Comparision to "My Sky"

[gurti]

Hi... I'm a newbie to all this. But how does this method of setting up your own TiVo from imported overseas parts compare to the new "My Sky" service now being offered by Sky NZ?

It's avertising claims to have the same funtionality as overseas formats like US TiVo, UK Sky+ and Oztel IQ... does it?

The service starts in December 2005 in NZ, it will cost $500 and they substitue the decoder you have with their new one which is supposed to record 60 hours. Will it be worth it?

Thanks

Gurti

[zollymonsta]

One thing straight away that springs to mind.. with TiVo you can extract the recordings... also, you can skip the ads on TiVo (30 second skip).

[gurti]

In their FAQs they say you can extract recordings to DVD or PC... but they dont say anything about auto 30secs skips for ads, but that u can fast-forward them in the usual way

[brucer]

Hi Gurti,

1. My sky is direct digital recording so both picture and sound quality will be much better than Series 1 Tivo.
2. My Sky has two tuners so you can record one thing while watching another or record 2 programmes while watching a 3rd recorded program.
3. So long as TV1,TV2 and TV3 continue to supply sky with guide data their program guide will almost certainly be better (more reliable) than ours (but note if you read their FAQ they say something like "At the moment" they have access to TV1 and TV2, if they lost this access things would not look so good)
4. "30 second skip" is not a whole lot better than just fast forwarding at maximum speed (ie it's not an "intelligent" ad skip function), both Tivo and My Sky let you fast forward thru add breaks.

If I didn't already have a Tivo I wouldn't think twice.. I'd get "My Sky" (I may do at some point anyway for the 2 tuners and digtal quality).

[SeanOffShotgun]

Hmmm...

I love the TiVo web interface - set it to record something anywhere in the world.

Nowhere have I read that My-Sky has a Wishlist functionality - you have to know when a program is on then set it up to record! I like the TiVo to think for me; e.g. I've told it "Hurricanes Super 12 Live" and so come February it just starts recording.

My Sky's 60 hours isn't much - I have 2 x 200GB HDD in my TiVo.

I can't really see that the My Sky guide data can be any better than the TiVo's - maybe they'll start giving the programs episode names - instead of what they have now where most are labelled "Tonight".

And the TiVo's linux based ... some people like to fiddle.

In saying all that, if I didn't have a TiVo maybe I'd consider My Sky but I'd want to have a play with it first to discover what the operational pros and cons are. Certainly if it breaks, it's not yours and they'd have to fix it, so I suppose it's like you have an endless warranty - that can't be bad.

Anyway that just some of my $0.02 worth.

[brucer]

I can't really see that the My Sky guide data can be any better than the TiVo's

I guess I meant more reliable (and l*gal), don't get me wrong I'm insanely grateful to Jaidev et al for the guide data we have..

I agree TivoWeb accessibility is cool, when I first got the Tivo I enjoyed showing it off on my Treo cell phone but in nearly 2 years I have never actually used it like that in anger..

Wishlists are nice but I've only ever used them a couple of times..

Of course I love my Tivo and wouldn't have wanted to live without it over the past couple of years but the technology in the My Sky unit is a generation ahead of the venerable Series 1 and addresses two of my biggest complaints about the Tivo, quality and single tuner..

I'm just playing devil's advocate anyway since I doubt my other half will let me spend the money on a new PVR :D

[zollymonsta]

Also, I could be wrong, but I don't think you actually _own_ the Sky PVR.. even though you are forking over $500 for it.

[SeanOffShotgun]

I guess I meant more reliable (and l*gal)
Well, yes... you got me there!


Also, I could be wrong, but I don't think you actually _own_ the Sky PVR.. even though you are forking over $500 for it.
No you don't - but then it's only $500 and as I say... if it breaks they fix it.


I better stop thinking about it too hard I might get myself into trouble. :)

Then again there's the old argument about being able to record 2 channels of nothing is still nothing. Hence why we just dumped Sky movies + Rialto and for the same money get the 2 at a time DVD deal from MovieShack.... but that's another story.

[Darren King]

Also, I could be wrong, but I don't think you actually _own_ the Sky PVR.. even though you are forking over $500 for it.

Same as the Foxtel IQ over here. In fact what you are mentioning over there is the same debate people over here have regarding TiVo vs Foxtel IQ.

I've always said that if two program recording is your thing then get two TiVo's, but yes there is a point about free breakdown service. I guess I'm lucky in that if my TiVo's ever break down I don't need to go far to fix them. Only ten steps to the workshop :) .... not that any of them have broken down yet :D

[MrGadget]

If it is the same as the foxtel unit, and I have heard that it is, then I assume Sky would have the same control over the recorded material - ie the ability to delete your programs if, say you didn't pay your bill...

Also, I notice that the ability to skip through ads has been removed - I'm not sure if they are referring to a '30 second skip' style button, or complete removal of fast-forward when ads are playing.... Anyone know ?

[brucer]

They still have fast forward thru ads like the Tivo, they are referring to a feature on some US PVRs where you can intelligently skip the entire ad break (not just 30 second skip).

[Wanted]

Well i'm not planning on jumping ship anyway (sorry to disappoint :o ). I'm too comfortable with my wishlists etc. I don't have a big freaking satellite dish bolted on my house ATM either. I don't see the TiVo scene disappearing when it comes out. Personally, there is only one time when I wish I could record two channels at once in a week.

[brucer]

I won't be "jumping ship" any time soon either.. just having a discussion :) one of the biggest worries I see with "My Sky" is the apparent uncertainty of long term support for free-to-air channels.. if they ever stopped supporting those it would be pretty useless..

