pro HC thread.

beenie · 21-11-2006, 05:36

ok. its about time we addressed the balance of negativity here.

HC:

Provides TV, internet and phone without the need for a dish or cable being installed, thats a plus for many.

They provide a good, if not great range of channels.

They provide a replay service, while not perfect, its still better than nothing and I can see it getting better as the technology allows.

They provide a reliable fast internet connection, with an excellent contention ratio and generous fair usage amounts.

They provide a resonably up to date pay per view film service, which for lazy / busy people like me, means I don't have to take it back.

They provide an excellent music service for mainstream tastes.

They provide an inexpensive free 01 02 phone service.

They provide what is a cutting edge technology for a good price.

They provide a STB that doesn't look like crap!

HC is still in it infantcy really.. but I'm happy to pay them the money rather than Sky and I can't get cable, so what choice do I have and that goes for many people.. its a good service that I believe will get better...

overscan · 21-11-2006, 12:40

Hmmmm... I think I'll don my flame retardent underpants and see where this one goes

mbear · 21-11-2006, 12:42

I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning...

(ducks and runs for cover)

Brush Master · 21-11-2006, 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbear

I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning...

(ducks and runs for cover)

He's still there from last night, admiring the beautiful HC STB and trying to determine its status, or the currently selected channel, from a square blue light...

(ohmegodohmegodohmegod)

dpvod · 21-11-2006, 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brush Master

He's still there from last night, admiring the beautiful HC STB and trying to determine its status, or the currently selected channel, from a square blue light...

(ohmegodohmegodohmegod)

Heh..give the guya a break!!!
I am glad he started a pro Homechice thread,,there has been too much negativity about the company and although it is not perfect..it certainly is better than N T HELL.

BBRealist · 21-11-2006, 14:21

Homechoice offer the best IPTV/Internet/Telephone service available in the UK at this time.

Yes they are also the only provider of said services in the UK at this time but it's something positive

pissedbob · 21-11-2006, 19:10

They're all good, valid points though. My bugbear is that they provided exactly the same service two years ago - there hasn't exactly been much changing with the times going on...

joshua321 · 22-11-2006, 01:21

In my opinion, Homechoice has its good points and its bad points, the latter mainly arising from the newness of the technology.

Good things:

-cutting edge technology, innovative use of a single phone line

-great for the many of us who can't have sky/cable and have bad freeview reception

-cheap and very clear about what you get for your money (including free calls!)

-customer services may not know much, but they do try and sort your problem out and give you freebies as apologies

Bad things:

-TV picture is still pretty poor quality on every HC TV I have seen (seen some freeview do a lot better). Pixelated and fuzzy, but not unwatchable. This needs to improve if HC is going to be a choice for people over freeview

-I wouldn't call the internet service 'reliable', has dropouts several times a week

-They've messed up my phone several times: dead line, interference (still there sometimes).

-I know more about Homechoice than a lot of the engineers/ customer services do, and they don't log problems properly. Free calls means my phonebill largely consists of calls to their helpline. They are really friendly and will sort problems out eventually though

-I just want more from them (hopefully when they have completed expansion): more content, more replay, a Homechoice PVR, red-button, subtitles, free caller display

As you can see, my opinion of Homechoice is really mixed, and I have no idea whether to recommend them or not. Hopefully at the end of 12 months I will have more reasons to do so (urgent: better picture, no internet dropouts, then you can take on the big guys).

Brush Master · 22-11-2006, 07:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshua321

In my opinion, Homechoice has its good points and its bad points...

Of course. On the positive side, I'd like to add that HC uses the right technology in principle, for its high bandwidth uplink channel. That's like cable television without the cable - good.

On the downside, I can only confirm inferior image quality and unstable service throughout.

When I switched back from HC to Freeview a few months ago, I almost couldn't believe my eyes how crystal clear (and pixellation-free) the TV image can be these days.

Sp, my conclusion is HC offers cool technology in an attractive bundle, but they need to make it work first.

Logan_Wolverine · 22-11-2006, 09:23

I have homechoice & freeview, & think the picture is fine, & detect no discernable loss of image between the 2 where I am, - close to an exchange possably - although I just have a good old fashioned CRT TV not a 60" plasma/LCD.

