SkyHD is great

When we moved to our current abode, we decided not to bother with Sky. Stupid builders put the phone socket on the other side of the room to the TV point, and it was easier to lash an aerial in the loft with a few bits of string & just use Freeview. Plus Lovefilm DVD Rentals, and the odd bit of BitTorrent – 50/60Gb per month

But I’ve been longing for a bit of HD action, and the choices were:

• AppleTV. I of course love all things Apple, and it was tempting to get a box while in the US. But it’s films only, and a couple of quid per chop. 
•  Xbox360 & HD-DVD Drive. Sounds like a hairdryer, although the prospect of Command & Conquer (aka Hot Firey Death), is rather tempting, but until they come out with a BluRay drive it’s not going to happen. Lovefilm has a good HD-DVD selection, but not many new releases will be on an effectively dead format.
• PS3. One of the best BluRay players with a console tacked on. Lovefilm has a great selection. But I hardly get chance to play on the Wii, there’s no C&C & it’s £300!
• BitTorrent. 720p TV shows are about 1.2Gb, and while I enjoyed watching one episode of Lost, they take forever to download & the Mac Mini struggles a bit to play them.
• SkyHd. It’s £250, plus install, plus another £10/month.

So when the evil Murdoch empire offered a discounted box, discounted subscription & even the missus said she missed Sky, it was time to get some holes drilled in the wall. To the installer’s credit, he did make a really neat job, put the dish on the chimney so you can barely see it. As for the phone, well strung it across the room to do a callback & then he left.

So now I scour the HD Channels listings for anything interesting, especially episodes of Air Crash Investigation that I’ve not seen. Sky Movies doesn’t seem to be too far behind DVD Rentals, and we’ve watched a fair few films again just to see what they’re like in HD. The Italian Job was great, and one evening we did both parts of the Andromeda Strain. Gladiators looks amazing, especially compared to a bad quality rip. BBC HD is probably the most disappointing ’channel’ as there’s nothing on, but I’m sure that will change later in the year once summer is over.