Sky+ is it worth it

Tumbleweed said this:

A Tivo does all of this far better than the Sky+ does. The main
advantage of the Sky+ is the fact that it can record one thing whilst
you watch another, as mentioned.

I suggest its irrelevant that a TIvo does this better, for two
reasons. 1) You cant effectively buy them anymore, and
2) If I cant record what I want because there is a channel clash, the
fact the Tivo does it better is, well.....irrelevant. You can tell me
how much better it would have been while you twiddle your thumbs,
while I watch the recording I made!

I think it's a pretty bold statement saying that Tivo does this *better*.
Recording is far more fiddly, and picture quality is a lot worse. Also, you
can only record the programme you're watching, which might be acceptable if
you only ever watch recordings, but sometimes it's necessary to watch things
live (e.g. live sports events).

On top of all this, you can't even buy the damn things anymore.

The one-off lifetime subscription fee is probably Tivo's only advantage over
Sky+.

"Dale Richards" wrote in message
...
Tumbleweed said this:

A Tivo does all of this far better than the Sky+ does. The main
advantage of the Sky+ is the fact that it can record one thing whilst
you watch another, as mentioned.

I suggest its irrelevant that a TIvo does this better, for two
reasons. 1) You cant effectively buy them anymore, and
2) If I cant record what I want because there is a channel clash, the
fact the Tivo does it better is, well.....irrelevant. You can tell me
how much better it would have been while you twiddle your thumbs,
while I watch the recording I made!

Which could of course apply to Sky+ users when they're twiddling their
thumbs during a heavy rainfall,Snow or thunderstorm,,who are in effect
unable to even watch live TV OR their recordings!

I think it's a pretty bold statement saying that Tivo does this *better*.
Recording is far more fiddly, and picture quality is a lot worse. Also,
you
can only record the programme you're watching, which might be acceptable
if
you only ever watch recordings, but sometimes it's necessary to watch
things
live (e.g. live sports events).

Probably because TIVO is superior and shows up Skys crappy signal even more
(digital artifacts on overloaded transponders)

On top of all this, you can't even buy the damn things anymore.

Perhaps because the Sky monopoly was put in charge of marketting TIVO in the
U.K..I suggest TIVO must not have done their homework on Sky/Murdoch and
their monopoly..FOOLS!

The one-off lifetime subscription fee is probably Tivo's only advantage
over
Sky+.

Both look on the SCAM side to me, I've yet to see a VCR or DVD Recorder that
requires you pay a sub to enable the record button.

Perhaps IF we ever get *graffiti free* TV more people would be buying DVD
recorders and Sky+/Tivo a thing of the past simply because of the monthly
*recording fee*

If Sky goes tits up,Graffiti free TV will appear :-)

On Wed, 1 Oct 2003 13:48:31 +0100, "The Wizard" wrote:

Probably because TIVO is superior and shows up Skys crappy signal even more
(digital artifacts on overloaded transponders)

It's not that. Sky+ records the encrypted MPEG2 stream direct to disk & replays
through the decoder. There is no loss in picture quality when comparing recorded
to live programmes. The TIVO in common with all other PVR solutions must take
the analogue Sky picture that has been decoded from the MPEG2 source & re-encode
it to record it to disk then decode it again to play it back.

--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur

In article , Dale Richards
writes
Tumbleweed said this:
The one-off lifetime subscription fee is probably Tivo's only advantage over
Sky+.

Apart from the longer TV listings, season passes that will work even if
a something hasn't been on for months, season pass manager that will
avoid clashes, wishlists, variable recording quality, better listing
search, you mean?


--
Sean Black

"The Wizard" wrote in message
. ..

"Dale Richards" wrote in message
...
Tumbleweed said this:

A Tivo does all of this far better than the Sky+ does. The main
advantage of the Sky+ is the fact that it can record one thing whilst
you watch another, as mentioned.

I suggest its irrelevant that a TIvo does this better, for two
reasons. 1) You cant effectively buy them anymore, and
2) If I cant record what I want because there is a channel clash, the
fact the Tivo does it better is, well.....irrelevant. You can tell me
how much better it would have been while you twiddle your thumbs,
while I watch the recording I made!

Which could of course apply to Sky+ users when they're twiddling their
thumbs during a heavy rainfall,Snow or thunderstorm,,who are in effect
unable to even watch live TV OR their recordings!