I electronically reboot the STB & login every day , and don't have any problems with service at all, again that may possibly be an exchange thing.

the
>without the need for a dish (SKY) or cable (NT Hell) being installed, is a big plus & can only help competition imho.

pobrien100 · 22-11-2006, 11:51

A pro HC thread and yet no sign of Peter We?

iSix · 22-11-2006, 12:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshua321

-I wouldn't call the internet service 'reliable', has dropouts several times a week

Maybe your line? My connection holds up for weeks at a time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshua321

Free calls means my phonebill largely consists of calls to their helpline. They are really friendly and will sort problems out eventually though

If you speak nicely to CS they sometimes refund these call costs via a credit on your next bill, I had mine for this month refunded (the calls were because caller display kept getting de-activated for some reason)

M_at · 22-11-2006, 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logan_Wolverine

I electronically reboot the STB & login every day , and don't have any problems with service at all, again that may possibly be an exchange thing.

Electronically or electrically - as far as I knew there's no option to reboot the box - just a power switch.

mbear · 22-11-2006, 16:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSix

Maybe your line? My connection holds up for weeks at a time.

Yeah - try getting them to change the profile - might be struggling at the speed you're trying to connect at. My internet is pretty darn stable now the speed is more modest...

Quote:

If you speak nicely to CS they sometimes refund these call costs via a credit on your next bill, I had mine for this month refunded (the calls were because caller display kept getting de-activated for some reason)

That's good to know. But why on earth they have an 0845 and no geographic alternative is plain stupid. At least the helpline should be free if you're a customer of their phone service... I'm with you - my phone bill would be zero without their helpline numbers.

mbear · 22-11-2006, 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brush Master

On the downside, I can only confirm inferior image quality and unstable service throughout.

Yeah, whatever happened to MPEG4 and all that - the picture quality never seems to have magically got better like they said it would once...

pissedbob · 22-11-2006, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbear

Yeah, whatever happened to MPEG4 and all that - the picture quality never seems to have magically got better like they said it would once...

I don't recall them promising that. What they did say is that it'd allow them to transmit the same quality using less bandwidth.

mbear · 22-11-2006, 22:40

suppose that's the subtlty, but you would have thought they would have come up with a way to use the bandwidth saved to stream at a higher bitrate where possible? maybe the boxes aren't up to it...

beenie · 23-11-2006, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbear

I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning...

(ducks and runs for cover)

cos not ALL of us work a 9-5....

as for better things to do, I just thought it was time to address the balance, something that seldom happens in forums.. its all.. bad bad bad bad, cos well thats kinda how it works.

unhappybunny · 23-11-2006, 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbear

I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning...

(ducks and runs for cover)

The homechoice service was probably poorly lmao

unhappybunny · 23-11-2006, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenie

ok. its about time we addressed the balance of negativity here.

They provide a good, if not great range of channels.

Many would argue that the channels are basic, and only really offer a few more entertainment channels than freeview.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenie

They provide a replay service, while not perfect, its still better than nothing and I can see it getting better as the technology allows.

Errrm actually, it just got a lot worse :S:S when ITV was removed from the service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenie

They provide a STB that doesn't look like crap!

Shame it doesn’t have aux out plugs on the back to connect to a Dolby digital decoder for better sound :S:S like 99% of other cable/ freeview/ satellite boxers have as standard.

TaG Eledhel · 23-11-2006, 22:40

i guess the reason we dont see pro HC posts and that goes the same for other isps/ tv providers ( sky ntl etc) is cos those that are happy with the service have no need to come onto forums and vent there frustrations.
after all we never get any joy when yelling at our prospective isps so where else can you go to get things off your chest.
i guess though hc isnt all that bad considering i was gonna switch to sky but thats just a complete joke and not even funny after waiting 3 months for a subscription code from em and still nothing and hearing about all the internet speed problems im glad i stayed here.
My only gripe is really the cost of HC which in my mind for the 8 meg service its around £10 to high per month. as for the tv is dont have it on HC cos its rubbish so nothing to really comment about the quality of it.
for home choice to get 5 outa 5 from me drop the broadband price by 10 and get adsl 2 sorted but i'll give em 3.5 outa 5

pissedbob · 23-11-2006, 23:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by unhappybunny

Shame it doesn’t have aux out plugs on the back to connect to a Dolby digital decoder for better sound :S:S like 99% of other cable/ freeview/ satellite boxers have as standard.

