Battle of the Boxes: How Does BT's V-Box Shape Up to Sky's Sky+ Box and the Virgin Media V+ Box?

By Anna König Staff Writer Monday, 17 December 2007

Who provides digital TV with broadband? BT - Best for freeview & on-demand, but no extra channels Sky - Best for sports and entertainment, but reliant on satellite Tiscali - Best for price and on-demand content, but still second best to Sky and Virgin Media Virgin Media - Good all-rounder, and generally well priced Related broadband digital TV stories See our other recent news about digital TV from broadband providers: Review of BT Vision V-Box BT has caused a stir within the digital TV market by offering a combination of Freeview, on-demand IPTV and a PVR (personal video recorder) called the V-box to existing broadband subscribers who sign up for the BT Vision service. How does Tiscali TV compare to Sky and Virgin Media? Tiscali, the champions of low-cost broadband, has finally launched its new digital TV service, and with prices starting at a mere £19.99, it’s set to take on Virgin Media and Sky head to head! Tiscali Rolls Out Digital TV Bundle Package Tiscali, the Italian-based internet provider with close to 1.5 million high-speed internet customers across the UK, has finally rolled out its bundled digital TV service.

BT has recently added a new digital TV option to their broadband bundles and customers applying for the BT Vision package will receive BT’s V-Box for free (saving £199), which can record, pause and rewind TV without the need for video tapes.

BT has become the third major broadband provider to offer a television service, following in the tracks of Sky and Virgin Media.

But is there really that much difference between the three services? Surely television is just television?

BT Vision

BT Vision offers customers a unique, on-demand service, while also offering 40 Freeview channels. One-touch recording and the ability to ‘rent’ specific programmes on demand are also handy features of the BT package.

The BT Vision V-box, usually £199, is totally free for Total Broadband subscribers, with an installation fee of £60, and one off connection fee of £30. Entertainment packages are available on a flexible monthly basis, with no long-term tie-in. The Basic TV Package, Music and Kids each cost £6, Sports costs £4 and TV Replay costs £5. If you’re unable to choose, a Value Pack is available for just £14 a month, and includes TV, TV Replay, Music Videos and Kids Packs – saving you £7 a month.

BT Vision works by allowing customers to pay for programming they want, when they want it. Each programme is ‘rented’ for a period of 24-hours, and can be recorded on the box’s internal hard drive for future viewing. Show prices vary from a few pence to a few pounds, with films and sport costing from £1.99, music from 29p and kids programmes from 49p.

Virgin Media

Virgin Media TV prides itself on its crystal clear television viewing, with over 500 films available at the push of a button (prices range from £1.50 to £3.75 per film). Packages are run in conjunction with Virgin Phone services, rather than the Broadband requirements of BT Vision and Sky+. Virgin Media TV customers have the option of subscribing to one of three packs, which include a 39 channel option, which is free with Virgin Phone service, a 83 channel option (£11.50 with Virgin Phone services) and a 129+ channel option (£20.50 with Virgin Phone services).

For an additional £10 to £15 per month, Virgin Media TV customers can get the V+ service which allows for pausing, rewinding, and recording of shows that just cannot be missed! Virgin Media’s V+ box is similar to BT Vision’s V-Box, only with BT it is provided free of charge.

Sky

The Sky+ box also allows instant rewinding and one touch recording, along with an interactive on-screen TV guide.

There is a one off fee of £99, and standard installation for Sky+ comes to £60 a month.
If customers subscribe to multiroom services (costing a minimum of £10 a month), the installation fee will be waived. Hardware for the multiroom package costs either £49 or £99 initially.

Programme subscription is £10 a month, although if you subscribe to two or more of the premium channels they will not have to pay this fee. It costs £15 a month to purchase two premium channels, £18 for four, and £21 for six.

So, which is best?

With so many packages available, it can be hard knowing which is best for you. All three service providers offer great packages, but are best suited to specific customers.

As a general rule, existing BT Broadband customers will probably find the BT Vision package most beneficial so long as they’re satisfied with just Freeview and on-demand content while current Virgin Media users will probably warm best to Virgin TV. Sky on the other hand still reigns supreme as the top choice for digital TV and while the V+ Box and BT’s V-box are good, the Sky+ box is hard to beat for build quality and ease-of-use

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