I have been using Tata Sky DTH from the last 2 years now. Never faced a single issue with the reception or channel packages. Relocated the dish twice, & experienced very good customer care. The charges of relocation are just Rs 125 now, which get deducted automatically from ur account.
Then I went to buy a Sony LCD & bought a new Airtel DTH HD connection.( My review of Airtel is in the relevant section) . Airtel guys frustated me to the core. Pathetic is the word for Airtel DTH. It takes around 20-30 mins to reach a customer care agent & upation of channel packages is a pain. All their agents are clueless about DTH service 7 have a standard reply."Sir pls leave ut box ON for 30 mins, ur reception will be ok ". Nerds!
So after 2 months of frustation, I threw the Airtel box out of my house, & trust me I never felt so relieved in my entire life. I decided its only Tata Sky that suits my needs. Then I simply filled up the form on tatasky.com for a HD+ connection and this is wat happened.
A Tata CC called me within 30 mins, asking abt my query & tells me tht HD+ box is currently unavailable & apolosizes for the same & promises tht it will be available in next 4-5 days. I recieve another call in next 3 days to tell me that the box is now available, take my card details, & schedule the installation for next day. SMS confirmation comes within 15 mins, technician calls the next day for the appointment & reaches my place on time. Bingo. Installation done within an hour( HD+ requires two cables from dish to settop box, so a bit lenthy installation), a little bit goof up with the activation of the settop box, but again apolozed & activated within next 30 mins.
SMS confirmation again, & a call for feed back & whether the technician was well behaved. This is what I call customer care. Full 5 stars!
Now something abt the product: HD+ comes with recording of upto 2 channels simultaneously & 500GB hard drive. Plus HD Gold pack for Rs 50 - with 7 channels( All Star channels, Nat Geo, Discovery, Max for IPL only) . The best part abt it is the User interface. It resembles the Aero theme of Windows 7, very user friendly & easy to use. I felt it to be generations ahead of the prev Tata Sky connection 9 non HD) tht I had. Trust me, it rocks.!
As of now I am again very satisfied, & watching good HD content, recording channels & having a good time.
I wish this reviews helps some-one to make a better choice.
Update as on 18/05/2011
Its been over 20 days now that I have been using Tata SkyHD+, so here are my additional points:
1. Picture Quality: I have experience of using all 3 - Tata Sky -normal(SD), Airtel HD & Tata sky HD+. First of all, there is hell lot of diff between Standard Definition( SD) & High Definition(HD) content. I am not tht tech savvy, so simply put, SD is like a picture captured by older Nokia N series handsets & HD is like the one captured by a Nikon 12 megapix camera! SHARPER, CRISP & DAMN CLEAR.
Also between Airtel HD & TS HD, I found the Airtel images to be a bit yellowish/redissh. but TS HD ones are just magnificient, sharp & natural( with the same LCD settings) . I dont know why this reason was, but the picture quality on TS HD is far far better than the Airtel one.
2. UI interface - This is never in the mind of prospective customers, only when u have bought it, & start using it, you realise the pros n cons of it. The UI on TS HD+ is very customer friendly, inituitive & simple.
The menu choices & options are very easy to read & quite intuitive.
For eg: - Apart from scrolling channels by just pressing up & down arrows for the channel programmes on the remote, a simple press of a button can sort the channels getting scrolled according to the different categories like movies, kids etc. that u can choose. No need to go to the main menu for this!
And there is separate category of HD channels - underwhich u get all the HD channels only. This options where not present in Airtel HD.
Also the menu is like the Aero theme of Windows 7, it occupies just the left corner of the screen & the programme can be easily seen underneath it.
Searching for a channel was a nightmare in Airtel. And the bad part in Airtel, while watching a channel if you go to menu & scroll other channels & if u remain at a channel for more than 5 seconds( for eg chechin info etc for the programme) then tht channel gets automatically selected in place of the channel tht u were watching. This was such a nuisance in Airtel. And there was no way to turn this thing off. No such glitch in TS, U can watch one channel & scroll others/ view their info etc.
3. Remote - The best part of TS is its remote. Keys are big, coloured & in different shapes - U can press keys just by feeling them without having to look at the remote & finding them everytime. Airtel remote sucks . It was a nightmare to find the right keys on it esp in dim lighting!
Only plus point which Airtel remote had was tht it can sync wid ur Tv remote & control Tv's volume & power functions. But this is not a feature that I miss, as I have set the TV volume to a fixed level & use the TS remote to increase the settop box volume & this solves the purspose, TS remote is miles ahead than Airtel in terms of usability.
4. Customer Service - Just ordered showcase movies twice, prompt response & no call drops. As far as Airtel, it took me 15 mins to get the request for disconnection registered . and I am still waiting for them to take tht settop box away & I have full faith tht they will never turn up:)
5. Recording Feature - For a normal middle class user like me, this is best technology tht I have ever seen. Pause, rewind live TV, it left me speechless when I first used it. You can record two channels simultaeously, plan ur recordings & organise them. Its worth every money u spent.
6. A last word about HD - in all the 7 channels that are currently telecasted, there is no single ad in them. That is ALL HD CHANNELS ARE ADVERTISEMENT FREE. no ads at all. So u can watch all Hindi movies without a single ad on Star Gold HD & ur favourite English flicks on Star Movies HD. Life without ads is so much fun!
TS indeed is superb!
P.s- These views are purely my own. I am no way an Airtel basher, just tht their DTH gave me sleepless nights & I am writing wat I felt. I also have an airtel postpaid number from last 7 years now & never faced any issues. But their DTH really is pathetic. Pls stay away from them. Go for TS anytime!
