Is Virgin TV any good? Thinking of leaving SKY

lara400

Hi,

I have Virgin Broadband and want to do some cost cutting by possibly cutting my Sky TV and going to Virgin TV. I don't watch much TV anyway and although I have a HD TV I have not got any HD channels.

I had Virgin TV about 3 years ago and thought it was rubbish - the whole interface was slow and did not get as many channels for free as Sky provide. But, having only watched about 2% of the channels that SKY provide (I have sky sports) I am deciding to go back to Virgin as they give a good bundle deal.

The phone will also go to Virgin - the thing is, can anyone tell me if Virgin have improved over the last 3 years on their TV interface and quality?

Thanks,
lara

ivanwilson

I've Sky and Virgin. Virgin is excellent, I've the xl tv package which has plenty of HD included as well as free espn. The on demand service which is like a super iplayer service is a fantastic feature and is one of the reasons I'll probably cancel Sky soon.

macman

if you don't watch much TV, why not use Freesat or Freeview (both now with HD) and avoid paying anything at all? Obviously this means that you can't have Sky Sports though. If you want the on-demand service then that is available via iPlayer on Freesat.
Beware that VM telephony is the most expensive you can buy.

lara400

thanks for the responses - the only TV I really watch is Sky sports, my TV gets Freeview which is great but as "macman" points out, I can't get Sky sports.

I will probably phone up Sky and see if they give me a deal; if not, I will probably just leave anyway.

Thanks,
lara

ghanagirl

Phone one and say your going to phone the other after, play one against the other.
i posted before but pop over to digital spy and read the forums and you can see what other people are paying etc etc.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/

Pikeyp

On Virgin you get the minimum TV package free with the phone line .. obviously that doesn't include Sky Sports!

I'm a Virgin customer , and sadly I think the TV package is pretty poor compared to Sky's .. in fact I'm looking at the current Sky bundles which seem to be great value , under-cutting what I'm paying Virgin by some margin!

Why not ditch your Virgin broadband and get the equivalent from Sky?

Tigsteroonie

Having had Sky and having Virgin now, I definitely prefer Virgin. You get HD at no extra cost; and I love the fact that all the catch-up services (iPlayer, ITV, C4) are available easily and simply.

(plus no unsightly dish on the side of the house!)

DCFC79

Virgin's tv is pretty good, i like the choice of on demand stuff for free, they also have or used to have films for 99p or £1.50

Harrowing_2

As a test, I compared Sky and Virgins prices for the equiv of my Sky Family Pack with Sky Talk (evening+weekend free calls), HD and Unlimited Broadband and found they come out roughly equal at £38-40 pm. Surprised cos expected Virgin to be about £5 cheaper.

mikegamez

I have had Virgin for 2 years and find service excellent.
Free HD and Catchup - and if you ring them every year they reduce the price!!
I get XL TV, 20MB internet, all "normal" phone calls, second box in bedroom for £49 / month (PLus phone calls made to mobiles).
I don't get Sky Sports / Movies - but ESPN is free!!

OK_Sauce

One HUGE advantage that Virgin has over Sky is that the V+ box has three tuners so you can record two programmes whilst watching a third. I have found this invaluable.