To the Sky and beyond (Sky HD)

Member Name: oioiyou

Product:	Sky HD
Date:	27/04/09 (208 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: pause, rewind, and record anything

Disadvantages: sometimes theres too much choice! :)

I used to hear people talking about Sky television and saying how wonderful it was but it was never something I thought about getting. I had always been under the impression that it was quite an expensive thing to have. I was relatively happy with my freeview box which had only cost me a one-off of £20.

When my lovely other-half and I moved in together he was desperate to have Sky for the sports package. I could understand where he was coming from as I was also a bit tired of having to go to the pub every time the games were on. Thus my relationship with Sky begins ...

We started with the normal Sky box with a package that gave us the sports and children's stations. I have to say that at first seeing the vast number of channels was relatively daunting but you soon find your way around. My cousin was playing with the box one day and programmed in my most watched stations which made life easy when looking for something to watch.

A Sky promotional leaflet came through the letterbox about 6 months later telling us all about Sky+. Pause, rewind and record your shows and all that. Sounded lovely but I didn't really give it any further thought. I came home from work one Friday evening, sat down on the sofa and to my surprise the box was now square, white and read Sky+ on the side!!! I gave a 'look' to the man standing in the corner waiting for my reaction. I said nothing because as long as it hadn't come from our joint account it wasn't my problem. I think he was quite happy with that response. I enjoy being able to record my shows and watch them in my own time. With children running around it is really cool and convenient to be able to pause anything you are watching so that you can quickly make a cuppa, organise dinner, or place little devils on the naughty step! I never knew how much I would enjoy it. My only trouble now it that I try or at least think about rewinding other things. I have been in the car recently and put my hand out to look for a rewind button after missing a radio announcement and also tried looking for the same buttons on my mum's tele remote. Sad but true I am an addict to the Sky+ lifestyle!

He did it again! I have come home and found the box has changed again! This man of mine is unbelievable! We now have Sky+ HD! Ahhh! Now this is something I could never before get my head around. I had watched HD places before and thought ok yes lovely but is it really that different? ... My conclusion is that it's not really any different on most shows but wait until you watch a football game. Look at the grass and you will see what I mean! My mum is still convinced it is just a bit brighter to which I told her ever to speak badly to the tele again otherwise we'll start looking at old people homes! :)

One thing I have always found irritating is adverts on music stations and thankfully Sky offers such a huge number of music channels that all you have to do is go up or down a number and problem solved!

For those of you out there interested in a purchase the following may come in use ...

On both occasions when a Sky person was called out to hook the cables up and all that they were really lovely guys and were both on time. One even asked if I prefer shoes off or on in my home! Ha! He obviously hadn't looked around before asking that one!

Sky+ HD offers:

*Up to 4 times more detail and incredibly vibrant colour
*Superb quality, Dolby® Digital 5.1 surround sound
*The widest range of HD channels in the UK - now with access to 33 channels
*A hand-picked collection of the week's un-missable TV in HD, ready to watch when you are, with Sky Anytime
-The anytime button was quite a find. It had gone unnoticed by myself for ages until I was bored one day and had a look. It gave a run down of a selection of stuff I'd missed including shows and movies.

A bit from the Sky site:

'High definition is even more affordable; with a Sky+HD box now only £49 when you join Sky TV with the HD Pack for a year. TV packages start at £16.50 a month and £9.75 a month for the HD Pack. That's 24/7 great HD entertainment, all for less than the cost of a Blu-ray Disc. Plus enjoy one month's HD Pack for free when you buy online.'

For existing Sky TV Customers:

'Add a Sky+HD box and we'll relocate your old Sky box so you can watch the TV you love in different rooms with Sky Multiroom. Or simply replace any of your existing boxes with a Sky+HD box'

Entertainment Packs include Variety, Knowledge, Style & Culture, News & Events, Children's, Music

Visit http://packages.sky.com/see/ to find out more and if you join before the 30th of April 2009 (a stretch I know) you'll get a £50 Tesco gift card. If you can't meet that deadline I would wait and see the next offer which will probably take a month or so to pop up and will be just as good.

Right then, review over I'll return to my viewing! :) I'm such a couch potato!

© oioiyou and znh3ra54 on Ciao 2009

Summary: Great television and the packages keep everyone in this house happy!