Ubc/true At It Again?!?

[Dustoff]

~

Is it KNOW: just me or GOLD: is the UBC GOLD:on-screen menu more GOLD: difficult to KNOW: read?

And, when viewing this now-difficult to read menu, is my box the only one that locks up and will not reset unless unplugged?

I thought UBC programming was bad before but after returning from a 2-month trip out of country, it is even worse!

I spent a lot of time in US motels (who purchase Grade B programming) and friend's homes and the difference was incredible. Coming back here to UBC/True's Grade C programming purchases, I find that we are offered, other than news and sports, ancient programs that they have been repeating for many years now. Judging Amy is doing a second or third recycle, House, movies from the barely-talky age, even sports clips that are weeks if not months old and shows like Ent Tonight or whatever are talking about what is coming up on TV and movies in 2005!

I would be marginally satisfied if the price were going down along with the programming selections and difficulties in reading their own menus but that doesn't seem to be the case as premium pricing continues.

I have not been staying up on available alternatives but it seems about time since UBC/True has very little to offer..

[Mobi]

I assume you don't have a PLAT.

Since this morning, the programmes are prefixed by PLAT (for Platinum), GOLD and KNOW (presumably for 'knowledge') or no prefix.

No idea what's going on, but I assume it's a prelude to their launching of these "A La Carte Channels" and God knows what else, in a feeble attempt to disguise the fact that behind all the smoke and mirrors, their programmes are getting worse, and we're probably about to lose ESPN/Star Sports, even though many of us have paid in advance for these channels in our annual subscriptions.

Dreambox here I come.

[soundman]

I have not been staying up on available alternatives but it seems about time since UBC/True has very little to offer..

There lies your answer...

Speaking of which, I cancelled my UBC two years ago & the only thing I miss is the History Channel.

Soundman.

[gennisis]

I assume you don't have a PLAT.

Since this morning, the programmes are prefixed by PLAT (for Platinum), GOLD and KNOW (presumably for 'knowledge') or no prefix.

No idea what's going on, but I assume it's a prelude to their launching of these "A La Carte Channels" and God knows what else, in a feeble attempt to disguise the fact that behind all the smoke and mirrors, their programmes are getting worse, and we're probably about to lose ESPN/Star Sports, even though many of us have paid in advance for these channels in our annual subscriptions.

Dreambox here I come.

I dont undertand your reference to "Dreambox" As far as I could find out from Jsat the Dreambox is simply a decoder/recorder. You could presumably fit it and use your True sim card and record truevision programnmes...but if True dont shedule ESPN then you dont get it!.The only way then to watch ESPN will be to buy a bigger dish and invest in another sim card ..maybe Astro......now,if Ive got it completly wrong Ill be very pleased to hear,because its only the football and commentary programs I watch..Thats why I have platinum,but the european and FA Cup games are not covered by the USB franchise

[midas]

I was a Platinum subscriber until I cancelled my subscription.

I don't mind paying anything for quality but True are artificially protected

by their monopoly status and offer extremely poor value for money.

[Mobi]

I assume you don't have a PLAT.

Since this morning, the programmes are prefixed by PLAT (for Platinum), GOLD and KNOW (presumably for 'knowledge') or no prefix.

No idea what's going on, but I assume it's a prelude to their launching of these "A La Carte Channels" and God knows what else, in a feeble attempt to disguise the fact that behind all the smoke and mirrors, their programmes are getting worse, and we're probably about to lose ESPN/Star Sports, even though many of us have paid in advance for these channels in our annual subscriptions.

Dreambox here I come.

I dont undertand your reference to "Dreambox" As far as I could find out from Jsat the Dreambox is simply a decoder/recorder. You could presumably fit it and use your True sim card and record truevision programnmes...but if True dont shedule ESPN then you dont get it!.The only way then to watch ESPN will be to buy a bigger dish and invest in another sim card ..maybe Astro......now,if Ive got it completly wrong Ill be very pleased to hear,because its only the football and commentary programs I watch..Thats why I have platinum,but the european and FA Cup games are not covered by the USB franchise

JSat - new satellite dish - new decoder - 'Dreambox' - 6 sports channels via S Africa, plus much more....

