Pace BSKYB3100

Author's product rating:   

Ease of Use	Very Easy
Ease of Installation	Average
Range of Features	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Records to disk, Time - shifting, Pause Live TV, 5 . 1 sound, Reliable (2 yrs)
Disadvantages:	Software breaks a lot !  Small disk capacity, Button assignment "quirky", Poor archiving/search functions

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

THIS IS A LONG REVIEW. PLEASE PAGE DOWN TO THE CONCLUSION IF YOU JUST CAN'T WAIT
What It Does:
This is a box that decodes a satellite TV signal and lets you see the output on a TV. It also allows for up to two channels to be recorded on to an internal 40Gb hard disk drive. This provides about 20 hours of recording time. Recording is usually via the EPG (electronic programme guide) which is a list of channels and programmes which you navigate with cursor keys. For a full description of the product please try -
www.skyplus.co.uk
or
www.plusworld.co.uk (this site is out of date now but still has lots of useful information!)
Installation:
Please note that this installation took place in Ireland (Eire) and your experience may differ dramatically.
BSkyB scheduled an installation date to replace our previous Pace decoder with the new Sky+ box. The installer arrived on the right date and called early in the day to specify an approximate time of arrival which he stuck to. The old box was removed and the new one installed with apparent ease though as with most owners I have spoken to there was no slack on the signal cables (there are two cables required, more of this later). The plugs on the signal cable were poorly attached and I had to put new ones on myself. Please check this before the installer leaves if you are unsure if you can do this yourself. The LNB on the dish (the bit on the end of the metal bar sticking out of the dish) usually has to be replaced aswell. This was poorly done and on the first rainy day it fell off with consequent loss of signal. This was fixed with gaffer tape and has lasted more than a year so it's an easy fix. The telephone connection (required) was a rather ugly surface mount run of wire which was poorly connected to both the Sky+ box and the phone system. It caused an intermittent short in the system and brought our phone system down for two weeks.
Other than that, the installation was quite painless. Stations were set-up automatically and the video and audio connections were made correctly, though I over-saw that myself.

In Use:
If you watch TV then this box will change the way you think about TV forever! We rarely watch live TV with most programmes either
recorded or paused/rewound or otherwise time-shifted.
Recording : The system can be set to automatically record a series of programmes (like "24" for instance) so you don't miss an episode. Record a single programme by highlighting it on the EPG and press record. No start-end time (you can do it this way if you want) or PLUS code, just press record. All recorded programmes appear on a list showing programme name and channel so no more "looking for the right tape" or "fast-forwarding through two hours of Eastenders to get to Newsnight and no more lost recordings.
Pause Live TV: This sounds like something you'll never use, like Text on a mobile phone, why would you bother? And just like Text, you use it all the time. Pause a programme before it starts so you can make the tea/get settled then fast-forward through the ads. After a week or two you just start subtly doing things differently.

Trust me, this is the most significant TV-related item I've ever bought. DVD, DVD-R, D-VHS[really!] Wide Screen TV, 5.1 system they all pale before the might of this little box.
Sound: The Sky+ box gives you 5.1 sound from an optical (TOS) port for all channels or items that support it. Now that pretty much limits you to SKY Movies and the like but it's really good to have and the sound quality is a match for the usual DVD players that boast about their "cinema quality sound". Note that you really do need a proper external amp and decent speakers to get the full benefit.

The Problems!:
The software that runs the Sky+ box is crap! If you change channels too fast it eventually crashes and either leaves you with a blank screen or it re-boots the box. The re-boot will kill any recording in progress but will not damage previously recorded items. The blank screen requires you to pull the box out, reach round to the power plug and yank it out. No power switch is provided.
The box will crash for no reason at all. It occasionally behaves eratically (saying it's recording a programme when it's not or some-such). It's best to power off at this stage (only pulling the plug will do the switch on the front won't help as it does not wipe the corrupted memory) or you'll find it hangs or re-boots during a recording of your favourite programme.
When you delete a recorded programme the EPG may not de-allocate the space on the disk. There is a fix for this but it requires a call to the (very efficient) technical support line.
The hard-disk is VERY small by modern standards and you can run out of space quite easily. However this is no bad thing as if you record lots of stuff it doesn't have any useful method of organising your recordings.

Now you may think this is a really rotten bit of kit, and it's true that I've often wanted to hit it with something really hard BUT it's like my daughters, irritating and willful at times but you just have to love it. The incredible good outweighs the really dreadful.

Options:
Whilst there's nothing you can do about the eye-wateringly dreadful software, you can fix the small disk size. For a huge sum SKY will provide you with a SKY+160 with a, you guessed it, 160Gb drive. If you don't have the money for this you can get a 250GB drive from Maplins or the like and put it in yourself for half the price. THIS WILL VOID THE WARRANTY! But the hardware rarely breaks anyway so it's no loss. Please read the articles on the Internet (www.plusworld.co.uk is a good start) to ensure you get a disk that will work.

Conclusion:
If you have a Sky dish and you don't have this box then you either can't afford one (sorry to hear that) or you're missing out on one of the most transformational pieces of technology available and should be shouted at until you get one. I kid you not, my wife is a singer, pianist and mother of two. She cannot work my mobile phone but thinks the Sky+ box is the only thing I ever bought that improved HER life. She finds it easy to use and uses it often.
JUST BUY IT!