Going back to Virgin after 12 Months with Sky
Steve1977
Posts: 1,274 Forum Member
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Thought that the grass would be greener to be honest and although I was saving about a tenner with Sky, it wasnt really worth it in the end. True, it introduced us to Wireless Broadband through their free router but the bad points outweighed the good:
* Box would freeze up an awful lot
* So frustrating only being able to record 1 thing at a time
* Contrary to peoples suggestions, the additional +1 Channels didnt help in this regard
* Net speed wasnt too good when playing online games
* Missed Video On Demand
* Really miss going through the channels, clicking info and finding out whats on that other channel.
* Unable to select 'backup' and go to previous channel
Really, really disappointing IMHO. (I'v put this in the event that people want to know why im going back to Virgin as other threads of this ilk seem to)
Only problem with going back is that Im 5 Months through a 12 Month contract for their Broadband. (Got the TV back in July). My deal was free for 6 Months and £10 a month for the other 6 months. So at the most I'll have to pay £60 but I was wondering...
Do new customers with Virgin get the first three months free or half price? If this is the case then it would cover (roughly) the cost of £60 for getting out of contract with Sky on their broadband.
Or are Virgin simply offering the following:
* Free V+
* No Installation Fee
If any kind folks could confirm it would be much appreciated. Going to instigate proceedings in June for cutoff in July.
* Box would freeze up an awful lot
* So frustrating only being able to record 1 thing at a time
* Contrary to peoples suggestions, the additional +1 Channels didnt help in this regard
* Net speed wasnt too good when playing online games
* Missed Video On Demand
* Really miss going through the channels, clicking info and finding out whats on that other channel.
* Unable to select 'backup' and go to previous channel
Really, really disappointing IMHO. (I'v put this in the event that people want to know why im going back to Virgin as other threads of this ilk seem to)
Only problem with going back is that Im 5 Months through a 12 Month contract for their Broadband. (Got the TV back in July). My deal was free for 6 Months and £10 a month for the other 6 months. So at the most I'll have to pay £60 but I was wondering...
Do new customers with Virgin get the first three months free or half price? If this is the case then it would cover (roughly) the cost of £60 for getting out of contract with Sky on their broadband.
Or are Virgin simply offering the following:
* Free V+
* No Installation Fee
If any kind folks could confirm it would be much appreciated. Going to instigate proceedings in June for cutoff in July.
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Comments
the V+ box are only available free to the XL customers, why? because its pays for itself because virgin have already risen the prices for XL to enable the box to be "free", nothing is free, its free in the sense that they have paid for it already, you just have to pay them back.
from personal experience, virgin media customer service is rubbish, and until they sort that out, im sure sky will be one notch above them. that and they more HD channels than virgin (which i think is a joke anyway, hd is a damn gimmick)
not that im siding with sky (all you virgin radicals out there), personally id rather stick with Freeview than be with either.
both are overpriced, and overrated.
Much prefer to join Virgin for the reasons I stated above. Sky users may not believe it due to them being constrained for so long but the ability to record 2 things and watch a 3rd is extremely liberating.
I do think HD is overrated but the on-demand offering is anything but a gimmick. It's the way forward and I can only see it getting bigger and more important. Just the music videos alone make it worth switching to Virgin for me.
:rolleyes:
The on-demand is excellent.
Why do you think its a 'Gimmick'?
Cause when i had it i wouldn't call it on demand as such, as it always froze and said 'high demand in your area' error message, suppose it depends where you live
This worked for us for 3yrs - Not trying to look like a Sky ad, but most of your box issues would be solved if you stayed with Sky but choose the HD box.
This is the only box that has the new EPG, you can......
......use search/scan for other channels and access the synopsis.
Flick back to previous channel.
It can record 2 programmes at once (don't know why your + box wouldn't do the same, in a flat, only one feed maybe?) while watching a recording.
My box has been very stable over the 4yrs of use. Seems luck of the draw on both sides to how your box operates.
VM BB is hard to beat, unless you live on top of the exchange the speeds are hard to beat, sometimes it's worth paying that bit extra for a better service.
Can't help with VOD, only that Sky have said it will be launching this year.
