Sky HD box slashed to £49 + installation

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Seeing as ex-pats have to go to the trouble to have their sky account registered at a UK address, I would have thought they are used to the hassle anyway.

The new cards aren't linked to anything beyond the fact that Sky are contractually obliged to replace the cards every five years.

Where do you get the 800M million figure from the HD subscription from ?

At the end of last year the figure quoted was 779, 000 HD subscribers.

Many ex-pats have left the UK permanently and accidentally on purpose not told Sky about their change of address and as long as the direct debits go through , Sky are none the wiser. To get a new card they will have to arrange with a friend or relative a new address in the UK that doesn't already have Sky and have the card sent on to them.
The new cards should have been replaced last year by NDS as the present cards were first issued in 2003 but a compromise agreement was reached between Sky and Ofcom to delay the new issue by 12 months as Channel 4 and five would by then go "free to air" so a "free to view" card would no longer be necessary.
I cocked up on my calculation on the HD sub ! It should have been £80M.

 

[Skint Gull]

Nerd Alert!
To appreciate HD you really need a TV with Full HD not HD ready and then you have to be sure that the HD programme you are watching is Full HD not upscaled HD. With the proper set up Full HD is great and that's when you can notice the difference between it and SD (Standard Definition). Whether its worth another £10 a month? Missus Oldman and I think so as we watch a lot of sport and documentaries.

I'm not gonna make this as a statement of fact as I'm certainly not a proper expert on the subject but from what i've ever been told Sky HD is not full HD anyway, only Blue Ray and HD DVD's are full 1080p? Therefore so long as the TV is capable of 720 that would display the maximum Sky HD signal properly?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Nerd Alert!
To appreciate HD you really need a TV with Full HD not HD ready and then you have to be sure that the HD programme you are watching is Full HD not upscaled HD. With the proper set up Full HD is great and that's when you can notice the difference between it and SD (Standard Definition). Whether its worth another £10 a month? Missus Oldman and I think so as we watch a lot of sport and documentaries.

1 in 5 people wouldn't appreciate HD anyway as their eyesight hasn't been tested (or tested within the last year) to correct defective vision. I have to wear glasses and clearly see the difference between HD and SD. Get a TV with 1920 x 1080p resolution and hook up a blu ray player to experience Full HD , even Sky HD at 1080i is fantastic.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I'm not gonna make this as a statement of fact as I'm certainly not a proper expert on the subject but from what i've ever been told Sky HD is not full HD anyway, only Blue Ray and HD DVD's are full 1080p? Therefore so long as the TV is capable of 720 that would display the maximum Sky HD signal properly?

At the moment Sky only uses 1080i as 1080p transmissions would swallow up too much bandwidth on existing codecs , so it is not Full HD. You can also set the Sky HD box to output 720p , if you leave it at 1080i then the TV will upscale it to 720p or somewhere near it on a 1360 x 768 HD ready TV.

 

[clapham_gull]

Many ex-pats have left the UK permanently and accidentally on purpose not told Sky about their change of address and as long as the direct debits go through , Sky are none the wiser. To get a new card they will have to arrange with a friend or relative a new address in the UK that doesn't already have Sky and have the card sent on to them.

.. and they will be completely aware of what they need to do won't they ?

There are even companies out there who will sort out the whole lot (UK address and everything)

It's obviously a grey market, but one which (I presume) Sky sort of "ignore".

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Well, they get £42 of my hard-earned a month for movies and sports.

However, I've just got involved in LoveFilm.com (free 3 month trial) where I can get bundles of DVD's for nuffin throughout the month - obviously more recent films than when they eventually hit Sky movies. And I might be going blu-ray soon, which will snort my HD.


Side issue: does the lovefilm thing work well? Are they efficient and do they send the movies you actually ask for? So much crap on the TV thesedays I might think about taking up the subscription - if you recommend it!!!

Lovefilm is brilliant - been using it ever since i went to university. I pay 3.99 a month for 2 dvd's a month, and can get all the dvds i want to see (currently have Wall-e), the service is really quick, and if you have a thieving postman in the area like me, they're very understanding if dvd's go missing in the post. You can also get tv series as well, and they send it to you in the right order.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Many ex pats on the Costas are worried that their subscriptions will be cancelled when the new cards are issued because if they ring Sky with a query , their Spanish mobile number will appear on the agents screen in the call centre and suspicions will be aroused. It wont be any use a friend or relative calling in on their behalf unless they know the answers to any one or more of the security questions.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

if you have a thieving postman in the area like me

same here 3 dvds from Amazon , 4 model buses , each sent from different dealers (with recorded delivery as well) have disappeared somewhere. Russ also has had 4 dvds half inched all within the last year.

