[scotw]

Originally Posted by Z4 Beemer

Is Sky likely to go to 1080p at some point?

I doubt it, it could cost them to change equipment and of course each signal would take up more bandwidth, so I think they'll stick to 720p, at least for the near future.

[- Paul -]

If they don't, they will lose out to the free HD services coming soon.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by 1stnewcar

If they don't, they will lose out to the free HD services coming soon.

Do you think freeview HD will launch in 08?

I read that they were doing some consumer trials at the moment.

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by SDRX

Becuase a digital signal remains susceptible to electrical interference, the shielding prevents this from happening. The phenomenon is sometimes referred to as "crosstalk". An external shielding prevents electrical interference from environmental sources, and each of 4 video carrying bundles are internally shielded to prevent crosstalk.

As far as the differences between cables are concerned, factors such as cable bandwidth, speed, shielding and length determine price.

Shielding and high quality cables increase the transmission length before the signal becomes corrupted however the HDMI interface is pretty robust and for short cable runs cheap cables are as good as expensive ones.

The higher the data rate you pump through the cable (bandwidth and speed equate to the same measure) the shorter the cable run can be before you start getting problems.

For all but the longest runs you'll probably find the cheapest bargain basement cables work just as effectively as super expensive ones .... dont forget this is digital information not analog we are talking about - when the information can no longer be reconstructed by the receiving end you dont just get a little deterioration in quality or colour you get utter garbage.

[SDRX]

I agree and also worth noting that the quality of cables should match the quality of other components being used.

[CrimsonRedE93]

I have SKY HD and the channel list is limited but just about worth it, I have an early HD box and have a few problems with freezing during playback etc that happened 1 month out of warranty, a new much larger hard drive fixed it though

I am sure you will enjoy

[DaveC]

Well I agree but I want to play devils advocate a bit ...

If I were buying gear I certainly wouldnt/dont tend to skimp on ancilliaries although the HiFi world lost me many years ago, I understand and agree with having chunky low loss cables to drive your big fat speakers but almost everything else (OFC, gold connectors, bi wiring, vibration free mounts for amplifiers, mains supplies that totally ignore what the wiring in your house does) is snake oil.

However, there is an argument that says quite the reverse is true for HDMI cables:

If we assume we have a crappy, marginal cable - either its just downright rubbish or its too long for its quality then what will make the difference to weather you get an uncorrupted digital signal?

Its got to be the quality of the driver and receiver circuits in the components you choose, a well designed quality transmission and reception system will obviously work better than a poor one. Also better equipment will include “cable equalization” which helps the component deal with marginal transmission and long cable runs.

If you extend this to its logical conclusion you end up with the idea that the more you spend on the components the less you *need* to spend on the digital interconnects. Odd concept and totally counter to what the analog HiFi world advises.

In the end, if you need 1080p stuff get a Cat 2 tested cable, if not then slower speed Cat 1 will do you. If the cable is tested it *will* work at the length it's produced at - if not take it back.

As the HDMI organisations FAQ says "While many cables that are branded as Standard cables will work at higher speeds (especially at cable lengths of less than five meters), to guarantee performance, consumers should purchase a cable that is tested and rated for the specific speed required by their system."

[- Paul -]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Do you think freeview HD will launch in 08?

I read that they were doing some consumer trials at the moment.

Have a look here:-

http://www.freesat.co.uk/home.php

[NFS]

Originally Posted by 1stnewcar

Have a look here:-

http://www.freesat.co.uk/home.php

Cool .. didn't realise it was a satellite service. I though the plan was to offer an HD terrestrial service .. i.e freeview HD.

I've signed up for info. Spring 08 sounds great..

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Cool .. didn't realise it was a satellite service. I though the plan was to offer an HD terrestrial service .. i.e freeview HD.

I've signed up for info. Spring 08 sounds great..

I am hoping I can get the HD freesat services through Sky.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

I am hoping I can get the HD freesat services through Sky.

