Finally bit the bullet and cancelled the whole SKY package (TV BB and line rental)

 

We currently have several hours of programs recorded, I assume anything we do not manage to watch before the cut off date we will lose... or will we as we will still have the box plugged in?

 

I intend to buy an external HDD / SSD to plug into the TV for future recordings, as I assume we cannot record once the contract has ended? I assume I cannot transfer recordings from the SKY box to the HDD?

 

Who has AmazonFire? do you recommend it?? 

Anything recorded will remain on the bix, but as the viewing card will be deactuvated it wont let into the planner (iirc from when we cancelled it)

It does amaze me how much people spend every month on TV packages.

Mate in work cancelled his Sky this week was paying around £60 a month!! but took him ages to cancel as they immediately offered to reduced his monthly fee by half and dropped even more. He stood his ground and cancelled it.

I haven't had any TV other than free sat since I came back to the UK in 2007. Spent it all on cars instead

We got shot of Sky a couple of months ago, and I'm so glad we did.  We cancelled it all including the DD as we had no signal.  Could see everything listed on the planner, but couldn't access it.

 

Now have a Youview box, which we're very happy with.

 

Gaz

I have amazon fire... don't use it since no real difference to Xbox Amazon app or smart TV Amazon app...

Anything recorded will remain on the bix, but as the viewing card will be deactuvated it wont let into the planner (iirc from when we cancelled it)

You can pay sky £10 to keep access to them & turn the box into a freesat

Yep won't be able to watch anything recorded or record anything passed cut off date. Plus if you want to carry on using box but only watch free to air. You don't get everything you should unless you pay the above mentioned price for a free to it card

Edited 6 May, 201610 yr by Brianpilman

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

The TV has YouView built in so we will not actually lose many channels that we watch, I will look into the Amazonfire a bit more to see if we really need it (with the Amazon Instant Video that the TV has I assume I would not need the Fire stick?)

 

Good to know we will not be able to view what is recorded so I can bite the bullet and buy a HDD / SSD now I would rather do this than pay SKY another £120 a year for the privilege of recording, just need to decide on whether to buy a 2TB HDD or step up to a SSD.

 

I will only probably not get chance to watch the latest series of NCIS that is recorded (not seen any of the current series yet) although if I played each programme I assume I may be able to record it whilst doing something else... don’t think I will get chance to do this though, I know they will eventually be aired on channel 5 and I may even be able to stream them so I am not too fussed about this.

You can pay sky £10 to keep access to them & turn the box into a freesat

 

Is this per box and per month?

It's a one off for the card. But I don't think you can record. That feature is for sky customers only. There are ways around this but there a bit of a grey area but if your interested pm me

It's probably only worth going down the Amazon road if you intent to become (or are) a prime subscriber.

 

Like everyone else these days they try their best to lock you into their platform. So personally I don't buy any streaming content I just watch what they include with Prime.

 

It's not perfect but it's not bad. Much like NetFlix now they've blocked the proxy services.

Edited 7 May, 201610 yr by Aspman

Is this per box and per month?

If you just want to watch what's recorded, it's a one off fee per box.

You won't be able to record new content

Anyone have any experience with multiroom ?  We have the family bundle and a freeview set up in another room. The FV is lousy and needs updating every other week as the channels have "moved", so I was thinking of getting shut and having multiroom. Unless there's a cheaper better way, of course....?

Anyone have any experience with multiroom ?  We have the family bundle and a freeview set up in another room. The FV is lousy and needs updating every other week as the channels have "moved", so I was thinking of getting shut and having multiroom. Unless there's a cheaper better way, of course....?

 

We have multi-room in the conservatory but only because I persuaded them to give us a Sky+ box for free (normally you only get the non recording sky box free).

 

I do think the sky service is good, the problem is it costs the earth but there is no real alternative that does everything that sky does.

I do think the sky service is good, the problem is it costs the earth but there is no real alternative that does everything that sky does.

Which is our issue.

I can rant & get some sort of discount, but until Virgin get their act together an cable the estate, there's no real alternative to sky.

Which is our issue.

I can rant & get some sort of discount, but until Virgin get their act together an cable the estate, there's no real alternative to sky.

 

Exactly, there are loads of other TV options but non of them incorporates the ease of recording and catch up along with all the channels. But there are some good compromises I suppose if there are only certain channels you watch. I could live without sky but the Mrs couldn't and Sky is also good for the kids.