Erm, exactly how many TV channels broadcast in Dolby Digital? I think you'll find every channel HC (and Freeview) broadcast is in standard 2-channel stereo, and always has been.

You can quite easily hook a HC box up to a surround sound receiver if you like (using a SCART break-out lead - I do this myself) but you'll still only get fake surround sound upscaled from a stereo source - the same as you'd get from Freeview/NTL etc.

aprec · 24-11-2006, 09:49

Its one thing strating a pro HC thread its another to get pro HC posts (it seems) !!

dazbear · 08-12-2006, 22:17

I too was miffed when they took off ITV Replay, but have spent a lot of time looking at the alternatives - from cable to TopUpTV Anytime and the new BT Vision.

I have come to the conclusion that HC is the best of the lot in terms of service and value for money.

Thats not to say I am not looking forward to the roll out of a better service in the new year which may include Living TV, new STB with built in PVR and the return of ITV Replay.

Peter We · 09-12-2006, 00:15

I'd say that a PVR STB, HDTV is a given. ITV are apparently reorganising their replay offering and will come back to HC and cable soon.

As for new channels, I wouldn't like to hazard a guess.

21-11-2006, 05:36	#1
beenie Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 28	pro HC thread. ok. its about time we addressed the balance of negativity here. HC: Provides TV, internet and phone without the need for a dish or cable being installed, thats a plus for many. They provide a good, if not great range of channels. They provide a replay service, while not perfect, its still better than nothing and I can see it getting better as the technology allows. They provide a reliable fast internet connection, with an excellent contention ratio and generous fair usage amounts. They provide a resonably up to date pay per view film service, which for lazy / busy people like me, means I don't have to take it back. They provide an excellent music service for mainstream tastes. They provide an inexpensive free 01 02 phone service. They provide what is a cutting edge technology for a good price. They provide a STB that doesn't look like crap! HC is still in it infantcy really.. but I'm happy to pay them the money rather than Sky and I can't get cable, so what choice do I have and that goes for many people.. its a good service that I believe will get better...

21-11-2006, 12:40	#2
overscan Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 9	Hmmmm... I think I'll don my flame retardent underpants and see where this one goes

21-11-2006, 12:42	#3
mbear Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 214	I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning... (ducks and runs for cover)

21-11-2006, 13:03	#4
Brush Master Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, U.K. Posts: 1,560	Quote: Originally Posted by mbear I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning... (ducks and runs for cover) He's still there from last night, admiring the beautiful HC STB and trying to determine its status, or the currently selected channel, from a square blue light... (ohmegodohmegodohmegod)

21-11-2006, 13:20	#5
dpvod Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Islington,London Posts: 65	Quote: Originally Posted by Brush Master He's still there from last night, admiring the beautiful HC STB and trying to determine its status, or the currently selected channel, from a square blue light... (ohmegodohmegodohmegod) Heh..give the guya a break!!! I am glad he started a pro Homechice thread,,there has been too much negativity about the company and although it is not perfect..it certainly is better than N T HELL.

21-11-2006, 14:21	#6
BBRealist Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,045	Homechoice offer the best IPTV/Internet/Telephone service available in the UK at this time. Yes they are also the only provider of said services in the UK at this time but it's something positive

21-11-2006, 19:10	#7
pissedbob Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Surrey Posts: 417	They're all good, valid points though. My bugbear is that they provided exactly the same service two years ago - there hasn't exactly been much changing with the times going on...

