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£25 Tesco Gift Card Offer Now On

Sky have today launched a new offer following the success of the M&S voucher deal. Buy any Sky TV package online and Sky will give you a £25 Tesco gift card; for use against any Tesco purchase, whether that be electronics, health care or just your weekly shop.

Click on the banner below for full details:

Deal expires 30th April 2009

New EPG first release underway

Sky’s new HD EPG got under way in the early hours of this morning with release to 38,000 Sky HD Digiboxes, manufactured by Thomson.

The initial new EPG has been rolled-out to version 4E300E boxes, which is said to be the smaller volume of version numbers (the last from Thomson) allowing Sky the opportunity to monitor the success of roll-out before proceeding to other versions.

It is expected that availability of the new EPG will take a number of months to complete, but early indications are suggesting a much improved, much more stable service, including a better TV guide, improved recording functionality and a usable search facility. Hopefully if the initial release goes well, other versions of box will follow soon.

The new Sky EPG will be updated via the satellite dish, not the telephone line. You should receive instructions prior to the update with useful information on how the new services work.

Please leave a comment letting us know your thoughts as and when you receive it.

New Sky+HD EPG website launched

Sky have today launched a micro-site filled with information on the upcoming new Sky+HD EPG. The site includes a few demo’s, user guides and FAQ’s to help smooth the process of transfer.

According to Sky’s release notes, the roll-out will begin within the next couple of weeks and continue for a number of months. Thomson SkyHD digiboxes owners will be the first to benefit, with Amstrad, Samsung and Pace following in a few months time.

The EPG certainly looks impressive, although the limitation on number of channels you can view within the same TV guide screen is only 6, which might annoy some. Let’s just hope it’s a successful transfer to the new and it’s without many bugs and glitches, as Sky rely heavily on the EPG and especially the record functionality for almost 600,000 Thomson Sky HD Digibox customers.

Visit the new Sky EPG micro-site here.

Pace fault discovered

Although no official word has come from a tight lipped Sky/Pace, it seems from new Pace boxes coming onto the market that the revision is a couple of cable ties holding some cables in place.

It would seem, although only a assumption by the Sky community, that the potential risk resulting in a mass Pace recall is the possibility of the power cable linking from the PSU to motherboard could get trapped by releasing from it’s housing and getting stuck between the metal lip and top casing. Should this happen and the cable cut, there’s a chance the box could become live.

Again, this is only speculation and the chances of this happening are very very slight, but Pace’s solution with the cable ties is to hold the cables in their housing seems a sensible one to get more units onto the market.

Did you really expect Sky/Pace to announce this sort of information?

Having said all that, Pace still remains the digibox of choice for Sky+HD, due to their long history of manufacturing quality products for the Sky range.

For anyone considering a Pace, either new or as replacement for a recalled box, just make sure that it’s had the required changes carried out. This can be done easily by shining a torch in the back of the unit near the warranty ‘void’ sticker and looking for the cable ties, alternatively, the manufacturers packaging should state it was built in the EUR 2009.

Don’t forget, if you are looking to sign up to Sky+HD, either as a new or existing customer, Sky are currently offering a fantastic deal of just £49 including installation, exclusively available online.

M&S offer returns

Sky have today announced the return of the previously successful M&S voucher offer.

Simply sign up to Sky TV as a new customer before 26th March 2009 and you’ll be sent £30 in M&S vouchers.

Visit Sky for more information and to sign up

In addition, Sky are now offering their standard Sky Digibox deal for FREE, with only £15 installation, so combine that with the M&S deal above and you’ll be £15 better off!

See all the latest Sky, Sky+ and Sky+HD deals here

Official response to Pace Sky HD recall

Following on from our previous post regarding the possible recall of all Pace Sky+HD Digiboxes, we can confirm that Sky have issued the following statement:

We are providing a free replacement Sky+HD box to customers who have one from the first batch of boxes supplied by Pace. The reason for the swap is that Pace has identified a flaw in its manufacturing assembly process which might have affected some boxes from this first batch. Pace alerted us to the assembly problem and has since rectified the flaw. Current box supplies are unaffected. While there were around 90,000 boxes in the first batch (versions 9F3001, 9F3002, 9F3003 and 9F3004), the flaw is likely to have affected only a small minority. However, we are providing a replacement box to all customers as a precaution.

What is the flaw? The issue relates to the way in which some of the boxes in the batch were assembled. In particular, it involves the internal cabling and the quality of the connections between components. This means that the build quality of a box that was part of this batch may not meet Sky’s standards. The assembly flaw does not involve a faulty component, such as a hard drive, or a software problem. Importantly, Pace has confirmed that the assembly flaw does not pose a safety risk. The box can continue to be used in the normal way, as installed by a Sky engineer, until we come to replace it. The assembly flaw is not affecting the performance of these boxes. But, because some of these boxes may develop a problem over the longer term, we are choosing to replace them while they are still under warranty.

How does the replacement programme work? We have started calling the affected customers to fix an appointment for one of our engineers to come and install a free replacement box. Because of the number of boxes, it will take us about three months to contact everyone. To make up for any inconvenience, we will give all affected customers three months’ free subscription to our HD pack (worth £29.25) when we replace their box. In order to avoid problems in the future, we would encourage all affected customers to participate in the replacement programme while their box is still under warranty. All replacement boxes will come with a new 12-month warranty.

