Anyone know where i can get a cheap replacement sky digi box or Sky plus

sky charging upwards of £165 for sky plus at the moment, also the digi box we have is playing up

 

Ebay

I've picked up quite a few digiboxes with (cancelled) house cards (which you need for channel 4, 5, etc.) for about £65 each for myself and other expats. Be about 10-20 quid cheaper without the card I should imagine. Not looked at Sky+ though.

 

This any good? www.digiboxes.co.uk/

 

What about Tivo?

Not that I know but it looks an alternative to sky+??</p>

anybody have one??</p>

http://www.tivoland.com/index2.html</p>

 

Cheers all, just been on e bay

and will try the other 2 options as well

 

RE: What about Tivo?

Not really a good alternative as you won't be able to watch one Sky programme whilst recording another or record 2 at once.

 

Cheers for that Richard

the more I read the more confused I get, but then I'm only a simple soul

 

RE: Cheers for that Richard

Can recommend Sky+ - excellent.

Be careful buying a Sky+ box on ebay as it won't just be a case of replacing your existing "normal" Sky box with it....you need a new LNB (the bit on the end of the pole on the dish) and 2 cables running to the box to allow the functionality of recording 2 programmes at same time or watching one and recording another. So you will need a professional installer.

 

Useful BBS for your TV queries

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/index.php

 

RE: Cheers for that Richard

thats the bit that was beginning to confuse me, i got that from reading up on the www.digiboxes site recommended

 

Cheers again, off to bed now to consider what to do

 

Re: LNBs

Installing a new LNB is a doddle. And don't believe anyone who says you need any fancy gear either, particularly as your dish will already be pointing in the right direction (although there may be some slight tweaking to be done as the head may not be in quite the same position relative to the fixings). It's probably a lot easier to get it done by a pro but a mate with a ladder is all you really need. If you want to do it yourself there's lots of good advice at http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ (don't be put off by the pikey title, it's a really good site). The digitalspy forum Eaststander mentioned is also helpful for problems but Satellite For Caravans is the place to start. Just remember to disconnect the power from the box(es) before you disconnect the cable from the LNB.

Eaststander is absolutely right about the LNB for Sky+ (if you've only got a single) and I'd strongly recommend getting a quad LNB rather than a double. You need one set of connections per normal digibox and two per sky+ box (which is really two receivers in one case) so if you get a quad you can upgrade to two Sky+ boxes or a Sky+ box and one or two normals later (if you want multiroom, for example, 'cos like mine your missus can't stand footie). I generally pay 11.50-12.50 for a quad LNB off Ebay including postage (picked one up yesterday for 12.50 in fact).

All prices are a bit up at the mo on Ebay as people go multi-room for the world cup but it's still possible to get the prices, as I said with the LNB yesterday. I'd strongly recommend Panasonic boxes (they seem to get stronger signal reception and are definitely quicker if manually tuning) and I only buy Wistron Quad LNBs now as I had some problem with Thomson.

Feel free to PM me if I'm not about as I've done quite a few of these down here now but they're all non-subscription so I can't help you with Sky+ or subscription service queries. It might be difficult, for example, to get Sky to establish your subscription if you buy a Sky+ box (presumably with matching viewing card if they still have these) and quad LNB and set it up yourself. The forum will have advice on this I'm sure.

 

'Sky' and 'Cheap' in the same phrase??? No No ff