Reliability of Sky boxes

mikey2008

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Dec 24, 2008
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Just a rant about the reliability of Sky boxes. In the space of about 9 years, I've had 4 boxes - these have been replacements for faulty boxes. I really don't think I've had one so far which has lasted more than 3 years. This is surely pretty poor relative to other kit which you buy into. I'd rather pay more for a decent Sky box if I knew it would last a bit longer. Also, the posts of others seem to suggest that it's not just me complaining about this. The only reason I'm writing is that number 5 is just packing up and I'm getting a bit fed-up.
 

idc

Well-known member
Join the club mikey. I will be about the same over the same time period. But it is not just that, it is also the constant problems with each box. Usually the problems are fixed with switching it off and back on again, but Sky boxes are the most unreliable elctronic items I have ever owned.
 

daveh75

Well-known member
IMHO the unreliability of Sky boxes is due to two reason's,1 they are built very cheaply to Sky's specs to keep their cost's down,and 2 Sky's policy to only supply refurb's as replacement's for faulty units, which then in turn get refurbed and re-issued so it becomes a never ending cycle.
 

idc

Well-known member
Yes, especially to number two going by the comments from Sky engineers who have been to my house. They at least were apologetic and open about their unhappiness at this policy. I do not think that any other company would dare do such a thing; your Sony TV is on the blink, well we can give you a refurbished old one instead...............
 
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Anonymous

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Had my original Sky hd box replaced a month ago, and have since had a further 2 boxes as they have both gone faulty. If Sky had to compete with service providers who offered similar HD content, and therefore were serious competition, they could suffer!
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I am on my 8th sky hd box which is finally working fine its a amstrad and i have been told its the latest box. When the last engineer came he found 2 boxes which were brand new to be faulty and these are boxes that were sealed. Hopefully this box last as im sick and tired of calling sky to get these boxes changed all the time
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I've had about 6 Amstrad boxes in 8 years - the last two I have sourced myself and not from Sky. I took one a friend no longer used and when that stopped working properly (last month)I bought one from eBay for £16 that was being sold due to upgrade to HD. It's a newer model with larger HDD than my previous ones so represents decent value if I can get even a year's use out of it!

The quality of these things is just dreadful.
 

ElectroMan

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Nov 20, 2008
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Maybe Alan Sugar can get his next apprentice on the case!

(By the way, I'm of an age to remember when Amstrad started out - as AMS Trading. I can still recall their newspaper ads selling imported USSR audio equipment at knock-down prices!).
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I seem to have been lucky so far - I have had 3 boxes and no problems. just replaced when I upgraded sky > sky+ > sky HD. I have had this Thomson HD box since June 06 (in time for world cup!) and only recently has the rewind function begun to be a bit erratic which i believe is a known problem with this box. I have made sure everything is archived just in case this is a sign of impending failure. If Virgin could get their hands on sports HD I would move in a flash but I suspect Sky know that...
 

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