[F150]

HBO HD channels ?? Available on TS HD ?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by F150

HBO HD channels ?? Available on TS HD ?

No, it is not available in TS, guess till they increase their transponder count no chance of any new channels getting added up.
There was an article in news paper about Tata Sky planning of taking ISRO to court for delay in releasing transponder.
TATA Sky plan to sue ISRO

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

There was an article in news paper about Tata Sky planning of taking ISRO to court for delay in releasing transponder.
TATA Sky plan to sue ISRO

I guess its high time TataSKY should dump ISRO and go with a foreign satellite. After reading the article, one can see the high handedness of the sarkari machinery.

[shipnil]

Hi guys, need some advice.

I'll be buying a HDTV next week and would need a HD box for it. Currently, I have Tata Sky with existing CRT tv which I intend to keep active. My question is, should I go for Tata Sky HD box only or consider Airtel / Videocon D2h too? The thing is the existing Tata Sky box is on base package which costs 220 only whereas even if I make it as secondary connection on Tata Sky, it would cost 180 which amounts to 40 rupees saving only. And this secondary connection will primarily be used by my parents to watch regional channels which anyway are available in base pack.

The dilemma is due to lesser HD channels available on Tata Sky compared to other two as well as higher pricing and internal cabling issues of the apartment. I wish to keep the connections through concealed cabling only. Having two boxes from different providers might pose cabling challenge.

Also, can this secondary connection be switched on and off as required? I would like to keep this active only when my parents are with me and not when they return to my native place. Or once I convert my connection to multi TV, I have to keep paying for secondary connection?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Hi guys, need some advice.

I'll be buying a HDTV next week and would need a HD box for it. Currently, I have Tata Sky with existing CRT tv which I intend to keep active. My question is, should I go for Tata Sky HD box only or consider Airtel / Videocon D2h too? The thing is the existing Tata Sky box is on base package which costs 220 only whereas even if I make it as secondary connection on Tata Sky, it would cost 180 which amounts to 40 rupees saving only. And this secondary connection will primarily be used by my parents to watch regional channels which anyway are available in base pack.

The dilemma is due to lesser HD channels available on Tata Sky compared to other two as well as higher pricing and internal cabling issues of the apartment. I wish to keep the connections through concealed cabling only. Having two boxes from different providers might pose cabling challenge.

You would need an additional cable anyway. I would stick to TS, if I were you. TS boxes are superior in terms of recording and smart phone app etc and signal is good too. This is my theoretical knowledge! I personally use DishTV and have 3 connections at home.

[Spinnerr]

A positive note on Videocon DTH.

I have now moved to the outskirts of Bangalore. So had to opt for D2H; after going through the channel list and price I opted for Videocon DTH, and I am quiet surprised by the quick turn around and installation.

Installation team wasn't that polished or communicative; but it all happened in less than 30 hours flat.

10:30 am WED 10-Jul - Dropped my number in the website in their 'Get new connection' link.

10.45 am WED 10-Jul - Got a call from a rep asking me if I had chosen the plan, if not they can explain what each package has.

10:55 am WED 10-Jul - I cut the call short saying I am about to enter a meeting; but I have a fair idea what to choose. The Lady on the other end said, please enter my name in the customer care rep filed when applying online.

Then I totally forgot about this; was engrossed in work.

04:30pm WED 10-Jul - I got a follow up call from the lady asking if I needed some help to fill the form. I said I had totally forgotten about it; I shall do that tomorrow.

05:00pm WED 10-Jul - Got some free time; decided to take the plunge; booked a HD connection for Rs 3279/-. Hoping that things would move smoothly.

09:00am THU 11-Jul - Another customer support guy called to check my order; I was supposed to choose 4 languages; made that choice he said; it would be installed in 24 hours

10:30am THU 11-Jul - Another guy calls asking for a land mark; reconfirms the address; says he is on the way would reach in an hour.

11:50am THU 11-Jul - He was at the door steps.

From 1pm the line was active and we started getting channels.
One grouse would be; the installation guys could have taken the wire into the living room and kept it closer to the floor; behind our show case. But rather than spending time moving the show case; the pulled it over the top. So it sticks out, which isn't a pleasant thing.
I would have to redo this, this weekend.

Menu isnt very legible from far, remote is eazy to use. Pic quality so far is good.

