Cancelled sky - Can I troubleshoot my new wish list with more tech savvy people please?

[QuartzUcan]

Hi,
As above I have cancelled sky package today. So I have until 20th March 'til the switch off! I feel liberated but bereft at the same time but I know it will all be okay because I will be saving nearly £60 a month, even with my new broadband deal elsewhere that will satisfy my teens and our usage 😀
We already have Netflix and Amazon Prime.

My new broadband provider had a reputation for a great fibre optic broadband speed for multiple devices and streaming 😄 (yet to be installed but have high hopes of teens not moaning about Internet anymore!)

What I want

• a new version of the pause live TV, rewind and record that I had with my sky+box (old white one, so no catch up/demand with it)
  I am quite keen on one of the recording boxes - have looked at HUMAX the last few days and read reviews etc
  
  
• to get catch up services automatically on tv rather than watching Iplayer etc on my mini ipad.
  
  
• to watch some premium Sky channels via a Now Tv box (entertainment package) on my tv (rather than the APP on my my mini ipad)
  
  Q - How would the two devices work together? HUMAX (or similar recording box) and NOW TV? At the same time - or would there be lots of unplugging? Would it be too blooming complicated?
  
  If push came to shove the thing I would miss most about my sky box downstairs is the pause, rewind and record function which I use more than coveted Premium channels.
  
  My tv has 2 HDMI sockets.
  
  In the past I have rigged up the home laptop via HDMI to stream content, but this is proving more difficult now that we only have 1 working laptop in the house and everyone wants it at different times for school/work etc.
  
  Thank you if you had read this far!

[DivorcedBeheaded]

I can't really help, but I am full of admiration that you managed to cancel SKY. Bastards reduced me to tears trying to cancel during the cooling off period before they'd even installed anything. I was actually reduced to a screaming, weeping madwoman. They Do Not Let Go.

[Kewcumber]

I inherited a sky dish in this house. I bought a humax freesat box, plugged it into the satelitte and the TV and bob's your uncle. I access catch up services through a roku box. Roku cost abut £30, freesat recordable was much more about £150? You can get a non-recordable freesat for about £50 but you can't pause rewind etc.

[QuartzUcan]

Thank you all,

I am looking online again at free sat etc HD recordable boxes but am very confused as to how it would work alongside a NOW TV box as well.

Does anyone use both? How does it work when you want to use NOW TV for premium channels?

Love the name DB - my experience was painless today (but who knows what befalls me during this cancellation period!)

[QueryQuery]

They will ring you lots. And send you letters. Begging you to return. Stay strong!

I am also interested in now tv, although the freesat box with on demand channels and catch up is brilliant. I barely miss sky. And I definitely don't miss the ever increasing cost.

[Kewcumber]

I use a roku box and a freesat box - just plugged into different hDMI ports and using a different AV channel

[TennesseeMountainPointOfView]

If you have 2 HDMI slots, you can plug in both the NowTV box and a Humax or similar freeview box. You then just select which one you want using the input list on your tv remote.

NowTV is a streaming box, so if you pay for the entertainment or film sub, you get access to shows or films as you want them, not as they are broadcast, so you don't need to record them. You can pause the show while it is playing. The Freesat/Freeview box won't record from the NowTV, it will only record from the channels it gets via the aerial or satellite dish.

NowTV boxes are very cheap, and you can usually get 3 months free subscription if you shop around, which will give you plenty of time to get used to it and decide if you want to pay - it is also very easy to cancel or reinstate, much much easier than cancelling Sky.

[QuartzUcan]

Thanks Tennessee

Think I will go for a NOW tv box and also sort out a recording box (which 3 months of no subscription fees will pay for 😀)

I didn't know that I could also pause now tv - that's good to know.

[confusedaboutparenting]

look in to google chromecast it is a great idea