Andybarbet
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posted on 18/6/17 at 10:53 AM |
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Sky tv replacement options ? What is available ?
We currently have sky tv, broadband & phone line. The price has gone up from about £52 per month to £84 & I'm looking to go for
something else now.
We use the internet a lot (it's not fibre optic) on the tv package we don't have the sports channels or movie channels (don't really
need them) & we have a landline phone purely for emergency use, we never us it to ring out but wanted it just in case of an emergency.
With all of these smart tv's & now tv type boxes etc, is there a much more affordable way to go ? I have no idea so thought I would ask on
here to see what others have.
The wife would ideally like the Atlantic channel that we currently have with sky & if possible I would like to be able to watch the darts which is
on sky sports now days but I haven't had it up to now so its not a deal breaker.
The only other criteria is that we have a sky box in the lounge & one upstairs in the bedroom so would prefer a set up with 2 tvs connected to
it.
Lastly, I'm not that sure on how these usb stick things work so I might need an idiot's guide & we have tv's with HDMI sockets
but I would consider replacing the two tv's if I needed to to save money per month on the tv package.
Cheers - Andy
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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loggyboy
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posted on 18/6/17 at 11:27 AM |
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Threaten to leave?. If that fails apply under your wifes name or an alias - as new customers get a much better deal. I managed to wangle sky and
virgin in to getting a much better deal this year. Got Sky Q with sports and movies and multiroom for £30 and virgin 50mb with phone and TV for £20.
(Q box is superb, tivo box is s**te).
Sky Atlantic is.sky exclusive, so impossible to get legitimately elsewhere.
I did buy my dad a freesat hd box with PVR (Humax) as he wont pay for tv. Cost about £160 but seems very good and hes very happy.
Mistral Motorsport
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Andybarbet
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posted on 18/6/17 at 11:32 AM |
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I've threatened to leave after 5 years being with them. After a 35 minute phone call he said he could knock £6 per month off. Not impressed to
be honest, Is that £30 per month one of those goes up after so many months into the contract jobbies ?
People keep.telling us how good these internet tv boxes are but we are happy with our current set up, just not the cost it's been escalated to.
We have a recordable sky plus hd downstairs & non recordable box upstairs.
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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morcus
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posted on 18/6/17 at 12:00 PM |
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Personally I don't think Pay tv is worth it anymore now that freeview and internet on-demand exists. My parents have Virgin TV but as far as I
can tell are only using it for recording and the catch-up services (some programs are available through the Virgin Catchup that aren't available
on the standalone versions of the channels catchup services) as pretty much everything they do watch is on Freeview.
Sport is probably the only thing where it might be worth it because of the way the broadcasting rights are.
Find out what programs you are actually watching on Sky and aren't on freeview and you may well find you are paying £50 a month to watch less
than 5 hours of programming.
I've never used it myself but I believe Now Tv lets you get individual channels or packages on a top based service.
Get yourself a device that turns your TV into a smart TV and get all the free OD/Catch-up services. in a couple of months you'll wonder why you
ever bothered paying for TV.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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Slimy38
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posted on 18/6/17 at 12:26 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by Andybarbet
I've threatened to leave after 5 years being with them. After a 35 minute phone call he said he could knock £6 per month off. Not impressed to
be honest, Is that £30 per month one of those goes up after so many months into the contract jobbies ?
People keep.telling us how good these internet tv boxes are but we are happy with our current set up, just not the cost it's been escalated to.
We have a recordable sky plus hd downstairs & non recordable box upstairs.
It might be worth actually leaving if you can't get a decent offer by threatening. I've often heard of people being contacted halfway
through their notice period (or even the day after disconnection) with an offer worthy of sticking around.
I'm in a tricky situation as I'm paying roughly the same amount and am looking to leave, but I need uninterrupted broadband for work so I
can only leave half of it. Having said that, I reckon if we just had broadband, there's enough content out there to more than make up for no TV.
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big-vee-twin
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posted on 18/6/17 at 01:23 PM |
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Ive just signed up with origin broadband for £30 you get line rental all calls and fibre broadband.
Got rid of Sky and bought a freesat box and pay £6.99 a month for now tv, currently watching game of thrones on now.
Duratec Engine is fitted, MS2 Extra V3 is assembled and tested, engine running, car now built. IVA passed 26/02/2016
http://www.triangleltd.com
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britishtrident
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posted on 18/6/17 at 02:52 PM |
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The problem for me with SKY it is part of the Murdoch's Trump supporting evil empire.............
The main players in broadband TV in the UK are Netflix, Amazon, BT(and BT owned Plusnet), Now TV and Netfix. Youtube is also starting move into the
market.
Netflix is available by very reasonable monthly subscription on most types of broadband TV device although I am not sure about the Now TV box.
