# Offer - upgrading to SKY HD £75 + £30 install



## shelley (Nov 22, 2004)

Just made use of this offer (thanks to the AV Forum). Not being advertised by Sky but available to existing users who currently subscribe to premium channels (Standard charge is £150 + £60 install).

Number I dialed was 01506 421825 options 1, 4, 5, 3, 4 then I just asked if there were any upgrade offers for Sky HD for existing customers - offered it straight away.

No mention of downgrading or cancelling anything (I currently have Sky Sports & Sky movies).

Rumoured that the offer is for a limited period and could end at any time.


----------



## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

I assume they bung another £10 on your monthly subscription though?


----------



## mighTy Tee (Jul 10, 2002)

I wont go HD until the £10 per month is dropped. I would happily pay £200 for the box. With Freesat starting to get a hold hopefully Sky will realise they have to do this to retain the non-premium customers (I only give them £32 per month).


----------



## Gizmo750 (Sep 16, 2004)

I'm with Richard on this - don't mind buying a new box but unwilling to add to my subscription for what is, in effect, more of the same channels!


----------



## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

Couldn't agree more - is HD actually worth having in any event??

I've got a a 42" Panny Viera so I would hope it produces a quality picture in HD? The picture is already very good as it is.


----------



## shelley (Nov 22, 2004)

WozzaTT said:


> I assume they bung another £10 on your monthly subscription though?


Yep.

I think this deal lowers the cost of installing to the same as the standard rate to get Sky +, albeit with the £10 p/m on top for HD channels.


----------



## shelley (Nov 22, 2004)

WozzaTT said:


> Couldn't agree more - is HD actually worth having in any event??
> 
> I've got a a 42" Panny Viera so I would hope it produces a quality picture in HD? The picture is already very good as it is.


Your choice of course but arguably why buy a HD telly if not prepared to pay for HD content? Though of course, can you actually buy a non-HD telly anymore!

I wasn't trying to convert anyone to subscribing to HD but if they were getting it anyway I thought this would be useful.


----------



## senwar (Apr 21, 2003)

WozzaTT said:


> is HD actually worth having in any event??


Yes

By a long shot.

The discovery and geographic channels alone are worth the extra tenner. The presentation of HD content on there is stunning.

I personally couldn't see what all the fuss was about when HD first came out, and to be honest, only got my box as I'd just got a new TV and wanted a greater Sky+ capacity - got HD for £150 and free install (about 18 months ago). However, since getting it I watch a hell of a lot of it.

I hate watching footy in SD now.

All the events/programmes filmed in HD are fantastic. There's the odd upscaled programme thats OK. But for me, one of the best purchases I've ever made, and this offer is a bargain.


----------



## sonicmonkey (Mar 20, 2004)

Thanks for the heads up. Loathed as I am to be with Sky and give them any of my money, there isn't an alternative around these parts and I have to confess Sky+ is simply genius.

I was on the phone to Sky for approx 7000 hours last week and the best they could offer was £75 + £60 installation (to simply swap the box over and plug it in as I already have Sky+ hence all the necessary cabling and LNB :roll: ) and I refused to take it as they insisted that this offer had to include Sky Talk phone package and broadband.

Called just now and was offered the £75 + £30 install without the need for their phone package and it will be here next Tuesday  I bought a Sony 1080p TV practically the week it was released so it'll be good to actually make use of the HD!

Apparently you have to have it installed by Sky otherwise they won't honour the warranty even if you buy the box from them and install yourself, which I find hard to believe. Then again, this is Sky we are talking about.


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

mighTy Tee said:


> I wont go HD until the £10 per month is dropped. I would happily pay £200 for the box. With Freesat starting to get a hold hopefully Sky will realise they have to do this to retain the non-premium customers (I only give them £32 per month).


Oh yeah Freesat is really starting to get hold :lol: 
Freesat 2 HD Channels ITV shit PQ and BBC on for 8hrs a day :? 
Virgin 1 Hd channel BBC HD runs for 8Hrs aday and some on demand

Sky 20 + with more coming £10 Bargain IMO I couldn't live without HD now and I'm sure when they others do finally get their act together Sky will drop the sub until then I'm happy to pay for it.


