written by on 13/05/2013
The picture quality is good on HD channels much better than the SD box. However the sound output level over HDMI is really so low many of the channels are unwatchable. This particularly applies to SD channels. From the various Sky forums they know all about this but have no plans to correct this. What makes this especially annoying is the old SD boxes had a software volume control that has been removed from the HD box.
written by on 18/10/2012
new box an dish fitted next day engineer had to call back screen going black jntermitanly cable changed .same fault until sky came out to replace box ,2nd box even wors locks up continually have to disconect and reboot contacted unhelpfull desk waiting for third box not holding my breath how can they charge for service which is not fit for purpose
written by on 26/09/2012
how can sky say i cannot cancel broadband/phone when they cannot fit dish to new property and i took it out as a package deal
written by Carol.m on 04/07/2012
After having sky HD for nearly 3 years I decided that paying £70+ a month for programs was too much so I decided to cancel Sky HD, unfortunately I have the old HD Box which cannot be used as Sky + so in order reduce my subscription I had to pay £64 for a sky+ box. Needless to say I cancelled my subscription as they are currently offering new boxes to new customers. I can't complain about the quality of the pictures, I moved house and took sky with me and it was fine but I got fed up paying an extra £10.25 p/m and I also could no longer have a sky telephone line or unlimited broadband because the exchange near me needs upgraded, so all my bills went up.
written by on 10/06/2012
I have used HD for several months. I've never experienced the technical problems some other reviewers encountered but I do find the service a bit clunky. What I mean by this is that HD channels have to be specifically located and sometimes it's just easier not to bother. As an HD customer it would be great if the system defaulted to an HD broadcast if this is available. Instead it's often a case of seeing a prog to watch and then working through the channel list to see if it is being broadcast in HD. The BBC channel is a good example. The news is an HD broadcast but the moment it switches to local news you have to change to SD and then back again once the local news is finished. You have to be dedicated to keep switching between HD and SD and searching out the channels. Had I known all this beforehand I would have thought twice.
written by mowser on 20/11/2011
I've been a sky customer for some time now and had previous issues with on the old standard boxes and Sky plus boxes but I've had my HD box for over a year with no issues. The picture quality is fantastic, especially for sports but also on the HD movie channels. The options and features on the menus are also greatly improved from standard Sky +. I love my HD Box especially as I managed to get it supplied & fitted for no extra cost. My father-in-law has recently gone with a virgin HD box and it doesn't even get close for picture quality and the menu options are awful.
written by on 14/07/2011
is it just me ? since i moved up from the old sky box i have had a total of 5 different hd boxes in 5 weeks each one has the same problem they overheat they do not record when you want them too and you will do a reset every day so learn how to access the hidden menu you will need to do it often. i will be telling sky to keep their junk and i will be switching to the better tivo virgin box why do these company's use junk material for the hardware it must cost them a fortune in call outs and returns
written by Gherky on 02/07/2011
I have now had Sky HD for around 8 months and I have to say that the picture quality compared with standard defintion is superb and I can not understand anyone who says different. The only bad thing I can knock sky on is there knowledge, over the phone, of their own equipment! I had to phone numerous times because my Sky HD box kept freezing and the only way to resolve this was to unplug and hard reset. After a new dish and two new boxes I 'Googled' the problem and found that it was the 'Auto Off' function that was causing the problem and after turning this off I have had no problem but surely Sky should know this to be a problem? So in a nutshell, it is simply superb when it is working!
Written on: 07/06/2012
How are you comparing picture quality? Sky standard definition is much poorer that freeview standard definition, if the two look the same to you that would indicate limitations in your monitor (some high def monitors are poorly setup in terms of standard definition) on a decent set with freeview you can clearly tell when the source is HD.
In percentage terms I would give Sky SD 30% Freeiew SD 60% Sky/Freeview HD 85% (not 100% as HD could be better)
Of course Sky make things worse by adding those horrible dogs (on screen idents) on all their channels
written by Frosteee on 31/05/2011
I'm on a free trial of Sky HD after being a regular viewer of Sky for over a year. We had already been given a Sky HD box even though we weren't on the HD package so we effectively got HD channels from BBC, ITV and Channel 4 for free without need to subscribe to HD for £10 a month. Now we've got the HD package on a free trial we access to HD tv from a whole host of channels, none if which I like! I mainly watch BBC or Channel 4 so I don't need 20 channels of rubbish US TV in HD. The only thing that I would consider getting in HD would be the Sports as the extra definition is more noticeable and useful. All in all it's a nice to have and a good test for my new 42 inch LED TV but I don't feel that I get £10 a month of value from the HD subscription over and above the free HD channels.
