Sky + : is it worth it?
22 January 2008
We have had Sky for many years now and had considered Sky + for a long time. Jim was more interested than me. I couldn’t see the point of it at all. If we miss a programme, we miss it. It’s not the end of the world. I put my foot down for a long time. Meanwhile Jim researched and found the Topfield digital recorder to be as close to Sky + as he could find.
The Topfield PVR will give you all the Freeview TV stations as well as all the radio stations and has over 100 hours of recording capacity on it’s hard drive and records two programmes simultaneously. It also pauses live TV. All for approximately £200 and nothing else to pay. It even upgrades itself when required at night, if you go to bed and leave it on standby and the Topfield people even have their own website with a forum for other users which can be very helpful.
So then there’s Sky +, which also allows you to watch one programme and record another or record 2 programmes simultaneously as well as pause, fast forward rewind, record and series link. The Topfield has been described as Sky + without the cost, so why pay for Sky? Well, we chose to go for Sky + as we watch football on Sky. The sports package is not available alone and if it weren’t for the football then I don’t think we would bother with Sky at all, so I guess we were sold on Sky or to be honest had no choice other than to subscribe or not watch live football. We had to pay to upgrade to Sky + and despite me saying it wasn’t worth it I now have to eat my words.
The ability to pause is used more than anything else. It’s great for missing a part of the action or if the phone rings etc. The ability to record with a touch of a button and ten series link, so you don’t miss future episodes is great too. I hardly ever watch annoying adverts nowadays,. I either record the programme or pause the action for long enough so that we can fast forward through breaks. I love it and would be lost without it now. New customers can currently get Sky + for £99 if they go on line and if you already have Sky and the TV you watch is mostly on Sky then I’d recommend Sky +. However, it you don’t have or want Sky, then The Topfield has to be the best buy. The one off purchase cost is a little more than Sky +, but then there’s no monthly subscription.
Whichever you choose I’m sure that the features provided on both machines will be beneficial and you’ll soon be left wondering what you ever did before.
The Topfield (250GB) is available from:
Comet for £229.95
SVP - £199.99
Empire Direct - 203.99
24-7 Electrical - £248.98 (160GB)
Firebox - £219.95
John Lewis - £229
Dixons - £209.99
Currys - £229.99
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