Never happened to me yet, channel clashes are much more likely.

I think it's a pretty bold statement saying that Tivo does this
*better*.
Recording is far more fiddly, and picture quality is a lot worse. Also,
you
can only record the programme you're watching, which might be acceptable
if
you only ever watch recordings, but sometimes it's necessary to watch
things
live (e.g. live sports events).

Probably because TIVO is superior and shows up Skys crappy signal even
more
(digital artifacts on overloaded transponders)

So your argument is that Tivo (which you cant buy so whats the point
trumpeting how wonderful it is) is SOOOO good, it makes the picture look
worse? Hmmm....

On top of all this, you can't even buy the damn things anymore.

Perhaps because the Sky monopoly was put in charge of marketting TIVO in
the
U.K..I suggest TIVO must not have done their homework on Sky/Murdoch and
their monopoly..FOOLS!

But the fact remains you cant buy it, so why go on about it?



--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

"Sean Black" wrote in message
...
In article , Dale Richards
writes
Tumbleweed said this:

No he didnt!

The one-off lifetime subscription fee is probably Tivo's only advantage
over
Sky+.

Apart from the longer TV listings, season passes that will work even if
a something hasn't been on for months, season pass manager that will
avoid clashes, wishlists, variable recording quality, better listing
search, you mean?



I dunno, that wasnt me what said that.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

SoulSurvivor wrote:

Downside is that if your Sky box doesnt support 5.1, you'll just get
normal 2 channel stereo recorded.

Even if you do have a Sky+ box with DD5.1 out the Panasonic can't
record it. You need to wait for the Kiss recorder that apparently will
be able to record DD5.1.


Also, you can't watch
one sky program and record another, only record from Sky and watch the
terrestrial channels (BBC1, ITV etc).

You can if you invest in a Sky mirror sub. I think that this is a
better deal than the Sky+.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/guiv
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Dale Richards wrote:

If you are on a lower package and you stop paying the £10, your Sky+
box will function like a standard digibox (except that the personal
planner won't work). I would imagine that you would still be able to
view recorded programmes, but I don't know this for sure.

You can't.

That's a bit of a bugger.

Indeed.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/guiv
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Tumbleweed wrote:

A Tivo does all of this far better than the Sky+ does. The main
advantage of the Sky+ is the fact that it can record one thing whilst
you watch another, as mentioned.

I suggest its irrelevant that a TIvo does this better, for two reasons.
1) You cant effectively buy them anymore, and

You can still find them, even unused.


2) If I cant record what I want because there is a channel clash, the fact
the Tivo does it better is, well.....irrelevant. You can tell me how much
better it would have been while you twiddle your thumbs, while I watch the
recording I made!

Depending on the Sky package you have (and I have no Sky package at
all so the cost question doesn't even arise) it may cost no more to
have a mirror sub than it does to have a Sky+. With a mirror sub you
can dedicate one box to your Tivo (this is what I do, but without the
Sky sub) and this way of course you can do more than the Sky+ can
because you can actually watch two live channels at once, and not just
watch one and record another.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/guiv
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Dale Richards wrote:

A Tivo does all of this far better than the Sky+ does. The main
advantage of the Sky+ is the fact that it can record one thing whilst
you watch another, as mentioned.

I think it's a pretty bold statement saying that Tivo does this *better*.
Recording is far more fiddly,

I can't agree about that. I would say that the Tivo is as easy yet has
more powerful options for searching for programmes to record.

Also Tivo's "series link" option is far more powerful than the Sky+
version.


and picture quality is a lot worse.

It is, but this wasn't part of the list of Sky+ advantages given that
I was commenting on.


Also, you
can only record the programme you're watching, which might be acceptable if
you only ever watch recordings, but sometimes it's necessary to watch things
live (e.g. live sports events).

As I mentioned in another post, you can get a Sky mirror sub that
solves this problem and in fact gives you more than the Sky+ can as
the mirror sub allows you to watch two different things live at the
same time. Many people would be happy with one Sky sub and one FTV
digibox, or even no sub and two FTV digiboxes, as I have.


The one-off lifetime subscription fee is probably Tivo's only advantage over
Sky+.

That and the fact that you don't need to keep paying Sky a viewing
subscription fee to view recorded programmes.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/guiv
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)