No more need for DVD's and VHS (Sky Plus (Sky+))

Member Name: iamasadlittleboy

Product:	Sky Plus (Sky+)
Date:	31/08/09 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, Plenty of memory, Series link function

Disadvantages: Still limited to your sky package, some problems with recording specific things, Soaps and The Bill

We've recently had Sky+ (well a few months now) and I've finally decided to write about it, feeling that I've used it enough to know enough about it to be able to comment. Sky+ was an extension on to the Sky service in which we were now able to digitally record programs and series. Long gone we're video tapes, DVD's life time as a recording medium was short lived and the advent of digital media recorders are on the rise. Sky jumped on to the concept swiftly following in the steps of TiVo who to the best of my knowledge originated the idea. Sky of course is the satellite TV system run by the BksyB arm of News Corp and the major provider of digital TV in the UK. Their major rival is Virgin Media which provide a cable network (and then theirs also a Freeview system which operates on mainly free to air Digital signals). The idea of being able to record shows isn't a new one, though with Sky one of the early problems was you had to record what you were watching (or at least leave that channel on whilst it was recording if you were going out). Sky+ moved the goalposts in that you could record shows you weren't watching, in fact you could record two shows at once, a huge step up in flexibility.

The Sky+ box comes in same box as the Sky system connected to a satellite and the TV in a sleek white box that looks like some form of space age contraption that perfectly suits the rest of the stuff under our TV including the Wii in a colour coordinated way. The box comes with a remote that's pretty much the same as the last set of Sky controls (I remember the old black ones) with an additional part to it that resembles a simplified VCR remote. This section includes a play/pause button, rewind, fast forward, Stop and Record, as well as the rest of the remote having the channel and volume control.
Yeah you did read that right, a pause button. As well as recording live TV you can now also pause it which means missing the important parts of a movie for toilet break is a thing of the past, now longer will you disturb your partner to ask "what happened?" and no longer will an argument ensue about who'll get the next beer. Also part of the use of this is advertised at pausing live sports events I'm still unwilling to agree this is actual a viable use, for the sports I watch mainly (Boxing and Football) it's possible to wait for a natural break (half time/end of the round) to go. I'd still feel a bit odd pausing a boxing contest in the middle, though can see the principle of it being used in a movie or a normal TV show.

To record is simple, us the remote to find a show you want to record and click the record button, shows can be found either through the menu system of the Sky Service or through the scrolling ability of the remote. This is so simple even I can do it, and isn't a problem for anyone. To find the shows you've recorded is equally simple, open up the menu then press on the planner button (usually green) and scroll through the list of programs in an easily to navigate manner.

The box also has a clever little series link feature, meaning you can record a full series of a show without the need to remember each individual episode. Currently we have Chuck on record though we've had Top Gear, The Inbetweeners and a few others and thankfully never missed an episode thanks to series link. Sadly however due to having a brother with terrible TV taste we also have Emmerdale, Eastenders, Coronation Street and The Bill we seem to have the box full of garbage almost perpetually. This takes up some of the memory (however the actual size of the devices memory isn't something I'm fully sure of, though re-search on Wikipedia would say it's 80GB).

Having been around since 2001 they were originally seen as hi-tech and the top of the top in the media recording technology and at the time came with a hefty price tag, though the one my mums paying for comes with a very basic sky package for £25.50 a month. How much of that goes towards the "+" of the deal I'm unsure of, though it does need to be said that we don't get sports of any of the movie channels, just the basic entertainment one (including Virgin, Sky1,2,3, The terrestrial channels, the 4 branded channels and 5 branded channels as well as the ITV ones and paramount). The ability to record these whilst watching something else stops arguments of what's on and the internal turmoil of what to watch but the device does have it's problems. The device doesn't tell you if you're recording a restricted channel (one we have to pay for) as a result there's a slight annoyance towards recording things on obscure channels (Sky Arts was one) which we then find we can't watch. Or SBO stuff that can't be watched or in some cases can't be recorded despite paying for it (The Ricky Hatton - Manny Pacquaio card wasn't recordable due to complications with the box).

Overall despite the odd problem or two the device has so far worked without any serious errors and seems a great little investment, even if we do seem to have 12 episodes of the bill recorded and I never seem to have time to watch some of the movies I've had on there for ages. It's more a problem of time than the device as such personally. For those who find themselves on the go and not in at the right time for TV shows they like this is a needed device unless you have a DVD recorder, at which point this is a highly un-needed device.

A question now to those who do have one, is it possible to get the programs off the box onto a memory stick or even my laptop?

Summary: Maybe not worth it if you've got some DVD RW's and a DVD recorder