I have the TalkTalk YouView package, including the Entertainment Boost (essentially all the Sky entertainment channels, plus Sky Sports News and TCM). Total cost £34 a month, if I remember rightly. For that I get all my phone calls. all my Internet usage and as much streamed TV as I like. The streamed quality is good too, pretty well indistinguishable from their broadcast equivalents. My broadband currently runs at about 11Mbps, which is sufficient, certainly for the current package. I have registered for the upgrade to fibre optics when that arrives in my area (not in the short term unfortunately). The box is by Huawei. It is smaller than the Humax box and doesn't have a digital read-out on the front. Instead there is a row of illuminated coloured discs, which seem to flicker when it is recording. It looks a little cheap, but it seems well made and delivers the goods where it counts.
I was a Sky subscriber from 2000 - 2006. In those days my TV and phone / Internet services were entirely separate. Now I have a much more comprehensive package for less money (a lot less when inflation is taken into account) and I am not tied into a long term Sky contract. I have a two year contract with TalkTalk, which some people might find off-putting, but I can honestly say that I have been with them for years and they have always served me well.
As a TalkTalk Plus customer I was considering getting YouView but changed my mind as I heard so many bad reports about it and I've already got a Freeview HD recorder anyway. I agree that £14.50 does seem a little too good to be true. It'll be interesting to see how long TalkTalk are able to sell their package for such a low price. There is such a thing as going too cheap.
I am a TT+ customer and I am on the waiting list for a YouView box. And I just want the box. I don't want (or need) one of the 500 engineers to come round and fit it. They can have the £50 installation fee, just give me the box!
Best of luck with that. I had the engineer round to fit mine, and it didn't involve anything that I couldn't have done myself. He did, however, replace my router and reset by broadband to its correct speed at the same time and at no extra charge.
I did order youview, but cancelled the order because id have to take out a brand new 24 month contract & id also lose my 6 months of half price TT Plus. Anyway a lady from mumbai called yesterday offering me £25 install & keeping my discounts. Anyway she said she would call me back in 10 mins because there was a problem with my previous cancellation. Any way half an hour later i had a call this time a man from mumbai who knew nothing about the previous call & told me i wouklnt get the offer the lady mentioned. So no youview for me.
What happens to you-view box after 18 months? Customers get to keep it?
I am already paying nearly £30pm to Post Office but if talk talk offers this box free for £29pm surely this is very good offer providing if and when you cancel talktalk you still get to keep the freeview HD PVR?
The only problem seems to be their traffic management policy!
Watch out - It always looks good on the face of it, but with all the add-ins you are paying about the same as you would with Sky.
£15.50 Talk Talk Broadband tv phone including Freeview channels Essentials pack You View gives you their basic pack.
Add into that £14.95 compulsory monthly line rental - they always bypass mentioning this monthly obligation - strange that. YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT.
Now you are paying £30.45 for their basic package!
Add in their offered Boost packages per month cost as follows -
Sky Sports pack £30
Sky Movies pack £15
TV Starter Boost £5
More dosh being paid out.
Admittedly you can choose rental on these packs on a monthly basis, but base that against the facility now with Sky to watch on other devices AS WELL as on your tv at same time, so that makes Sky seriously attractive - you can be on holiday and watch Sky on you laptop, tablet or phone, something I doubt is happening with any other company, or you can be at home watching tv, and other family can be watching it away from home on pc.
It is always worth speaking with Sales Reps as often they will enhance packages to get you to go with them.
I personally favour Sky as they have been good over the years when I have asked to reduce or change packs etc. I have been with TalkTalk in the past and whilst no great complaints, now prefer Sky.
Cannot comment of Virgin as I am out of cable area, which I find in this day and age a surprise as I do not live in the back of beyond but just outside a town.
Good luck whichever you go for and hope you mange a good deal.
What happens to you-view box after 18 months? Customers get to keep it?
I am already paying nearly £30pm to Post Office but if talk talk offers this box free for £29pm surely this is very good offer providing if and when you cancel talktalk you still get to keep the freeview HD PVR?
The only problem seems to be their traffic management policy!
I get nearly 7mbp with PO all the time.