If you really want SKY Atlantic it is part of the Now TV entertainment package --- Now TV is part of SKY. Now TV set top boxes are sold at most
supermarkets at a subsidised price. Roku TV set top boxes and TV sticks also work with Now TV but also work with a lot more non-Sky channels. SKY
partly own Roku so there is no Amazon TV available on any Roku or Now TV devices. Roku make the Now Tv branded boxes but their own Roku branded
range are much better products.
Amazon Fire TV set top boxes and Fire TV Sticks are a wise buy --- Amazon is partly a subscription service and partly pay per view, the
subscription takes the form of Amazon Prime membership whichalso gives you free express delivery on products from Amazon and other fringe benfits.
Amazon original series such as Bosch are very high quality and included in the Amazon Prime package
Now TV/Sky channels are not available on Amazon TV devices but the Amazon devices have loads of choice including Netflix. I highly recommend the
Amazon Fire Stick it is an amazing little device but connects by WiFi only so if you have poor WIFI and need a hardwire network connection go for the
Fire TVset top box.
You will note I haven't mention the Google Chromecast it really isn't in the same class as the Roku Streaming Stick or Amazon TV stick
devices.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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gremlin1234
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posted on 18/6/17 at 03:46 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by britishtrident
The main players in broadband TV in the UK are Netflix, Amazon, BT(and BT owned Plusnet), Now TV and Netfix. Youtube is also starting move into the
market.
I thought Virgin Media and TalkTalk would both count,
for the OP, I would recommend the NowTV broadband bundle
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loggyboy
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posted on 18/6/17 at 03:58 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by gremlin1234
quote: Originally posted by britishtrident
The main players in broadband TV in the UK are Netflix, Amazon, BT(and BT owned Plusnet), Now TV and Netfix. Youtube is also starting move into the
market.
I thought Virgin Media and TalkTalk would both count,
for the OP, I would recommend the NowTV broadband bundle
They arent internet TV, just broadband suppliers.
Mistral Motorsport
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SteveWalker
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posted on 18/6/17 at 07:34 PM |
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We've just got rid of Sky and bought a Human fvp-4000t plus a Human H3. The former has three tuners and can record four channels while watching
a fifth. The latter can stream by itself, stream recordings from the other box or take over one of its tuners for live TV.
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spiderman
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posted on 18/6/17 at 08:26 PM |
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a book.
Spider
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bi22le
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posted on 18/6/17 at 10:31 PM |
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We dramatically reduced our virgin tv bundle around 18months ago.
I kept the highspeed fibre as nobody can make virgin for that, but bought an LG 4K XHD smart tv.
Im a student (part time) so get amazon half price. We also pay for Netflix.
Our TV has a massive SSD hard dive plugged in and can pause live TV. Anything I miss i get on one of the many on demand apps.
Total cost is about 35 a month. It works well for us.
The Virgin box was great but was just always filled with stuff I didnt fancy wayching. Not the case with Amazon and Netflix.
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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Bluemoon
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posted on 18/6/17 at 11:24 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by spiderman
a book.
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joneh
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posted on 19/6/17 at 08:29 AM |
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I told sky to poke it. Since leaving I get a phone call every two weeks and a letter offering 65% off. I got Amazon prime and installed a few
add-ons. It's a bit of a pain but saves £50 a month!
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stevebubs
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posted on 19/6/17 at 09:09 AM |
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quote: Originally posted by loggyboy
quote: Originally posted by gremlin1234
quote: Originally posted by britishtrident
The main players in broadband TV in the UK are Netflix, Amazon, BT(and BT owned Plusnet), Now TV and Netfix. Youtube is also starting move into the
market.
I thought Virgin Media and TalkTalk would both count,
for the OP, I would recommend the NowTV broadband bundle
They arent internet TV, just broadband suppliers.
TalkTalk offer an Internet-based TV Service... but no Sky Atlantic - that's only available on Sky/NowTV
https://www.talktalk.co.uk/shop/tv-and-broadband
[Edited on 19/6/17 by stevebubs]
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Doctor Derek Doctors
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posted on 19/6/17 at 09:15 AM |
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Dont threaten to leave... actually leave. Then wait for the grovelling offers to start. After 3 months we were offered our previously £55 per month
package for just £5!
At the end of the day Sky wpuld rather have £5 than £0 especially when you already jave the equipment. In the meantime thw sky box alrks as a freesat
box anyway
Designer and Supplier of the T89 Designs - Single Seater Locost. Build you own Single Seater Racecar for ~£5k.
Plans and Drawings available, U2U or e-mail for details.
Available Now: The Sports Racer Add-On pack, Build a full bodied Sports Racer for Trackdays, Sprints and Racing.
www.t89.co.uk
www.racecarwings.co.uk
callan@t89.co.uk
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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Mr Whippy
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posted on 19/6/17 at 11:36 AM |
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I use freeview and netflix on an apple tv box, my android phone as the controller, £6 per month plenty for me and most of the documentaries I watch
are on youtube. Kids have tons too.
oh yeah and I tap into my folks house's internet with a microwave dish (I have offered to help pay for it but they refused)
[Edited on 19/6/17 by Mr Whippy]
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Irony
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posted on 19/6/17 at 12:00 PM |
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Get a Freeview box or a TV with it built in and you get 150 channels free of charge. Then buy Amazon Prime. Free next day delivery and amazon
programs as well.