22-11-2006, 01:21	#8
joshua321 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London Posts: 1,445	In my opinion, Homechoice has its good points and its bad points, the latter mainly arising from the newness of the technology. Good things: -cutting edge technology, innovative use of a single phone line -great for the many of us who can't have sky/cable and have bad freeview reception -cheap and very clear about what you get for your money (including free calls!) -customer services may not know much, but they do try and sort your problem out and give you freebies as apologies Bad things: -TV picture is still pretty poor quality on every HC TV I have seen (seen some freeview do a lot better). Pixelated and fuzzy, but not unwatchable. This needs to improve if HC is going to be a choice for people over freeview -I wouldn't call the internet service 'reliable', has dropouts several times a week -They've messed up my phone several times: dead line, interference (still there sometimes). -I know more about Homechoice than a lot of the engineers/ customer services do, and they don't log problems properly. Free calls means my phonebill largely consists of calls to their helpline. They are really friendly and will sort problems out eventually though -I just want more from them (hopefully when they have completed expansion): more content, more replay, a Homechoice PVR, red-button, subtitles, free caller display As you can see, my opinion of Homechoice is really mixed, and I have no idea whether to recommend them or not. Hopefully at the end of 12 months I will have more reasons to do so (urgent: better picture, no internet dropouts, then you can take on the big guys).

22-11-2006, 07:16	#9
Brush Master Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, U.K. Posts: 1,560	Quote: Originally Posted by joshua321 In my opinion, Homechoice has its good points and its bad points... Of course. On the positive side, I'd like to add that HC uses the right technology in principle, for its high bandwidth uplink channel. That's like cable television without the cable - good. On the downside, I can only confirm inferior image quality and unstable service throughout. When I switched back from HC to Freeview a few months ago, I almost couldn't believe my eyes how crystal clear (and pixellation-free) the TV image can be these days. Sp, my conclusion is HC offers cool technology in an attractive bundle, but they need to make it work first.

22-11-2006, 09:23	#10
Logan_Wolverine Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 121	I have homechoice & freeview, & think the picture is fine, & detect no discernable loss of image between the 2 where I am, - close to an exchange possably - although I just have a good old fashioned CRT TV not a 60" plasma/LCD. I electronically reboot the STB & login every day , and don't have any problems with service at all, again that may possibly be an exchange thing. the >without the need for a dish (SKY) or cable (NT Hell) being installed, is a big plus & can only help competition imho.

22-11-2006, 11:51	#11
pobrien100 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 72	A pro HC thread and yet no sign of Peter We?

22-11-2006, 12:18	#12
iSix Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: London Posts: 1,252	Quote: Originally Posted by joshua321 -I wouldn't call the internet service 'reliable', has dropouts several times a week Maybe your line? My connection holds up for weeks at a time. Quote: Originally Posted by joshua321 Free calls means my phonebill largely consists of calls to their helpline. They are really friendly and will sort problems out eventually though If you speak nicely to CS they sometimes refund these call costs via a credit on your next bill, I had mine for this month refunded (the calls were because caller display kept getting de-activated for some reason)

22-11-2006, 15:42	#13
M_at Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 550	Quote: Originally Posted by Logan_Wolverine I electronically reboot the STB & login every day , and don't have any problems with service at all, again that may possibly be an exchange thing. Electronically or electrically - as far as I knew there's no option to reboot the box - just a power switch.

22-11-2006, 16:41	#14
mbear Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 214	Quote: Originally Posted by iSix Maybe your line? My connection holds up for weeks at a time. Yeah - try getting them to change the profile - might be struggling at the speed you're trying to connect at. My internet is pretty darn stable now the speed is more modest... Quote: If you speak nicely to CS they sometimes refund these call costs via a credit on your next bill, I had mine for this month refunded (the calls were because caller display kept getting de-activated for some reason) That's good to know. But why on earth they have an 0845 and no geographic alternative is plain stupid. At least the helpline should be free if you're a customer of their phone service... I'm with you - my phone bill would be zero without their helpline numbers.

22-11-2006, 16:43	#15
mbear Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 214	Quote: Originally Posted by Brush Master On the downside, I can only confirm inferior image quality and unstable service throughout. Yeah, whatever happened to MPEG4 and all that - the picture quality never seems to have magically got better like they said it would once...