Comprendez?

[AngelVenus]

I agree to all the posts...UBC-True Vision is so unreliable!!!..I am a GOLD subscriber, nothing more to watch. Even some of Cartoon Network shows are begginning to be dubbed in Thai..I subscribed for cable TV to watch something I can understand now they are dubbing it in Thai! D**m..what's next?

[Old Man River]

I assume you don't have a PLAT.

Since this morning, the programmes are prefixed by PLAT (for Platinum), GOLD and KNOW (presumably for 'knowledge') or no prefix.

No idea what's going on, but I assume it's a prelude to their launching of these "A La Carte Channels" and God knows what else, in a feeble attempt to disguise the fact that behind all the smoke and mirrors, their programmes are getting worse, and we're probably about to lose ESPN/Star Sports, even though many of us have paid in advance for these channels in our annual subscriptions.

Dreambox here I come.

I dont undertand your reference to "Dreambox" As far as I could find out from Jsat the Dreambox is simply a decoder/recorder. You could presumably fit it and use your True sim card and record truevision programnmes...but if True dont shedule ESPN then you dont get it!.The only way then to watch ESPN will be to buy a bigger dish and invest in another sim card ..maybe Astro......now,if Ive got it completly wrong Ill be very pleased to hear,because its only the football and commentary programs I watch..Thats why I have platinum,but the european and FA Cup games are not covered by the USB franchise

JSat - new satellite dish - new decoder - 'Dreambox' - 6 sports channels via S Africa, plus much more....

Comprendez?

Any American sports other than the X Games? Baseball, American football?

[tijnebijn]

It is all a waste of money in my opinion . They charge too much and give less what people want , most love life football .

And I think that there PR needs a new manager .

[FormasianPaul]

I agree to all the posts...UBC-True Vision is so unreliable!!!..I am a GOLD subscriber, nothing more to watch. Even some of Cartoon Network shows are begginning to be dubbed in Thai..I subscribed for cable TV to watch something I can understand now they are dubbing it in Thai! D**m..what's next?

Sorry if this sounds like I am trying to make you look stupid.. but Cartoon Network has always been dubbed in Thai... all you have to do is select the 2nd Audio Channel on your remote and you can listen to Tom and Jerry in perfect english...

Well, that is if it is a talking version...

[JetsetBkk]

It is all a waste of money in my opinion . They charge too much and give less what people want , most love life football .

And I think that there PR needs a new manager .

You think they have a PR department?

The idea to prefix all program titles with the package name and thereby using up about 30% of the available space is clearly designed to make it even more difficult to work out what the f****** program is.

[bkkmick]

Exactly JetSet. Most of the program names don't fit into the small (non-scrolling) window. What makes me laugh is when on TCM they have something like "Star of the month: Charles Laughton" Th ... and the name of the movie is gone. What tossers. My UBC box packed it in the other day and I got the latest box. It's the worst I've had. Obviously programmed by a complete moron.

[Erwin1011]

When I was assigned to Thailand 10 yrs ago, one way to negotiate down on the rental for a condo, was to have the owner pay for UBC.

Now, I negotiate for the owner to save on his UBC subscription by canceling it and allow me to install a directional disk on the roof.

[Naam]

What tossers. My UBC box packed it in the other day and I got the latest box. It's the worst I've had. Obviously programmed by a complete moron.

please don't insult morons by comparing them with any stupid technician or responsible stupid manager connected to UBC

[teejay]

yeah this know gold plat thing is just plain annoying... UBC sucks ass but it's just one of those things I put up with because there isn't really a good alternative... 1500 baht a month for crappy tv. Basically I pay 1500 a month to watch "Seconds from Disaster, Future Weapons, and Future Car. Oh and Air Crash Investigations. Brutal.