----------



## markTT225 (Apr 8, 2004)

I'm with Senwar on this - it's worth getting Sky HD if you like watching football. Once you've watched it on HD, SD looks really pap!


----------



## ChadW (May 2, 2003)

IMO they should give SKY World subscribers free HD if they have the HD box. Or reduce it to £5.

Agree that sports in HD really are superb. Films a close second. But Channel 4 HD and BBC HD with Big Brother or comedy sketch shows in HD and NO DR WHO in HD are [email protected] imho. :roll:


----------



## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

The Euro championships on ITV were like watching a snow scene compared to the BBCs HD coverage.


----------



## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

wallsendmag said:


> The Euro championships on ITV were like watching a snow scene compared to the BBCs HD coverage.


I thought you only watched Newcastle games :wink: :lol:


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

HD is worth EVERY penny if you watch sport - plumbed in through my 46" full HD screen it is nothing short of staggering!

Even though it's only 1080i the Euros and Wimbledon were two of the most mind blowing things i've seen on television for a long time purely due to the level of detail. As previously mentioned I too couldn't enjoy any of the ITV Euro games due to the 'noise' and 'pixelation' that came with their s*itty signal.

IMO HD can only really be _fully_ appreciated on a 42"+ screen which is 'full HD 1080p' (none of that 'HD ready' nonsense!). So, if you have a decent screen, get it, you will not be disappointed!


----------



## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

YELLOW_TT said:


> wallsendmag said:
> 
> 
> > The Euro championships on ITV were like watching a snow scene compared to the BBCs HD coverage.
> ...


I was test driving the HD and checking our holiday destination, cough cough you should have heard the grief I got from Val :roll:


----------



## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

I bought the Humax Freesat HD box, the Euros were great and I've found many of the 'standard' programs are made in 576i so not full HD, but much better quality than SD all the same. I know its a ripoff at £149 but I downgraded my Sky package for the summer (we rarely watch movies, and the Olympics etc will be on BBC, and the Rugby Premiership is finished) which will cover the cost. I bring it downstairs when I want HD in the lounge, most of the time now tho it does Freesat in the bedroom.

I disagree Kev, I can really see the HD difference on my 40 - I bought a Sony KDL3500 40U, £630 with a 5 year warranty from Costco.


----------



## shelley (Nov 22, 2004)

Got sky HD installed yesterday and first fleeting impressions are very positive. Even watching on a 50" Samsung PS50A456 (a mere "HD ready nonsense" telly) :lol:


----------



## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

shelley said:


> Got sky HD installed yesterday and first fleeting impressions are very positive. Even watching on a 50" Samsung PS50A456 (a mere "HD ready nonsense" telly) :lol:


Ah, but KMP has bionic eyes and can actually discern every one of the 6.2 million pixels in his set :wink:


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

R6B TT said:


> shelley said:
> 
> 
> > Got sky HD installed yesterday and first fleeting impressions are very positive. Even watching on a 50" Samsung PS50A456 (a mere "HD ready nonsense" telly) :lol:
> ...


Sorry to disagree but IMO the difference between 'HD ready' and 'Full HD' is miles apart. Full HD is staggeringly detailed and crisp. I wasn't knocking 'HD ready' as such, I was knocing the way the HD ready sets are marketed &sold as HD when in fact they are far from it.


----------



## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Thanks for the heads up mine comes on Wednesday


----------



## shelley (Nov 22, 2004)

kmpowell said:


> R6B TT said:
> 
> 
> > shelley said:
> ...


There is a difference but it depends on how much full HD content you use and how close you are going to sit, allegedly

http://www.avforums.com/forums/attachme ... 1198165011


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> R6B TT said:
> 
> 
> > shelley said:
> ...


Wether the TV is full HD or not makes no difference, it's all down to the scaling/ within the TV that will decide wether you have a decent HD pic or not, I've channeled to 3 diffent Tv's first was my 42" PW6 which was neither HD ready or Full HD and the PQ was way ahead of most of the cheaper HD ready TV available at the time, this was down to the scaling within the TV. since then I've sent HD signals to my PZ70 50" Full HD set and a Panny PX32LCD HD Ready set. The PZ knocks spots of both the others however the others knock spots off many of the other TV's out there.


