I got Tata Sky as a Wedding Anniversary gift from a relative as a total surprise. The Installation got delayed by a day as my relative was forced to break it to me(that he is gifting it to me) after I had started declining calls from Installation Tech that I made no such order!
Alright so the Tech’s installed it, took less than 40 mins(software upgrade on STB included) to get it all up and running. The first thing I noticed and I stand by this fact till date after one year of using Tata(though I don’t use it now) is the Clarity with which the picture is presented on the TV set. I have had a chance to view Reliance TV and Dish TV at friends places, and somehow found this to be best! Dish TV to be worst.(all non-HD)
The Remote was comfortable to work with all the buttons on almost right places and I also found the Menus, navigation through the menus and the features within general navigation quite good. I do wish switching between channels could be faster even if it is faster as compared to Dish TV and Reliance
I also liked the ACTIVE TV that is part of some of the packages I have subscribed to especially ACTIVE Cooking with my wife being cooking freak.
The Tata Sky website is pretty good although I will not give it 100%. It does help you perform basic tasks like recharging, changing subscription packages and also view respective subscription offers etc quite easily. I have seen this to be a plus point as compared to the other DTH providers I have worked on and not.
The Negatives are 1. Pricing & 2. Unavailability of religious channels of my liking
Pricing is key here, if I want to have all the English+ Hindi channels(excluding sports) I end up paying 365/- Per month. This is extremely pricy. Though there is an option of selecting channels that you want only, its quite complex to choose and you will actually end up paying more. The bundled packages as well are useless. All in all I DO NOT WANT to pay 350+ just to get channels of my choice.
I watch many religious channels that are simply not available on Tata Sky. I would say this could very well be DTH wide problem. This is a very strong point for me as many times these channels are the only reason why I would want to turn on the TV!
Though Tata Sky has many good points as compared to other DTH providers I guess it still DOES not serve my purpose. If you are looking for excellent quality and convenience, and price is not your concern than you should go for Tata Sky with eyes closed. If not you may want to look for other options.
Incidentally after using Tata Sky for 1+ year I have discontinued it totally. And its only due to the 2 points listed above - Price and Channels of my choice. I now have a Internet+ TV bundled package from local Cable provider that gives me FREE Cable Tv with my 1 Mbps Unlimited Internet connection for 999/-(Earlier I payed 1500+ for both together) . Please note I disconnected my Data Card services that I was using for internet as well, it was pathetic in any case and expansive too. Though the extremely great package provided by the local operator gives me EVERYTHING I can ever ask for like like 200+ channels in CRYSTAL CLEAR quality(using Set top box) and 1Mbps line unlimited Internet there is much disruption on the internet side of service of this bundled package. But I guess to get something good you have to loose some. I do not mind the disruptions as at least it gives me great Cable Tv with all channels I ever wanted+ Crystal Clear+ the added benefit of pricing. I guess I got lucky with local provider which might not be an option for many. And I must admit if ever(due to change in residence etc) I ever have to look for a DTH provider again and I have no other option available(like local operaters with the advantages such as listed above), Tata Sky would still be my choice.