[mikerr]

Told the other half about how much HDMI cables cost yet?

Mine cost £4.50 from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/West-Coast-Cables

He'll make one to any length you like.

Work fine with TVdrive & 37" LCD

 

[Automan]

Yes the best option is to have both Tivo with its own digibox and Sky HD - The best of both worlds....

Of course your Sky Installer will have to run two more feeds to the dish from the chosen location of Sky HD.

Automan.

Ah...thanks Automan. This is the problem then.

So to be able to keep my Tivo functionality AND have HD, I would have to stay with my current regular digibox with Tivo, and also have a SkyHD box.

I assume this is perfectly possible on the one dish (and of course, on my Pio 434, bought 2yrs ago in readiness for HD) /

 

[eric23]

It'll be interesting to see if my installer will be accomodating at all. I'm hoping he'll run two new coax cables for the SkyHD service, leaving my existing one where it is for FreeSat. Then I'm hoping he'll connect up the FreeSat coax to the new quad LNB. But my LNBs are mounted on a non-standard bracket. I bet it'll be a headache... I wish my local independent installer was a bit further along with HD, then I would order through them instead of getting a jobsworth from Sky do it!

 

[Bakdraft]

I have to say I am a bit nervous about all of this...

My pioneer 505XDE is fed by my DV868 which upscales to HD and I have to say it is nothing special...

So I am a bit concerned that Sky asks you to comitt to HD for a year, pay £299 + £120 all without me ever seeing HD in the first place!!

I can't remember ever comitting so much money to something I had never seen to check whether it's worth it....

It sould be that if I am unhappy there is some sort of back out clause....I often wonder whether all the claims about how good HD is is made by people whohave inferior equipment...

But I guess we will soon see

 

[eric23]

I must say, I do have some concerns myself, Bakdraft. We're all purchasing something on the basis of what it "could be". The compression on the HD channels might be awful, but you kind of hope that they'll be doing all they can to impress.

There will, no doubt, be all sorts of ways to force them to give you your money back, distance selling, cooling off period etc. etc. Let's hope we don't have to start quoting legislation!

 

[Fozzie]

As a new customer they they specifically said as part of the the T&Cs that I have 14 days after installation (or was it 28?!) to cancel, so I'm not worried at all. (Note to self, don't cancel NTL just yet!)

 

[GarySargent]

I think it was 28 days.

 

[sanderton]

Nice big HDTV now on order to go with Sky+HD. Panansonic 36-inch CRT duly sold on eBay, was picked up today. Now have no TV at all in the living room!

 

[Bakdraft]

I think it was 28 days.

Hi,

I have just come off the phone having booked my installation for the 24th May and they told me I had 30 days after installation to cancel and receive a full refund on anything I had paid.

I am mighty glad about that as I was a bit concerned that it is not going to be all it's hyped up to be.

They also said that there may be extra charges levied at the installation if ' Extra equipment was needed e.g. cables.....?? ' I asked him to be more specific i.e. new LNB or dish... he saidd that they should be included. He didn't know the length of the HDMI cable.

He also said that the first installations will take place on the 22nd... which is pretty late into May

Oh well time to book a days Holiday!

Dave

 

[paxton]

Hi Bakdraft,

Do you mind me asking when you pre-ordered your SkyHD? I pre-registered way back when but didn't receive the email that was supposed to have come round, but I managed to pre-order on 4th April.

I just wondered if they were calling people in date order of when they pre-ordered.

Cheers.

 

[Bakdraft]

Hi Bakdraft,

Do you mind me asking when you pre-ordered your SkyHD? I pre-registered way back when but didn't receive the email that was supposed to have come round, but I managed to pre-order on 4th April.

I just wondered if they were calling people in date order of when they pre-ordered.

Cheers.

I 'showed interest ( I think that's the term) ages ago I would check when, but I can only do that from home not work, so I could let you know later. For Pre-ordering, after they sent out the invitation, it took about 5 days to make up my mind and actually pre-registered about the 3rd I think! As I say I can be more accurate when I get home.

I think that if they took your £30 then they will call you and most likely soon. I also think the terms and conditions said they would get round to calling you in a first come first serve basis

They called me at lunchtime today.

