Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?

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ITSMILNER
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PostWant to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by ITSMILNER » Thu May 09, 2019 7:57 pm

Currently have TV, Internet and Phone through Sky TV but it’s gotten so expensive plus the Sky Q box seems to keep having tech faults.

I am now thinking of cancelling the TV package completely (just having free view channels) and moving to streaming services. We currently already have a Netflix sub and Amazon Prime Video, I would then get passes to Now TV as and when I want to watch that content.

I also have quite a few movies and TV series on ITunes so would ideally have a device that can play them as well.

So, what is the best option to go for? Do any of you guys do this?

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by KjGarly » Thu May 09, 2019 8:06 pm

Those tech faults, are they when you record something and it won't let you play because of a fault? That's happened a lot with things I've recorded on mine, pain in the arse seeing as my contract is till March 2019. I have the movie package/on demand movies for an extra £8 a month (Instead of £19) and that's on a rolling contract with Sky so can cancel the movies anytime which is a good thing.

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ITSMILNER
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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by ITSMILNER » Thu May 09, 2019 8:24 pm

KjGarly wrote:Those tech faults, are they when you record something and it won't let you play because of a fault? That's happened a lot with things I've recorded on mine, pain in the arse seeing as my contract is till March 2019. I have the movie package/on demand movies for an extra £8 a month (Instead of £19) and that's on a rolling contract with Sky so can cancel the movies anytime which is a good thing.


Yep that’s the one, I have tried the steps online to sort it and it works for a week or 2 but then goes back to faults again.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by KK » Thu May 09, 2019 8:39 pm

I dumped my Sky+ HD box last summer and then Sky completely last month, also shifting my Fibre broadband over to NowTV (£30 with Anytime Calls and 6 months of Entertainment, and a further £90 cashback through Quidco). On the Broadband front, nothing has changed. I didn’t even have to change my SkyQ router (though they do send you a NowTV branded one should you still wish to swap it out). IP address and speeds also remained the same. Live Chat also responded to me immediately the other day.

Occasionally I do miss the recording facilities on the box, mainly for Live sport, but most of the time everything is now available on-demand. BBC iPlayer and surprisingly ITV Hub are very good, C4 has everything but the picture quality is ropey, and Channel 5 is all over the place with two completely different apps on Xbox and PS4 with some programmes appearing on one but not the other, days later, or not at all.

NowTV generally has all the on-demand, films, and boxsets that feature on SkyQ (for a premium!) for the relevant channels but the picture quality isn’t as good as through the Sky box. They did however rectify the dodgy frame rate for Sky Sports last year at long last. And 1080p is supposed to be turning up but it’s now running almost a year late (a bit like their promises of HDR on SkyQ).

One thing you will definitely notice though is the amount of promotional offers available through NowTV compared to Sky. They’ll either be on their website, on the cancellation page, or they’ll regularly email. Free Passes can also be found on products from time to time such as Gillette, Nestle chocolate, Pringles, PlayStation Plus, McDonald’s and Carling beer.

I just plugged my dish cable into the back of my Sony TV, which picks up at least 300 satellite channels from the U.K. and abroad, about 20 in HD, and 2 in 4K. Picture quality is miles better than on Sky HD. Other brands such as LG and Samsung have the Freesat branding. Alternatively a cheap Freesat box can be picked up for around £50. A recorder which does the same job as Sky+ is available for £170 but it’s looking a bit antiquated these days, and a new 4K model is on the way.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Dowbocop » Thu May 09, 2019 8:48 pm

KjGarly wrote:Those tech faults, are they when you record something and it won't let you play because of a fault? That's happened a lot with things I've recorded on mine, pain in the arse seeing as my contract is till March 2019. I have the movie package/on demand movies for an extra £8 a month (Instead of £19) and that's on a rolling contract with Sky so can cancel the movies anytime which is a good thing.

Can you not demand a new box? You would expect consumer law to rule that working equipment for the duration of a TV contract is a fairly basic right.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by poshrule_uk » Thu May 09, 2019 8:49 pm

I use my phone and chromecast, a lot of streaming box's appear not to have all the apps

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by ITSMILNER » Thu May 09, 2019 8:56 pm

KK wrote:I dumped my Sky+ HD box last summer and then Sky completely last month, also shifting my Fibre broadband over to NowTV (£30 with Anytime Calls and 6 months of Entertainment, and a further £90 cashback through Quidco). On the Broadband front, nothing has changed. I didn’t even have to change my SkyQ router (though they do send you a NowTV branded one should you still wish to swap it out). IP address and speeds also remained the same. Live Chat also responded to me immediately the other day.

Occasionally I do miss the recording facilities on the box, mainly for Live sport, but most of the time everything is now available on-demand. BBC iPlayer and surprisingly ITV Hub are very good, C4 has everything but the picture quality is ropey, and Channel 5 is all over the place with two completely different apps on Xbox and PS4 with some programmes appearing on one but not the other, days later, or not at all.

NowTV generally has all the on-demand, films, and boxsets that feature on SkyQ (for a premium!) for the relevant channels but the picture quality isn’t as good as through the Sky box. They did however rectify the dodgy frame rate for Sky Sports last year at long last. And 1080p is supposed to be turning up but it’s now running almost a year late (a bit like their promises of HDR on SkyQ).

One thing you will definitely notice though is the amount of promotional offers available through NowTV compared to Sky. They’ll either be on their website, on the cancellation page, or they’ll regularly email. Free Passes can also be found on products from time to time such as Gillette, Nestle chocolate, Pringles, PlayStation Plus, McDonald’s and Carling beer.

I just plugged my dish cable into the back of my Sony TV, which picks up at least 300 satellite channels from the U.K. and abroad, about 20 in HD, and 2 in 4K. Picture quality is miles better than on Sky HD. Other brands such as LG and Samsung have the Freesat branding. Alternatively a cheap Freesat box can be picked up for around £50. A recorder which does the same job as Sky+ is available for £170 but it’s looking a bit antiquated these days, and a new 4K model is on the way.


Interesting, I didn’t even think about plugging the satellite dish into the TV once I have cancelled Sky. That would be good for the freeview stuff.

I have noticed Now TV have a lot of offers now you mention it, another reason why I was looking at this streaming route. Quality shouldn’t be a problem (hopefully the HD stuff comes up soon)

I’m guessing buying an Apple TV might be my best option, that seems to be the only way I can get all my ITunes library playable through the same device?

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by KK » Thu May 09, 2019 9:04 pm

Apple TV 4K would be the only option for iTunes. Luckily it’s also the best streaming box available, and has the most impressive graphics and design comparable to SkyQ. Netflix, Amazon, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, and NowTV are all on there.

Cheapest option is the NowTV Roku boxes/sticks, which are regularly thrown in either free or heavily discounted with passes. No Amazon Prime app with that though, and menus are a bit basic. You can also Live Pause on those.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by rinks » Thu May 09, 2019 9:23 pm

You mentioned in another thread about your Xbox One. That will cover most stuff, with the notable exception of your iTunes content.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Lagamorph » Thu May 09, 2019 9:28 pm

One thing to point out, you can't use a SkyQ dish for freesat as is, you'll have to get the LMB changed. SkyQ uses a different LMB that doesn't work with SkyHD or Freesat.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by ITSMILNER » Thu May 09, 2019 10:14 pm

rinks wrote:You mentioned in another thread about your Xbox One. That will cover most stuff, with the notable exception of your iTunes content.


I was thinking of using a console but I don’t think everyone in the house would find it as easy to use as I would (the controller and menu interface I mean)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by rinks » Thu May 09, 2019 11:01 pm

ITSMILNER wrote:
rinks wrote:You mentioned in another thread about your Xbox One. That will cover most stuff, with the notable exception of your iTunes content.