written by on 05/05/2011
I am stunned by the negative reports regarding the SKY HD. Like some people I have been a SKY customer for years, I have had cable and gone back again to them. I used to have the normal SKY tv and decided to upgrade to HD after getting my HD/3D tv. I am mystified by the very poor remarks given. I love my SKY HD! There is a defifnite difference between the normal signal and HD. On my big 42" tv it looks so great and clear. I have not had any problems with recording, viewing or recording diffrent channels!!!! Don't understand that one!! The 3D is fantstic, we all enjoy it, football is great! When we contacted SKY about installation, they said they could send the box to us and do a DIY installation, we opted for that the box came the next day!!! Easy to install and the customer services guy was excellent with us. Again, cannot fault. I contacted Virgin to compare a like for like package and they could not match my full Sky Package and wanted more money. I have heard bad stories regarding Virgin and they cannot guarantee certain things. ie - Pay for HD you only get certain things on Virgin on HD. Pay HD on Sky you get everything including 3D. I know people slate 3D - but we enjoy it. Sorry to upset the negative customers but SKY has been very good for us. I don't mind paying my £60 a month, as we get a lot out of it. Some people spend £60 a month going to the gym, I don't I enjoy my television. Sky do have there faults at times, but has there ever been a perfect company?
written by on 27/04/2011
I have been a loyal Sky customer for over 8 years and always have there new technology. I have multiroom and the box they transfered (About 4 years old) broke. I contacted them and asked them to replace it and was told it £65 or I should have paid them £9 per month. Apparently they are not happy with the £72 I pay them every month. When I went on the sky website as a new customer I can get everything I already pay for free and they will give me £100 worth of vouchers aswell!!
My cancelation has been submitted but hey just don't care. I sent 2 emails to there complaints department asking why a new customer would get treated better and they won't respond. I tried to sontact them through there chat system as an exisiting customer and it tells me no one is available but try contacting them through there new customer option and they are on you straigh aware.
I am fed up of being treated second class for being an existing customer
Written on: 30/04/2011
I found this review very helpful because... I thought i was the only one having these problems with Sky.
<br/>As i can't aford a new Box i may have to pay the £65 though. But does that fix the problems?????????????
Written on: 02/10/2012
its very true get your act together sky trying to charge poeple £65 when they are already paying a fortune is wrong dont pay it people just cancel if they let you cancel it wont be long before they get in touch begging for your custom try it and see
Written on: 29/06/2011
We are having trouble with Sky service. Basically wanted to upgrade to HD and multiroom having been a customer for 10 years expected this order would be simple!
Plan date for installation and Engineer came and told us that they can't do this installation as aerial on chimney and now with 'Health and Safety' req not equip for one man. After several calls!!!! they rearranged another date and was rest assured that their 'special team' engineers would sort this problem out and rearranged another date. So wanted another 2 weeks and our Sky signal was down they were aware of this after more calls!! - Next installation 8-1pm no one turned up, called Sky a Engineer called to say delayed. He arrived 2.35 didn't know what was expected of this installation basically says he couldn't do this!!!! Now we are sending letters and email to resolve this. I think that we will seriously now more elsewhere
Written on: 02/06/2011
If you've been a customer for a while, just tell them you want to leave. They will cough up a new box.
written by Kevin Pendegrass on 16/04/2011
I can safely say the Sky HD box is the worst piece of equipment I have ever owned.Recordings constantly fail, the box needs resetting at least once a day as the picture is always cutting out and tonight, lo and behold, I put a channel 4 programme in my planner to record and it records a programme on itv4 that was on at the same time instead!On other occasions the red light shows a programme is recording on the sky box but when I go into my planner the said programme does not show as being recorded so consequently I can't play it back.
I contacted Sky who replaced the box but the current one is causing exactly the same problems.Thought I was the only one experiencing all this until I read countless other reviews from people with the same difficulties.I pay £64 a month for my Sky package but the uselessness of the HD box makes it vastly overpriced.
written by on 08/04/2011
i have had sky plus hd 3 times in 3 difrent propertys of mine and i had my new sky plues HD set up 3 weeks ago i have nevr been more disapointed with sky in my life i hate it i cant use my recordings atall i love the sine no satalight signel reciving
also ricording fail clash ech
i reset my box upto 5 times a day i have had sky on the phone 13 times the next thing sky would like me to do is pull out the box take it for some fresh air and put it on my head
they say its amaizing but i think not i may aswell go and put 45 quid down a grid
so sorry for my spelling i no its rubish ha ha
NEVER GET SKY
written by conisbroughmiller on 12/03/2011
had sky for over a year now, when i orignially rang up for an install I requested multi room, but the lady who took my order kindly messed up and after months of ringing and complaining they offered to install multiroom for £150 i politely told them NO, I had plans of returning to virgin at the end of my 12 month contract, but then i remembered all the problems i had with virgin, no chance would i ever go back to virgin.
