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Hi, i have Virgin box at home and love it. My parents got Sky last week and i went to check it out and 1st off it seems pants compared to Virgin. On Virgin i get so much content to watch from music videos to aload of tv series all on demand and its free. Sky doesnt seem to have anywhere near as much. Or any. 2nd the picture quality at my parents seemed worse than there standard freeview. On virgin box through HD cable my picture quality is better than sky. 3rd the epg on sky is awful. Its so messy and seems cluttered. It doesnt even say the whole name of tv programmes on the guide, because it gets cut off by the next programme. I have seen the new sky epg and its much better. Basically copied Virgins. Just wandered when this will come to everyone. My dad just got Sky last week with 5 sky boxes! and he gets the old EPG! How long do sky wanna take to give it to everyone. Just wandered if anyone had an update on it? Seeing how Sky is the market leader i find it odd how to me anyway Virgin is a much better service(except for the HD quantity)

Nobody knows when the new HD EPG rollout will be completed because Sky are keeping tight lipped about the whole subject.

What is known is that the EPG has been rolled out to all Thomson and Pace STB's and then it was delayed for Samsung/Amstrad STB's "for on-going development"  as it was found to be unstable on those .Then it was rolled out to 30000 Samsung's back in september,then nothing again till last tuesday when a handful of Samsungs got it(no official number's released yet).

Though the EPG guide has just re-appeared on Sky anytime, which is usually an indication of more boxes being upgraded so more Samsung's may get it either next tuesday or thursday.

As for Amstrad boxes they're due to be upgraded last,so it's likely to be next year before rollout's completed on them as we're nearly in november now and Sky wont continue with the roll-out during december/new year because it's one of their busiest periods.

Davro83:

On Virgin i get so much content to watch from music videos to aload of tv series all on demand and its free. Sky doesnt seem to have anywhere near as much. Or any.

2nd the picture quality at my parents seemed worse than there standard freeview. On virgin box through HD cable my picture quality is better than sky.

Did you only look at Sky Anytime or did you see the dedicated HD channels? There are quite a reasonable number of "free" HD channels on Sky as well as the numerous "premium" sports and movie channels.

Is your parents' Sky/TV set up properly? The picture should be beautifully clear and sharp as you would expect HD content to be. If their picture is anything less than that, there would appear to be something wrong.

Davro83 if Sky HD is set up properly on a HD TV the picture is amazing. I watched "Life" on BBC HD last night and the picture was stunning. I'd second Whiteknights comments that something must be set up wrong if you are getting anything less than a super sharp almost 3D picture.

I think its there tv for the HD. I plugged in my blu ray player and it still only looked a little bit better than normal. Its 720p 2 year old panasonic. To me 1080p is the only option for people to say wow look at the picture. Anyway back to Sky seems rubbish compared to Virgin. Found out you can only record 1 thing while watching another on Sky. On virgin you can record 2 separate programmes at the same time while watching a 3rd. How has sky got so popular when Virgin seems to beat it in every sense EXCEPT for the number of HD channels. Sky step your game up!

Davro83:

I think its there tv for the HD. I plugged in my blu ray player and it still only looked a little bit better than normal. Its 720p 2 year old panasonic. To me 1080p is the only option for people to say wow look at the picture. Anyway back to Sky seems rubbish compared to Virgin. Found out you can only record 1 thing while watching another on Sky.

That isn't true, you can record two programs, either whilst watching one of them or whilst watching something else you've previously recorded.

On virgin you can record 2 separate programmes at the same time while watching a 3rd. How has sky got so popular when Virgin seems to beat it in every sense EXCEPT for the number of HD channels.

Errm, because the majority of the country can't get Virgin maybe? And it's more expensive to get the same channel packages.

Davro83:

How has sky got so popular when Virgin seems to beat it in every sense EXCEPT for the number of HD channels. Sky step your game up!

Here's a little of my experiences with Virgin...

I had Virgin and at the time I was paying for 20 MB broadband and getting on average 4MB. I contacted them and asked them to sort out my broadband and they couldn't. It was then after I'd had it for about 12 months they realised they hadn't sent me the correct modem to get the maximum speed I was paying for I eventually got my correct modem so that was sorted.

After that I contacted them about adding Sky sports and then wanted something like £20 a month for just that one channel That took me to around £60 a month with virtually no HD content. I explained what that money would get me with Sky and they could not get anywhere near it. I decided to leave them so I gave them a call to find out a sales rep (who they later confirmed worked on commision) had re-entered me into a new 12 month contract without me even knowing. After about 500 phone calls and being passed from one dummy to another I managed to get through to a manager. I explained they either provide proof of me agreeing a contract, be it a recorded phonecall or a written document, or let me leave the so called "contract" As I hadn't agreed to any contract verbally or in writing they obviously couldn't prove it and had no choice but to let me go after (a few legal threats)

Now with Sky I get loads of HD channels that are much better quality IMO (on the same TV) Excellent broadband coverage and a free phoneline for weekends for LESS than I was paying Virgin. Also I am pleased to say the customer service at Sky is second to none. When the engineer came and installed my equipment he even gave me his mobile number incase of any technical problems, which I haven't even had by the way. Extra TV packages are £1 on Sky as well. No contest here in my opinion. Davro83 I just hope you never have any issues that need resolving with those cowboys. If you do then good luck you're going to need it