Up to you who you go with, just thought I'd give some relevant info, something you may not have been aware of and something your current provider can offer.
As mentioned, being with Virgin is like taking the shackles off because you can record 2 programs and watch a 3rd on Live TV.
Which is ideal for us because we tape lots off the TV and then watch them in one go. Lost track of the amount of times that my wife's taping 2 shows and Im unable to flick through the channels.
Obviously Sky has it's good points such as Football First but to be honest, 60 minutes of highlights is too tiresome once the initial excitement has passed - be much better if it was put into MOTD length bites.
Also going back to the software...absolutely dislike the way you have everything on the one page whereas with Virgin you have a section for saved TV Shows and a section for future recordings.
With Virgin I can tape 2 things and flick through other channels to watch a 3rd. I can delve into the fantastic VOD or watch loads of music videos of my choice.
The layout of the recordings is more intiutive too. Sky cannot provide any of this...the main thing being taping 2 things and watching live tv on a 3rd feed.
We also dislike the Satellite Dish on the outside of the house - sure it's not a problem if you live in a nice detached area where they'r spaced out (due to the houses being detached) but when you live on a terraced street and you have Dishes (seemingly) randomly placed all over the shop it looks very messy indeed.
You can record 2 things with sky, not 1.
...but you can't watch another channel at the same time. Sky only has two tuners.
Before I joined Virgin, we used a Freeview dual tuner PVR with a similar limitation, but since getting our V+HD the ability to record two programmes while watching a third has become truly liberating.
Really? I came to sky from after about a year and half with v+ and can honestly say I don't miss or need the extra tuner at all. If a clash does occur I just watch something I have already recorded.
Which just proves that we all have different requirements from our equipment or tailor our viewing habits to suit the capabilities of our hardware.
This is why I mentioned with Sky you can record 2 and watch a recording, unless they lived in a flat and only had 1 feed.
Now the OP has clarified that they wish to record 2 and watch 1 live - in that case they would be looking at the V+ box.
No-one will believe me when I say this but with my V+ box, I can record 3 things at once (I haven't tried watching recorded content at the same time but can defo record 3 things all at once - even a 3rd little red light appears).
I have to be a bit honest here though, it doesn't always let me but seems it doesn't pick up on all 'clashes' now and again (usually series links etc) and when the 3rd recording kicks in, I loose the Live TV feed.
Happy days!!!
This is an infrequent bug. The hardware is capable of recording three at a time (as you have seen) but the software isn't designed to do this.
Ever since having Sky+ and then SkyHD, finally ditching it for Virgin we have hardly ever watched s tv show live. If its live its usually the news, otherwise 99% of what we watch has already been recorded.
Because of recording 2x at once sometimes there is a 3rd which will clash, but a few minutes spend jiggling things around (most shows are repeated at some point in the week) or choosing to watch something on demand solves most of our needs.
Example being the last ITV series of 'send in the dogs' (it follows police dogs, and their handlers of course
I much prefer the Virgin EPG to the Sky+HD one, I have the new V+ Plus box, not the SA one, sat on my Sky+HD as I write; its smaller, faster and has much more functionality. For example copy to my DVD recorder whilst still watching live TV, record Radio plus of course all the on-demand stuff.
I have had Sky HD since we moved house but have returned to Virgin which we had before we moved.
Used their 'contact us' and filled out each service individually and the guy cheekily came back and said he'd recommend i find an alternative supplier first of which I responded that I want it cancelled in a month - and for me to do the worrying if i lose services lol.
As it happens my contract with cease with Sky on 21st June but Virgin come a few days earlier on the 19th
A few questions though if poss... I had Virgin for 6 years prior to thinking the grass was greener and with them I had 1 number but two lines (one in living room and one in bedroom) and obviously the setup for the TV. So...when they activate me again will everything fire up once again? Before I had a USB Motorola modem but this time im going to use the supplied router and use this downstairs (even though as well as having a telephone socket in the spare room I have a white 'Telewest' box which the Motorola modem was connected to)
Mostly interested if I'll get access to the two lines again when the Virgin line becomes 'Live' again.
Also what are my chances of getting a Samsung box?
Yeah I know.
Never been sure why they don't just let you have the choice