Monday 4 April 2011

Virgin Media Tivo vs Sky HD at TechRadar

TechRadar compare the premium boxes from Sky and Virgin Media in their article, comparing both offerings for ease of use; user interface; HD content; 3D programming; VOD and urm, Wow Factor. They conclude that:

While both Freesat and Freeview HD have plenty to offer, they can't compete directly with the powerful Pay TV propositions of Sky and Virgin Media. Of the two, Sky is our first choice when it comes to hi-def and 3D.
However, the satcaster has some serious catching up to do when it comes to Catch Up TV and VOD services, and its content Search options remain rooted in the past. Sky broadband users can take advantage of Sky Anytime+, but this is not an all-embracing solution.

When it comes to streaming video and Catch Up TV, Virgin Media's Tivo sets the new gold standard. Powered by the cablenet's high speed fibre optic broadband, it offers an unbeatable VOD catalogue ingeniously interweaved with regular programming. Its unique recommendation engine is also enormously compelling.

In the end, each proposal has clear, definable strengths. Ultimately, your choice may be decided by other factors such as location and availability. The good news is that whatever way you jump, both services guarantee you'll always have something great to watch.
You can also compare the premium boxes from Sky and Virgin Media in the PVR Comparison document.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Fails to point out Virgin HD is free Sky costs £10.25.

To use Anytime+ you must have sky BB £7 (it only streams SD content)
Virgin Tivo has dedicated 10mb line incl in price and can stream HD with 5.1 Surround.

ESPN £10 on Sky, Free on Virgin Tivo Virgin price £31 (without virgin Phone line) Sky £52.25
______________________________
For that sort of money with virgin I can get the following:
Virgin Tivo XLTV + 10mb Fibre optic BB (ontop of the dedicated 10mb for tivo) + XL Phone £58 (includes HD and ESPN)

No Contest really is it

Nialli said...

I thought this was a really weak comparison by TechRadar: felt like the writer was obliged to review the TiVo but didn't want to piss off Sky in any way. To praise the simplicity of Sky's EPG whereas most would describe it as dated and limited is poor.
I normally find TechRadar good, but this was pretty weak and insubstantial.

Richard said...

so much was missed...
didnt talk about search and browse which negates the need to have the epg as you look for programs by name rather than time!
didnt talk about wishlists and season passes; season passes are channel independent on tivo.
didnt (as myoungs said) no mention of the on-demand doesnt impact your broadband usage.
or the HD costs with sky.

poor review is an understatement; it is verging on bias and is showing a lack of proper investigation of the features and functionality and is on a par with Gadget Show's reviews of tech.

Oh and on the sky side, they transmit across coax without needing a modulator and IR sender.

Richard said...

forgot to say...
VM does 3d with on demand movies and content.
I dont have 3d tv, but took 20 seconds to confirm with a google search and Im sure i could spend another minute to confirm on my tivo. If its not there now it will be sometime soon as VM have commited to to 3d content.

As I said... sloppy review.

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