There is nothing 'naff' about SKY or the new EPG, its a vast improvement on the old EPG, with many great new features.  Having a Thompson HD box, ive been lucky enough to have the new EPG from the very first week it was launched.  If you are happy with your Virgin then fair enough but many millions of us are more than happy with our SKY.  As for the picture quality, is awesome. SD is fantastic and HD is awesome.  Friends and family constantly comment on the picture quality when they come into my house.  I have recently taken sky broadband and the service/speed is superior to any of my previous ISP's.  I have also switched my phone from BT to Sky.  NO hassle whatsoever, great service and saving a packet compared to any other provider.

I got the new electronic programmes guide yesterday and I have to say my first impressions are appalling - the previous one was so simple. Now it may just be a question of getting used to it and becoming familiar with it - but that was part of the beauty of the old guide - it took absolutely no getting used to - it was beautifully simple. This one I've already been unable to delete something precisely when I wanted to - the stacking of programmes from the same series is irritating. The little screen in the top right corner is fine but the downside of that is that it means this takes up too much room which means too little room devoted to the planner itself. I hope I get used to it quickly - it wasn't broken before so why fix it?

See now i think the epg before is rubbish. Thats why i need the new one. When i want to flick through the guide, i wana still be able to watch tv. So the new little screen is a must for me. And i found trying to read what was on tv a pain. It cut off half of the programme title off and felt really cluttered to me. Suppose like anything its getting used to it. Looking forward to getting the new epg(for my parents). Just wish i knew when it would happen.

And i know sky customer is excellent My dad said they were brilliant. Cant fault sky for that.

And i have had several people who have sky tell that me they can only record 1 programme while watching another and then pausing live tv as sky only has 2 recorders. Whereas with virgin, i can record 2 different programmes at the same time AND ALSO pause and record while watching a third, so unless im mistaken (sorry if i am as i dont have sky) but the person who said you can record 2 while using a 3rd on sky is wrong.

As for price, i was quoted less for all the tv channels, all sports/movies etc, broadband and phone with Virgin than i was with Sky. So to me Virgin is cheaper. Guess depends on the salesman.

rasputin, the new epg features u describe as 'appalling' are actually fantastic and u will get used to them!!  yes, the old epg was easy to use but it was very simplistic and not exactly state-of-the-art!!  the new series stacking feature is excellent;   The mini tv screen in the corner of the guide is just awesome; allows you to continue watching a programme while navigating the guide.  The mini tv screen can be turned off via the settings, if you dont like it!  Recording a programme/series is now even easier (if thats possible) as it offers you the option to record once or record series when u press R.  Granted, navgating the epg now requires a few extra key presses on the remote, but overall its a vast improvement!

Davro83:

And i have had several people who have sky tell that me they can only record 1 programme while watching another and then pausing live tv as sky only has 2 recorders. Whereas with virgin, i can record 2 different programmes at the same time AND ALSO pause and record while watching a third, so unless im mistaken (sorry if i am as i dont have sky) but the person who said you can record 2 while using a 3rd on sky is wrong.

Excuse me mate, I've had Sky+ since the day it was released and what I said was you can record two different channels and watch something else you'd previously recorded. The reason I said that is because you can. I do it all the time. Next time I suggest you trying using a product before telling others they don't know what they're talking about.

As for price, i was quoted less for all the tv channels, all sports/movies etc, broadband and phone with Virgin than i was with Sky. So to me Virgin is cheaper. Guess depends on the salesman.

I haven't had cable for about a year now, but I had both for the best part of three years (two houses), at that time the full TV package on Sky was about 45 quid, if I'd wanted to replicate that setup on Virgin it would have been nearer to 80 and would still have been less channels (although arguably nothing you'd actually want to watch...). The only thing Virgin can offer that's better than Sky is the broadband but then they're not reliant on the phone network, so you'd hope it would be better.

We just got the new EPG on a Samsung HD Sky+ box. It is very different and will take some time to fully appreciate. The big plus for me is that with the old EPG the Samsung response to the remote was so slow that it was nearly unusable but it is now almost instantaneous. Just hope it continues to work and we don't lose all our recorded progs as I have read on this forum happened to some users!!.

Sorry the_Ihc, i dont think you get waht i mean as i have checked on my parents sky and had a look o the web and im right. You can record 2 programs at the same time on sky yes, but then you can only watch a channel you are recording or watch something you have previously recorded on the planner. With Virgin you can record 2 programs at the same time, and then watch a completely different channel. So if there are 3 things i want to watch at the same time, i can record 2 and watch the 3rd. Thats what i meant.

Davro83:

Sorry the_Ihc, i dont think you get waht i mean as i have checked on my parents sky and had a look o the web and im right. You can record 2 programs at the same time on sky yes, but then you can only watch a channel you are recording or watch something you have previously recorded on the planner.

Yes, I know, that's exactly what I've said, twice, and you haven't bothered reading it either time.