22-11-2006, 21:14	#16
pissedbob Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Surrey Posts: 417	Quote: Originally Posted by mbear Yeah, whatever happened to MPEG4 and all that - the picture quality never seems to have magically got better like they said it would once... I don't recall them promising that. What they did say is that it'd allow them to transmit the same quality using less bandwidth.

22-11-2006, 22:40	#17
mbear Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 214	suppose that's the subtlty, but you would have thought they would have come up with a way to use the bandwidth saved to stream at a higher bitrate where possible? maybe the boxes aren't up to it...

23-11-2006, 00:24	#18
beenie Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 28	Quote: Originally Posted by mbear I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning... (ducks and runs for cover) cos not ALL of us work a 9-5.... as for better things to do, I just thought it was time to address the balance, something that seldom happens in forums.. its all.. bad bad bad bad, cos well thats kinda how it works.

23-11-2006, 19:00	#19
unhappybunny Guest Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 278	Quote: Originally Posted by mbear I'd question why you haven't got better things to be doing with your time at half 6 in the morning... (ducks and runs for cover) The homechoice service was probably poorly lmao

23-11-2006, 19:06	#20
unhappybunny Guest Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 278	Quote: Originally Posted by beenie ok. its about time we addressed the balance of negativity here. They provide a good, if not great range of channels. Many would argue that the channels are basic, and only really offer a few more entertainment channels than freeview. Quote: Originally Posted by beenie They provide a replay service, while not perfect, its still better than nothing and I can see it getting better as the technology allows. Errrm actually, it just got a lot worse :S:S when ITV was removed from the service. Quote: Originally Posted by beenie They provide a STB that doesn't look like crap! Shame it doesn’t have aux out plugs on the back to connect to a Dolby digital decoder for better sound :S:S like 99% of other cable/ freeview/ satellite boxers have as standard.

23-11-2006, 22:40	#21
TaG Eledhel Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: surrey Posts: 296	i guess the reason we dont see pro HC posts and that goes the same for other isps/ tv providers ( sky ntl etc) is cos those that are happy with the service have no need to come onto forums and vent there frustrations. after all we never get any joy when yelling at our prospective isps so where else can you go to get things off your chest. i guess though hc isnt all that bad considering i was gonna switch to sky but thats just a complete joke and not even funny after waiting 3 months for a subscription code from em and still nothing and hearing about all the internet speed problems im glad i stayed here. My only gripe is really the cost of HC which in my mind for the 8 meg service its around £10 to high per month. as for the tv is dont have it on HC cos its rubbish so nothing to really comment about the quality of it. for home choice to get 5 outa 5 from me drop the broadband price by 10 and get adsl 2 sorted but i'll give em 3.5 outa 5

DS Forums

pro HC thread.

23-11-2006, 23:23	#22
pissedbob Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Surrey Posts: 417	Quote: Originally Posted by unhappybunny Shame it doesn’t have aux out plugs on the back to connect to a Dolby digital decoder for better sound :S:S like 99% of other cable/ freeview/ satellite boxers have as standard. Erm, exactly how many TV channels broadcast in Dolby Digital? I think you'll find every channel HC (and Freeview) broadcast is in standard 2-channel stereo, and always has been. You can quite easily hook a HC box up to a surround sound receiver if you like (using a SCART break-out lead - I do this myself) but you'll still only get fake surround sound upscaled from a stereo source - the same as you'd get from Freeview/NTL etc.

24-11-2006, 09:49	#23
aprec Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 67	Its one thing strating a pro HC thread its another to get pro HC posts (it seems) !!

08-12-2006, 22:17	#24
dazbear Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 691	I too was miffed when they took off ITV Replay, but have spent a lot of time looking at the alternatives - from cable to TopUpTV Anytime and the new BT Vision. I have come to the conclusion that HC is the best of the lot in terms of service and value for money. Thats not to say I am not looking forward to the roll out of a better service in the new year which may include Living TV, new STB with built in PVR and the return of ITV Replay.

09-12-2006, 00:15	#25
Peter We Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Posts: 953	I'd say that a PVR STB, HDTV is a given. ITV are apparently reorganising their replay offering and will come back to HC and cable soon. As for new channels, I wouldn't like to hazard a guess.