Cancelling Sky... replacing with freesat?
Discussion
Help.. I'm a bit confused with the ins and outs of binning my sky subscription.
Not watching much TV lately so I'm almost certainly going to cancel it, I know I'll keep some channels including a couple of HD ones, also if I buy a freesat card for a one-off fee of £20 from sky I'll get 200+ channels (which I'll probably never watch).
Only problem is, I'd like to keep the recording functionality, which sky will want £10 a month for.
Seems a piss take when I've already paid £200 for the damn box, which does all the recording work anyway.
Question is, can I replace my Sky + box with a freesat DVR box (HD if they are available) to avoid the £10 a month fee?
is freesat and sky even on the same satellite? I'm not alien to a spectrum analyser but I'd rather not have to bother borrowing one and cocking about 30feet up a ladder trying to adjust my dish to a new sat or changing LNBs. I'm hoping its the same sat to be honest and a direct box swapout would work with the correct viewing card.
ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
Ta
Not watching much TV lately so I'm almost certainly going to cancel it, I know I'll keep some channels including a couple of HD ones, also if I buy a freesat card for a one-off fee of £20 from sky I'll get 200+ channels (which I'll probably never watch).
Only problem is, I'd like to keep the recording functionality, which sky will want £10 a month for.
Seems a piss take when I've already paid £200 for the damn box, which does all the recording work anyway.
Question is, can I replace my Sky + box with a freesat DVR box (HD if they are available) to avoid the £10 a month fee?
is freesat and sky even on the same satellite? I'm not alien to a spectrum analyser but I'd rather not have to bother borrowing one and cocking about 30feet up a ladder trying to adjust my dish to a new sat or changing LNBs. I'm hoping its the same sat to be honest and a direct box swapout would work with the correct viewing card.
ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
Ta
Edited by davido140 on Wednesday 18th November 18:56
davido140 said:
Question is, can I replace my Sky + box with a freesat DVR box (HD if they are available) to avoid the £10 a month fee?
ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
You need a Humax Freesat HD DVR. You can plug it into your existing dish and I assume it will come with whatever viewing card you need. They don't support magic eye, but you can get a normal remote control extender - e.g. http://www.keene.co.uk/electronics/multi.php?mycod...ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
Sorry can't help with your question, but I phoned Sky to cancel my subscription last week (fed up with all the Adverts and having to pay to watch them) and change to Freesat, but couldn't go ahead as that would have meant losing my Sky broadband.
The guy did give me a 25% discount on my monthly TV payment, but it's still £13 a month (basic TV package) for exactly the same channels as Freesat. Must be mad to stay with them, but don't want to lose Sky broadband which has been faultless, but even that's going up to £15 a month unless you sign up for Sky Talk, then it stays at a tenner. Blackmail all around then!
The guy did give me a 25% discount on my monthly TV payment, but it's still £13 a month (basic TV package) for exactly the same channels as Freesat. Must be mad to stay with them, but don't want to lose Sky broadband which has been faultless, but even that's going up to £15 a month unless you sign up for Sky Talk, then it stays at a tenner. Blackmail all around then!
davido140 said:
Question is, can I replace my Sky + box with a freesat DVR box (HD if they are available) to avoid the £10 a month fee?
Yes, Humax Foxsat HDR is what you need all the Sky+ type features (series record, EPG etc) HD and SD and all you do is plug into the old sky dish.davido140 said:
is freesat and sky even on the same satellite?
Yes, same sat, no fees. LovelyI'd doing the same thing. Don't watch much TV and have a basic package which is money for old rope. Tried to go Sky HD last year and the box didn't work with my telly so didn't bother. I'm now upgrading everything except the screen and the above is on the list so I've done lots of research.
Cancelled mine too this week, they tried their hardest to keep my business then got all stoppy when i was having none of it and made it quite clear that if i was to go back to sky after cancelling then id have to use my old equipment and loose any all of my long term customer benefits... thats fine then i said, if your not going to supply a box then i cant have it anyways so ill just goto cable 
There is enough crap on freeview now to be paying sky for the same.
There is enough crap on freeview now to be paying sky for the same.
k u skyminiman said:
davido140 said:
Question is, can I replace my Sky + box with a freesat DVR box (HD if they are available) to avoid the £10 a month fee?
ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
You need a Humax Freesat HD DVR. You can plug it into your existing dish and I assume it will come with whatever viewing card you need. They don't support magic eye, but you can get a normal remote control extender - e.g. http://www.keene.co.uk/electronics/multi.php?mycod...ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
So I can use the co-ax and HDMI connectors at the same time and use the remote control extender thingie to change channels when I'm in bed?
I ended my Sky and got a Freesat HD box last December - haven't looked back.
IMO the only USP Sky has is HD, but the functionality offered by the by iPlayer / ITVplayer / 4OD / Demand on Five (ok so you also need a small PC hidden behind the TV) are far greater. Turns out we never watched the 140+ channels anyway!
IMO the only USP Sky has is HD, but the functionality offered by the by iPlayer / ITVplayer / 4OD / Demand on Five (ok so you also need a small PC hidden behind the TV) are far greater. Turns out we never watched the 140+ channels anyway!
davido140 said:
miniman said:
davido140 said:
Question is, can I replace my Sky + box with a freesat DVR box (HD if they are available) to avoid the £10 a month fee?
ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
You need a Humax Freesat HD DVR. You can plug it into your existing dish and I assume it will come with whatever viewing card you need. They don't support magic eye, but you can get a normal remote control extender - e.g. http://www.keene.co.uk/electronics/multi.php?mycod...ETA forgot to mention, I'm using a "magic eye" in the upstairs bedroom, anyone know of a freesat DVR box that has this as a feature? I googled freesat box and got a squillion results, no idea whats any good!
So I can use the co-ax and HDMI connectors at the same time and use the remote control extender thingie to change channels when I'm in bed?
Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff