Should I consider BT Vision
[Deleted User]
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I've just moved into a new property. I'm previously a Virgin Media customer, and after several weeks of much frustration, angry phone calls and broken promises, I got nowhere with the installation of cable at my new property. Consequently I canceled my Virgin contract, with hints that it may be months before the issue could be resolved.
Anyway, that now leaves me requiring a solution. Sky seems attractive, as I've had experience with them before, and I know they offer a solution that will work - I can get TV, phone and broadband from them with little fuss.
But then I see this whole BT Vision thing. It looks good and seems very cheap to me (only £19/month for EVERYTHING if I'm reading their site correctly?!). Is it any good though? How does it compare to Sky? I want TV recording feature, so it would either be a Sky+ box, or whatever the BT Vision version is. Do they do HD programming? Anything else worth knowing?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks...
:cool:
Anyway, that now leaves me requiring a solution. Sky seems attractive, as I've had experience with them before, and I know they offer a solution that will work - I can get TV, phone and broadband from them with little fuss.
But then I see this whole BT Vision thing. It looks good and seems very cheap to me (only £19/month for EVERYTHING if I'm reading their site correctly?!). Is it any good though? How does it compare to Sky? I want TV recording feature, so it would either be a Sky+ box, or whatever the BT Vision version is. Do they do HD programming? Anything else worth knowing?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks...
:cool:
0
Comments
The TV side really depends on your viewing needs. Sport, films SKY. General Vision.
Vision no HD yet, but if you have HDMI with an HD ready TV picture is better than Sky.
Broadband, you will here good and bad about both. In my West country area, My Sky man would not touch Sky. I use BT myself, have had problems, hopefully in the past.
Sorry to be vague, bit really the crunch is your program requirements.
You could look at Top Up TV Anytime. That gives you limited extra choice for £9.99 a month. Programmes are "downloaded" to the Thomson box overnight, but be aware there are ongoing issues with the boxes reliability.
At the end of the day it depends on how and what you wish to view.
For reference, the package I've been offered on Sky is;
- Broadband Connect (8mb, 40GB monthly allowance)
- Phone Unlimited (free land line calls day and evening, and to 10 int'l destinations)
- TV (standard, no movies or sports)
- Sky+ box
All for £41/month, plus £11 BT line rental, plus £99 for the Sky+ box. Oh, and £30 installation.
I have a 37" Plasma with HDMI connection, so that is a factor to consider perhaps.
I'm in the south, near Portsmouth. Had Sky (just TV) in previous property about a year or so ago, and no problems. Not had any experience with their broadband or phone though. But I would imagine their isn't much between Sky and BT on this, it's the TV service where they differ.
That sounds very expensive for the Sky deal, particularly if you aren't overly fussed about TV. BT Vision is £30 one-off. There is nothing further to pay unless you choose one of their packages (e.g. £4 a month for football) or pay-to-view a film or TV programme from On Demand.
Think long and hard about your purchase. If you do not watch a lot of tv, as i don't, Vision could be the way for you to go. Weigh up the pros and cons though.
For a year, when you add it all up, (including BT Line rental, Sky+ box and installation) Sky works out at £62.75/month. S**t, that is alot when you look at it like that!!
Does the BT Vision recording box let you watch something else while recording something?
As previously noted the picture quality over an HDMI connection from BTV is superb on my Bravia.
Overall I think BT offer a much more rounded service;
- free homehub and dect phone
- inclusive unlimited off peak calls
- second phone line [voip]
- Norton security package
- Digital Vault [although I have never got it to work reliably]
Price wise, my BT bill is normally about £35 all in. Any OnDemand use/subscriptions are extra.
Personally, the broadband service I get from BT is the best I've ever had. I don't want to open up a whole debate around this as I know different people have different experiences but for me, I've never had any problems at all in the past year since I moved to my current property and judging by other forums on here, this is more than can be said for thousands of others!
Yes, it has two tuners. You can watch one channel and record another, or you can record two separate channels (if you are not watching TV).
Can you watch recorded content whilst recording from both tuners? or can the HDD in the box not keep up with that?
Mines in the bedroom, i've recorded quite a bit of stuff but not actually gotten around to watching any of it yet
For me there are no cons at all. I've only had the service two weeks, but i find it suits me perfectly.
I do exactly that quite regularly so you most certainly can! :cool:
One thing I intend on doing ('cos mine is in the bedroom as well) is look at putting some rubber grommits on the screws to reduce noise as the HD is noisy to my ear (worse when in standby )
Should be possible to increase the soundproofing without increasing the heat so I plan on having a play at some point
All seems a bit odd, as they said they'd have to put the order in before they could see if the line was fast enough!!
All in all, seems a good deal though. Phone + broadband for about £35/month, and £30 for the setup of BT Vision and that's it. Cheaper than Sky for sure, and I won't miss much from them.
There is no minimum contract time on the packages
Please do not compair BT vision with Sky they are two entirley different packages.
You only get the channels free view offers the the option of Pay on demand for some additional content. you are not purchasing additional channels
If you are happy with freeview channels and your broad band from BT who will give you a Twin tuner PVR for the trouble then its a winner.
I just turn mine off at the wall when I goto bed, that shuts it up
I'm determined to get it silenced without resorting to anything major as I'm sure a few little tweaks here and there will do the trick
Some people I believe have disconnected the fan with no ill effects.
no idea why it doesn't spin it down when its in standby tbh.
My thompson used to.
And you could turn off the fan from the engineers menu
The HD is already cushioned by grommets - well mine is anyway.
The vbox doesn't have a low power / standby mode - it just cuts off the signal to the TV & does not build a live TV buffer.
I know - Not very clever or eco friendly :rolleyes:
Could the HD even be replaced if that's the main noise culprit? You can do this on Sky+ boxes I believe.
Both can be replaced if you so wish - open it up and have a look.