[JetsetBkk]

OK, so while we're having a go at UBC... when are they going to fix the Star Movies program times? Just about every movie that starts AFTER 11:00 pm has the wrong time! It's wrong on their website, it's wrong in the magazine and it's wrong on the decoder display.

Have a look here: http://www.truevisionstv.com/Search/eng/Se...00&Keyword=

"Hostage" is scheduled to start at 23:03. It won't start then of course - it should be 23:30.

I wonder when/if someone at UBC will ever notice, or care. I doubt it - it's only been like this for about 5 months.

[Rimmer]

We went into the UBC orifice in Pattaya Klang this morning to get the system moved to the new house.

The office was dirty and untidy, Ten people were lounging around reading newspapers, eating, talking and playing games on their work computer. No one was interested in even saying hello!! I simply walked out and let the GF deal with them. But the state of the office and general attitude of the employees reflects the management and attitude of the company.

[Mobi]

Exactly JetSet. Most of the program names don't fit into the small (non-scrolling) window. What makes me laugh is when on TCM they have something like "Star of the month: Charles Laughton" Th ... and the name of the movie is gone. What tossers. My UBC box packed it in the other day and I got the latest box. It's the worst I've had. Obviously programmed by a complete moron.

On TCM right now:

PLAT: Director of the Month - J

Most informative

[Mobi]

We went into the UBC orifice in Pattaya Klang this morning to get the system moved to the new house.

The office was dirty and untidy, Ten people were lounging around reading newspapers, eating, talking and playing games on their work computer. No one was interested in even saying hello!! I simply walked out and let the GF deal with them. But the state of the office and general attitude of the employees reflects the management and attitude of the company.

Maybe they were all having an office sweepstake on who "J" might be?

[petedk]

JSat - new satellite dish - new decoder - 'Dreambox' - 6 sports channels via S Africa, plus much more....

Comprendez?

I must admit I have been looking at Jsat's website recently in an attempt to find an alternative to UBC. I have a gold package and basically the only channel I watch is BBC World while the missus seems to be glued to Academy Bloody Fantastic (as I call it or Academy Fantasia for those who don't know it) 12 hours a day. I now refuse to pay so much money for such crap and hope to find some good satellite deal. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Mobi]

Any American sports other than the X Games? Baseball, American football?

Not sure OMR, but if you go to the JSat website and look for the 'multichoice' package, (which is the S. African package), you will find about 8 Supersports channels listed, which between them, seem to cover every conceivable sport I'm interested in from football, to cricket, to tennis, to rugby, to the grand prixs to the open Golf, to athletics and goodness knows what else - all live. If you hunt around a bit you can find the schedules, and then scroll through all the SS listings by either sport or day. (I'd give you the links but I'm not allowed. )

There's also Sky news (for us Brits), BBC Prime, Hallmark, some other movie channels, series channels, and a load more besides. All for a lump sum payment of around 21K.

I pay 24K a year for UBC, and most of it is Sh..te

J Sat did a site survey today, and can install next week.

I'll also keep UBC Platinum until my sub expires in Dec, and then make a decision on whether to keep it or not. I may have to so that the wife can watch the movies with Thai sub titles, and anyway, I quite like some of the BBC entertainment stuff, and some of the Star World comedies - and of course.. horror upon horror...American Idol.

I'm retired, and I can afford to spoil myself - so why not?

[Upcountry]

OK, so while we're having a go at UBC... when are they going to fix the Star Movies program times? Just about every movie that starts AFTER 11:00 pm has the wrong time! It's wrong on their website, it's wrong in the magazine and it's wrong on the decoder display.

I emailed Star Movies directly a while back, because of confusion over the "On the Lot" program and they sent me the HK schedule. Subtract an hour.

