Apr 19, 2011 01:19 PM
3462 Views
Alrite people, this review has been long due and its comes from a honest customtakeouter who has checked every nook and corner searching for the best entertainment options available at the best price in the country. Also, I'd like to thank all you people who read MouthShut_Official for your buying guide after all the advertisements/ visits to the the store before buying your product. I was stunned today morning after my previous post got 3500 views...I once again hope to give you nothing more but the very best review I have with this product
To begin off, the prime focus before I bought the Tata Sky HD Plus was to buy a Plasm Full HD TV supporting 1080p as its main config. I'd discuss the guide for buying the best TV after I cross check all the other models. For now, lets get back to our guide for buying a high definition set top box.
Many of us in India are still hooked on to the conventional cable tv network (due to its price and offcourse network connectivity in buildings). Does that mean we compromise on the best in quality ? Not at all ! Many DTh providers such as Dish TV, Airtel, Videocon, Tata Sky to name a few have been in the market for while now and are wooing customtakeouters ensuring higher sales without checking the actual product performance. In this case, Tata Sky has been an innovator by firstly coming up with the recording feature and easy upgradable options for existing Tata Sky customtakeouters at convenience.
When a person like me who is a nature lover and a cricket fanatic expects the best....the only channels on my mind are Discovery and National geographic. For sports I hook on to ESPN/ Star/ Ten Sports.
If you have to experience true HD, you have to hit the store to view the ultimate experience of high definition. It simply illustrates the utomost detail in every video frame of a movie/ episode/ documentary or a match. (Also don't forget that the television your watching it on greatly adds more detail in addition the HD channel)
The Experience:
Just log on to the website of Tata Sky HD Plus, fill up a form with your details. I did the same, got a call the next day, made the payment using the IVR of HDFC bank and to my surprise had a great offer running that allowed me to get the STB (Set top box) + 190 channels (Mega pack) @ Rs. 9500 that included free installation, free 12 showcase movies, free upgrade of any new channels on HD and the subscription of business world magazine for 1 year. Isnt this a great deal ?
The Installation:
The guys from Tata Sky came punctually within 2 days post the payment, did the installation and got the service activated (not the subscription). Since I was very excited about watching HD channels it took one additional day for them to activate the HD service. Well, and after that as they say "Isko laga dala toh life jinga lala" was indeed the way it was..
While the installation was already paid for, the installation guys insisted I pay for a part which is required but is not a part of the standard installation package. The worse part of this here was that the part costed some 100 odd rupees, while no bill was also provided for the same. I told them that I had paid for everything well in advance and nothing else would be paid for again. They informed me that my balance would go in negative since this payment has not been made. The experience all this while was good till the other day I found that my balance went in negative.
I called up the helpline and told them about the above experience @ 12 in the night. To my surprise, I got a call from them @ 12:15 in the night informing me that the negative balance has been credited and I dont need to pay anything extra !
This is indeed was a great experience for me ...
While I enjoy all the channels, as a user, some of the best channels on their service include
National Geographic HD, Discovery HD, Star Movies HD, Star TV HD (New), Star Gold HD, Star Cricket HD & Set Max HD (During IPL & World cup cricket matches)
Also don't be fooled by the Dish TV promo that says you get to watch 30 HD channels on their service. These channels are UPSCALED AND NOT HD READY CHANNLES thus misleading customtakeouters.
Recording Feature;The most interesting feature of the Tata Sky Plus HD is the Recording that allows you to record live tv, rewind it and fast forward it. In addition to this feature it comes with a inbuilt hard drive 500 gb that is sufficient for about 10 odd world cup matches (9 hrs). Since Tata Sky also provides customtakeouters with managing their own account online, you can simply record a series or your favourite program (without repeat) and book programs for recording in advance. Also the showcase movies are free and could be easily requested by calling the helpline.
In a nutshell, the price, channel availability, technical support, video clarity (1080i), audio clarity (Dolby 7.1 Channel), and installation(New oval dish design) has been the major focus which has been looked after in detail.
Kudos to the Tata Sky team !
Also people, feel free to ask questions and I'd be glad to answer you.
Till next time Happy HD'ing...
Regards,
Prasad
PS: An indepth feature wise review is also posted at the link below. Do check it out
https://theindiangeek.com/2011/03/tata-sky-hd-full-review.html
