Thinking of switching from Sky to Virgin
Discussion
I did the same switch about a year ago (Sky+ to V+HD). I think that you get fewer HD channels (like some of the ITVs and Sky Sports - eg no SkyF1 in HD yet!), so check closely what you would get from both providers and what you want.
I can still use my Sky gear for FreeSat and can't see a difference in quality in channels on both platforms.
It was the broadband access that tipped the balance for me. With ADSL I was never going to get more than 20Mb - with Virgin I get a reliable 50Mb (I may be lucky if you look at the Virgin Community site!). Getting Virgin for landline, broadband and TV probably costs me slightly more than previously, but I now have HD TV and much faster broadband (and, hopefully, the advertised free increase to 100Mb within a year).
I can still use my Sky gear for FreeSat and can't see a difference in quality in channels on both platforms.
It was the broadband access that tipped the balance for me. With ADSL I was never going to get more than 20Mb - with Virgin I get a reliable 50Mb (I may be lucky if you look at the Virgin Community site!). Getting Virgin for landline, broadband and TV probably costs me slightly more than previously, but I now have HD TV and much faster broadband (and, hopefully, the advertised free increase to 100Mb within a year).
I went from the old Sky system to Virgin, then Virgin HD. Ive no idea what this Tiveo thing is Virgin keeps advertising as I can pause live TV and record other programs already?
The reason I went with Virgin was I wanted everything in one place. So Broadband Phone and TV are all with them and I get just one bill. No quarterly bill from BT for line rental etc, then another bill from SKY. Im not into any of the Sport channels unless someone is showing NASCAR or ALMS or 24Hr Le mans. Im not sure if its the cheapest way to do it, but I hate the hassle of having to keep shopping around for the best deal etc
etc.
Hope that helpes
The reason I went with Virgin was I wanted everything in one place. So Broadband Phone and TV are all with them and I get just one bill. No quarterly bill from BT for line rental etc, then another bill from SKY. Im not into any of the Sport channels unless someone is showing NASCAR or ALMS or 24Hr Le mans. Im not sure if its the cheapest way to do it, but I hate the hassle of having to keep shopping around for the best deal etc
etc.
Hope that helpes
Have skyHD 3 bundle, pay fiftysomething a month.
If virgin offered the same for £20 a month I might be tempted to risk another experience of the monumental f
king bullst wking blundering incompetence that is the virgin customer experience, but I'm happy to pay more for sky.
If you're a complete sadist and do switch to virgin, my tip would be never, ever try to speak to anyone except the customer retention (disconnections) team whenever you need to speak to anyone as they seem to be the smartest and most able chimps working for the virgin monkey house. They'll probably still fk it up though.
If virgin offered the same for £20 a month I might be tempted to risk another experience of the monumental f
king bullst wking blundering incompetence that is the virgin customer experience, but I'm happy to pay more for sky.If you're a complete sadist and do switch to virgin, my tip would be never, ever try to speak to anyone except the customer retention (disconnections) team whenever you need to speak to anyone as they seem to be the smartest and most able chimps working for the virgin monkey house. They'll probably still f
k it up though.hairyben said:
Have skyHD 3 bundle, pay fiftysomething a month.
If virgin offered the same for £20 a month I might be tempted to risk another experience of the monumental fking bullst wking blundering incompetence that is the virgin customer experience, but I'm happy to pay more for sky.
If you're a complete sadist and do switch to virgin, my tip would be never, ever try to speak to anyone except the customer retention (disconnections) team whenever you need to speak to anyone as they seem to be the smartest and most able chimps working for the virgin monkey house. They'll probably still fk it up though.
So, you don't like virgin then? If virgin offered the same for £20 a month I might be tempted to risk another experience of the monumental f
king bullst wking blundering incompetence that is the virgin customer experience, but I'm happy to pay more for sky.If you're a complete sadist and do switch to virgin, my tip would be never, ever try to speak to anyone except the customer retention (disconnections) team whenever you need to speak to anyone as they seem to be the smartest and most able chimps working for the virgin monkey house. They'll probably still f
k it up though.I made the switch 6 months ago, in a money saving drive. I went for the TiVo box.
In terms of actual TV quality, there's honestly no difference. The SD channels still looks the same as Sky, as do the HD channels.
I don't like the TiVo box though, and I don't like the software, and I don't like the remote.
I thought the TiVo would be brilliant, recommending me new stuff to watch based on what I watched, recorded and rated. In fact, all that happens is it fills up the (dubious - see next point) planner with millions of old episodes of Top Gear and Mythbusters. Nothing new at all. It does make suggestions for other programs/films to 'like', but they're only what I would watch anyway, nothing helpful at all.
The software is, compared to the SkyHD box, poor. The TV guide itself is the same, but the planner section really lets it down. It's unintuitive and clumsy. The single worst feature is the series link though. On Sky, you tell it to record a series, and it happens. With Virgin, you tell it to record a series, and it gives you a handful of options, things like how many mintes you want to add to the start and end of each recording, so you don't miss any due to overrunning shows etc. I don't give a fk, I just want it to record the program it's asked to. Then you have the choice to record only new episodes, or new and reruns. The problem is, 'new' to the TiVo box only means an episode that hasn't been aired in the last 2 weeks. Glaring cockups occurred trying to record the last series of TopGear and Mythbusters... because there are always re-runs being shown, and because some of the re-runs haven't been aired in the last 2 weeks, the new series that I wanted were liberally peppered with old episodes.
The remote is probably only not good because I'm used to the Sky remote. It's a funny shape, it's not comfortable to hold, and all the buttons are in the wrong place.
When the 12 month contract is up, I'm going back to Sky, whatever it costs. Hmph.
In terms of actual TV quality, there's honestly no difference. The SD channels still looks the same as Sky, as do the HD channels.
I don't like the TiVo box though, and I don't like the software, and I don't like the remote.
I thought the TiVo would be brilliant, recommending me new stuff to watch based on what I watched, recorded and rated. In fact, all that happens is it fills up the (dubious - see next point) planner with millions of old episodes of Top Gear and Mythbusters. Nothing new at all. It does make suggestions for other programs/films to 'like', but they're only what I would watch anyway, nothing helpful at all.
The software is, compared to the SkyHD box, poor. The TV guide itself is the same, but the planner section really lets it down. It's unintuitive and clumsy. The single worst feature is the series link though. On Sky, you tell it to record a series, and it happens. With Virgin, you tell it to record a series, and it gives you a handful of options, things like how many mintes you want to add to the start and end of each recording, so you don't miss any due to overrunning shows etc. I don't give a f
k, I just want it to record the program it's asked to. Then you have the choice to record only new episodes, or new and reruns. The problem is, 'new' to the TiVo box only means an episode that hasn't been aired in the last 2 weeks. Glaring cockups occurred trying to record the last series of TopGear and Mythbusters... because there are always re-runs being shown, and because some of the re-runs haven't been aired in the last 2 weeks, the new series that I wanted were liberally peppered with old episodes. The remote is probably only not good because I'm used to the Sky remote. It's a funny shape, it's not comfortable to hold, and all the buttons are in the wrong place.
When the 12 month contract is up, I'm going back to Sky, whatever it costs. Hmph.
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