Please enlighten me on the topic of Set top box

M

macchi12345

Disciple
I am using cable at my home............and recently Star sports is not coming on cable and when i asked the cable person he said you have to buy set top box of Rs.1100 to watch Star sports........ Please help me on that; i am noob about set top box. should i buy it??? also suggest any other options available in market?? What are the advantages of set top box?? one i heard is picture quality gets improved.....
 
There definitely is a marked improvement in picture and sound quality when you upgrade to a STB. However, this (usually) comes with an increase in the monthly TV bill too.
 
depends on which set top box - the one which the cablewalla is giving or you want to buy the dth one? imo, get a dth set. you wont be at the mercy of the cablewalla then. if you have a lcd tv you could get a hd dth if your budget permits it.
 
Set top box is what transforms the analogue cable/ satellite signal into digital signal thus it gives you better audio and video performance. I live in Delhi and have been using Humax Cable box provided my local cable guy. Even if you take the box which your cable wala is giving, it doesnt really mean that you will get the channel which you want automatically. You might have to chose the channels which you wanna watch and pay accordingly. DTH requires dish setup which means space and clear line of sight so that dish can catch signals and send it to your STB. I will suggest that you research about the STBs locally and evaluate the boxes / technology (cable or Satellite) yourself so that you can get best out of it.
 
i am talking about cable wala set top box. and i have sony crt 25". and he said i have to pay normal Rs.250 cable bill and Rs.1100 for set top box extra; and i am happy with cable since he is giving me almost all the channels i wanted except star sports.............. i think shifting to dth will be more expensive........what do say guys??
 
I bought the set-top box from my cable guy for Rs. 1000, apart from that my monthly charges are the same. Definitely noticeable improvement in Picture and Sound quality, and i have a 21" Sansui CRT. The STB offers a lot more channels too than regular cable connection.

DTH is definitely more expensive with higher initial cost and different monthly plans too, but its not a fair comparison. I think you should go for the cable STB, you'll be happy with it.
 
macchi12345 said:
i am talking about cable wala set top box. and i have sony crt 25". and he said i have to pay normal Rs.250 cable bill and Rs.1100 for set top box extra; and i am happy with cable since he is giving me almost all the channels i wanted except star sports.............. i think shifting to dth will be more expensive........what do say guys??
Click to expand...
With the cablewalla STB, you WILL be at the mercy of the cablewalla, as pointed out by 6pack.

Trust me on this.

Some classic cases:

A. Collection of monthly payment may be regular enough, but they'll pay the same to the operator, as per their convenience.

B. Technical difficulties? Well, good luck trying to get them sorted out...in time.

C. Power cut at cablewalla's place, bye bye transmission.

D. Change of plans and other concerns will be addressed as per their convenience.

If you feel the above cases are acceptable, you shouldn't have a problem with the service.

Moreover, it is much cheaper than DTH based services and the video output is quite acceptable, more so for a CRT television.

Charges:

Service Provider: SCV

STB - Free (They gave me a box that was surrendered by someone who stopped using their service. It's the latest model & works fine, so I ain't complaining.)

Monthly Charges - Standard Cable (Rs.100) + STB Plan Charges inc. tax (Plans: 50/100/150...350)

Hope this helps. :)
 
do i need to buy set top box from the cable wala only?? or can i bought from other sources?? If you know any of them and which company provides them....plz suggest it....
 
macchi12345 said:
do i need to buy set top box from the cable wala only?? or can i bought from other sources?? If you know any of them and which company provides them....plz suggest it....
Click to expand...
Mostly from the cablewalla.

Members from Mumbai can specify the options that are available, as far as service providers go.
 
Get the STB from the cable guy itself, you'll get more channels than the normal cable + better clarity. You'll also be able to use both for viewing channels, the normal cable + thru STB. I have had a local cable guy[in digital(service provider name not actually 'in digital')] STB for over a year now the only problem i faced was the STB being deactivated due to inactivity (If u dont use it for 2-3 weeks it gets deactivated, I only used it to see star sports on f1 race weekends otherwise I would just use the normal cable for other channels), after it gets deactivated, u call up their customer care number and they activate it again in about 10 mins... havnt faced any other problem. Monthly bill remains the same.. you just get the set top box for more channels, radio n stuff...
 
all of you guys thank you very much for information........... i will also go for set top box.......:) @tejo......i also want to watch star sports for Formula1 races........:)
 
Back
Top