Their schedule seems correct now:

http://www.startv.com/schedules/TH/4a28ec2...1C36FE0E1D2BE92

--

I'm a little confused about the a la carte stuff. I have the GOLD package. Are they taking the History Channel and Discovery Channels off the default list and offering them as extra items? If so, when?

[mrtoad]

It's a good job that there are no real trade descriptions laws in the country, because TRUE would certainly have some problems.

I would imagine that staff song goes something like this ;" We're crap, we're expensive, we don't care, cos we r a TRUE monopoly"

[Jimjim]

Any American sports other than the X Games? Baseball, American football?

One of those Supersport channels always showed two American football games a week, whereas ESPN only one, so you'd still get some if they lose ESPN/STAR Sports.

[JetsetBkk]

OK, so while we're having a go at UBC... when are they going to fix the Star Movies program times? Just about every movie that starts AFTER 11:00 pm has the wrong time! It's wrong on their website, it's wrong in the magazine and it's wrong on the decoder display.

I emailed Star Movies directly a while back, because of confusion over the "On the Lot" program and they sent me the HK schedule. Subtract an hour.

Their schedule seems correct now:

http://www.startv.com/schedules/TH/4a28ec2...1C36FE0E1D2BE92

Thanks for the link! I'll check next month's UBC magazine to see if they still have films starting at 11:01, 11:02, 11:03 etc

[petedk]

Any American sports other than the X Games? Baseball, American football?

Not sure OMR, but if you go to the JSat website and look for the 'multichoice' package, (which is the S. African package), you will find about 8 Supersports channels listed, which between them, seem to cover every conceivable sport I'm interested in from football, to cricket, to tennis, to rugby, to the grand prixs to the open Golf, to athletics and goodness knows what else - all live. If you hunt around a bit you can find the schedules, and then scroll through all the SS listings by either sport or day. (I'd give you the links but I'm not allowed. )

There's also Sky news (for us Brits), BBC Prime, Hallmark, some other movie channels, series channels, and a load more besides. All for a lump sum payment of around 21K.

I pay 24K a year for UBC, and most of it is Sh..te

J Sat did a site survey today, and can install next week.

I'll also keep UBC Platinum until my sub expires in Dec, and then make a decision on whether to keep it or not. I may have to so that the wife can watch the movies with Thai sub titles, and anyway, I quite like some of the BBC entertainment stuff, and some of the Star World comedies - and of course.. horror upon horror...American Idol.

I'm retired, and I can afford to spoil myself - so why not?

Sounds very interesting but do you know if channels like Sky News, BBC Prime, BBc World are free? Often these channels are scrambled.

[Mobi]

Sounds very interesting but do you know if channels like Sky News, BBC Prime, BBc World are free? Often these channels are scrambled.

If you can't figure it out from what I've posted, I suggest you call J Sat and ask them.

[dominique355]

When you know what is technically possible, e.g. in picture and sound quality and with EPG, you can only cry when you watch UBC/Truevisions. What a waste of opportunities and money!

And then their Customer Ralationship! OMG!

But what makes me mad is that we actually have to pay to watch the commercials, unless they cut it out, such as during live sports events to show a red screen. Why, oh why do I have to pay to watch a live Formula 1 transmission only to see every 10 minutes a stupid interruption?

I wonder if the advertising guys ever considered that this kind of advertising makes people actually hate the product?

[mouse]

You think they have a PR department?

But what does PR stand for? Positively Repulsive??

[Old Man River]

Any American sports other than the X Games? Baseball, American football?

One of those Supersport channels always showed two American football games a week, whereas ESPN only one, so you'd still get some if they lose ESPN/STAR Sports.

Actually, ESPN showed two games, the Sunday night (Monday morning) game and the Monday night (Tuesday morning) game. The two games which Super Sports shows (which I am happy for, don't get me wrong) are shown in the middle of the night here in Bangkok (Monday AM). Hence, we would only get the games shown in the middle of the night if ESPN goes away.