Yes the box is yours to keep at the end of the contract period.
You can also reduce the cost of line rental to £9.50 monthly by opting for "Value Line Rental".
So for £25.00 a month you get unlimited broadband, 24/7 landline calls and the Youview Box with "TV Gift" on demand channels.
Providing your speed is over 5mbp you can take the extra live channels on a month by month basis
Yes the box is yours to keep at the end of the contract period.
You can also reduce the cost of line rental to £9.50 monthly by opting for "Value Line Rental".
So for £25.00 a month you get unlimited broadband, 24/7 landline calls and the Youview Box with "TV Gift" on demand channels.
Providing your speed is over 5mbp you can take the extra live channels on a month by month basis
That's exactly what my Daughter's done, really good value package. Luckily for her, she uses one of our Sky Go sign-ins for pay and connects her laptop to the TV.
TalkTalk really need people to take the extra boosts to make it worthwhile for them.
Watch out - It always looks good on the face of it, but with all the add-ins you are paying about the same as you would with Sky.
£15.50 Talk Talk Broadband tv phone including Freeview channels Essentials pack You View gives you their basic pack.
Add into that £14.95 compulsory monthly line rental - they always bypass mentioning this monthly obligation - strange that. YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT.
Now you are paying £30.45 for their basic package!
Add in their offered Boost packages per month cost as follows -
Sky Sports pack £30
Sky Movies pack £15
TV Starter Boost £5
More dosh being paid out.
Admittedly you can choose rental on these packs on a monthly basis, but base that against the facility now with Sky to watch on other devices AS WELL as on your tv at same time, so that makes Sky seriously attractive - you can be on holiday and watch Sky on you laptop, tablet or phone, something I doubt is happening with any other company, or you can be at home watching tv, and other family can be watching it away from home on pc.
It is always worth speaking with Sales Reps as often they will enhance packages to get you to go with them.
I personally favour Sky as they have been good over the years when I have asked to reduce or change packs etc. I have been with TalkTalk in the past and whilst no great complaints, now prefer Sky.
Cannot comment of Virgin as I am out of cable area, which I find in this day and age a surprise as I do not live in the back of beyond but just outside a town.
Good luck whichever you go for and hope you mange a good deal.
Well considering you have to pay line rental to whomever you are with then TalkTalk costs £14,50 p/m. And why on Earth would anyone want to watch TV on holiday? Sky are the money grabbers and need to change!
What are those channels then? What is a 'TV Gift'?
Apart from freeview channels what else this package offers free?
I wouldn't need boots channels etc. £30pm is enough considering that they charge £50 for the installation.
Does this PVR from talk talk really worth extra cost?
£30pm for tv plus v £15 unlimited BB essentials?
Where are you working out the £15 unlimited BB essentials from?
TalkTalk works out at £30.45 - with that you get access to the TalkTalk player and unlimited downloads plus full access to their on-demand library.
With BT, the unlimited on-demand library option is £12.50 but you would also have to take broadband and phone with it, so the closest comparable option I can see for unlimited downloads (and still having full access to on-demand) would be £43.95 - this includes line rental.
If you wanted TV channels from TalkTalk, you could get them on that package by way of a 'TV Gift'. If you wanted them from BT when they launch, you would have to take an Infinity package instead and a quick glance at their site would see that going up to £50.95 (but obviously live channels aren't currently available so pricing will change accordingly).
TalkTalk is subject to an 18 month contract and a £50 installation charge.
BT is subject to a 12 month contract for TV and a separate 18 month contract for broadband as well as a £49 'activation fee' and in the case of Infinity option 1, an additional £25 'activation charge'.
Where are you working out the £15 unlimited BB essentials from?
TalkTalk works out at £30.45 - with that you get access to the TalkTalk player and unlimited downloads plus full access to their on-demand library.
With BT, the unlimited on-demand library option is £12.50 but you would also have to take broadband and phone with it, so the closest comparable option I can see for unlimited downloads (and still having full access to on-demand) would be £43.95 - this includes line rental.
If you wanted TV channels from TalkTalk, you could get them on that package by way of a 'TV Gift'. If you wanted them from BT when they launch, you would have to take an Infinity package instead and a quick glance at their site would see that going up to £50.95 (but obviously live channels aren't currently available so pricing will change accordingly).
