aerial or FreeSAT (through a dish) as you refer to Sky?

BT Vision is FreeVIEW based and requires an adequate aerial.
HD content ATM is internet based although when FreeviewHD receivers become available they will, no doubt, update the box.

All BT Vision package deals are shown here
BT Broadband packages, Digital TV packages, Internet packages

 

[accyuklad]

only stupid thing is you after get there broadband they wont allow you to have sky or anything else that why we turned them down so we went and got sky tv and o2 broadband as i would end up using up bt limit of downloading lol

 

[jamiedarwen]

I'm currently in the process of switching to BT Vision from Sky.

Cancelled my Sky sub when the contract ended (end of December) and I'm currently also using the Sky equipment to receive FTA channels, however getting a bit tired of the poor choice of channels available.

As has been said above, BT Vision is basically a freeview receiver with recording facilities and built in media streaming - meaning that you can stream content "on demand" over the internet.

The HD content is pretty limited at the moment, and due to bandwidth restrictions it can't be streamed but needs to be downloaded in advance onto the boxes internal HDD. BT are expected to release a new box to take advantage of Freeview HD.

Once we're all set up tomorrow I can give you more of an idea of the service etc.

 

[Geofbob]

I live on the 1st floor or 14 floor tower block.
I can either get a standard Sky subscription or a Freeview box as Im unable to receive Sky HD [Communal dish on the roof].
My AV is based on receiving HD sources....PJ, Amp, BRP and 360 and Im itching to get some more channels rather then using channels 1-5 and a few extras I can find via the cancelled Sky subscription box that I use as Freeview.

Is BT Vision any good? What is it? Freeview plus programmes on demand that you can watch at anytime? Do you have to pay for on demand?
Will it supply HD channels? Or films on demand?
Whats the best deal?
Can i get a TV, BB, landline and mobile deal with BT all in one package???

Most of all. Has anyone got BT Vision and are happy with it or is it a worthless gimmick? 18 month contract is alot to be tied in for!!!

Mike.

If getting HD is a priority for you, then you should certainly consider Sky HD -which as fernandez says - you can receive with a communal dish. Depending on what package(s) you subscribe for, you could get a number of HD channels, whereas BT Vision at this moment will give you no live HD channels, until Freeview HD comes on stream, which could be as late as 2012, depending where you live.

Alternatively, you could get a Freesat HD box, which immediately would give you the BBC HD channel & some ITV HD, without any subscription. (Your post indicates that you are somewhat confused as between Freeview (received via an aerial) & Freesat (received via a dish).)

To repeat what fernandez said, your difficulty with a communal dish & only one feed is not in receiving HD, but in recording one channel while watching another with a Sky+ box or similar device.

 

[MrSkipsey]

Thanks gents. I have a communal dish and when the Sky engineer originally came to install SKY HD about 2 years ago he said that I needed another cable and couldnt install it. Same for Sky +.
This is why I had normal Sky service. Its been cancelled for over a year and I was watching Freeview via my Sammy 50" which was stolen in Nov 09.
Since Ive been using the original Sky box to watch the free to air channels [1-5, itv2-4, BBC3, FiveUSA and FilmFour] on my projector.

What with the the World Cup coming up and some good boxing bouts this year, namely Manny and Haye I was toying with the idea of getting a HD service. Im just worried about being tied in for 18 months and unable to back out.

 

[MrSkipsey]

When you say Freeview do you mean through an aerial or FreeSAT (through a dish) as you refer to Sky?

Fernando, I have the connections to get both SAT and ARIEL on my wall.