Just pulled the plug on SKY+ - alternatives?
Discussion
Easternlight said:
8< The only way to keep your recordings is to not re connect >8
Nope, that will all time out eventually. Your Sky card has a date limit set in it, if the card is not receiving ECMs over the satellite then eventually it will time out and go dark.Recorded 'Free To Air' stuff will/should/might always replay from a Sky Box recording, but anything else is recorded with the Sky encryption, meaning that every 4 seconds your receiver (via live sat link or play back from a recording) needs a valid in-date working card to get the next CW (code-word).
Hence all your Sports/Discovery channel recordings won't replay from recordings once your card expires.
Easternlight said:
or save them to disc's.
Getting any thing you treasure off your sky box is the only way -after that Youtube is your best option.juggsy said:
I ditched sky over a year ago and bought a Humax Freesat HDR-1100S box, as we too don’t have an aerial, just the dish.
I’m really unimpressed with it, it’s slow to startup and use (and seems to get slower by the day), menus are clunky, recording sorting is unintuitive, recordings fail more often than on Sky.
I have one of those. I fixed the painfully slow startup by selecting the "never turn yourself off" option in the settings menu.I’m really unimpressed with it, it’s slow to startup and use (and seems to get slower by the day), menus are clunky, recording sorting is unintuitive, recordings fail more often than on Sky.
Ken Figenus said:
...I WAS leaning towards buying a BT TV UHD box (£120) as reviews are good on the functionality and then paying for the odd rental like GoT but was just told you HAVE to have a monthly sub to get that facility. As per top tip above could I run Now TV on the BT UHD box instead to get that?...
Not currently, the YouView NowTV app is movies only. The full version is due sometime in 2019.The cheapest option is the NowTV stick, which is a locked-down Roku. A Roku Express is about £25. There's a list of the hardware that runs the app on the NowTV website.
AJB88 said:
Exactly my experience, I started using a Firestick instead to watch catchup stuff but found that a little slow as well so purchased a Fire TV HD box which plugs into ethernet and HDMI port, that works a lot better than the stick.
It is interesting how our viewing habits have changed since moving from Sky and, due to the Humax becoming ever more unusable, we really are moving to an on-demand only way of watching TV. We just got a new LG TV and it’s so easy to access the on demand apps directly through the TV, I really do think live broadcast TV is on its way out, aside from sports etc. which you’d typically watch live.Remember the days when you had to set the video recorder for the right date/time/channel and hope it worked? Then we moved to being able to say which programmes/series we wanted to record, but still had to remember to record. Nowadays we just say ‘right I fancy watching masterchef’, find it in the relevant app and off you go, and with the likes of Netflix etc. you get entire series available at once. So I do think even the concept of PVRs/series linking etc. is on its way out.
Sorry this isn’t meant as a thread de rail!
gareth_r said:
Not currently, the YouView NowTV app is movies only. The full version is due sometime in 2019.
The cheapest option is the NowTV stick, which is a locked-down Roku. A Roku Express is about £25. There's a list of the hardware that runs the app on the NowTV website.
I have a couple of the Roku Expresses, fantastic little things and bargains too. The cheapest option is the NowTV stick, which is a locked-down Roku. A Roku Express is about £25. There's a list of the hardware that runs the app on the NowTV website.
On another note, another poster mentioned about using VCRs and having to set them to record and it just so happens this weekend I am collecting a VCR for a relative who has lots of videos so it will be interesting to see how clunky it is etc
heisthegaffer said:
I have a couple of the Roku Expresses, fantastic little things and bargains too.
On another note, another poster mentioned about using VCRs and having to set them to record and it just so happens this weekend I am collecting a VCR for a relative who has lots of videos so it will be interesting to see how clunky it is etc
It’ll probably work better than my Humax box...On another note, another poster mentioned about using VCRs and having to set them to record and it just so happens this weekend I am collecting a VCR for a relative who has lots of videos so it will be interesting to see how clunky it is etc
Well I recommissioned my Humax 1100 Freesat box that had been dormant for about 3 years. It's on a freshly formatted disk and about 20 later version software now. Really happy with it - it even has a Netflix app now 
Its very slightly slower on menus than the SKY box but its sharper on fast forwards and rewinds and can jump forwards in blocks - handy for skipping ad breaks. The 'play from start' function is handy for some shows if you miss the start - how do they do that as usually its a 24hr delay until stuff is available for streaming...?
The only thing is that the channel order is annoying - ITV SD is on position 3 rather than ITV HD. Is there a way to set favourites or remove channels you will never watch in the Freesat mode?
Thanks again for the advice.
Its very slightly slower on menus than the SKY box but its sharper on fast forwards and rewinds and can jump forwards in blocks - handy for skipping ad breaks. The 'play from start' function is handy for some shows if you miss the start - how do they do that as usually its a 24hr delay until stuff is available for streaming...?
The only thing is that the channel order is annoying - ITV SD is on position 3 rather than ITV HD. Is there a way to set favourites or remove channels you will never watch in the Freesat mode?
Thanks again for the advice.
How good are the interfaces on the modern Freeview/FreeSat boxes?