 

[Motogull]

So why not allow ex-pats in anyway, if only on the basis that they do not send tecnicians round?

Back to HD. My father-in-law has it - superb. My sister has it - not great.

 

[Easy 10]

Side issue: does the lovefilm thing work well? Are they efficient and do they send the movies you actually ask for? So much crap on the TV thesedays I might think about taking up the subscription - if you recommend it!!!

Dunno yet - I only registered on Saturday. But they sent me 3 films off my list (arrived Tuesday), only one of which was one of my 'high prioritys', but thats ok. I'll send them all back tomorrow and see how quick they are with the other ones. Seems alright so far though. And BAG recommends it - she can be TRUSTED.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

same here 3 dvds from Amazon , 4 model buses , each sent from different dealers (with recorded delivery as well) have disappeared somewhere. Russ also has had 4 dvds half inched all within the last year.

I bought 4 dvds, 1 on friday, 3 on monday

Two of the ones i ordered on monday have arrived, the others are no-where to be seen as yet.

Also have had numerous lovefilm dvds go missing, and a couple of parcels.

 

[Uncle C]

Freesat is the way to go

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

So why not allow ex-pats in anyway, if only on the basis that they do not send tecnicians round?

Back to HD. My father-in-law has it - superb. My sister has it - not great.

Its all to do with programme rights , Sky only pays for film and tv programme rights for the UK and ROI , so if you dont live here then officially you cannot subscribe but there are ways around it.

 

[Kick Ass Minton]

I would kill for Sky HD over here... Time Warner Cable is Ok and thier HD offering is free but the menus and Recording part are pony and the box required resetting at least once a week

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

.. and they will be completely aware of what they need to do won't they ?

There are even companies out there who will sort out the whole lot (UK address and everything)

It's obviously a grey market, but one which (I presume) Sky sort of "ignore".

The grey market could land Sky in a shitload of trouble if Canal+ (on the Digital+ platform) take umbrage at losing potential customers from another satellite broadcaster.

 

[Scoffers]

I've got the full sky+ package with sports and movies and internet to boot, we watch a movie a week and I'd be hard pressed to lose the sports. How about the Ashes later this year, isn't that on Sky too ? In which case, that'll seel it for me. The other thing for me is that Freeview is shite in Burgess Hill

 

[Jambo Seagull]

I'm not gonna make this as a statement of fact as I'm certainly not a proper expert on the subject but from what i've ever been told Sky HD is not full HD anyway, only Blue Ray and HD DVD's are full 1080p? Therefore so long as the TV is capable of 720 that would display the maximum Sky HD signal properly?

That's what I was told when I bought my Panasonic Viera last month. I ws intending buying a 1080p one and the bloke in John Lewis said that unless I was a gamer and/or had a Blu Ray, then I didn't need 1080p as Sky HD and freesat only go to 720 so the old 1368 x 768 is more than adequate.

Just signed up today for my new Sky HD box. Can't wait.

 

[The Oldman]

That's what I was told when I bought my Panasonic Viera last month. I ws intending buying a 1080p one and the bloke in John Lewis said that unless I was a gamer and/or had a Blu Ray, then I didn't need 1080p as Sky HD and freesat only go to 720 so the old 1368 x 768 is more than adequate.

Just signed up today for my new Sky HD box. Can't wait.

Sky HD goes to 1080i as previous poster said. 1080p is for blue ray. On my tv I can see a difference in Sky transmissions between 720 and 1080.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Sky HD goes to 1080i as previous poster said. 1080p is for blue ray. On my tv I can see a difference in Sky transmissions between 720 and 1080.

As I have a 1080p LCD TV I keep my Sky HD box set to 1080i to get 1:1 pixel mapping. Its all down to what a viewer feels comfortable with. Sporting events dont seem to look that good in 720p in comparison to 1080i but yet again it is an objective thing.

 

[clapham_gull]

The grey market could land Sky in a shitload of trouble if Canal+ (on the Digital+ platform) take umbrage at losing potential customers from another satellite broadcaster.

Which again begs the question why the crack down hasn't already happened.

The reality is that within their country of origin, viewers tend to like prefer home produced programming.