Coming back to Sky after 5 years in the wilderness

[stmichael]

Well I finally took the plunge and will be coming back to sky after 5 years of Freeview and then latterly a Humax Freesat+ box.

The reason? Well basically I missed Sky Sports too much and don't quite know how I manged without it for so long! What I think enticed me to come back tho was the half price TV pack and half price HD for 6 months and free installation and free HD box and a £25 M&S voucher thrown in and of course Sky Go - seemed like too good an offer to turn down!

Quick question on the box? The installation is going into a bedroom and the box will sit on a shelf that the Humax box currently sits on. The Humax is a perfect fit in terms of the depth of the shelf and I've seen that sky now do a slightly smaller box - the DRX890? - which is the same depth as the Humax so this will be ideal. Question is will I be supplied this box or is there any chance that it'll be one of the older and bigger Thomson, Samsung, Pace or Amstrad boxes?

I've read that the DRX890 is quicker and quieter than the bigger boxes? Is this true? I'd be interested to hear some opinions on the box. Going back a few years to when I used to have Sky I had a Sky+ box which was ridiculously noisy and drove me mad to the point where I returned it and had it replaced with a standard non-PVR Pace box. The reason was because (as already mentioned) it's in a bedroom and the way it's setup I sit about 3 feet away from the box - of course if it was in a lounge and placed inside a TV cabinet it would be much less of a problem so I've really got my fingers crossed that I get the DRX890 and that it is as quiet as people seem to be saying it is!

I was surprised to learn when I ordered on the phone that when the engineer comes to install the box he will also replace my existing dish and cabling. Is this normal practice? Seems a bit odd given that the dish I've got works perfectly with my Humax Freesat+ box?!

Anyway roll on next Weds -I'm really looking forward to having so many HD channels!

[Scubbie]

There are only 3 current STBs that Sky will supply to new customers:

Sky+ HD (DRX890) with 500GB drive, of which 250GB is available for the owner
1TB Sky+ HD (DRX895) with 1.5TB drive, of which 1TB is available for the owner
SkyHD (DRX595) which have not drive

The standard one is the DRX890 and should you not specify one of the Sky+ HD STBs for any multi-room setup, the DRX595 is the freebie one supplied.

As for stacking any Sky STB on top of another device, please avoid this at all costs. Please ensure that there is enough space around both your Humax Freesat+ and the Sky STB to allow it to cool properly. If you don't do this then expect it to fail within a couple of years.

The DRX890 & 895 are a little quicker than the Thomson (no longer supported), Samsung, Pace and Amstrad DRX580 models. As for noise, some drives in all the STBs can be a little noisy at times. The new EPG also makes things a little quicker too.

I would highly recommend that you connect the STB to the Internet too if you are interested in downloading Anytime+ content. BBC iPlayer content will be added in the autumn and some ITV Player content is available now.

As for replacing the Dish, LNB and cabling, this is a reasonable idea, although you may want an Octo-Port LNB if the 4 ports aren't enough. Older LNBs can be a little slow to change channels and the coaxial cable may be damaged. I would have expected the sky installer to perhaps change the LNB and install an addition coaxial cable if your existing one is fine though so that your Humax Freesat+ continues to work. If your dish is rusty, then a new dish may make a small difference, but it is unlikely that this would be changed in practise.

[gymno]

i'm not 100% sure, but i'd be willing to bet that it'll be the drx890 that sky will supply you.
all my friends & family that have gone hd during the last 14 months have received this box.

as for noise, i had a pace sky+ box for 2 years proir to going hd & my drx890 is definitely quieter.
infact it's silent 90% of the time. all i ever hear is the fan start up, generally on the hour or just before a recording starts. an extremely faint hum will continue for a few mins, or longer if it's recording, but even in a silent room it's barely perceptible.

regarding the installation, only 1 of my friends had their dish & cables replaced as they 'looked a bit tatty'.
i'd suggest it would be a common sense call for the engineer to make at the time & that if all seemed ok
he/she would just install the box.

edit: oops. beaten to it by 'quick typer' scubbie

[NewsreadeR]

I was surprised to learn when I ordered on the phone that when the engineer comes to install the box he will also replace my existing dish and cabling. Is this normal practice? Seems a bit odd given that the dish I've got works perfectly with my Humax Freesat+ box?!

If it works probably not, if you want him to, (which I would do if it is 5 years old) just cut the last few feet off and tell him it was like that when you moved in?

He should then replace all the cabling for you.

TBH Whenever I have had a Sky installer rather than a contractor, nothing has ever been so much trouble, replaced cables with a smile. After wasting 4 hours completing Health And Safety checks.