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Low-cost route to high-definition programming to be made available in time for the 2010 World Cup.
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Read more.Quote:
Low-cost route to high-definition programming to be made available in time for the 2010 World Cup.
Virgin and Sky have a massive advantage over Freeview in that H.264 hardware decoders are cheap, but DVB-T2 demodulators are... well, barely available.
I have no interest in football, but actually like it as its making everybody get there fingures out and get us some HD stuff.
As for the above I don't think its so much the hardware is cheaper, its the fact that Virgin/Sky know they will be getting money out of you every month to pickup the cost. Likewise a Freeview HD PVR maybe £300 but how many months will that get you on Virgin/Sky?
Isn't this a bit naff given that Sky are doing Sky+ HD boxes as standard with their TV packages. Sky charge £49 for their box or free if you subscribe to their HD Tax.
Virgin on the other hand offer their V+ box for £49. I presume the only benefit of this box is that you don't get hit with a £5 per month if you're not on their XL pack. Is this to replace the aging Samsung 2110c boxes they are currently handing out?
Remember this isn't a PVR, just a single tuner HD receiver.
The V+ does HD and has a HDD and 3 tuners
I expect this box will replace all the normal Virgin boxes at some point anyway, Virgin are just getting some extra money from "early adopters".
Note that Cisco are providing Virgin with their new IP Based TV services, so that's another reason for introducing this box.
Freeview HD has been a very long time coming, is still somewhere over the horizon for most people, and will remain out of touch of a significant proportion of the population.
Freesat on the other hand is here now. HD feeds are limited to BBC HD and ITV1 HD at present but the whole package is FTA and available to almost everybody.
A Freesat HD box is a smidge over £100 (SD is only £30!) and is surely the way forward for most people looking for a subscription free HD solution.
Box = £49
Ship a box to you, and you install = £15.
Engineer Install = £35.
Is you pick the £15 option, your left with potentially a spare box, unless they are smart enuff to cancel the card thats in it.
Mine arrived today, i went for the install yourself option at £49 (no other charges - looks like they dropped the £15 extra)
Have to say i am mighty impressed by this Cisco box, was a breeze to set up and the HD is stunning. Also my old Samsung box was always so slow and unresponsive, not this though - well worth the upgrade.