New TV - options? 29 October 2019 at 10:55AM in TV MoneySaving 6 replies 1.8K views

Tottington

So we are currently paying just under £100 :eek: for Sky TV and broadband, and also paying for Netflix and Amazon prime, run through an HDMI cable from my laptop.

I'd like to reshuffle things, and get a smart TV with Prime, Netflix, Now TV. And also with the functionality to pause/rewind/record live tv - we like this feature with Sky. Is this possible?! It's been so long since I've bought a TV....

Thanks!

Cornucopia

Do you need a new TV, or is it the cost of Sky etc. that is moving you in that direction?

To start with, you won't get the same recording features with a TV that you get with Sky.

Tottington

Cornucopia wrote: »

Do you need a new TV, or is it the cost of Sky etc. that is moving you in that direction?

To start with, you won't get the same recording features with a TV that you get with Sky.

Yes - it's a pain in the backside setting up my laptop and plugging in HDMI every time I want to watch netflix. Also it's on the small side, and old HD (i know nothing of pixels or frames but it's about 10 years old)

I'm surprised about the lack of live pause. I had assumed that would be standard now?

Cornucopia

Tottington wrote: »

Yes - it's a pain in the backside setting up my laptop and plugging in HDMI every time I want to watch netflix. Also it's on the small side, and old HD (i know nothing of pixels or frames but it's about 10 years old)

Okay.

Replacing Sky with Now TV is a good idea. But check out the differences before you decide. The Now TV channel line-up on Entertainment is much smaller than Sky. Now TV is 720p HD, rather than 1080 on Sky (for larger TVs this may make a small difference). Now TV does not have a recording capability and relies on catch-up & boxsets. You probably won't be able to record from the Now TV app using the TV's recording capability, either.

Watch out for Black Friday deals on Now TV.

I'm surprised about the lack of live pause. I had assumed that would be standard now?

It's not that they lack live pause (in fact that's probably the recording feature that is most universally supported). It's the other differences between a dedicated recording box and a TV: limitations on simultaneous recordings, capacity limited by the external storage you provide, sometimes less integration between EPG and recording.

Bigphil1474

OP, if your TV is okay, look at getting a smart box - You view, Humax etc. These will have apps built in, (check which you need), they plug into your HDMI socket, and will be cheaper than a new TV. They will allow you to record channels, whilst watching others - depending on the device. My Youview allows 2 records while watching another from what I can remember.
Also, not all smart TV makers support the apps forever. My 6 year old LG TV apps still work, but have heard reports of other brands not. My You view box has Netflix, Amazon, and Now TV (movies only at the minute). I also have a Tivo box which has them all as well. Also, PS4 has them all I think. Either way, cheaper than a new TV.
I use Now TV rather than Sky - I find it much cheaper, and no noticeable difference in quality. Best bit is you are only on monthly passes, e.g. you can get movies for a month, watch what you want, cancel for a few months, get it back for a month and so on. Depends what you watch. I tend to alternate between movies, entertainment, and sports, although most of the entertainment channels I get through VM, I have sport on a 10 month pass at the moment, and not got movies at the moment. If I'm paying for Netflix, I'll cancel Now TV for a while and so on and so forth. If you're savvy, it's big savings. As long as your BB speed is good, streaming works fine.

katies_mum

We have now managed our first week without Sky! getting to grips with the NowTv box was a little confusing at first and their remote controls are rubbish! I did miss having everything pre-recorded as for years we have just had to press a button with Sky. However, it is going well.

Don`t like the adverts on BBC I`Player or ITV Hub (even on catch-up and can`t find a way to fast forward over them) however, we are learning to live with it. We have NowTv entertainment (7 day free trial and then am hoping to sign up using Tesco Clubcard vouchers) and I have been able to watch everything I did on Sky (apart from Alibi and Universal Channels) We have also signed up to Netflix for their 30 day trial and I am loving it.

I am pleased to say there is life after Sky, I was really worried about leaving but its fine.

Sky didn`t waste much time sending the packaging to return everything, was cut off on Tuesday and it arrived on Friday!

sal_III

You have 2 main "problems" - Having to use Laptop for Netflix/Amazon Prime and paying over the odds for Sky.

The first one is easy - get a "smart" stick/box for HDMI popular options are from the cheapest Amazon stick or Google Chromecast for about £30 to Google Chromecast, Roku for about £40 to Apple TV for £150. All of them can handle Netflix and Amazon Prime, alongside most of the UK free TV channel catch-up TV apps.

The second one really depends on what you watch on TV, Freeview offers most of the popular channels for news and entertainment, notable exceptions would be movies and TV series and sports. For movie and TV series a combination of Demand 5, BBC iPlayer, All4, ITV app, Netflix and Amazon will bring you 90% of what's on Sky with the ability to pay for the rest on-demand - likely ending up much cheaper than £100/m. For Sports there isn't really a (legal) alternative.

When looking for a new TV - opt out for a DUMB TV if possible + smart stick/box - thsi will give you much more longevity, generally most TVs stop releasing updates after 1-2 years of release and often kill critical apps like youtube etc. for older models. The smart stick/box is generally future proof for about 5 years and even then can be replaced with a newer model much cheaper than the entire TV.