Sky or BT YouView (performance wise)??

dantheman2010

Hi All

I am moving into my new house next month and cant decide between Sky or BT Youview. Can someone with Youview let me know what the performance is like?

I have had Sky before so I know what to expect with that and if I get Sky I would be going with the family bundle with the additional box at £43.25 per month.

If I go with BT Youview it will be with adding the kids bolt on and the movie/box sets bolt on. This comes out at £13.00 per month not inc the phone/broadband subscription which would be claimed back as a business expense anyway.

I like the idea of saving £30.00 per month especially when considering most of the programmes I watch are on BBC 1, ITV, C4, C5, E4 and ITV2.

I have seen that you can get History Channel and Discovery Channel with YouView, is this free?

My main concerns are that with Sky you know an engineer comes out and will hook it up and 9 times out of 10 Sky works perfectly however with YouView I see it is all dependant on the quality of the TV aerial and the broadband connection none of which I will know until after the fact. I also notice that YouView is run through the broadband connection so I am just wondering whether I will find myself experiencing buffering or digital aerial picture quality issues.

Also with Sky in that £43 I will be having multiroom.

I am unsure whether it is better the devil you know and it cost £30.00 per month or go for something I havent used before and take a punt.

Any feedback from YouView users or ex-users that would be great.

Thanks

c85

............

dantheman2010

BT and Talktalk YouView are the same thing as far as I can see.

You get the standard freeview channels that you get with just a normal digital aerial and then pay for the on demand services and catch up/recordable facility I believe.

I had budgeted for Sky I just wondered whether I could save a the money but not skimp on quality/performance.

I can get BT YouView for £45 after offers inc broadband and phone which would make TV about £13.00. I can get TalkTalk YouView for £50 after offers so slightly more but get more Sky channels but dont get BT Sport.

Alternatively I could get BT broadband if I get Sky TV in order to get the BT sport for free.

Cant get Virgin in the area I am moving to. Just not sure I like the idea on the main features of BT/Talktalk needing to rely on Broadband - a service I dont know how good it is until I move in.

Sky is just a dish an engineer and off you trot.

How much is your all in Sky if you dont mind me asking?

Thanks

spyhunter

I have had BT TV for years and it works fine over the broadband connection.
You will need to get BT Infinity to get the best of BT Youview as the extra tv channels (Discovery/gold/nat geo etc) are streamed over the broadband and are only available on BT Infinity lines.

BT also now do multiroom at £5.00 a month. The setup costs are quite high though as you have to pay for the 2nd box.

dantheman2010

Thanks, is BT Infinity fibre? If so that isnt available in that area.

Is my understanding correct? You get the standard freeview channels as with any digital aerial and then all the others are streamed?

I am still leaning toward Sky just for the fact at not having to rely on the aerial and broadband to be able to get TV.

Although the saving £20-30 per month is a good thing too.

duchy

If you go with Sky you'll get the BB free for 2 years deal if you have tv,phone and BB with them as well.
Not only cheaper but if you have issues with your BB at any time you'll still have a full range o channels to watch and not just freeview channels.

spyhunter

If you can't get BT Infinity then the only channels you will get is freeview.
You can get the BT Sports channels and they will be streamed over the broadband connection. The rest of the content is through the on demand section so is not live channels but it is quite a large library of content and most of it has no adverts.

SimonSays

You only get 2 years free broadband if you subscribe to the Sky Sports pack with Sky Sports 5

VisionMan

dantheman2010 wrote: »

Thanks, is BT Infinity fibre? If so that isnt available in that area.

Then live channels aren't available via BT YouView, as they are only delivered over fibre.

spyhunter

VisionMan wrote: »

Then live channels aren't available via BT YouView, as they are only delivered over fibre.

Live BT sport channels and ESPN are now available over BT broadband where copper multicast is available but only in areas that do not have fibre.

VisionMan

spyhunter wrote: »

Live BT sport channels and ESPN are now available over BT broadband where copper multicast is available but only in areas that do not have fibre.

I know that, spyhunter. But as they are only in minority areas I didn't want to mention it as the OP only talked about wanting general channels/entertainment such as the History Channel and Discovery.