I want to drop Sky after Xmas as it's £85/month when I think a Now TV Sky Movies subscription and Freeview/FreeSat will suffice for most of my viewing.
Only thing is having recently setup 2x new TV's (a Toshiba and a Philips) the integrated FreeView Play tuners are utter utter turds to the point that I'm shocked just how bad they are in comparison to an ageing Sky+ box.
I want to drop Sky after Xmas as it's £85/month when I think a Now TV Sky Movies subscription and Freeview/FreeSat will suffice for most of my viewing.
Only thing is having recently setup 2x new TV's (a Toshiba and a Philips) the integrated FreeView Play tuners are utter utter turds to the point that I'm shocked just how bad they are in comparison to an ageing Sky+ box.
OMG they called my bluff and now won#t leave me alone. They offered a £24 deal that I declined at the time. This is my third one of these:
Have to say the old recommissioned Humax box works great. Whacked it up from Version 1 software to Ver 3 and it works great - Netflix and that handy 'play from start' function for stuff that isn't recorded but that you may have missed the start of is great. No US frame dropping issues on Netflix like the Firestick too!! That drove me potty on gentle pans!
V happy and £400 a year better off.
Have to say the old recommissioned Humax box works great. Whacked it up from Version 1 software to Ver 3 and it works great - Netflix and that handy 'play from start' function for stuff that isn't recorded but that you may have missed the start of is great. No US frame dropping issues on Netflix like the Firestick too!! That drove me potty on gentle pans!
V happy and £400 a year better off.
Ken Figenus said:
OMG they called my bluff and now won#t leave me alone. They offered a £24 deal that I declined at the time. This is my third one of these:
Have to say the old recommissioned Humax box works great. Whacked it up from Version 1 software to Ver 3 and it works great - Netflix and that handy 'play from start' function for stuff that isn't recorded but that you may have missed the start of is great. No US frame dropping issues on Netflix like the Firestick too!! That drove me potty on gentle pans!
V happy and £400 a year better off.
Glad you’re getting on with the Humax box! Out of curiosity, what was the £13/month for, just the basic package?Have to say the old recommissioned Humax box works great. Whacked it up from Version 1 software to Ver 3 and it works great - Netflix and that handy 'play from start' function for stuff that isn't recorded but that you may have missed the start of is great. No US frame dropping issues on Netflix like the Firestick too!! That drove me potty on gentle pans!
V happy and £400 a year better off.
Never understood the criticism of human freesat boxes myself.
I have 3 and they all work fine, no delays or slow performance and no record fails.
I'm also tech support for my mum's sky box and that seems archaic in comparison.
Maybe it's like android versus Apple and you like what you're used to
I have 3 and they all work fine, no delays or slow performance and no record fails.
I'm also tech support for my mum's sky box and that seems archaic in comparison.
Maybe it's like android versus Apple and you like what you're used to
I'd have to agree mate and I was dreading it a little having read stuff here. I fully and vastly prefer it to the Sky+ box. The only drawback seems to be no remote record facility via the app and no SKY Go - we didn't use either.
Sky made me buy the box (then) and then charge you min £10 for the recording function for free to air programmes you have already paid for! I gather a Sky Q HD box is included in the minimum £22 sub these days though if you do it over min 18 months. This makes my £12 sub offer seem right if that £22 sub covers the new box outlay? My offer was like still making payments for your mobile hardware after your min contract period has ended. [Mate has just done that for 4 years for an iPhone 4!!! Ouch]
Sky made me buy the box (then) and then charge you min £10 for the recording function for free to air programmes you have already paid for! I gather a Sky Q HD box is included in the minimum £22 sub these days though if you do it over min 18 months. This makes my £12 sub offer seem right if that £22 sub covers the new box outlay? My offer was like still making payments for your mobile hardware after your min contract period has ended. [Mate has just done that for 4 years for an iPhone 4!!! Ouch]
Sky want £87/month in a couple of months.
Is there anything other than a Humax worth buying?
If I could get Freeview/Freest, NowTV and TV Player on a single box I think I'd be set to tell them to get stuffed.
The Zgemma's are interesting but too DIY.
Is there anything other than a Humax worth buying?
If I could get Freeview/Freest, NowTV and TV Player on a single box I think I'd be set to tell them to get stuffed.
The Zgemma's are interesting but too DIY.
Edited by b
hstewie on Tuesday 5th March 18:48
hstewie on Tuesday 5th March 18:48bhstewie said:
hstewie said: Sky want £87 in a couple of months.
Is there anything other than a Humax worth buying?
If I could get Freeview/Freest, NowTV and TV Player on a single box I think I'd be set to tell them to get stuffed.
The Zgemma's are interesting but too DIY.
Ouch!Is there anything other than a Humax worth buying?
If I could get Freeview/Freest, NowTV and TV Player on a single box I think I'd be set to tell them to get stuffed.
The Zgemma's are interesting but too DIY.
I didn't really find anything to be honest - seems a HUGE gap in the market? Lots of linux/android type Chinese boxes out there but fighting IT is the last thing I want after coming home!
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