Discussion
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I've finally decided the time has come to swap the Sky Plus box we got with our new Sky subscription 7 whole months ago, and buy something that works properly instead.
The trouble is, much Googling later and I'm none the wiser, really. Can any of you recommend a decent box? Pretty please?
The trouble is, much Googling later and I'm none the wiser, really. Can any of you recommend a decent box? Pretty please?
SGirl said:
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I've finally decided the time has come to swap the Sky Plus box we got with our new Sky subscription 7 whole months ago, and buy something that works properly instead.
The trouble is, much Googling later and I'm none the wiser, really. Can any of you recommend a decent box? Pretty please?
What is wrong with the current box? If it is under 12 months old Sky will swap it.The trouble is, much Googling later and I'm none the wiser, really. Can any of you recommend a decent box? Pretty please?
cjs said:
What is wrong with the current box? If it is under 12 months old Sky will swap it.
It cuts out midway through recordings, it occasionally disables itself totally and has to be reset, and I'm fed up with it. I'm not keen on asking Sky to swap it, because we had problems with our box at our old house too (dropping channels), and they swapped it several times, every time making the problem worse. I just don't have any confidence in their ability to sort the problem. Last time, I resolved the problem by buying a decent box, so that's what I want to do this time. If I can find which box is worth buying.
SGirl said:
It cuts out midway through recordings, it occasionally disables itself totally and has to be reset, and I'm fed up with it.
I'm not keen on asking Sky to swap it, because we had problems with our box at our old house too (dropping channels), and they swapped it several times, every time making the problem worse. I just don't have any confidence in their ability to sort the problem. Last time, I resolved the problem by buying a decent box, so that's what I want to do this time. If I can find which box is worth buying.
I had a SKY+ box that did all this when I first upgraded a while back. They sent out a contractor (van marked with the name of some random ariel company) who swapped the box but couldn't get the missing channels to work - he left. The next week they sent out another contractor (plain white transit this time) who swapped the box again and then checked the cabling from the wall sockets as the missing channels had not appeared. He informed me that the signal was lower than it should be and that was the problem but he wasn't able to fix it as it wasn't the fault on his job sheet I'm not keen on asking Sky to swap it, because we had problems with our box at our old house too (dropping channels), and they swapped it several times, every time making the problem worse. I just don't have any confidence in their ability to sort the problem. Last time, I resolved the problem by buying a decent box, so that's what I want to do this time. If I can find which box is worth buying.
The only way I got the problem fixed was to call SKY and insist one of their own engineers in a marked van came out with the need to reinstall the entire system from the dish to the TV if that is what it needed. Two days later said man turns up, checks signal and confirms it is low and says it will be quicker to do a full install with new dish etc. It took him an hour and everything has been fine since.
Moral of the story appears that the sub contractors SKY send out get their call out fee for attending and if the repair note is not an accurate reflection of the problem they bugger off. Insist it is a SKY van with decent engineer onboard and the problem gets fixed.
Edited by Grey Ghost on Tuesday 14th September 09:58
SGirl said:
I've just thought.
We don't have Sky+ HD, nor do we want it. If I were to buy a Sky+ box with the HD function, presumably that will still work even if I don't activate the HD with Sky, won't it?
Correct. We got one when we moved and only activated the HD content when we bought an LCD.We don't have Sky+ HD, nor do we want it. If I were to buy a Sky+ box with the HD function, presumably that will still work even if I don't activate the HD with Sky, won't it?
_dobbo_ said:
Hang on - you're going to buy a second hand HD box rather than avail yourself of a warranty and get a free replacement? Madness.
Who says the HD box you buy will be any better?
Yes. Because last time I had the misfortune to send a box back to Sky for a replacement, we went through four of the things before giving up and just buying one. (The problems we were having actually got progressively worse with each "new" box...) The box I bought never gave me a moment's trouble.Who says the HD box you buy will be any better?
This time, I'm just going to buy a box and cut out all the faffing with Sky in the middle.
Of course, there's nothing to stop me phoning Sky and getting a replacement as well should I want to. It might be useful as a spare.
The reviews all seem to indicate a lot of problems reported with the box we have, and the box I've just decided on gets good reviews in terms of reliability.
Sorry SGirl I still think you're a bit mad!
In your position I'd get sky to replace the box at least once - could save yourself hassle and expense if the replacement works perfectly.
If you continue to get problems then buying becomes an option, but buying without even trying to get it sorted under warranty seems a bit rash!
In your position I'd get sky to replace the box at least once - could save yourself hassle and expense if the replacement works perfectly.
If you continue to get problems then buying becomes an option, but buying without even trying to get it sorted under warranty seems a bit rash!
_dobbo_ said:
Sorry SGirl I still think you're a bit mad!
In your position I'd get sky to replace the box at least once - could save yourself hassle and expense if the replacement works perfectly.
If you continue to get problems then buying becomes an option, but buying without even trying to get it sorted under warranty seems a bit rash!
I did think about it. But to be honest, after the amount of hassle we had last time I just didn't feel like going there again. Life's too short to spend it sitting waiting for your Sky+ box to reset itself. In your position I'd get sky to replace the box at least once - could save yourself hassle and expense if the replacement works perfectly.
If you continue to get problems then buying becomes an option, but buying without even trying to get it sorted under warranty seems a bit rash!
I'd go the Sky route first. We had problems with a Sky+ box within the first 12 months and got a replacement. I HAD heard stories about engineers swapping in reconditioned boxes which went *phut* very quickly but we got a brand new box without any quibbling and it was fine for a long time.
About 4 years later its a piece of c**k that fairly regularly has intermittent stuttering on any recorded playback despite trying various reformatting/resetting etc routines found scouting the web. Then again I rarely watch tv so its not really a big problem. When it cuts out altogether I might upgrade to a HD+ box (as I'll have access to a HD TV by then).
About 4 years later its a piece of c**k that fairly regularly has intermittent stuttering on any recorded playback despite trying various reformatting/resetting etc routines found scouting the web. Then again I rarely watch tv so its not really a big problem. When it cuts out altogether I might upgrade to a HD+ box (as I'll have access to a HD TV by then).
SGirl said:
Podie said:
Think we have a Sky+ box going spare... one of the old white ones... want me to check?
Hiya! 
Sure, if you wouldn't mind? If you find it, drop me a line and let me know what you want for it.
I think Sky will do this from a customer call, but if you have trouble, a good friend of mine is a Sky engineer and we could make the call for you if you don't know anyone else that can do it for free.
We'd (obviously) need to know the box and card numbers to help you out.
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