I was thinking of using a console but I don’t think everyone in the house would find it as easy to use as I would (the controller and menu interface I mean)


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Ah, right, fair point. You could get a media remote to make it more user-friendly (I use a Logitech Harmony), but maybe a dedicated box is the way to go.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by RichardUK » Thu May 09, 2019 11:04 pm

Apple TV 4K

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Moggy » Fri May 10, 2019 7:37 am

RichardUK wrote:Apple TV 4K


:lol:

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Zellery » Sat May 11, 2019 6:44 am

I also had no idea that I could plug my satellite cable into the back of my TV? My mind is blown!

I have a 4k LG TV. I assume it would all pick up through the Freesat app then?

Edit: Just looked at the back of my TV. There appears to be only one screw type plug whereas the Sky one has two.

Do I need to buy some sort of adapter for the Sky plugs to get it to work with my TV?

Edit 2: I screwed just one of the plugs in and then auto tuned for satellite and it seemed to pick everything up.

Is that how everyone else has done it or would there be a more optimal way? I don't know if the quality is affected with just one plug, for example.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Mommy Christmas » Sat May 11, 2019 7:07 am

Ring Sky and tell them you want out.
They wont want to lose you. Tell them youve lost your job or you're back on crack.

You might get everything free.
Worked for me.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Mommy Christmas » Sat May 11, 2019 7:09 am

Zellery wrote:I also had no idea that I could plug my satellite cable into the back of my TV? My mind is blown!

I have a 4k LG TV. I assume it would all pick up through the Freesat app then?

Edit: Just looked at the back of my TV. There appears to be only one screw type plug whereas the Sky one has two.

Do I need to buy some sort of adapter for the Sky plugs to get it to work with my TV?

Edit 2: I screwed just one of the plugs in and then auto tuned for satellite and it seemed to pick everything up.

Is that how everyone else has done it or would there be a more optimal way? I don't know if the quality is affected with just one plug, for example.



Sky has 2 so you can watch one feed and record the other. The Freesat in a tv doesnt usually record so you only need one.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by KK » Sat May 11, 2019 7:50 am

Some televisions have both satellite connectors, either for connecting to a second dish and allowing you to pick up more channels from throughout Europe or for effectively turning the TV into a Sky+ box when you also plug in a portable HDD or SSD. Your TV may still have a recording feature, but it would only allow you to record and watch the one channel. If you have both Freeview and Freesat/or satellite on the TV, you could in theory watch one feed while recording from the other, but some TVs don’t allow this; you have to choose either Freeview/YouView or satellite at boot up, for legal reasons. There should be play, pause and rewind logos and buttons on the remote control if so.

Also,

Now TV will finally gain a Full HD streaming option later this year.

A Sky spokeswoman exclusively told Pocket-lint that, after years of customer requests, the service is trialling 1080p video for both its live and on demand content: "Later this year we will be introducing the option of streaming Now TV both live and on demand in Full HD, with content from the likes of Sky Atlantic, Sky One and Sky Sports," she said.

"Like any new functionality, we always conduct trials before releasing new products or features to all our customers."

It is interesting that the upgrade is being described as an "option". Perhaps the currently available HD (720p) resolution will be available too, at a cheaper price point. However, Sky wouldn't confirm whether or not the move to 1080P would come with additional costs.

Sky could offer a new, premium version of Now TV, possibly dubbed Now TV+, to run alongside its existing HD service. This is a similar approach to Netflix and how it prices its packages in the UK and abroad. Netflix offers standard definition, high definition and Ultra HD packages, for example.

Alternatively, it could just upgrade the video quality for all customers.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/tv/news/now ... -launching

Hurrah!

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Zellery » Sat May 11, 2019 11:18 am

Thanks for the replies.

I've set up a TV guide with all the basic channels so that's better than nothing.

Also, great news about Now TV finally getting 1080p. About time.

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PostRe: Want to get rid of Sky TV and move to streaming services - What’s the best box?
by Lagamorph » Sat May 11, 2019 11:53 am

The Sky X (TV over IP) service is launching in Austria as well soon, so hopefully not too long before it comes to the UK.

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