Well – PVRs or DVRs – whatever the correct phrase is.
“Sky+ has changed my life!”
This is a phrase you hear all too frequently. This must be a truly wonderous invention then?
Well, having now experienced it first hand, I must admit that it is really pretty good. But you know what? Some things are done better by my £94.99 PVR (Now £79.99) – a Digifusion FVRT95.
What I’m not going to compare are channel options. Obviously this is pretty important, but I’m examining the technology here.
Why Sky+ is better:

• Well it’s got a dual tuner. So you can watch one thing and record another. Indeed, you can record two programmes and either watch one of them or playback a recording simultaneously.
  
• Sky support. Aside from a dodgy box initially, I’ve not suffered any technical difficulties with my Sky+, but at least I know that the Sky R&D department is busily working on bug fixes and improvements all the while. Access Devices who worked on the excellent software on my Digifusion have gone bust which may mean seeing no more upgrades for my device in the future.
  
• Series link. I think that this might be coming with Freeview Playback, but I’ve yet to see the definitive list of specifications.
  
• Programme reminders that pop up during trailers to let you either remind you of a programme or set a recording for it.
  
• Texting Sky+. Or setting your PVR via the web. Pretty useful; very cool.
  

Why the Digifusion is better:

• The programme guide is neater. A minimised screen of what you’re watching remains on the screen when you’re browsing either your recordings or the programme guide. Sky+ stops your viewing altogether if you want to do this. You also have to go into a setup option to turn off the muzak that accompanies the guide by default.
  
• Skipping. Advertisers and commercial broadcasters hate this. Indeed I note that in the Freeview Playback marketing logo guidelines (p17 of the PDF), companies are specifically from promoting “functionality that enable viewers to skip or fast forward through advertisements.” Wow. You certainly wouldn’t want anyone to know that you can fast forward the ads would you? (Don’t forget that ITV actually wanted speeds limited as part of the Freeview Playback spec.) Well Sky+ lets you go up to 30x when fast-forwarding. My Digifusion lets you go 48x, or even better, skip a preset number of minutes altogether. I have it set at 3 mins which means I can avoid seeing the ads completely.
  
• Easier access to pre-recorded programmes. I’m really not sure why Sky+ doesn’t have a button to take me directly to the “Planner”. Instead I have to go to TV Guide and then press Green. On my Digifusion, I can get straight to this list in one button press.
  
• Radio is on the programme guide. I’m really not sure why Sky+ doesn’t offer this. They’re given the programme details and they charge stations to be on the system. So why you can’t see anything apart from the current programme is beyond me. This also makes it harder to record radio programmes as it’s back to the old-style VCR manual timer-recording process.
  
• Programme info for other channels without switching over. Sky+ insists that you either go to the programme guide or switch to the channel to see the info. My freeview box may only have Now & Next without opening the guide (although I can still watch TV doing this) but I can read a description of other shows without leaving my current one.
  
• Displaying programmes set to be recorded in the programme guide. Very simply, shows are highlighted in red if I hit “R” and similarly un-highlighted if I press the button again. For some reason Sky+ doesn’t offer this.
  

To be honest, aside from missing a second tuner and obviously the channel choice, my Freeview box offers some serious improvements over Sky+. The graphics aren’t quite as neat, but they’re not bad. And I can think of a few extra changes I’d add – a series link facility, and the ability to specify how many minutes early to start a recording eg. 1 minute before the scheduled start.
But it’s really pretty damned good.
Happy New Year by the way. I spent it watching Charlie Brooker’s excellent Screenwipe which included the best wrap up of UK TV I’ve seen or read this year (OTT’s isn’t bad, but I don’t agree with everything they say. Maybe I’ll write more on this another time).