We already had TS+ HD for one of our tv and decided to get the airtel HD recorder for the 2nd one.
1. installation
airtel started calling us from the date of purchase to install while we had to keep calling tata sky for a week before they sent an engr over
[airtel = 1 ; TS = 0]
2. universal remote
this is such a great feature that once you start using it, you hate going back to 2 remotes for your tv and dth. all STB should have this feature!
[airtel = 2 ; TS = 0]
3. a la carte option
airtel forces you to go for the rs. 400 hd pack and does not allow a la carte options for new customers while TS+ allows new subscribers to pick their own channels
[Airtel = 2 ; TS = 1 ]
4. double wires instead of single
airtel requires 2 cable wires which is a major pain if you want internal wiring only since most flats don’t have space for more than a single wire to each bedroom. TS+ works on a single wire so it makes life much easier for those of us who hate spoiling the look of our rooms with ugly external wiring
[Airtel = 2 ; TS = 2 ]
5. remote ergonomics
TS+ has a much better designed remote than airtel - you don’t have to point it exactly at the STB or press the buttons as hard which induces greater thumb fatigue for airtel
[Airtel = 2 ; TS = 3 ]
6. more HD channels
airtel has more than TS+ but despite giving cnbc HD and zee studio HD in the brochure they were not available in the EPG. still airtel wins this one
[Airtel = 3 ; TS = 3 ]
7. more english ent
airtel has the 3 big cbs channels [prime, love, spark] while TS does not.
[Airtel = 4 ; TS = 3 ]
8. less space
airtel has only 320 vs 380 gb for TS+
we also inquired multiple times for the 500gb airtel recorder but were told that it was not yet available in mumbai as of april.
[Airtel = 4 ; TS = 4 ]
9. live tv during recording
TS+ allows 2 simultaneous recordings and still allows you to watch live tv but airtel does not.
[Airtel = 4 ; TS = 5 ]
10. pricing
airtel is generally lower than TS+ for english or HD channels
[Airtel = 5 ; TS = 5 ]
11. stb price
airtel is more expensive than TS+ by almost rs. 1 k
rs. 4 k for TS+ and rs. 5 k for airtel
[Airtel = 5 ; TS = 6 ]
12. time based recordings
airtel allows you to fix the time slot for recording instead of going through the EPG which increases flexibility while tata does not.
we have not yet used this feature so it did not matter much.
if you are getting errors due to incorrect program names then this is very useful to override the guides.
also if the series option is not available for a repeating program, then you can force it so that you don’t miss any shows when out of town.
[Airtel = 6 ; TS = 6 ]
13. iphone app
again we tried this but it was kind of useless - you can convert your handset to a remote with an IR adaptor which is hardly beneficial.
it would have been much better to add / drop channels from the app after login instead.
but airtel does not have an app yet.
[Airtel = 6 ; TS = 7 ]
14. free shifting
the airtel engineer was nice enough to shift our TS+ box to a different room since there was no space for dual internal cables in the initial bedroom.
this was done free of charge - however he requested us not to tell anyone since the company does not permit this! what was the alternative? lose your customer over a stupid rule?
[Airtel = 7 ; TS = 7 ]
15. button layout / spacing
the rewind / ffwd / pause / play buttons are much further in the airtel remote than tata so you can’t reach them with your thumb and have to slide the airtel remote in your hand when going from the select / ok button
[Airtel = 7 ; TS = 8 ]
overall, tata is better than airtel during the 1st week of use