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coozer
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posted on 19/6/17 at 12:14 PM |
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Heres what i did...
After 25 years or more with sky found out i was paying twice for HD channels...
Rang them up, had a rant and cancelled, no offers of any deals or money back..
Bought an open source linux satellite receiver, an Xtrend ET1000 to be exact.. then I went beserk with a 90cm dish and 4 lnbs... pointed the dish at
19.2e and hung the others off the sides so I get 28.2e, 19.2e, 16.0e and 13.0e..
Now I have about 6000 channels in various languages but as most of the dubbed stuff carries the original soundtrack so stuff comes down in English as
well. Just watched Le Mans on the Polish Eurosport channel in english..
Subs are taken care of with a ccam server..
I also bought a chromecast and use that to stream from mobdro on my tablet..
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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britishtrident
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posted on 19/6/17 at 12:58 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by Irony
Get a Freeview box or a TV with it built in and you get 150 channels free of charge. Then buy Amazon Prime. Free next day delivery and amazon
programs as well.
Yes but sadly in reality Freview or Freesat have about 12 useful channels and some of those just show repeats of 1980's quiz shows.
I think the latest Amazon Fire Stick combined with Netfix subscription is the way to go
Amazon Prime although you have to pay for most recent movies is a good buy if just for the free next day (sometimes same day!) delivery and Amazon
originals like Bosch, Goliath, The Man in the High Castle and One Mississip are great they also saved Ripper Street from the BBC axe and
have exclusive deal for American Gods, Crossing Lines have loads of original kids stuff. If you have an enabled device voice activated search on
Amazon also is amazing.
Netflix still don't offer as much content in the UK as they do in the USA but they have a huge selection are expanding it, really good series
like Hell on Wheels, House of Cards, Designated Survivor, Brain Dead and Community as well as movies
[Edited on 19/6/17 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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dhutch
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posted on 19/6/17 at 06:49 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by britishtrident
Yes but sadly in reality Freview or Freesat have about 12 useful channels and some of those just show repeats of 1980's quiz shows.
I think the latest Amazon Fire Stick combined with Netfix subscription is the way to go
How many can you watch at once!!
Having had BT TV for five years I have just signed up to 24months internet with vodafone, who ive just renewed my mobile with, to see if there service
really can be any worse. If all goes well I have saved £700 on broadband over two years and get to keep my youview box which will still do half of
what I use if for. At £2.50 each thats a lot of amazon film rentals.
Daniel
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nick205
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posted on 20/6/17 at 08:10 AM |
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quote: Originally posted by Irony
Get a Freeview box or a TV with it built in and you get 150 channels free of charge. Then buy Amazon Prime. Free next day delivery and amazon
programs as well.
Never had Sky or any other pay TV service (better things to spend my money on). Quite happy with a Freeview and SWMBO has Amazon Prime. Not sure I
really understand the benefits Amazon Prime - seems to me you pay an annual subscription and then pay extra for films.
On balance I'm a tight ar5e and find TV pretty naff all around so the very idea of paying for it makes seems even worse. If I could find a way
around it I'd avoid paying a TV licence too
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Andybarbet
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posted on 20/6/17 at 07:34 PM |
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Lots of good information thanks :-)
I've spoken to sky & said I want to cancel, the best they offered was £64 per month taking a new 18 month contract but having to keep all of
our old equipment ! To add insult to injury, if my box then goes wrong I will have to pay £65 for an engineer to come out to see if they can fix it.
If I go on the sky tv website, for £62 a month I get 2 sky q new boxes & fibre optic broadband (we don't have fibre currently) but they will
not give me that deal. Told them to stick it so I'm now on a 31 day notice period.
Current options we are looking at are:
Virgin fibre optic broadband with landline phone £31 a month (Only need a landline for emergencies as my Mrs has MS).
Possible looking at buying 2 Now tv boxes (dirt cheap) & wife can subscribe to the Atlantic channel + whatever other channels come with it for
£6.99 a month.
Total cost of about £38 per month. So £45 ish per month saved.
Can anyone see any issues with this ? I think the virgin fibre sounds to be the best, they use their own cables etc & presumably it's man
enough to run 2 wireless now tv boxes at once ?
To be fair, I'm like a few of you guys & can live without tv completely, I only really watched Top gear but since its now on a pay channel i
dont watch that anymore. Its mainly for the wife, when shes in a bad MS relapse she is so whacked out that she tends to sit and watch the tv to try
& take her mind off of it.
Ultimately I do need the internet though so will have to pay someone for that.
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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