Advice on buying a Digibox only?

LegacyUser

My brother is after moving into a new house, and the former owners were kind enough to leave him with the minidish and cables installed, but unfortunately took the Sky digibox. Hopefully someone can help:

1. What is the easiest/cheapest way for him to get a digibox?

2. When he subscribes to Sky, will he need to have a phoneline for a year if he's using his own hardware?

Lennoxschips

If you buy your own hardware then you don't need the phoneline. (unless you want to use the interactive features, like ordering ppv movies etc)

But can't he sign up with Sky for a year to get the subsidized box? You shouldn't have to pay for installation, seeing as it's all there already.

LegacyUser

He has no phoneline, and doesn't want to go to the trouble of getting one in because he'd never use it, and would have to pay whatever in line rental, purely because of Sky, so the subsidized installation is a 'no no'.

Tony

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
If you buy your own hardware then you don't need the phoneline. (unless you want to use the interactive features, like ordering ppv movies etc)

But can't he sign up with Sky for a year to get the subsidized box? You shouldn't have to pay for installation, seeing as it's all there already.

The way Sky payments to retailers are structured you would still have to pay for installation whether you already have a dish or not. The cheapest box is the pace minbox but theres little point in buying this without subscribing, a FTA box like palcom etc is cheaper option for FTA services.

Tony

byte

I suppose he could try getting one on Ebay, possibly with a FTV card paired to it to access all BBC, ITV, C4 and five. If he does, make sure the card is a P2 (new type) viewing card.

Originally posted by irishbyte
I suppose he could try getting one on Ebay, possibly with a FTV card paired to it to access all BBC, ITV, C4 and five. If he does, make sure the card is a P2 (new type) viewing card.

On that note, it might perhaps be interesting to do a survey here sometime , on machines like that bought from e-bay or QXL or other places, and whether, people had horror stories or were happy.
In my case,I got the box and ftv card over two years ago and it is still going strong.
Indeed the new pace box I got via Sky on a first time connection only lasted 18 months before it burned out, whereas the second hand panasonic is working a treat
mm

byte

Originally posted by Man

Indeed the new pace box I got via Sky on a first time connection only lasted 18 months before it burned out, whereas the second hand panasonic is working a treat
mm

Yeah, indeed, if at all possible, try getting a Panasonic digibox, as they're much more reliable than the others. In fact, I read an article in last months What Satellite mag and apparently a worker for a "rival" digibox manufacturer told them that it near impossilble for Panasonic to turn a profit on their boxes due to the good components installed.:rolleyes:

Icehouse

I've been happily using the Panasonic DSB-31 that I bought from eBay for the last 15 months or so. It cost me about £120 + £20 post at the time and came with a cancelled subscription card. In fact the sub channels were still active for a few weeks!

Just this week I used the buy it now option on Ebay and bought the same model Digibox (my favourite model) for £69.99 + £25 post. received it yesterday and it's working fine, although I've not yet got a card for it (I bought it for a friend and she's ordering her card while with her family in the UK). The seller said he only shipped to the UK, so i mailed him and offered £25 for postage and payment via Paypal and he accepted. In fact the postage was £26.30 so i got a good deal ;o)

BTW, I'll be installing my friend's dish this weekend - Can anyone tell me what channel I should view after system setup/signal strength OK etc. to ensure that I've installed the dish correctly -

Is there an FTA channel on Astra 2D which will assure me that once her FTV card arrives she'll get BBC1 OK?

DaithiSurfer

Just wait til SKY+ becomes available and then everyone that gets it will be giving away their old digiboxes for nothing.

LegacyUser

OK, thanks for your replies. He will be subscribing to the €27 entertainment package, but ye still haven't answered my question — will they demand a phone connection?

ShaneOC

No they will not demand a phone line.

The phone line is only required if you are getting a free digibox and dish from Sky (and then it is only required for a year).

jez

Reply to Daithisurfer.

No one with sense will ever give away a digibox. Any extra one will always come in handy when you'res is getting repaired. Even Sky plus boxes will break down!!

watty

They will only be given away if some day Sky decides to only transmit HDTV

Probabily for "marketing" reason, i.e. lots of people buying FTA no monthly sub PVR (hard disk) Digital Receivers for FTA BBC and ITV in a few years..

DaithiSurfer

What i actually meant was people who own them giving them away after they get sky digital.
I know 2 friends who intend to give theirs to other friends as soon as they get their sky+ boxes already.

dmeehan

why dont they just keep the box and set it up in another room
you will have a quad lnb with sky+ anyways