Sky+HD and new tv

minimad1970

Hi, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I've got a sky engineer coming out next week to install Sky+HD and I'm going to buy a new tv before that. As far as I know they connect up all your equipment and get it up and running. What I want to know is what would be the best leads to buy, and how many? I want to connect the sky box, the tv and a dvd player. When I go to buy the tv I don't want to get sold all kind of expensive leads that I don't need. The tv has 2 scart sockets and 4 HDMI, I'm not entirely sure what that is but I know it is leads. I'm a bit of a technophobe so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Savvy_Spender_South

OK you need 1 x HDMI lead only.

Sky comes with all the stuff it needs.

If and only if your DVD is HD, you need a HDMI lead to connect it to your TV, otherwise you need a SCART lead. either lead is no more that £10 from currys Argos etc. The more expensive leads are for serious enthusiasts with big living room windows.

The way to tell which lead you require, wait for sky engineer, get them to lok at your DVD and ask them which lead to by. once purchased it is a simple connection from dvd straight to TV.

Harrowing_2

SKY engineer supplies you with an HDMI cable which will give you your glorious HD connection from sky hd box to tv - he will connect this.
So no purchase necessary ob that front.

As for connecting DVD to sky box and TV, 2 scart leads will do the trick, Argos supply them cheaply if you haven't got them already; just search "scart lead" at argos.com to pre-order before turning up. Others will argue you must get gold-plated ones for extra 10% of quality of course....

Sorry to spell things out a bit, but you did say "technophobe".

Harrowing_2

^funny how similar Savy's and my post were, even in humour about scart lead geeks:rotfl:

minimad1970

Thanks very much, especially for keeping it simple. It seems I don't need to buy anything then, dvd isn't HD, so that's good. I was thinking of asking him if he could put my tv on the wall if I get a bracket, for a few pounds of course. Do you think that's a bit cheeky? Thanks again.

Harrowing_2

minimad1970 wrote: »

Thanks very much, especially for keeping it simple. It seems I don't need to buy anything then, dvd isn't HD, so that's good. I was thinking of asking him if he could put my tv on the wall if I get a bracket, for a few pounds of course. Do you think that's a bit cheeky? Thanks again.

Not cheeky, but worth a try, cash in hand does not bother these contractors.:D

Re principle of wall mount, please think carefully about whether the TV will be at the correct height for you. You have spent years watching a TV 18 inches (or less ?) from the floor and might now be craning your neck to watch something placed much higher!:eek:

Kurtis_Blue

From wide experience I wouldn't let a random Sky fitter drill a cable hole let alone fit a flat screen TV.

minimad1970

If you wouldn't let them drill a hole for the cable how would they get the cable in to connect it. Not that I need that doing as it's already done, I'm just curious.

Kurtis_Blue

minimad1970 wrote: »

If you wouldn't let them drill a hole for the cable how would they get the cable in to connect it. Not that I need that doing as it's already done, I'm just curious.

Well I was stating that I wouldn't let them touch my property, I would do it my self, or if I did not have the required skills I would employ someone else, however, this may seem to be extreme but experience shows they are mostly very poor and even the rare good ones are VERY short on time.

In your case I would just suggest you watch them during install and cable running etc..

But why would you let a random guy of the street fit your TV when they have no experience in doing it, no insurance for doing it, probably not the correct fittings, and will have to rush it.

Savvy_Spender_South

Sky fitters are very capable of drilling the leads and TBH may well mount a TV for a bit of cash but if you think, they may be reluctant as if it falls they could be liable etc.

Small adds in local press, handy man/person is ideal. simple job in most circumstances.

Think about position, fell wall mounts work in moderate rooms plus you still need to house DVD and SKY. Speak to a good TV shop to ensure you get a good mount, expect £50 to £100 for a normal one you can trust, more for multi tilt and adjust options.

i have 40" Sony Bravia on a £15 ikea stand i bought a s a temporary measure, three years on i cannot see a point in changing it!

minimad1970

Yes that all makes sense thanks. I had someone recommended locally but they couldn't fit it in until after the sky was done. It was just an idea so it was all done in one.