DSTV ripoff - what are the alternatives?

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MisterBigglesworth

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Im really getting tired of this. New price increase and we are paying R768.52 a month now for DSTV. We have a HD PVR, 1110 decoder setup with extra view and Multichoice insurance. In all honesty, we land up recording most of the stuff on DSTV...hardly ever watch "live" TV. Our son loves CBeebies, so thats really the only use our DSTV gets.

So thinking if we turf DSTV, cant downgrade cos only DSTV premium has cbeebies and mnet....so then whats the point?

Any advice here on alternate options if we turf DSTV? Even with lube...it's still not a pleasant experience :(:mad:
 
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1. You get DVD packages from Video Rental shops - 5 Videos, 5 days kind of thing.
2. Try TOPTV Basic + Kids Bouquet.
 
CrazyFig said:
Im really getting tired of this. New price increase and we are paying R780 a month now for DSTV. We have a HD PVR, 1110 decoder setup with extra view and Multichoice insurance. In all honesty, we land up recording most of the stuff on DSTV...hardly ever watch "live" TV. Our son loves CBeebies, so thats really the only use our DSTV gets.

So thinking if we turf DSTV, cant downgrade cos only DSTV premium has cbeebies and mnet....so then whats the point?

Any advice here on alternate options if we turf DSTV? Even with lube...it's still not a pleasant experience :(:mad:
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What new price increase are you referring to? It's R559pm for the premium package and R65 a month for the PVR functionality totalling R624 thereabouts. Their pricing increases are also yearly and normally only around April/May.
 
Will check out TopTV options and DVD's. We have insurance on top of it (was handy when PVR gave issues - straight swopout)...so it takes it up to about R780.
 
Depends on the issues with the PVR, as a lot of the PVR's were replaced for free anyway and in most cases they charge R350 if the issue isn't OOB. So I'd rather pay the R350 for a replacement PVR if it gives a fault not covered by Multichoice, I think that insurance is a bit of a farce to be honest.
 
Mine's only R624 which is technically the most (excluding insurance) you should be paying.

we land up recording most of the stuff on DSTV...hardly ever watch "live" TV
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Then you're using it aren't you? Personally, this is how I watch most shows on DSTV to skip the advertising (except for sport, news and the odd documentary). Also, most of the time when I sit down, there isn't much I want to watch so having everything recorded means there's almost always something to watch.

As previously mentioned your options are:
1. Pay
2. TopTV
3. SABC/ETV
4. Internet
5. Video Store
 
CrazyFig said:
Will check out TopTV options and DVD's. We have insurance on top of it (was handy when PVR gave issues - straight swopout)...so it takes it up to about R780.
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Um... a new PVR is R1400, so that means you pay for a brand new one every year (regardless if you use the insurance or not). Also the thing has a guarantee....
 
CrazyFig said:
Im really getting tired of this. New price increase and we are paying R780 a month now for DSTV. We have a HD PVR, 1110 decoder setup with extra view and Multichoice insurance. In all honesty, we land up recording most of the stuff on DSTV...hardly ever watch "live" TV. Our son loves CBeebies, so thats really the only use our DSTV gets.

So thinking if we turf DSTV, cant downgrade cos only DSTV premium has cbeebies and mnet....so then whats the point?

Any advice here on alternate options if we turf DSTV? Even with lube...it's still not a pleasant experience :(:mad:
Click to expand...

Since you haven't mentioned Sport I'd say get TopTV with the Kids bouqet for the kids and use the money you say to get DVD boxsets for yourself.

http://toptv.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=210
 
Form an AV sharing club and ditch DSTV!

Several months ago a few friends got together and started sharing videos in an informal "AV Sharing Club" - rather like a book club. We now have a "library" of over 1500 titles. What's required? A once off purchase of a 1Tb USB disc (around R1000) + if you have an old analogue TV, a media player like the ASUS O'Play, but that's only R600.

Where does the material come from? A variety of sources. Many collected over the years by members, some purchased locally, some on eBay or Amazon, some by Torrent. Besides ditching DSTV, the best aspect is that we collect quality videos that are of interest to us, many of which are never found on DSTV or any other local TV channel. We now watch what we want when we want. Bliss!
 
yup, ditch the DSTV, and spend the money on an uncapped internet account, then DL to your hearts content... the only reason for having DSTV is sport in my books, and since I dont give a damn about sport, its not a issue for me...
 
Will get the exact number from my wife tonight and update the post, but its over the R700 mark and she said it was about R780...so how much she is exaggerating....I dunno :p
 
Can I ask why ppl have "Insurance"...

Other than for the straight swap if the thing breaks, instead of having to pay R400...

If you have normal household insurance, then the item is covered under that for pretty much everything else.
 
mic_y said:
yup, ditch the DSTV, and spend the money on an uncapped internet account, then DL to your hearts content... the only reason for having DSTV is sport in my books, and since I dont give a damn about sport, its not a issue for me...
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How much does a reasonable speed uncapped account cost these days? Not exactly going to save him much...unless he has both internet and DSTV.
 
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