Can customers request a particular make of replacement box? Customers should tell us if they would prefer to receive a particular make of replacement box. While we can’t offer a firm guarantee, we will do our best to accommodate their request.

How can customers tell whether they have a Pace Sky+HD box? The easiest way to find out is via the on-screen Sky Guide. Just press the ‘Services’ button on your remote control, then select ‘System Set Up’ followed by ‘System Details’, and the manufacturer and version number of your box will be displayed.

Our advice would still be to make sure a replacement brand new Pace, Samsung or Amstrad box is supplied in replacement. Do not accept a Thomson as they are less reliable than the newer generation boxes.

Rumours of a Pace Sky+HD recall

There are presently rumours surrounding the Sky forums suggesting that Sky are issuing a recall on all Pace Sky+HD Digiboxes sold since their launch in August 2008. There is expecting to be a potential 90,000 boxes requiring this recall, although details on the reason why are still unclear.

A number of forum members have said that Sky have been in touch with them to organise a replacement, but have so far given very little indication of the issue other than it’s optional whether to have exchanged, so this would suggest it’s nothing dangerous.

Our thoughts would be that it’s either a hard drive issue, as the Seagate drives installed have been suffer glitches, but that’s been on higher capacity drives than the 320gb HDD’s installed in the Pace HD unit. The other possible glitch may be compatibility with the soon to be launched new EPG, or potentially an issue with the new Sky cards due for launch within the next couple of months.

We are hoping for an official announcement from Sky soon, but would suggest in the meantime not to worry, if the recall is optional it wouldn’t suggest a danger or guaranteed problem. All we would suggest is that if you are contacted, ask them to explain what the recall is for and also ensure they replace with a like for like or new unit, not a reconditioned Thomson box which have poor reliability.

If you are contacted, why not let us know what they have told you?

New Sky EPG Imminent

It has been confirmed today that after many delays, the new eagerly-anticipated electronic programme guide (EPG) launch is “imminet”.

The new EPG, which has been been a popular topic throughout the satellite industry has supposedly endured a number of additional tweaks since it’s last proposed launch back in September 2008. It is designed to make the plethora of linear HD content more navigable and lay the groundwork for the delivery of on demand content via broadband, which is very much the direction Sky wish to pursue in the future.

On speaking about the new EPG, Gerry O’Sullivan, Sky’s Director of Strategic Product Development said;

We are ramping up for its imminent launch, we haven’t changed our EPG for a long time. We are very sensitive in keeping all the navigation paradigms and the user interface of our current world-class EPG. How do you improve something and not break that? It’s been a very interesting project.

In response to questions regarding the delay, Gerry added;

There was no rush for us. We decided to get it as good as we possibly can, and what we’ve got now is really going to blow the audience away.

Sky TV improve their latest deal…buy now!

Sky TV have announced some fantastic new deals for those interested in signing up as a new customer to Sky TV. The deals, available online only, are below:

- Standard Sky Digibox with subscription
FREE plus £60 installation

- Sky+ Digibox with subscription
FREE plus FREE installation using discount code SALE140068031302

- Sky+HD Digibox with subscription
£49 plus FREE installation, plus first months Sky HD Pack FREE (usually £10)

All these deals can be found online here

Offers end 12th February 2009 so be quick!

Buy New, Expect New

It has become apparent over the past few months that some of you have been receiving second hand reconditioned Sky+HD Digiboxes when you have in fact purchased new. This all stems from November 2008 when Sky somehow managed to run out of supply of new Sky+HD Digiboxes, even though they had a number of manufacturers on the go. We suspect this happened when they decided to stop selling Thomson’s HD box due to reliability, but Pace, Samsung and Amstrad were not fully up to speed.

What has happened since then is that Sky in desperation of ensuring they could fulfil orders over the Christmas period, had thousands of reconditioned Thomson units released through the installer network. Initially they were advising customers of this and offering £30 discount plus 18-24 month warranty.

Recently however it seems a number of you have been receiving Sky+HD Digiboxes which you suspect as not being new, even though you’ve been sold as new. Our recommendations for when you purchase and the installer arrives are as follows:

1) Check it’s a latest brand box from Pace, Samsung or Amstrad. Whilst there may be a few Thomson’s still in the network, it’s very unlikely, nor would you want to accept anyway, they are terrible.

2) Make sure the digibox comes in an official manufacturers box, complete with accessories. Don’t allow the installer to unpack in his van and bring just the box in. The manufacturers box for the Pace, Samsung and Amstrad models are black and white with clear indications of being a Sky+HD Digibox.

3) Don’t accept a Sky+HD Digibox if supplied in a plain brown box, it’s most likely a repaired unit, as they are supplied in plain boxes, not new boxes.

4) Make sure you receive all accessories, including HDMI cable, this is part of the new digibox package.

If you want to take things even further, check for finger prints on the digibox when unpacked, or scratches around the satellite input on the back, or around the viewing card slot. Furthermore, there should be a yellow sticker on the front requesting an over-the-air software update.

We recommend where possible you see the packaged digibox prior to being opened, it should be sealed, but not always as the installer does have to take the NDS code sticker out to place on his job sheet.

If you have any questions or concerns about receiving a second hand / repaired box, post comments and I’ll do my best to help out.