So i am tied into another 12 month contract with sky for opting to take multi room, I pay £40 a month for Telephone, Broadband and multi room which includes all channels except movies and sports, which is really quite reasonable, although I have cancelled the HD part of the service as to pay an extra £10 for the service feels ridicolous for the few channels you get, if you are looking to go ahead the standard channels received through an aerial, and get all your entertainment/communication requirements into one bill, you cannot beat sky, just please avoid virgin
written by Mister Merlin on 30/01/2011
Although not the most reliable piece of equipment I have ever owned, I was quite impressed by the HD picture on my TV once everything was finally connected up, though the installation engineer made a right mess and drilled a hole that alomst destroyed my conservatory floor because he did not look and notice that it was higher than the point he was drilling into in the wall behind the TV!! Still, those problems aside, I realise that Sky have to pay for the subsidised boxes, but really, should you pay for better picture quality? I would have thought that all TV companies are obliged to give you the best sound and picture quality as a matter of course... not dress it up and charge you more for it? £10 a month is simply too much and a lot of the stuff advertised as HD is not true HD but emulated by scaling up (as some dvd players do). This isn't on really is it? Also, note that the output on the boxes is not progressive HD so no doubt they will need to exchange these again in the future. You can't really fault the choice of channels if a little expensive, remember unless you have multiroom (another £10 for Standard of £20 for HD per month) you can only watch one thing at a time. Some of the live stuff News and Sky Sports News can be a bit ameteurish at times though. Anytime plus though is brilliant although it won't allow you to record some films onto disc as they are protected... but you could when they were originally shown. (Weird red tape nonsense again).
My Sky package inclusive of Telephone rental / Calls and Internet tops £120 a month. In these times that is a lot so I will be downgrading soon. To pay that is the same (almost) as a years' licence fee.. you get more yes, but as I said, you can only watch one thing at a time. Sky do try hard though. Much better than Virgin, and miles ahead of NTL from what I have seen. Almost perfect entertainment.
written by Angels Sin on 25/01/2011
I'm really surprised reading the other reviews here that so many people have had problems with Sky HD and despite a good service so far, it does make me rather nervous!
I had Sky installed about 6 weeks ago after getting sick of Virgin, a date was given to me for installation quickly after placing the order. The engineers were friendly and got the box installed quickly.
Since having the box I did have to freeze as some other have described maybe 4 or 5 times within the first couple of weeks of having it, but since then I've not had any problems.
I love the recording and pausing etc features on the Sky box, Virgin (which I was paying more for, and wasn't in HD) didn't have anything like this and I find I use it all the time.
I haven't had to deal with the customer service department yet, so I can't comment on that, but so far, I've been very happy with Sky.
written by on 17/01/2011
The Sky HD digibox is without question the most unreliable bit of technology I have ever had the misfortune to own, it needs reseting at least once a week and even then will stil crash at least once a week, it will without warning fail to record programs, will suddenly start making intrusive whirring noises leading to...you guessed it another reset...don't buy one, if fact run away and don't look back...there has to be a better option available!
written by Lynxia on 13/01/2011
I've just upgraded to Sky HD, and well so far i'm impressed.
The phrase 'No satellite signal is being received' has never been so colourful and clear.
written by on 27/11/2010
Sky have the basis for a great product, however the Sky HD+ box has to be the most unreliable, bugfilled piece of sh*t on the planet.
Just google problems with sky HD boxes and you will see that many people have problems with them. From constant freezing, not recording anything or randomley switching itself off the list is endless.
If it was just me I would think that I was the one with the one with the problem but many people have the same complaints. Rubbish, avoid get a freesat box.
written by on 02/11/2010
Picture great, recording great,but on my third HD box.
Latest fault is that next door are able to turn over my channels while I am watching a programme. NOT GOOD. Sky have no idea yet how to fix this problem. Tried fixing this over the phone.
I would still recommend a HD upgrade because when it is working it's the best tv experience you can get.
Lets just hope you can get to watch your own channel..
If you know how to fix this please let me know.
Cheers
Mini
Written on: 05/05/2011
line every wall in your house wth lead.this should solve your problem, [email protected]
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Melhenry's Comment
Written on: 10/01/2013
I am very disappointed with Sky installation service. It is not the quick and worthwhile offer they advertise. I apply since Nov. 2012 for a changed over from Virgin . I was told every thing will be up and ready by 14th Dec. including phone line and broadband but I am still waiting. Sky has given me nothing but excuses since. there were excuses like (they came but could not gain access) What a lie! there are always at least two adults in the house at any one time and I have been looking out the window constantly for their engineer to arrived.
Omega