sky v sky+ box

[tobeee]

I have a standard SKY box, but it doesn't have the ideal connections for linking through my amp optical or hdmi). Could I just buy a cheap SKY+ box off ebay and live happily ever after, or would a SKY+ box only work on a system designed for SKY+ (i.e. by paying some more money to SKY!).

[FlossyThePig]

Without a Sky contract a Sky+ box will not record or playback, just like an ordinary Sky box. Have you considered a Freesat box?

[DavidY]

But it will give the OP the ability to have an optical out signal, just effectively using the SKY + box as a Sky box with a few more outputs.

I have just done this with an HD box. We built an extension for my mother in law put in Shy HD normal box, but wanted to run a second room (her bedroom using the UHF output and a magic eye), the new HD boxes don't have any UHF outputs, so I bought an HD+ box from eBay, and she uses that instead, this works with the second TV but all of the + functions are disabled.