If the non Sky HD channels are available free, then hopefull sky will drop the £10 a month charge for HD.

What bothers me is the £300 charge for the HD box - reduced to £250 if you take multiroom, which is another £10 per month.

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

If the non Sky HD channels are available free, then hopefull sky will drop the £10 a month charge for HD.

What bothers me is the £300 charge for the HD box - reduced to £250 if you take multiroom, which is another £10 per month.

I got my HD for £199. I pay £60/month for Sky HD + Multiroom (I moved my Sky+ box into the family room) and we get Sky Sports (no movie package). Bit of a rip off, but when the Sky+ box went on the blink (3 years old) and they said that will be around £150 for call out and new box, my response was disconnect it! They changed their tune and sent out engineer for free and replaced the box for free, I suppose that goes a little way to justifying the £60 month!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

I got my HD for £199. I pay £60/month for Sky HD + Multiroom (I moved my Sky+ box into the family room) and we get Sky Sports (no movie package). Bit of a rip off, but when the Sky+ box went on the blink (3 years old) and they said that will be around £150 for call out and new box, my response was disconnect it! They changed their tune and sent out engineer for free and replaced the box for free, I suppose that goes a little way to justifying the £60 month!

I've done the exact same thing with my standard Sky box and I've had 2 free replacements.

When my original box was replaced I dug out the paperwork .. and it said it was 'reconditioned'. Giving out second hand kit then trying to sell an expensive warranty on it is just sharp practice.

How did you get the HD box down to £199? Was that cause you already had Sky + ?

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

I've done the exact same thing with my standard Sky box and I've had 2 free replacements.

When my original box was replaced I dug out the paperwork .. and it said it was 'reconditioned'. Giving out second hand kit then trying to sell an expensive warranty on it is just sharp practice.

How did you get the HD box down to £199? Was that cause you already had Sky + ?

NFS, it was a SKY offer back in August, if you were a SKY customer for more than 3 years you could get HD for £199.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

NFS, it was a SKY offer back in August, if you were a SKY customer for more than 3 years you could get HD for £199.

Oh .. I've been a customer for about 8 years, but every time they call me I just tell them I'm not interested in whatever they are selling

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

What bothers me is the £300 charge for the HD box - reduced to £250 if you take multiroom, which is another £10 per month.

I paid £160 for my brand new HD box off ebay - from a SKY dealer also with full warranty included. I already had quite recent install (18 months ago so had a quad LNB fitted) - simply tap off an extra cable (unless you have sky+ and you would then have two cables installed anyway) and plug it into the new digibox into the RF2 input. Ring up SKY and get them to add HD onto your subscription. They activated it within a few minutes. Cost then on top of normal SKY is a tenner a month. You get SKY+ included for free with HD so if you are already paying the tenner for SKY+, HD is almost a no brainer!

The box has a 300GB HDD installed and is upgradeable (firmware) by doing the usual sky trick of powering up with the backup button pressed.

Hope this helps some folk!!

Paul

[vivekk]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

If the non Sky HD channels are available free, then hopefull sky will drop the £10 a month charge for HD.

What bothers me is the £300 charge for the HD box - reduced to £250 if you take multiroom, which is another £10 per month.

My parents were moving house a couple of months ago & my dad was wondering how much SKy would charge to transfer the service over to the new house (ordinary sky box).

So I rang them & said my parents were moving, but were thinking of moving to Virgin.

"Ok. What offer have Virgin given you?", asked Ms Sky Customer Service.
"None of your business", I replied.
"Ok. Well, what would you like, then?", she asked.
"Well, they don't expect to pay a penny to transfer to the new house & they'd quite like a discounted Sky+ box, if that's ok", I replied.
"Er...ok....we can scrap the £60 re-installation charge & reduce the charge for the Sky+ box to £49.99. Is that ok?", she asked.
"Anything else?", I asked.
"Oh..er...well..we could throw in a free month of Sky Movies & one of the Sports packages", she said.
"Fine. Thanks for your help", I replied.