Dave

 

[eric23]

They've been trying to work out how the installations sequence works over at Digital Spy but so far, it seems completely random!

Sky did make a statement about it being "first come, first served" but that's not true. People who have booked way after me are being served first.

Just sitting here trying to be virtuous...

 

[paxton]

OK, thanks chaps.

They took my £30, so I guess it's just sit and wait then.

 

[Fozzie]

Please don't let this thread degenerate into the "but I ordered at 1037hrs on the first day and its not fair blah blah blah whine whine whine ..." There's enough of that crap on certain other forums!

 

[eric23]

I'm guessing you've already had your call, Fozzie?

 

[Fozzie]

I'm guessing you've already had your call, Fozzie?

That is of course correct But then I hadn't put my life on hold waiting for the phone to ring, like some people seem to have done. I'm sure that Sky didn't mean literally that people will be called absolutely strictly in order of sign-up. Can you imagine, the whole call centre put on hold, waiting to see if Mr Smith, number 1,374th on the list answers his phone....yes, yes, he's answered, call the next person

I do find it amusing/interesting that we've all shelled out a load of cash for something we (or at least most of us) have never even seen, let alone decided whether the extra quality is worth paying for!

The feeling I get from all the childish reactions over at AVforums is that a lot of people have signed up just so that they can say they've got Sky HD and gain some sort of kudos, rather than because they neccesarily want/need the extra quality. Myself, on the other hand....

I will of course be sad to say goodbye to TiVo. It has served me extremely well, as well as giving me hours of hacking and tweaking frustration and fun

 

[Automan]

My instal should be easy
1. New octo LNB on dish (which is easy to reach)
2. extra single (or replace single cable with twin) to kitchen - about 6-7m cable run

Then
Sky HD - living room
Normal digibox in living room (for Tivo)
Sky+ in kitchen
Normal digibox in bedroom (for tivo) - fta channels only

Simple - I hope

http://online.tns-global.com/wix/p138521845.aspx may also be of interest if you live in the correct area (HD Freeview Trails - BBC Etc).

Automan.

 

[paxton]

Apologies Fozzie - I'm well aware of the frenzy on other forums and wasn't intending to start some of debate on install dates, it was just a genuine question.

I'm still in pondering over what to do, to be honest. I've had an HDready tv for a couple of years now, waiting for the box to show it, but I've had Tivo for much longer and am rather reluctant to give it up.

I guess the problem is that I don't know if Sky+ is a sufficient replacement for the way I use Tivo, which is nothing special, just plenty of shows on season pass on the main channels. I've never seen a Sky+ demo, let alone it working in the flesh, I've only heard horror stories about the fact that the "series links" tend to be very flakey. Any comments?

On the other hand, I'd love the ability to record/watch the movies in HD and 5.1, and I'm REALLY looking forward to the HD sports coverage.

I'm debating whether to hook the Tivo up to the SkyHD box and see if that works the way I want. I'm aware that I will run into problems for certain combinations of watching/recording, but running my existing digibox in parrallel is perhaps stretching the monthly subs a little far.

 

[eric23]

I fee very much the same way as you, paxton. I am also reluctant to give up TiVo functionality, I'm also very concerned about Sky+ inadequacies, but I'm looking forward to be able to record the satellite stream, and also excited about 5.1.

I'm planning on running my TiVo on a FreeSat box. And then Sky+ will be completely seperate.

Also on your comments, Fozzie, about the reactions at AVforums, I haven't seen them there, but there's plenty of similar stuff on Digital Spy. I must confess I'm getting a little bit peeved about Sky not having called me back yet. For me, it's not about having the kudos of saying "I've got SkyHD", I've just been really excited about getting HD and can't wait for it! I also specifically want one of the first allocation of boxes, as I need a component output. So I'll be really pee'd off if other people who have ordered much later get a component output, and I don't!

 

[Fozzie]

Is there a suggestion that the first generation boxes will have HDMI and component outputs, with component being dropped in future versions? Presumeably you'll get a reduced PQ if you use component instead of HDMI.