TalkTalk is subject to an 18 month contract and a £50 installation charge.
BT is subject to a 12 month contract for TV and a separate 18 month contract for broadband as well as a £49 'activation fee' and in the case of Infinity option 1, an additional £25 'activation charge'.
I am working out the £15 unlimited BB essentials from talk talk in actual fact it is even cheaper if 12 months line rental paid in advance.
So talk talk without TV seems to be only £3.25pm BB + £9.50 line rental = £12.75 which sounds really cheap.
That's why I asked if it is really worth going for TV plus package which cost the double.
I am not considering BT at all anyway for the very same reasons you quoted. I'd have to pay BT vision package + Broadband + Line rental so youview from BT seems to be very expensive comparing to youview from Talktalk.
But one benefit with BT vision is they have a much better youview box with a bigger hard drive. Humax is a very well known company & very reliable when it comes to PVR technology.
I have never heard of Huawei so no idea how reliable their box is, last thing one would want is to commit many months of contract and end up with a pvr that's ridden with bugs.
By the way what is TalkTalk player? and
Is full access to talk talk on-demand library free?
Is the on demand basically catch up tv from freeview channels or some extra channels / programmes included in £15.50 talk talk charge for plus tv?
well they couldn't have managed well could they if you used 220gb
What is your BB speed when when it is 'managed' and slowed down?
Surely not like from 16mps to 6mps peak time is it?
* Unlimited Broadband TalkTalk slows down non-time critical peer to peer file sharing at peak times, to ensure the best internet experience for all of our customers. Promotional unlimited download allowance is subject to availability and maybe withdrawn at any time. Fair usage policy applies to unlimited download allowance. Please visit talktalk.co.uk/fairusage for more details.
I've never noticed any slowdowns. I'm on around 8mb. Most of my downloads are via Sky catch-up. I watch most of my regular Sky HD shows that way and tend to get them in the morning the day after transmission. No ads to spin through!!
I am working out the £15 unlimited BB essentials from talk talk in actual fact it is even cheaper if 12 months line rental paid in advance.
So talk talk without TV seems to be only £3.25pm BB + £9.50 line rental = £12.75 which sounds really cheap.
That's why I asked if it is really worth going for TV plus package which cost the double.
I am not considering BT at all anyway for the very same reasons you quoted. I'd have to pay BT vision package + Broadband + Line rental so youview from BT seems to be very expensive comparing to youview from Talktalk.
But one benefit with BT vision is they have a much better youview box with a bigger hard drive. Humax is a very well known company & very reliable when it comes to PVR technology.
I have never heard of Huawei so no idea how reliable their box is, last thing one would want is to commit many months of contract and end up with a pvr that's ridden with bugs.
By the way what is TalkTalk player? and
Is full access to talk talk on-demand library free?
Is the on demand basically catch up tv from freeview channels or some extra channels / programmes included in £15.50 talk talk charge for plus tv?
If you're not really interested in the TV side of things it shapes up as:
BT 'Unlimited Broadband' is £31.45 (incl. full price line rental) and TalkTalk 'Essentials' (unlimited broadband) is £18.45 (incl. full price line rental). With the line rental saver options factored in, BT would be the equivalent of £26.75 and TalkTalk £16. This doesn't include any introductory offers such as 6 months half price etc. Obviously there are cheaper BT options available but these come with usage caps (10GB for example).
Line rental saver does change things a touch but if you were looking to pay 'standard' line rental and are looking at things from a pure cost/value for money point of view then you can't knock TalkTalk's offer inclusive of a YouView box and unlimited on-demand viewing at £30.45 when compared to BT's broadband only option (no YouView box included) for £31.45.
Obviously there are many factors to take into account though but on price alone, TalkTalk clearly win. How they would rate on customer service, quality of service and continued additions to their service etc are another matter entirely. I suppose they can be viewed as the 'cheap and cheerful' option
I have just taken up the latest offer from TalkTalk sent last week. No installation fee, and £5 discount for 12 months on a 18 month contract. When I telephoned, I was offered even more, I ended up with free Homeplugs worth £35 (which I use now anyway) and free International calls to about 30 countries worth £3.50 /month as well. So this is what I will pay, £10.50 (instead of £15.50) a month, plus the £9.50 a month for line rental I have already paid in one lump, so £20 a month all in for everything for 12 months, then £25 for a further 6 months.
