TV Will Never Be The Same (Sky Plus (Sky+))

Member Name: paul1983

Product:	Sky Plus (Sky+)
Date:	27/10/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Instant record, pause live TV

Disadvantages: Hard-drive not big enough, but it never would be even at unlimited.

Rather sadly this is one invention that people will no doubt highlight as one of the greatest inventions in the modern age. Despite all the advances in medical fields, the exploration of space and travel...a recordable hard-drive will crown them all.

Even sadder is that I find it really difficult to come up with an argument against them. Of course I'm not totally serious, medical achievements etc will always trump anything so silly as Sky+ but the device is wonderful nevertheless.

It's impossible to think that before Sky+ I used to panic over getting video tapes ready, setting them each week and then worrying that someone would turn the video channel over when it was due to tape.

The brilliance of sky+ is that you can record anything at the touch of the button (if you excuse the theft of the tagline) AND the god send that is series link allows to automatically record a daily/weekly/bi-monthly programme until it ends or you decide you don't want to record it anymore.

However this system does have one major disadvantage...You end up recording everything! Only realising after fifteen unwatched episodes of Elephants On Ice before you've only got 4% of your box left.

With a limit to what you can record and keep before deleting (roughly speaking a half hour show will take up 2-3% of your box but some programmes take up a lot more) it's a good idea to keep an eye on what you've recorded and what's due to record. Unless you've protected programmes, the oldest programmes will automatically be wiped to make way for the new stuff.

Sky+ also allows you to pause, rewind and fast-forward TV too. Now I find myself pausing tv shows as they start, waiting ten or so minutes and then watching and allowing myself to speed through the adverts. I also end up seeing how close to the restart of the show I can get on maximum fast-forward speed before hitting the play button...SAD I know.

Summary: I don't think I could live without this now.