[thomson]

Personally I think the SkyPVR will end up being an ideal solution for the majority of users out there. It is a zero-hassle black-box single-unit with dual-tuner solution that includes guide data backed by the content provider. It would be nice to see small features such as wishlists and auto padding included, but I still think it is a pretty strong solution for Sky customers.

Of course, for those of us too tight to subscribe to pay-TV :rolleyes: and those who actually want something they can tinker with :) I think the TiVo is idea!!!

[SeanOffShotgun]

The thing that would do it for me would be multichannel (5.1+) audio.

[thomson]

The thing that would do it for me would be multichannel (5.1+) audio.

Dolby 5.1 Digital Sound is expected to be available on selected channels in mid-2006 when SKY’s new satellite becomes available.

[jaidev]

I get dual/triple tuner capabilities out of having more than one TiVo, with a couple on FTA, I never really need to record 2 Sky Digital channels at the same time...

[brucer]

of course 2 tivos is a _lot_ more expensive than 1 "My Sky" box plus the extra remotes and requiring extra amp inputs if you have a home theatre setup etc..

[MrGadget]

Personally I think the SkyPVR will end up being an ideal solution for the majority of users out there.
I aggree - the majority of people want a simple box that they can plug in (better yet, have it plugged in for them) that they can just use and forget about.
People who own Tivo's are a little more playful... we like to tinker, hack, & upgrade - we like to extract video, we like to network it, we like to have a web interface from anywhere on the planet - even if we rarely leave town.
For most the MySky will do more than they dreamed of... we Tivo users dream a little more :-)

[number6]

Personally I think the SkyPVR will end up being an ideal solution for the majority of users out there. It is a zero-hassle black-box single-unit with dual-tuner solution that includes guide data backed by the content provider. It would be nice to see small features such as wishlists and auto padding included, but I still think it is a pretty strong solution for Sky customers.


You're right, but you know the really sad part of all this is? Its that I've had my Tivos for over 5 years now - which is an absoloute age as far as computer technology is concerned.

And in all that time, the best that the competitors to Tivo can come up with so far are pretty much an also ran device before its even released.

When I got my Tivos I figured there would be a better option to a Series 1 Tivo with no Guide service out in NZ by about now, here we are late 2005, and Sky here are going to release a ho-hum dual tuner model with a mediocre guide data service for at most 7 days ahead and no wishlists or other advanced Tivo recording features.

Thats the part that really saddens me - we should be able to do better than this by now.

Tivos design was so superior to the competition, but when you think about it, you realise that 5 years on, an old series 1 has a better & more thought out UI and easy to use features than the latest "My Sky" DVR.

I guess good design dates very slowly, but a good Tivo alternative would be nice to have sooner than later [just like it would be good to have a realistic alternative to Telecom in the phone & broadband market sooner than later].

My Sky is not that Tivo alternative based on what I've seen of it.

Still I'm sure that some of the masses of Sky subscribers will take to it, and maybe, once they've used it for a while may actually be ready to use a superior device like an updated Tivo [Humax anyone?].

[Lurker]

There are a couple of differentiations between MySky and Tivo route

MySky with 2 tuners has access to 2 Sky channels at the same time - something you cannot acheive with multiple Tivo unless you get 2 Sky subs (1 + extra) as the sky decoders can only access 1 channel at a time. Best yo can hope for with a pasle of Tivo is record 1 digital, 1 terestrial at the same time

Tivos will eventually die and unless series 2 hacking goes a lot further all our lovely Tivo will have to be replaced by Windows MCE or some Linux system such as Freevo etc - in either case I think the guide data would need reworking for anything but Tivo

(I hope) MySky prices will drop - in the UK is now costs no more to get Sky+ installed (and after 12 months you own it) than a standard decoder. Of course you do have a 10 pound per month charge with Sky+ but that is waived if you take movie/sports packages

Unless you have Sky the NZtivo setup is not easy to do and fraught with peril as we really have not cracked setup for aerial as they have in Oz and if you are going to pay for Sky anyway probably easier not to import and set up a Tivo - just get Pie-in-the-Sky. :rolleyes:

Free to air digital is coming and you will get a raft (well some) PVR designed to be D-FTA friendly and probably transfer to PC or DVD. Legend in Australia has (according to them) done really well with their PVR on Oz but it is lacking in finesse (or even guide data) and transfers to PC over USB 1.1 (urgh).

My biggest gripe about MySky is not having a built in way to archive recording except for the old convert to analogue through a SCART output and record on VHS - I would be much happier if it had a network interface or DVD-R but i suppose they have rights managements pressures.

Chris

[DavidClarke]

Having seen a mySky box in operation and THEN making the call to build a Tivo... Madness? We no actually, quite sane.

The two channel feature is huge, however consider that Sky repeats everything of their own content a couple of times, so a conflict between two sky channels is easily resolved.

The problem comes when we want to include FTA channels into the mix. But the quality of the re-encoded Sky signal and a large format tv, quite frankly sucks, a decent ariel and FTA for 2/3 is an ideal setup, the quality difference is significant.

I am under 90 and so don't find myself watching TV1 too often, so its out of the mix.

Once I have finished installing air con in my house (why is this a rare thing in a country this damp in winter and sticky in summer?) I will be into the second unit for the bedroom with FTA tuner onboard, content sharing and a seperate set of season passes. Job done. Can watch content from either in either room, high quality for TV2/3 and all the Tivo fruit.

Sure I am spending twice as much, but then again I am officially a geek and if it doesn't involve a torx driver and a couple of cable ties, I am not interested anyway :D