I have added the entertainment boost for £10 a month to see how it goes, but without recording of Sky programs at the moment that may get cancelled, and stick to SkyGo on the internet for nothing.
So to sum up, for £20 a month, Broadband, Phone Line, 24/7 calls, TV, Some International Calls, Homeplugs, NO setup fees. Any better deals?
I was an existing TV/Broadband/Phone customer.
Arrived yesterday (Wednesday) by UK Mail, everything included. Took just a few minutes to disconnect the old Tiscali TV box and install the new one, and just a few more minutes to get it all up and working. Tried it all out last night, well pleased, so far so good.
For the money it is a no brainer, especially with the added value thrown in.
But one benefit with BT vision is they have a much better youview box with a bigger hard drive. Humax is a very well known company & very reliable when it comes to PVR technology.
I would dispute that. I had a Humax 9200T PVR for six years before opting for YouView. Don't get me wrong. It was a very good box, but it wasn't 100% reliable, especially after the first three years of daily use (the same could probably be said of most devices that rely on a hard disc).
My YouView box is the Huawei variety, but don't get the idea that the Humax alternative is automatically better because it has a bigger hard drive and comes from a higher profile company. It isn't. The Huawei box automatically deletes the oldest recordings as the drive fills up, unless you archive them, so there is always room for new recordings. True, there is no digital readout on the box's facia, but is that such a drawback? I know what channel I am watching and I have a clock to tell me the time. The little coloured lights flicker back and forth when the box is recording. The device, itself, is sturdy and well made - quite small too. Huawei is a major manufacturer of mobile phones, incidentally.
Performance-wise, it is flawless. I have just bought an HDTV, having previously watched on my old CRT TV, and I am seriously impressed. I should imagine that the Humax box delivers equally good results. As regards long-term reliability, it is too early to say - but it has performed faultlessly for the past five months, so I have no complaints.
I would dispute that. I had a Humax 9200T PVR for six years before opting for YouView. Don't get me wrong. It was a very good box, but it wasn't 100% reliable, especially after the first three years of daily use (the same could probably be said of most devices that rely on a hard disc).
My YouView box is the Huawei variety, but don't get the idea that the Humax alternative is automatically better because it has a bigger hard drive and comes from a higher profile company. It isn't. The Huawei box automatically deletes the oldest recordings as the drive fills up, unless you archive them, so there is always room for new recordings. True, there is no digital readout on the box's facia, but is that such a drawback? I know what channel I am watching and I have a clock to tell me the time. The little coloured lights flicker back and forth when the box is recording. The device, itself, is sturdy and well made - quite small too. Huawei is a major manufacturer of mobile phones, incidentally.
Performance-wise, it is flawless. I have just bought an HDTV, having previously watched on my old CRT TV, and I am seriously impressed. I should imagine that the Humax box delivers equally good results. As regards long-term reliability, it is too early to say - but it has performed faultlessly for the past five months, so I have no complaints.
Strangely the wife is still using our Humax 9200 in conjuction with the new YouView box, so she is in the position of recording FOUR channels at the same time, don't ask me why.
The reason we kept the Humax with the old Tiscali box, was two reasons. First was the noisy fan on the old box, so she only put on the Tiscali box to watch or record, the rest of the time it was switched off at the mains. :rolleyes:
Secondly, the Humax has performed excellent over the years and she loves the two minute x2 button to miss the adverts, 9 times out of ten my wife only watches recorded programs to miss the darn adverts. :eek:
Comments
I was a Sky subscriber from 2000 - 2006. In those days my TV and phone / Internet services were entirely separate. Now I have a much more comprehensive package for less money (a lot less when inflation is taken into account) and I am not tied into a long term Sky contract. I have a two year contract with TalkTalk, which some people might find off-putting, but I can honestly say that I have been with them for years and they have always served me well.
