I’ve given a 5 star rating to the product and just 1 star to the parameters. I feel the parameters defined here are not applicable to Tata Sky, which is just a medium of broadcast.
Ok now, about the product.
Why I chose?
Like many cable operators, the guy in my area was giving us a rubbish service. The quality of reception was very poor and often there’s no reception at all, even for a whole day or two. So we were getting increasingly frustrated. Moreover, due to CAS system in place in Chennai, we had no access to the sports channels and other favorite channels of mine like NGC, Discovery, and HBO etc.
At that time I had only two options. One is to go for Dish TV or to buy the set top box from the SCV’s distributors. I was dead against buying the set top box as it had lot of limitations. So I was thinking about buying Dish TV. That was the time, Tata Sky was launched and I was immediately attracted to it.
During my stay at the UK, I loved watching the Sky TV and had a great admiration for it. When I came to know that this venture of Tata is in technical collaboration with Sky TV, I was naturally attracted to it. Fortunately one of my friend in my colony installed Tata Sky at his home, so I had a chance to see the quality of the reception before actually going to the dealer or a shop to see the demo.
So the next day, my friend Pradeep and I went to Viveks at Nanganallur (Chennai) to enquire more about the product and compare Tata Sky and Dish TV.
Tata Sky had less regional channels at that time (now they have more variety and added all the channels from Sun TV Group) and bit expensive than Dish TV, but the clarity and the quality of the reception definitely way ahead of Dish TV.
The remote and the digicomp of Tata Sky were very similar to the ones that I’ve used in the UK. So I found it much easier to use the menus and the features in Tata Sky in comparison to Dish TV. The software was much better.
Please note that, I could not notice or pin point any big negative things about Dish TV. Because of my familiarity with Sky and the better quality of reception, my friend Pradeep and I decided to go for the Tata Sky connections.
Installation
Once we bought the hardware and the digicard from the dealer for Rs. 3999/- (included the installation and 3 months free subscription), we fixed up a date for installation, which was 2 days later to the day of purchase. The customer support guy handled the call in a pleasant manner and gave relevant answers to our queries. The only problem really was waiting for those 2 days for installation.
The technicians showed up the second day, one day in advance to what was promised. Before coming, they called us over phone to confirm our availability.
They showed good skills and completed the installation fairly easily.
Then came the best part of the installation, Yes, there came a power cut just before they could test the connection, activate the digicard and show the demo. I was very upset and wondering to myself how long it’s going to take to get the power back. To my surprise, the guy walked back to his van and brought a generator, connected the TV and the digicomp unit to it and completed his installation and the demo!!!?!!! Hmm…that was pretty cool and very professional way of handling an installation.
Pros:
1. Quality of the telecast. It really is the DVD quality.
2. Easy to use remote and menus.
3. Good features, like ability to choose favorite channels, set reminders for the favorite programs.
4. Ability to browse through the programs in other channels without changing the current channel.
5. Active Sports. Active sports is a feature, by which we can see the scoreboards, highlights of the game and camera angle of our choice along with the live relay at the same time. (Provided, it is supported by the channel, for example ESPN).
6. Ability to choose the language, for example switch between Hindi and English versions of Cartoon network.
7. Variety of games and fun activities for kids, updated frequently.
8. Good customer support.
9. Renew the subscription online.
10. No major disruption or deterioration of signal quality during bad weather.
11. Subscription is affordable at approximately Rs.11 per day.
12. The digicomp, digicard and the dish can be relocated and installed anywhere inside India; this applies to Dish TV as well. (Please note that this not the case with the set top boxes provided by the SCV).
Cons:
1. Cost wise, it is bit expensive than Dish TV.
2. Lack of regional channels initially. (not now)
Conclusion
We (5 of us in our colony) have been using Tata Sky for more than a year now and none of us have had any problem so far.
So I have no hesitation in recommending this product
Thanks for reading (also for rating and commenting as well)
Regards,
Shriram.S