Fact could be, not many people are opting for Videocon; so their install team and follow up team are always available.... Hay! but I am not complaining. I got what I asked for, quicker than I thought.

[Mudhalaipatti]

I have been having Airtel DTH and after using for 3 months I can confidently recommend to stay away from this one. I choose a alacarte package, the amount summing up to around Rs.180. I recharged on 20th of the month and I expected to recharge again on 20th of next month. But I get a SMS that I'll have to recharge by 10th. I call up customer care and this is the conversation.

Me: Why is that I see a low balance on my account. I expected to recharge only on 20th.
CC : Sir, whee do you see the balance in your account.
Me : Online
CC : Sir, there's a problem with the website. Don't refer to that,
Me : Ok, but I get a SMS mentioning about my low balance.
CC : Sir, there's a problem with that. Please don't by that
Me : Ok, now that you are here. Let me know my balance and recharge date.
CC: You'll have to recharge on 10th, as your balance is low.
Me : Why ? I chose a ala-carte menu and it should last 1 full month
CC : Sir, Ala-Carte is applicable till Rs.150. Anything above 150 will be treated as top-up and Rs.5.4 will be deducted irrespective of use.
Me : (brain freeze) uh ! What ? There's no mention of this anywhere
CC : Sir, it's available in airtel.in
Me: Tell me the exact location/site address
CC: Sir, it's availablein airtel.in/digitaltv
Me: That's again a huge sit, give me the precise location.
CC: It's available there. You'll have to look closer.
Me : I'm already 2 cm from my screen.
CC: Is there anything else we can help you with
Before I protest, the line is disconnected.

I call up again to connect to the supervisor. He repeats the same.

Now, is this a case of mis selling a product. Can I complain with DoT ?

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

A positive note on Videocon DTH.

I have now moved to the outskirts of Bangalore. So had to opt for D2H; after going through the channel list and price I opted for Videocon DTH, and I am quiet surprised by the quick turn around and installation.

Installation team wasn't that polished or communicative; but it all happened in less than 30 hours flat.

I think this is pretty much standard practice, and nothing extra-ordinary.

About a year and a half ago, the entire process of getting a Tata Sky connection was completed in less than 24hrs. I had bought an online connection around 4pm in the after noon, and everything was up and running by 1pm the next day.

And when I got a 2nd TV and had to get a 2nd STB, I called the online CC at about 9.30am, and by 2.30pm the 2nd TV was up and running.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by julupani

I think this is pretty much standard practice, and nothing extra-ordinary.

About a year and a half ago, the entire process of getting a Tata Sky connection was completed in less than 24hrs. I had bought an online connection around 4pm in the after noon, and everything was up and running by 1pm the next day.

And when I got a 2nd TV and had to get a 2nd STB, I called the online CC at about 9.30am, and by 2.30pm the 2nd TV was up and running.

I've had this experience with Dish tv too. I paid a dealer in the city to install STB and dish in friends house about 30km outside city. It was installed same day about 6 hrs later!

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

I have been having Airtel DTH and after using for 3 months I can confidently recommend to stay away from this one. I choose a alacarte package, the amount summing up to around Rs.180. I recharged on 20th of the month and I expected to recharge again on 20th of next month. But I get a SMS that I'll have to recharge by 10th. I call up customer care and this is the conversation.

Me: Why is that I see a low balance on my account. I expected to recharge only on 20th.
CC : Sir, whee do you see the balance in your account.
Me : Online
CC : Sir, there's a problem with the website. Don't refer to that,
Me : Ok, but I get a SMS mentioning about my low balance.
CC : Sir, there's a problem with that. Please don't by that
Me : Ok, now that you are here. Let me know my balance and recharge date.
CC: You'll have to recharge on 10th, as your balance is low.
Me : Why ? I chose a ala-carte menu and it should last 1 full month
CC : Sir, Ala-Carte is applicable till Rs.150. Anything above 150 will be treated as top-up and Rs.5.4 will be deducted irrespective of use.
Me : (brain freeze) uh ! What ? There's no mention of this anywhere
CC : Sir, it's available in airtel.in
Me: Tell me the exact location/site address
CC: Sir, it's availablein airtel.in/digitaltv
Me: That's again a huge sit, give me the precise location.
CC: It's available there. You'll have to look closer.
Me : I'm already 2 cm from my screen.
CC: Is there anything else we can help you with
Before I protest, the line is disconnected.