I am already paying nearly £30pm to Post Office but if talk talk offers this box free for £29pm surely this is very good offer providing if and when you cancel talktalk you still get to keep the freeview HD PVR?
The only problem seems to be their traffic management policy!
I get nearly 7mbp with PO all the time.
£15.50 Talk Talk Broadband tv phone including Freeview channels Essentials pack You View gives you their basic pack.
Add into that £14.95 compulsory monthly line rental - they always bypass mentioning this monthly obligation - strange that. YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT.
Now you are paying £30.45 for their basic package!
Add in their offered Boost packages per month cost as follows -
Sky Sports pack £30
Sky Movies pack £15
TV Starter Boost £5
More dosh being paid out.
Admittedly you can choose rental on these packs on a monthly basis, but base that against the facility now with Sky to watch on other devices AS WELL as on your tv at same time, so that makes Sky seriously attractive - you can be on holiday and watch Sky on you laptop, tablet or phone, something I doubt is happening with any other company, or you can be at home watching tv, and other family can be watching it away from home on pc.
It is always worth speaking with Sales Reps as often they will enhance packages to get you to go with them.
I personally favour Sky as they have been good over the years when I have asked to reduce or change packs etc. I have been with TalkTalk in the past and whilst no great complaints, now prefer Sky.
Cannot comment of Virgin as I am out of cable area, which I find in this day and age a surprise as I do not live in the back of beyond but just outside a town.
Good luck whichever you go for and hope you mange a good deal.
Yes the box is yours to keep at the end of the contract period.
You can also reduce the cost of line rental to £9.50 monthly by opting for "Value Line Rental".
So for £25.00 a month you get unlimited broadband, 24/7 landline calls and the Youview Box with "TV Gift" on demand channels.
Providing your speed is over 5mbp you can take the extra live channels on a month by month basis
That's exactly what my Daughter's done, really good value package. Luckily for her, she uses one of our Sky Go sign-ins for pay and connects her laptop to the TV.
TalkTalk really need people to take the extra boosts to make it worthwhile for them.
Well considering you have to pay line rental to whomever you are with then TalkTalk costs £14,50 p/m. And why on Earth would anyone want to watch TV on holiday? Sky are the money grabbers and need to change!
What are those channels then? What is a 'TV Gift'?
Apart from freeview channels what else this package offers free?
I wouldn't need boots channels etc. £30pm is enough considering that they charge £50 for the installation.
Does this PVR from talk talk really worth extra cost?
£30pm for tv plus v £15 unlimited BB essentials?
Where are you working out the £15 unlimited BB essentials from?
TalkTalk works out at £30.45 - with that you get access to the TalkTalk player and unlimited downloads plus full access to their on-demand library.
With BT, the unlimited on-demand library option is £12.50 but you would also have to take broadband and phone with it, so the closest comparable option I can see for unlimited downloads (and still having full access to on-demand) would be £43.95 - this includes line rental.
If you wanted TV channels from TalkTalk, you could get them on that package by way of a 'TV Gift'. If you wanted them from BT when they launch, you would have to take an Infinity package instead and a quick glance at their site would see that going up to £50.95 (but obviously live channels aren't currently available so pricing will change accordingly).
TalkTalk is subject to an 18 month contract and a £50 installation charge.
BT is subject to a 12 month contract for TV and a separate 18 month contract for broadband as well as a £49 'activation fee' and in the case of Infinity option 1, an additional £25 'activation charge'.
I am working out the £15 unlimited BB essentials from talk talk in actual fact it is even cheaper if 12 months line rental paid in advance.
So talk talk without TV seems to be only £3.25pm BB + £9.50 line rental = £12.75 which sounds really cheap.
That's why I asked if it is really worth going for TV plus package which cost the double.
I am not considering BT at all anyway for the very same reasons you quoted. I'd have to pay BT vision package + Broadband + Line rental so youview from BT seems to be very expensive comparing to youview from Talktalk.
But one benefit with BT vision is they have a much better youview box with a bigger hard drive. Humax is a very well known company & very reliable when it comes to PVR technology.
I have never heard of Huawei so no idea how reliable their box is, last thing one would want is to commit many months of contract and end up with a pvr that's ridden with bugs.
