...My tv is saorview ready
Depending on where you live, if you have a TV that is Saorview ready (to include a built in tuner), you may only need a small indoor aerial (which will cost very little).
Click here to get an idea on how close you are to a transmitter etc.
...i will still need broadband and there doesnt seem to be a stand out deal for this. Its going to be upwards of €35 per mnth and so i might be just aswell getting tv thrown in for an extra €15 per mnth which is the current virgin deal for first 12 mnths.
If you decide to go for Virgin, they do a special deal if you join via their Talk to Virgin forum on Boards. There's a link on their section of the site, which brings you to an online form where you submit your order and in addition to getting the exact same deal as advertised on their website, you also get a €50 One4All voucher.
No doubt that Virgin provide the best broadband, but the service is not available to everyone. Again, it depends on your location.
Ultimately though, having researched this for a while now, it seems to me that in order to have broadband as well i might as well just stay put with sky at €69 pm
Get on to Sky if you are thinking of staying with them, but tell them you want to leave because you are not happy with what they offer or how much they charge. They will pass you through to the cancellation team, who will most likely offer you a financial incentive to stay with them (usually a reduced rate for 3-9 months). That said, despite what they tell you, Sky tend to put up their prices once a year - usually in Q4, so expect your price to increase at that stage regardless of any agreement you might make.
...and save hassle of switching and changing. Saorview and freesat, whilst free pm, do have an initial outlay and would require a bit of hassle to switch to and i would then need to seperately sort out broadband costing prob €35+ pm.
I am in the process of moving, but taking it very slowly in truth.
We have installed Freeview and Saorview. It was a fairly simple and straight forward process because we already had a satellite dish. Our TVs were not Saorview ready, so we bought a combination box, that provides both Saorview and Freeview (so only one box and one remote control for all channels). Picture quality is excellent, sound the same etc.
Obviously, the fact that there are no ongoing costs is an important consideration. Furthermore, there is only a once off cost to install a second or third box for other tv's elsewhere in the house, as against Sky charging a further monthly fee for each additional box you require.
The initial outlay to buy a new box or two is quickly recovered, by the fact that you don't pay Sky a significant lump sum anymore.
Ultimately though, having researched this for a while now, it seems to me that in order to have broadband as well i might as well just stay put with sky at €69 pm
We don't watch a lot of Sky's programming any more. Netflix is probably the best subscription service these days and it's a fraction of the cost of Sky. Granted, I don't get live football or rugby, but there's always the pub for the odd game that I want to see.
Long term, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that Sky are far too expensive for what they provide. They make massive profits, pay a fortune for football which results in football players getting paid crazy weekly sums, all of which I am paying for and what do I get in return - a few good TV stations and a load of rubbish that I never want to watch and Sky won't remove, and cut my monthly premium for.