SKY Q

[firsttango]

Late Xmas present Cid/Mark? Looks interesting

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -Roku.html

[El Cid]

No use at all if you want the Non Sky UK channels down here!

Clever box though - I shudder to think what the pricing is going to be like!

Sid

[firsttango]

No use at all if you want the Non Sky UK channels down here!

Sid

Why? It has iplayer etc

[El Cid]

Yes, but I get that already on a £10 NOWTV box and also on my TV - I don't need to pay Sky for that!

For live HD UKTV I use Intelsat 907.

If you are in a reception area for Astra and like all the Sky Sports channels etc it will be very useful but very expensive.

Sid

[firsttango]

As indeed do I but that was not my question, you said "No use at all if you want the Non Sky UK channels down here!" and I enquired as to WHY you would say that?

[firsttango]

For live HD UKTV I use Intelsat 907.

Sid

But for how much longer?

[El Cid]

Well, you are right - you CAN get IPTV versions of the UK channels on it, but anyone who bought it just for that would be crazy.

As I said, if you want all the Sky stuff, it's a very interesting option.

Sid

[El Cid]

For live HD UKTV I use Intelsat 907.

Sid

But for how much longer?

That's anybody's guess. I have had it for two years and that in itself has justified the cost. If it does go off, a Skybox will not be an alternative anyway. The only alternative will be IPTV and the picture quality of that is improving all the time, particularly BBC which is 90% of my viewing.

Sid

[firsttango]

If you are in a reception area for Astra and like all the Sky Sports channels etc it will be very useful but very expensive.

Sid

Why do reference Astra? It has WiFi capability like NOWTV etc and as to price of the equipment it hasn't been released yet, so what leads you to speculate that it will be "very expensive". If they base it on NOWTV and their past subsidised pricing for their hardware (obviously hoping to sell you the packages) then it may well be a very attractive price.

[El Cid]

You specifically asked for my comments - you got them. If you don't agree with them, then I couldn't care less. Just accept them and stop arguing about it.

I am happy with what I have and that's as far as this conversation is going.

Sid

[firsttango]

Ah bless

[markwilding]

It will be interesting to see what it involves. Apart from anything else it will need to be supported by the DNS companies. As far as I know,using the internet features on the current Sky HD boxes don't work in Spain and the reason it works on the little Now boxes is because they are really Roku boxes in disguise.

There are a couple of other ways of watching internet TV that might be interesting in the future. Freeview Play is one and supposedly The TVplayer app is coming to Samsung TVs. The main benefits is the interface which is much easier to navigate.

The new Apple TV hasn't convinced me to splash out on it yet so for now the Now TV box does the job although if Roku decides to bring out a version in 4K, maybe I would try that.

[Wicksey]

I was cat-sitting recently at a friend's house that has the Sky+HD box plus IPTV through BB4S. Must admit there was nothing I wanted on the Sky box and if the Intelsat goes then I would also go down the IPTV route somehow. I have always had problems in the past trying to add DNS etc so trying to watch catchup on Sky doesn't excite me a lot especially as I don't want to pay a subscription to them. Like Sid, I am happy with the few channels and just watch mainly BBC.

[CapnBilly]

The internet function works on a sky box if you have a vpn on your router. I use it for box sets, catchup etc.

[TorreDelAguila]

I think Sid is right. IPTV continues to improve in quality, and with faster internet speeds (we have 10Mb/s) is now fairly free of buffering. The majority of our viewing is BBC too, and for IPTV we do most of it on an Amazon Fire TV small box. Picture quality is pretty good, sound excellent. iPlayer available too.

Could well be that internet will how all of us will be watching tv at some point, and that may apply to the UK too, as hi-speed rolls out. It must/will eventually be cheaper for the broadcasters than having to operate satellite systems. Always dangerous to try to predict technological future, though!

Comments about ITV player have been pretty spot-on, too. Can only be described as scruffy. We all need to look after the BBC, especially when it comes under political and commercial attack. What else provides comparable value and quality? Shame we cannot properly contribute to its costs. Give it time.

[luckyjim]

I agree about the BBC, I have loads of different apps with loads of choices of channels but tend to stick mostly to BBC particularly at the moment when ITV are not giving a very good choice of programme. I seem at the moment to be using the UKTV now app which doesn't need VPN and has all the channels I could want. However the IPlayer and STV for catchup are great too.

[satandpcguy]

when ITV are not giving a very good choice of programme.

Is there anything worth watching on ITV anyway...?

Perhaps there will be more content when ITVPLayer is replaced by the new ITV Hub next week...