By the way what is TalkTalk player? and
Is full access to talk talk on-demand library free?
Is the on demand basically catch up tv from freeview channels or some extra channels / programmes included in £15.50 talk talk charge for plus tv?
The £3.25 is an introductory offer.
I'm on Essentials and it's £6.50 a month plus line rental (I pay a year in advance so it's £9.50).
The BB is 'managed' in peak times with restrictions, but t's unlimited (I used 220gb in January).
Sorry, don't know I haven't been to my daughter's since her installation.
well they couldn't have managed well could they if you used 220gb
What is your BB speed when when it is 'managed' and slowed down?
Surely not like from 16mps to 6mps peak time is it?
I've never noticed any slowdowns. I'm on around 8mb. Most of my downloads are via Sky catch-up. I watch most of my regular Sky HD shows that way and tend to get them in the morning the day after transmission. No ads to spin through!!
Not doing much heavy stuff in the evenings.
If you're not really interested in the TV side of things it shapes up as:
BT 'Unlimited Broadband' is £31.45 (incl. full price line rental) and TalkTalk 'Essentials' (unlimited broadband) is £18.45 (incl. full price line rental). With the line rental saver options factored in, BT would be the equivalent of £26.75 and TalkTalk £16. This doesn't include any introductory offers such as 6 months half price etc. Obviously there are cheaper BT options available but these come with usage caps (10GB for example).
Line rental saver does change things a touch but if you were looking to pay 'standard' line rental and are looking at things from a pure cost/value for money point of view then you can't knock TalkTalk's offer inclusive of a YouView box and unlimited on-demand viewing at £30.45 when compared to BT's broadband only option (no YouView box included) for £31.45.
Obviously there are many factors to take into account though but on price alone, TalkTalk clearly win. How they would rate on customer service, quality of service and continued additions to their service etc are another matter entirely. I suppose they can be viewed as the 'cheap and cheerful' option
I have added the entertainment boost for £10 a month to see how it goes, but without recording of Sky programs at the moment that may get cancelled, and stick to SkyGo on the internet for nothing.
So to sum up, for £20 a month, Broadband, Phone Line, 24/7 calls, TV, Some International Calls, Homeplugs, NO setup fees. Any better deals?
I was an existing TV/Broadband/Phone customer.
Arrived yesterday (Wednesday) by UK Mail, everything included. Took just a few minutes to disconnect the old Tiscali TV box and install the new one, and just a few more minutes to get it all up and working. Tried it all out last night, well pleased, so far so good.
For the money it is a no brainer, especially with the added value thrown in.
I would dispute that. I had a Humax 9200T PVR for six years before opting for YouView. Don't get me wrong. It was a very good box, but it wasn't 100% reliable, especially after the first three years of daily use (the same could probably be said of most devices that rely on a hard disc).
My YouView box is the Huawei variety, but don't get the idea that the Humax alternative is automatically better because it has a bigger hard drive and comes from a higher profile company. It isn't. The Huawei box automatically deletes the oldest recordings as the drive fills up, unless you archive them, so there is always room for new recordings. True, there is no digital readout on the box's facia, but is that such a drawback? I know what channel I am watching and I have a clock to tell me the time. The little coloured lights flicker back and forth when the box is recording. The device, itself, is sturdy and well made - quite small too. Huawei is a major manufacturer of mobile phones, incidentally.
Performance-wise, it is flawless. I have just bought an HDTV, having previously watched on my old CRT TV, and I am seriously impressed. I should imagine that the Humax box delivers equally good results. As regards long-term reliability, it is too early to say - but it has performed faultlessly for the past five months, so I have no complaints.
Strangely the wife is still using our Humax 9200 in conjuction with the new YouView box, so she is in the position of recording FOUR channels at the same time, don't ask me why.
The reason we kept the Humax with the old Tiscali box, was two reasons. First was the noisy fan on the old box, so she only put on the Tiscali box to watch or record, the rest of the time it was switched off at the mains. :rolleyes:
Secondly, the Humax has performed excellent over the years and she loves the two minute x2 button to miss the adverts, 9 times out of ten my wife only watches recorded programs to miss the darn adverts. :eek: