Do You Guys Have, Use And/or Like Ubc?

[sorensen]

Do you guys subscribe to UBC, do you watch it a lot and is it worth the cost? Like most other UBC users I have the Gold package, which runs at about 1,700 baht a months, but tend only to watch Discovery, History, a bit of news and F1 on one of the sports channels.

I don’t really feel I get any value for money in UBC, but what are the alternatives?

A. Is IP-TV, sling-box or other web based TV developed enough to enjoy as regular source of TV zapping? I have tried using iTunes a bit, but even that is not practical as TV.

B. What about a 6 ft parabolic antenna in the front yard? I have heard that apart from BBC and Deutche Welde, you can only get Chinese, Indian, Aussie and other South East Asian channels due to the geographical location.

C. Any other options?

[ignis]

There are 29 Sats up there over Thailand, so you can get as much as you want to watch.. I have a move system and get all 29.

The most difficult thing is trying to work out what time a program is on... how many hours behind or in front is that country to Thailand.

[percy2]

I have the Platinum package B2,300 / month and have given up trying to justify it.

All I use it for is to watch Football , F1 and the BBC news.

Her indoors watches E! channel and thats it , but to get this we have to have the Platinum package.

But UBC probably only provides about 10-20% of our viewing , the rest is torrented.

I am so ready to ditch UBC but have been procrastinating about it for about 5 years.

I still miss those halcyon days of UTV!

Cheers

[sniffdog]

Have the Platinum + A la Carte Add-On, a total of THB 2,450 baht per month.

Quite a lot of money, but I have excess to all the channels (except for NHK and the pay channels). Good variety of programs with a total of around 10 movie channels and several Discovery channels.

Rating: 7.5/10

Edited December 19, 2008 by sniffdog

[ashacat]

I also have Platinum, but overall am pretty disappointed by the programs offered considering the cost. I would happily switch providers if I knew of a decent viable alternative.

6/10

[dotcom]

I still miss those halcyon days of UTV!

Yep IBC rocked too. It was a microwave system - you could run as many TV's as you liked for one price. Cheap as chips & a huge range of NFL games.

Had it from 1991.

Edited December 19, 2008 by dotcom

[percy2]

IBC was the poison that converted UTV into UBC!

Cheers

Edit:

I originally had IBC (cable not microwave) and dumped it as soon as UTV came out.

They had all the same programs + PPV which was reasonably priced.

Then they joined or IBC bought UTV and the bastard child that was UBC seemed to be a combination of all the worst elements of both organizations!

Edit 2

Now I think back you were correct about IBC being microwave, UTV were the ones that introduced the set top boxes.

Edited December 19, 2008 by percy2

[MKAsok]

I have the Platinum package B2,300 / month and have given up trying to justify it.

All I use it for is to watch Football , F1 and the BBC news.

Her indoors watches E! channel and thats it , but to get this we have to have the Platinum package.

You realize you're paying nearly 800 bht a month extra just to get the E! Channel right?

To the OP: I'm also on Gold and only really use it to watch football. The movie channels are terrible (unless your aim is to watch the same 3 Chuck Norris films for the rest of your life). In terms of overall value, I'd say it was piss poor, but then we do get to watch the 3pm games live, which I guess is some kind of consolation...

[percy2]

^ alternative suggestions are welcome.

But She That Shouts Loudest must get her fix of Hollywood gossip and I need my sports.

Cheers

[HDRIDER]

Hi

I have UBC gold with the extra Disc turbo, good channel, i like UBC, i must be the only one, i think cable TV sucks. ( i have both)

[Rimmer]

My UBC Gold is going at the end of this month along with the two boxes that I pay 25k a year for.

The movie channels, sound and vision quality is quite frankly a joke, even discovery NGC and History channels repeat so often as to become tiresome, result I never watch it now.

We also have one DSTV dish with 43 Thai channels for her inside and her sister to watch, good quality, good coverage if you like Thai TV and costs B7500 one time payment.

I'll stick with the computer and YouTube, it's way better than UBC.

[Macx]

Heard that it was bad, but I was desperate to see some sports, so I got it and regretted it right away. They're very good at getting ever more money out of you. So I canceled my subscription and gave dish and box to a Thai friend who lives in the sticks and can't even get decent Thai TV. Got it transferred to her mobile number and now TrueMove SMS her and bugs her all day about upgrading. She just wants the basic free TV stuff.

Just do your homework. There are several threads about UBC on this forum alone.

[garro]

I had UBC a few years back but ending up getting rid of it. I find that almost everything I want to watch is available through the internet. Anyway, it is impossible for me to get near the television because of my son .

Edited December 19, 2008 by garro

[syd barrett]

2,300 Baht per month does seem quite a lot these days because it equals 45 GBP per month=540 quid a year. But consider what live football in the UK costs on Sky TV per month, plus there are extras, such as boxing, rugby etc.

If you love all sport surely it is good value?

If you go to bars to watch the live football at weekends, then I am sure that the beer bills equal 540 quid a year.

There are a lot of negative comments here, surely the value for sports lovers is excellent?

[Peteinbkk31]

Hi,

I'm a proud owner of the Silver package 750b per month ...... I'm a US/Uk series, comedy and reality show addict ....... the silver package for me is way better than the gold package .... I get these channels

BBC entertainment

Star World

E TV

that the Gold package for some reason doesn't get ...... I do get no news channels, or sports channels ...... but that has just changed and for 299b a month I get True Sport 5 which gurantees 5 premiership matches a week, which is 2 games on saturday, 2 on sunday and the monday night match, also get the weekly roundup .... I have no choice of what match I get to watch but it's usually the top match of the week.

Anyway I'm finally happy with my UBC silver package with Premiership package, which comes to 1,200baht

The only channel I miss is X-Zyte .... and like others I get enough torrent stuff to keep me happy for that

[sniffdog]

I saw an ad in the English Sun newspaper that advertised 1(!) movie channel and Sky TV for GBP 26 per month. For a 1,000 baht more UBC offers quite a bit more ....

[Macx]

A bit off topic (my apologies) but I found that the less sports I watched, the more sports I played.

Now, am enjoying a slimmer, fitter me sans UBC or such...

[longball53098]

Hi

I have UBC gold with the extra Disc turbo, good channel, i like UBC, i must be the only one, i think cable TV sucks. ( i have both)

HD you're not the only one. There are a few of us that can't live without our "Truevisions" formerly UBC. I also have the Gold pack with the 3 extra movie channels. I pay annually and get the extra month free. I am a TV series addict and although they do play some god awful movies and replay them I just ignore this. I am not a person that hangs in the bars or clubs. I don't have the so called high speed to get an internet TV. We don't go out at night so the money goes to Truevisions and maybe its not perfect the way many of these whingners want but it fills the need and satisfies the fix.

Some complain about the sound and signal quality? I find the picture to be just fine and I am picky about that. The sound is fine but the volume levels are a bit distracting from channel to channel and commercial to program volume.

But overall^^^^^^^^^^^ True works for me and keeps me happy. Do I wish they would add more? Yes and maybe in time they will.

We all have choices in life to make and for the OP subscribe to at least the Gold pack and judge for yourself. Don't let all the nay sayers here sway you into not trying it.

[bkk_mike]

I saw an ad in the English Sun newspaper that advertised 1(!) movie channel and Sky TV for GBP 26 per month. For a 1,000 baht more UBC offers quite a bit more ....

At todays exchange rate 2,300 baht is £46. It's one pound more for the full movies + sports + 6 entertainment packs on Sky (300 channels or more? Mostly crap, but it includes all the channels that you have to add-on to platinum here, like Disney, and the extra discovery channels, so if you get those, you're actually paying MORE than Sky for less channels, in worse quality).

Add in that Sky will throw in free broadband, and UBC is a rip-off. (Although I'm stuck paying for it so the kids can watch Disney)

[Digitalbanana]

I don’t really feel I get any value for money in UBC, but what are the alternatives?[/size][/font]

My feelings as well. I never changed to Platinum and stayed with Gold as I felt they were asking too high a price for service but, that said, in Thailand I have yet to find any better. I do spend time channel surfing the Internet and watching torrents, but for convenience and with family I cannot see myself dumping TrueVisions yet.

[tominbkk]

I hardly watch my UBC any more. Between torrents and Rapidshare, I get 95% of my media.

[tripplejjj]

I had UBC Gold for a few months then canceled it because it wasn't worth the money. I now use TVU Network and SOPcast to watch CBS, Spike TV, SCI FI, Fox News, National Geographic, History Channels, and Star Movies. All of these are free over the internet but sometimes I get no connection.

[nikster]

True is overpriced but there are no alternatives. I have it for EPL coverage, and the odd Tennis tournament. Though I actually really watch football only very rarely. And for the tw who loves Ophra and the endless reruns of old movies (I know... but whatever, she likes it).

I don't get a lot of value but then I don't miss those BHT 1500/m that much either...

If they started broadcasting sports in HD, then that would be worth it. As it is the quality is terrible, best enjoyed after a few beers.

Edited December 21, 2008 by nikster

[neverdie]

I have the gold package & I don't watch it that much, when I do, I normally fall asleep & my GF likes to watch the free to air channels.

When I do turn it on, I like to watch the history channel & a few of the other documentries but whenever i do this i seem to always tune into program ive already seen.

I saw the cartoon the Pink Panther the other day....hadnt seen it for a very long time, reakon that was worth the 1568 baht im paying.

[H2oDunc]

People here on TV tend to be very anti UBC. I found that as long as you didn't sit in front on it 24/7 then its OK. Like Sky back in the UK they tend to repeat, for your convenience of course, programs. I had the top platinum package because you can guarantee that if I didn't then what I wanted to watch would be on that package. I found that I could always find something to watch whenever I wanted to watch TV so I was quite happy with it.

[percy2]

Hi,

I'm a proud owner of the Silver package 750b per month ...... I'm a US/Uk series, comedy and reality show addict ....... the silver package for me is way better than the gold package .... I get these channels

BBC entertainment

Star World

E TV

that the Gold package for some reason doesn't get ...... I do get no news channels, or sports channels ...... but that has just changed and for 299b a month I get True Sport 5 which gurantees 5 premiership matches a week, which is 2 games on saturday, 2 on sunday and the monday night match, also get the weekly roundup .... I have no choice of what match I get to watch but it's usually the top match of the week.

Anyway I'm finally happy with my UBC silver package with Premiership package, which comes to 1,200baht

The only channel I miss is X-Zyte .... and like others I get enough torrent stuff to keep me happy for that

Sorry, Can you confirm that Silver (B750) + B299 gets you 3 footy matches and E! Channel?

If so I actually prefer watching F1 as a torrent with UK coverage and broadcast quality and would down grade immediately!

CHEERS