Love the MySky but dislike paying the huge monthly fee. I am interested in purchasing the best alternative, that will provide all that MySky offers and also I am interested in online streaming/recording. Can anyone update me on the latest technology out there at the moment please? Thank you in advance.
There isn't and off the shelf alternative if you still want the SKY channels.
You can build a PC with a card reader that will pick up the Sky channels off a satellite card and decode them using your Sky card, but you need the right card, which will involve paying the same subscription anyway.
Are you in a Freeview UHF area?
TiVo has a nice UI, but you cannot buy them new currently. (UHF)
Panasonic do a pretty decent range of recorders, but they aren't cheap. (UHF)
There are plenty of MyFreeview boxes on the market also, and they all do and OK, if not stellar, Job. (Both UHF and Satellite).
I would like to dump Sky and just use a Freeview recorder (I have a MagicTV 3700 and a TiVo at home still in boxes) and Plex for movies and AppleTV for Netflix.
The only unit that can do absolutely everything is an HTPC, which can be set up to watch and record Freeview, and also watch stuff off the internet, DVDs etc.
You can do most of this just with an old laptop plugged into your TV, but you need to spend more if you want something really nice.
A huge thank you to all those people that have commented. I have realised I didn't explain myself very clearly. What I enjoy about MySky is the ability to record two channels and watch a third, FF, pause, rewind at different speeds etc. This is the alternative I am looking plus I would like to live stream and if possible watch movies off a external hard drive or USB stick. I have had a look at the Ultra XPlus 9200 but stumbled across the Vu+ which was talked about a few years ago in the these forums. I am wondering if they are still worth looking at or has something else appeared on the market. I am unsure whether you can purchase the vu+ in NZ and if not, not sure why. Any comments about the two mentioned above or anything else as good would be appreciated. I have a satellite dish and UHF aerial. Thanks
Most of the units available at retail here in NZ are twin tuner, so record one, watch another or record two, watch a separate recording. The MySky has (I believe) 4 Tuners, though only 3 are available to the end user (the fourth is used for downloading 'On Demand' content to a section of the unit's hard drive).
With a twin tuner UHF box, you can of course record two channels, and then watch a third by switching back to the TV's tuner. Also, the +1 channels do make it a lot easier to schedule recordings so that you do not have clashes.
As for the Vu+, I am not sure why it is not available here, but a few people around here did get one.
just set up my mum with a twin tuner avermedia UHF card and a $20 HP media remote control and receiver. First thing she noticed was how much better freeveiw HD was than SD sky signal. (now she's actually getting the picture she paid for with her HD TV). ive just got it setup on Windows media center for her and she loves how easy it is to use and record/series record stuff onto the hard drive. She is now with slingshot global so have set her up with BBC iplayer and a few sports streaming sites. to get her the content she wants
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