 

I doubt virgin will ever come my way, there wouldn't be enough interest to warrant installing the cabling. Our broadband suffers as well from being on the outskirts of a village, 14mb on fibre 

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

The TV has YouView built in so we will not actually lose many channels that we watch, I will look into the Amazonfire a bit more to see if we really need it (with the Amazon Instant Video that the TV has I assume I would not need the Fire stick?)

 

Good to know we will not be able to view what is recorded so I can bite the bullet and buy a HDD / SSD now I would rather do this than pay SKY another £120 a year for the privilege of recording, just need to decide on whether to buy a 2TB HDD or step up to a SSD.

 

I will only probably not get chance to watch the latest series of NCIS that is recorded (not seen any of the current series yet) although if I played each programme I assume I may be able to record it whilst doing something else... don’t think I will get chance to do this though, I know they will eventually be aired on channel 5 and I may even be able to stream them so I am not too fussed about this.

 

Size is more important than speed, you cant record or play back a film any faster; so a big HDD is a better bet than a much smaller, faster SSD.

Exactly, there are loads of other TV options but non of them incorporates the ease of recording and catch up along with all the channels. But there are some good compromises I suppose if there are only certain channels you watch. I could live without sky but the Mrs couldn't and Sky is also good for the kids.

I doubt virgin will ever come my way, there wouldn't be enough interest to warrant installing the cabling. Our broadband suffers as well from being on the outskirts of a village, 14mb on fibre

Register on their cable my street site.

If enough your way do, they'll prioritise your area for upgrade over the next few years.

After I registered they did a mailshot to everyone in my road about registering interest.

Size is more important than speed, you cant record or play back a film any faster; so a big HDD is a better bet than a much smaller, faster SSD.

 

Agreed, but they would both have been 2TB irrespective of the drive type.

 

Looks like that decision is now accademic though, as I have found out Sony TV’s will not record from YouView, so it’s back to plan A: get a 2TB Freesat box, which is no hardship really as you get more channels anyway.

Agreed, but they would both have been 2TB irrespective of the drive type.

 

Looks like that decision is now accademic though, as I have found out Sony TV’s will not record from YouView, so it’s back to plan A: get a 2TB Freesat box, which is no hardship really as you get more channels anyway.

Not sure what you mean by that, Gizmo?

There are some channels missing from Freesat that are quite popular.

 

 

http://www.techdigest.tv/2015/01/freeview-vs-freesat-which-has-the-most-or-the-best-channels.html

 

The biggest difference is probably in the UKTV channels – Dave, Dave ja vu, Really, Yesterday, Drama, Quest and Quest +1 are only on Freeview. Though this is offset – as Freesat has many more in the way of the crappy channels nobody ever watches, like Information TV and Psychic Today

Agreed, but they would both have been 2TB irrespective of the drive type.

 

Looks like that decision is now accademic though, as I have found out Sony TV’s will not record from YouView, so it’s back to plan A: get a 2TB Freesat box, which is no hardship really as you get more channels anyway.

 

Hmmm, Do I buy a new car, or do I buy a 2TB SSD drive.

 

(OK, I know they are not QUITE that expensive, but.....)

I did naturally assume that most of the extra channels Freest offer would be religion / shopping / ****e ones anyway 

 

 

SWMBO showed me info she had found online claiming that both Sony and YouView claim you cannot record YouView content from a Sony TV??

 

HOWEVER it appears this may have been out of date info as since November 2015 they claim you can! 

 

Think I need to research this MYSELF 

I did naturally assume that most of the extra channels Freest offer would be religion / shopping / ****e ones anyway

SWMBO showed me info she had found online claiming that both Sony and YouView claim you cannot record YouView content from a Sony TV??

HOWEVER it appears this may have been out of date info as since November 2015 they claim you can!

Think I need to research this MYSELF

Always do your own research - swmbo came home from work one day having been told we should change our phone/bb contract to another package, which after I checked out worked out doubke the cost over the full contract term compared to our existing set up, and with a worse connection speed expectation..

Always do your own research - swmbo came home from work one day having been told we should change our phone/bb contract to another package, which after I checked out worked out doubke the cost over the full contract term compared to our existing set up, and with a worse connection speed expectation..

You have to make allowances if they are good in the kitchen (other rooms are available) though!

You have to make allowances if they are good in the kitchen (other rooms are available) though!

Oh twasnt swmbo's fault - the spanner she works with on the other hand....