I call up again to connect to the supervisor. He repeats the same.

Now, is this a case of mis selling a product. Can I complain with DoT ?

I had a lot of grief with Dishtv along same lines for about a year. I used to get very frustrated to have this corrected each month. For me it was a system miscalculated issue and I would lose 10-12 days each month. I had multitv connection and I think this was the issue. They have rectified this or it is solved as I am now recharging on the very last day and I don't see this issue anymore for the past 6 months.

[yogibear007]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Hi guys, need some advice.

I'll be buying a HDTV next week and would need a HD box for it. Currently, I have Tata Sky with existing CRT tv which I intend to keep active. My question is, should I go for Tata Sky HD box only or consider Airtel / Videocon D2h too? The thing is the existing Tata Sky box is on base package which costs 220 only whereas even if I make it as secondary connection on Tata Sky, it would cost 180 which amounts to 40 rupees saving only. And this secondary connection will primarily be used by my parents to watch regional channels which anyway are available in base pack.

The dilemma is due to lesser HD channels available on Tata Sky compared to other two as well as higher pricing and internal cabling issues of the apartment. I wish to keep the connections through concealed cabling only. Having two boxes from different providers might pose cabling challenge.

Also, can this secondary connection be switched on and off as required? I would like to keep this active only when my parents are with me and not when they return to my native place. Or once I convert my connection to multi TV, I have to keep paying for secondary connection?

I have recently shifted to Videocon D2H from Tata Sky. My experience of Tata Sky was complete highhandedness. We have a common dish on our building. For a couple of days the connection was down and I called up the help center. They recorded by call and sent a person to attend the complaint. The service guy came to our home and told us that there is a problem in the common dish and TS is aware about it. He will fix it and our connection will be OK. He never touched anything in our home. Afterwards when I checked my statement, TS deducted Rs 150/- from my account for the service visit. This inspite of knowing that the common dish had a problem. When I followed this up, they said they will check and revert, After a week, they came back saying that the deduction is justified and I will not get a refund. This response to a customer who is a user for almost the last five years. Funny. So I changed to D2H and service is installed within two days with my own dish. (Now Tata Sky guys keep calling me that they are ready to revert back the service charges and I can come back to TS ) I found the picture quality and channel spread of D2H much better than the Tata Sky offering with quite a drop in pricing too. I've taken the yearly full plan for D2H. So far, my experience is very good. In fact in Mumbai monsoons, the TS service invariably gets disconnected whenever there is slight rain. But the D2H, this is for far lesser time as compared to TS. I would definitely recommend a shift from TS to D2H.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by diyguy

You would need an additional cable anyway. I would stick to TS, if I were you. TS boxes are superior in terms of recording and smart phone app etc and signal is good too. This is my theoretical knowledge! I personally use DishTV and have 3 connections at home.

Can't they use a splitter at my circuit box to make it two cables that would run to two rooms? Or do they start from LNB itself to have two cables running parallel to two different rooms?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Can't they use a splitter at my circuit box to make it two cables that would run to two rooms? Or do they start from LNB itself to have two cables running parallel to two different rooms?

From what I have seen on two installations, they run two from the lnb itself to two separate rooms.

[null]

Our cable guy wants us to upgrade to a new STB (1500rs) & says they will start charging as per CAS guidelines in the next 6 months. This means, the cable bill would go up by a couple of hundreds (250 to 400-450rs).

So, is it prudent to switch to satellite TV now? (no need of HD - SD is good. Just want to be sure that we get English movies, sports, discovery NGC etc and the kannada channels). Which is the ideal package for this combo across the various service providers? Anybody having this configuration? How much are you paying(initial setup + monthly rental) for first TV connection?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by null

Our cable guy wants us to upgrade to a new STB (1500rs) & says they will start charging as per CAS guidelines in the next 6 months. This means, the cable bill would go up by a couple of hundreds (250 to 400-450rs).

So, is it prudent to switch to satellite TV now? (no need of HD - SD is good. Just want to be sure that we get English movies, sports, discovery NGC etc and the kannada channels). Which is the ideal package for this combo across the various service providers? Anybody having this configuration? How much are you paying(initial setup + monthly rental) for first TV connection?

Yes definitely better to switch to DTH. SD should set you back about 1500 box and install. You should get a month or two free. All SD channels would typically cost 300-400 depending on provider and channels included. This will be similar for all providers I guess.