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

jonah said:


> Wether the TV is full HD or not makes no difference, it's all down to the scaling/ within the TV that will decide wether you have a decent HD pic or not,


The scaler inside the panel plays a part, however the fact of the matter remains that these days a good quality 1080p will walk all over any 'HD Ready' panel. A year or so ago I would have agreed that a Fujitsu or Pioneer HD Ready panel would be an even match (and some cases better) than most 1080p TV's, but those days have gone now. To say the scaler inside the panel is the deciding factor as to what kind of picture you get, is just nonsense - there are so many factors that decide picture quality, 3 of them which are IMO more important than the panels scaler - your screen/panels max resolution; the source's scaling ability (the box your panel receives the signal from), and of course the original televised signal which it's being filmed in.


----------



## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

WozzaTT said:


> Couldn't agree more - is HD actually worth having in any event??


HD is jaw dropping. If your TV is 1080P then you're not getting the best from it yet.

I'm still trying to persuade my wife that the investment is better than a cheap holiday in the sun. Truth is I want both... :lol:


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

Dear Marge,
I just phoned Sky up and sure enough I got offered the deal but the thing is that at the moment we only pay £20 a month for our Sky+ - no premium channels, just basic ones. To get this deal I would have to pay an extra £10.00 a month for the HD bit plus an additional £16.00 for a premium channel which can obviously be split but that works out to an additional £26.00 a month.

Being a bloke, I would have signed up there and then but wifey said no - bugger. :twisted:

The thing is we've got a 42" Panny full HD tele hooked to a Yamaha amp, Keff's plus all the other goodies which go with a typical system like that and we aren't getting the full benefit from it - well not from my point of view anyway.

Please advise.

Graham


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Love_iTT said:


> Please advise.


----------



## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

kmpowell said:


> Love_iTT said:
> 
> 
> > Please advise.


F*ck that... costs too much 










Cheers

Rich


----------



## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

Love_iTT said:


> Dear Marge,
> I just phoned Sky up and sure enough I got offered the deal but the thing is that at the moment we only pay £20 a month for our Sky+ - no premium channels, just basic ones. To get this deal I would have to pay an extra £10.00 a month for the HD bit plus an additional £16.00 for a premium channel which can obviously be split but that works out to an additional £26.00 a month.
> 
> Being a bloke, I would have signed up there and then but wifey said no - bugger. :twisted:
> ...


I'll gladly exchange my HD box for the Cab :wink:


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

OK, soooooo, I need to divorce the wife and get rid of the cab, Mmmm, let me think about that for a bit.

Graham


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

Thought about it and....

Nope. :roll: :wink:

Graham


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

It does amase me the amount of people that invest in the latest technology and then send it infrerior technology, to me it's like hooking up a VCR to a Full HD TV, pointless IMO. You'd of been better keeping the CRT :wink:

So you've spent the best part of £3k on your AV system yet you quibble about £120 per anum for a decent signal which in time will be gone and it will be free, it's a no brainer to me and once watched you'll never go back. :roll:


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

jonah said:


> It does amase me the amount of people that invest in the latest technology and then send it infrerior technology, to me it's like hooking up a VCR to a Full HD TV, pointless IMO. You'd of been better keeping the CRT :wink:
> 
> So you've spent the best part of £3k on your AV system yet you quibble about £120 per anum for a decent signal which in time will be gone and it will be free, it's a no brainer to me and once watched you'll never go back. :roll:


I've just shown your reply to the wife and the response was "Mmm, true I suppose"  

I think you may have helped a long way there - thanks. :wink:

I shall work on that.

Graham


----------



## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

Love_iTT said:


> Thought about it and....
> 
> Nope. :roll: :wink:
> 
> Graham


How fecking selfish... :wink:


----------



## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

rustyintegrale said:


> Love_iTT said:
> 
> 
> > Thought about it and....
> ...


I was just thinking the same thing


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

Love_iTT said:


> jonah said:
> 
> 
> > It does amase me the amount of people that invest in the latest technology and then send it infrerior technology, to me it's like hooking up a VCR to a Full HD TV, pointless IMO. You'd of been better keeping the CRT :wink:
> ...


Glad i could help


----------



## Flyboyben (Apr 6, 2007)

My opinion is that HD is the dogs. The only problem I have with it is the extra cost for few "additional" channels. I have multi room / HD / sports / movies and am paying a shocking £65 a month.