The parents were happy with that.

Viv

[NFS]

Originally Posted by vivekk

My parents were moving house a couple of months ago & my dad was wondering how much SKy would charge to transfer the service over to the new house (ordinary sky box).

So I rang them & said my parents were moving, but were thinking of moving to Virgin.

"Ok. What offer have Virgin given you?", asked Ms Sky Customer Service.
"None of your business", I replied.
"Ok. Well, what would you like, then?", she asked.
"Well, they don't expect to pay a penny to transfer to the new house & they'd quite like a discounted Sky+ box, if that's ok", I replied.
"Er...ok....we can scrap the £60 re-installation charge & reduce the charge for the Sky+ box to £49.99. Is that ok?", she asked.
"Anything else?", I asked.
"Oh..er...well..we could throw in a free month of Sky Movies & one of the Sports packages", she said.
"Fine. Thanks for your help", I replied.

The parents were happy with that.

Viv

It's a funny old time to be a consumer.

I've ordered my TV from Dixons. I noticed today that they had reduced the price by £30, but the TV won't be in their hands till Friday this week and I won't get it till next week.

I gave them a ring and with very little prompting they dropped the price to the currently advertised one.

Oddly, Currys, PC World and Dixons are all in the same group, but the TV is £300 more at Currys and PC world on in-store prices.

PC World have it for just £200 more on their website.

Bizarrely - Currys online have the TV for £999 and also have it bundled with a surround sound system for the same price ... just stupid.

I know Currys have no stock, but I'm tempted to pop into PC World and see if they will match the Dixon's price.

There is no reason not too.

Strange times indeed for the consumer.

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

I got my HD for £199. I pay £60/month for Sky HD + Multiroom (I moved my Sky+ box into the family room) and we get Sky Sports (no movie package). Bit of a rip off, but when the Sky+ box went on the blink (3 years old) and they said that will be around £150 for call out and new box, my response was disconnect it! They changed their tune and sent out engineer for free and replaced the box for free, I suppose that goes a little way to justifying the £60 month!

I seem to be the only person who paid full price for their Sky HD box and paid for installation!

[Z4 Beemer]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

It's a funny old time to be a consumer.

I've ordered my TV from Dixons. I noticed today that they had reduced the price by £30, but the TV won't be in their hands till Friday this week and I won't get it till next week.

I gave them a ring and with very little prompting they dropped the price to the currently advertised one.

Oddly, Currys, PC World and Dixons are all in the same group, but the TV is £300 more at Currys and PC world on in-store prices.

PC World have it for just £200 more on their website.

Bizarrely - Currys online have the TV for £999 and also have it bundled with a surround sound system for the same price ... just stupid.

I know Currys have no stock, but I'm tempted to pop into PC World and see if they will match the Dixon's price.

There is no reason not too.

Strange times indeed for the consumer.

We recently bought 2 Samsung LCD tv's from http://www.beyondtelevision.co.uk

They were the cheapest at the time and we saved around £150 per tv over what Comet were selling them for. They weren't in stock but they arrived a week later and they kept us up to date on delivery status. A colleague at work recommended them and I would also do the same.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Z4 Beemer

We recently bought 2 Samsung LCD tv's from http://www.beyondtelevision.co.uk

They were the cheapest at the time and we saved around £150 per tv over what Comet were selling them for. They weren't in stock but they arrived a week later and they kept us up to date on delivery status. A colleague at work recommended them and I would also do the same.

Good site .. but I am relieved to say that Dixons are £26.51 cheaper on the TV I ordered

[ShereKhan]

If any of you chaps can get membership of Costco www.costco.co.uk they have a good range of LCD TV's with 3yr warranty included. Only prob is that you have to collect no delivery. Been a member for over 7 yrs never had problems with customer service.