I find that BBC HD gives the best picture but there is hardly ever anything worth watching. I also hate having to switch over to BBC HD to check whether the current program is in HD as well. Why can't they screen BBC 1 in full HD? Then we would get Christine Blakely in all her full glory


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Flyboyben said:


> Why can't they screen BBC 1 in full HD?


... because you can only screen something in HD if it has been filmed in HD. For example, the recent series of Top Gear wasn't shown on BBCHD because all the BBC's HD filming resources were tied up elsewhere when it came to filming the series (I presume for the Euros and Wimbledon), making TG non HD when filmed.


----------



## ChadW (May 2, 2003)

Buy Tv & Satellite Week as it has a HD Channel section with BBC HD listings and also if the prog is shown at same time on another channel then that programme will have (HD) in its description. Complained to the BBC about lack of HD indicators on their programs, now sorted. 8)

Btw the Top Gear Arctic special was shown in HD at the time. The person who allocates the HD funding at the BBC does not seem to make much sense to me, special effects and outdoor shows like Dr Who and Top Gear need it, whereas comedy sketch shows don't imho. Wonder when ITV HD is on Sky, currently on only Freesat at the mo (well it's trial during Euro 2008 was) AFAIK.


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

Flyboyben said:


> My opinion is that HD is the dogs. The only problem I have with it is the extra cost for few "additional" channels. I have multi room / HD / sports / movies and am paying a shocking £65 a month.
> 
> I find that BBC HD gives the best picture but there is hardly ever anything worth watching. I also hate having to switch over to BBC HD to check whether the current program is in HD as well. Why can't they screen BBC 1 in full HD? Then we would get Christine Blakely in all her full glory


Whats so shocking, it's all about choices I feel I get value for money, yes i wish it were cheaper but i have a choice and choose to subscribe to SKY noone is forcing anyone.
I'm in the same boat, although I pay £70 have BB aswell.

BBC HD does screen some excellent stuff but they were beaten by Eurosports HD coverage of the Tour of France final leg in Paris, the PQ was bar far the best I've seen on any channel.

Very rarely do you get simultaneous screen of the same program on BBC and BBC HD purely because they can't be seen to be favouring a minority. As more people sign up you start seeing more coverage on BBC HD.


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

I'm sorry if I sound a complete numpty on this but I have Sky+ at the moment with 2 cables coming into the house from the dish, now *IF* I get Sky HD, will they put an additional two cables into the house or will they just use the existing two cables? There is room to put four connections (cables) on the terminal thingy which is on the dish but I always thought that they were there just in case I went for multi-room and not for upgrading to HD.

Please say no to this as I'm not far away from getting HD but having 4 cables coming in will definately mean a "NO". :twisted:

You can tell who wears the trousers in our house can't you. :roll: :wink:

Graham


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

Love_iTT said:


> I'm sorry if I sound a complete numpty on this but I have Sky+ at the moment with 2 cables coming into the house from the dish, now *IF* I get Sky HD, will they put an additional two cables into the house or will they just use the existing two cables? There is room to put four connections (cables) on the terminal thingy which is on the dish but I always thought that they were there just in case I went for multi-room and not for upgrading to HD.
> 
> Please say no to this as I'm not far away from getting HD but having 4 cables coming in will definately mean a "NO". :twisted:
> 
> ...


They'll litterally just swop the box for you Dave, a two minute job, and you get to keep the Sky+ box as aspare


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

jonah said:


> Love_iTT said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sorry if I sound a complete numpty on this but I have Sky+ at the moment with 2 cables coming into the house from the dish, now *IF* I get Sky HD, will they put an additional two cables into the house or will they just use the existing two cables? There is room to put four connections (cables) on the terminal thingy which is on the dish but I always thought that they were there just in case I went for multi-room and not for upgrading to HD.
> ...


Cheers Trigg, just what I wanted to hear. :wink:

Graham


----------



## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Love_iTT said:


> I'm sorry if I sound a complete numpty on this but I have Sky+ at the moment with 2 cables coming into the house from the dish, now *IF* I get Sky HD, will they put an additional two cables into the house or will they just use the existing two cables? There is room to put four connections (cables) on the terminal thingy which is on the dish but I always thought that they were there just in case I went for multi-room and not for upgrading to HD.
> 
> Please say no to this as I'm not far away from getting HD but having 4 cables coming in will definately mean a "NO". :twisted:
> 
> ...


Graham your doing it all wrong, tell the powers that be, that your current box is faulty and that Sky charge £65 to come out and fix/replace it, so for an extra £40 you get HD 

thats what I told Mrs B ...just as well she dosen't read the forum


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

Sky HD is being installed on 7th August am. Sky Sports 1 and Sky Movies 1.

*YES!*

You see, I've still got it in me - the art of persuasion that is. :wink:

Graham


----------



## raven (May 7, 2002)

If you get an HD box, what do you do with all the saved stuff you haven't got around to watching on your original Sky+ box? I've got stacks of Top Gear and Fifth Gear and similar programmes that I don't watch with the wife, and never get round to watching them because I only ever watch TV with her. [smiley=argue.gif]


----------



## sonicmonkey (Mar 20, 2004)

I had mine "fitted" today. Took all of about 10 secs to swap the box over as I already had Sky+. Exactly what the £30 installation charge is for I have no idea. I had to disconnect everything anyway to cable the box up neatly and then phone Sky to activate the package. Although a HD box had been installed by Sky they didn't realize I actually wanted any HD content and had to spend 10 mins explaining I didn't want the sports package - just the HD channels.

The collective cognitive capacity of Sky customer services wouldn't challenge a dead hamster. They have become my new 'Tard Benchmark.

I was hoping the black box wouldn't look too out of place as everything else AV wise is silver. Have had a quick trawl on the internet and am surprised there are no decals covers to convert to silver and frankly I can't be bothered to spray it at the moment. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting an all silver unit despite black being the current trend.

Couple of things to note: there is more hard drive noise and the fans are a lot louder. I will be upgrading the HD to a 500 gig in time so hopefully that should help with the HD noise.

If you have recorded material on your existing Sky+ box you could copy it to DVD/PC but frankly it's not worth the agro. Either watch it before changing boxes or delete I'm afraid.


----------



## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

Now all you need to do is put the Sky + box in the for sale section I sold mine almost straight away.


----------



## sonicmonkey (Mar 20, 2004)

wallsendmag said:


> Now all you need to do is put the Sky + box in the for sale section I sold mine almost straight away.


The box is already spoken for! I have a spare quad LNB and plenty of cable and have promised a friend I will hook it all up for him. All it's costing him is the price of a good coffee


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

raven said:


> If you get an HD box, what do you do with all the saved stuff you haven't got around to watching on your original Sky+ box? I've got stacks of Top Gear and Fifth Gear and similar programmes that I don't watch with the wife, and never get round to watching them because I only ever watch TV with her. [smiley=argue.gif]


You can get a program now that will copy Sky recorded stuff from one hard drive to another, Think It's called Copy+, this will invalidate your warranty though.
I'm seriously thinking of upgrading to a bigger Hard drive.


----------



## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Fyi for anyone who has taken this offer up, I had mine installed today and they updated my dish FOC (all part of the install package apparently) and it has hugely improved the signal strength.

Thought it was worth mentioning as a few guys on AV forums did not get a new dish, so worth checking with the 'engineer'


----------



## QuackingPlums (Mar 10, 2004)

ChadW said:


> Btw the Top Gear Arctic special was shown in HD at the time. The person who allocates the HD funding at the BBC does not seem to make much sense to me, special effects and outdoor shows like Dr Who and Top Gear need it, whereas comedy sketch shows don't imho.


I've still got the Top Gear Polar Expedition saved on my HD - it is easily the best argument for SkyHD I've got at the moment (sorry, I don't follow footie) as everybody I've shown it to has gone out and subscribed the next day... :lol:

By the way, the special effects in shows like Dr Who are exactly why they can't afford to make it in HD - it costs too much for all the fancy CGI stuff! If they reverted to using actors in costumes made out of washing up liquid bottles and cardboard boxes then it would look more like... well... Torchwood. ;-)


----------



## Love_iTT (Aug 18, 2002)

Sky HD being installed tomorrow morning (Thursday) under this special deal - can't wait.

Sky+ box for sale anyone? :roll:

How much do they go for, it's about 7 months old.

Graham


----------

