Virgin TiVo Box

[djdave01]

Anyone here use it?

We are thinking about ditching Sky and going back to virgin for our TV. We already use virgin for phone & broadband.

Ive read various reviews about the box being really slow and un-responsive, but that seems to have improved since the 15.2 software update.

Althought id lose the HD versions of 2 sports channels, id be gaining much faster broadband and id be saving money with the deal they've offered.

Looking for people who have a TiVo box to share their experiance.

Cheers

Dave

[discomobiledj]

Only in the first year would save money. I have all channels including HD except movies and when doing a comparable costing between VM & Sky VM were £35.00 more expensive.

There are also loads of problems with the Tivo boxes and VM's cabling structure. Apparently the box can't cope with the voltage going through on the fibre optics.

[JakePalmer95]

I have one, i must say. They are quite a pain to get used too, especially if you are converting from Sky to VM. I also think you get a better quality with it being Fibre optic cable.

Nice bit of kit though. :)

[katman]

Cant comment on the Virgin Tivo as Virgin refuse to dig the extra 25 metres to my house to connect me but I have been using a Series 1 Tivo since it was first launced in the UK in 2001 and it has never let me down. the only failed recording ever were when the :Censored: Sky box feeding it either locked up or refused to change channel.

Tivo learns what you like to watch and will suggest programs or even automatically record them for you, it will remember from one series to the next, unlike Sky which will often drop a series link for no good reason and it also resolves conflicts when they occur by recording an alternative showing of a program either 4 hours later, or the next day, or from the +1 channel rather than just saying "Clashed"

It is without doubt the best gadget I ever bought, so much so that I have two spare units stashed away should I ever need them. :)

As I said, no direct experience of the Virgin Tivo but my mate loves it and gave me his old Sky HD box when he changed over.

[DJ Jules]

I don't have the Tivo box, just the older V+ box on Virgin and that has never let me down (from memory it's Samsung under the cover). I'd recommend the broadband and the phone service as the broadband does consistently deliver what it's supposed to (unlike BT's poor ADSL offerings).


There are also loads of problems with the Tivo boxes and VM's cabling structure. Apparently the box can't cope with the voltage going through on the fibre optics.

I'm not going to comment about voltages and fibre optics... What I have heard is that people on a Coax connection have had issues due to the signal strength delivered, but generally engineers have just had to install a signal attenuator into the line to resolve the problem.

Julian

[Marc J]

My in-laws have the new TiVo box and while it's good at what it does, and seems to be a reliable bit of kit, I find the interface clunky, slow and a nightmare to use. But then I'm used to Sky+.

[Steve the DJ]

I switched to Virgin Media in October of last year and got the TiVo which has it's plus points if you have nothing better to do in life than watch TV, like me...

However, the Wife hated it as it is more powerful (which equals complicated) than a Sky+ box and despite all the bells and whistles the simple fact is the Virgin network in our area cannot deliver what the TiVo promises. Channels frequently go missing and in the evening On Demand would often pause or break up.

Also having had it sat there underneath a Sky+HD box I believe the picture (both SD and HD) is not as good on the TiVo.

As there is a price rise in April (did they mention that?) I was able to give 30 days notice and break my contract and have gone back to Sky with 75% off of Sky World for 12 months and Sky Fibre (BT Infinity) being installed in April.

Summary - It has it's plus points if you are a TV geek but the VM network let's it down and whilst the GUI is getting better it is still along way from being perfect in my book. Couple that with the latest price rises and on a comparable package VM are no longer cheaper than Sky. :eek:

[Digitalsounds]

had one fitted last week, so far its far better than the V+ pvr we had and it doesnt make any noises like the old one, i find the sound better quality and also i think the picture is better but that might be a personal thing

the box its self is a lot more resonsive than the V+ too and you dont have to wait long for anything to load......

[DJ Jules]

the box its self is a lot more resonsive than the V+ too and you dont have to wait long for anything to load......

You've almost convinced me to part with £49.00 :)

[Chris1984]

Ive got one, had it since launch and after a few teething problems it seems to be stable now, the cup is as has been said clunky and not as well thought out as sky but once you get then back of it....
Now the ethernet port is enabled you can add it to your home network which I'm told if you have more than one you can view content of all boxes on all boxes. I have mine hooked up so i can use mu iPhone as the remoter as i have it routed upstairs swell so a us full feature when in bed!

rumours of a new app to do remote record etc like sky+ are rieff but yet to see it real eased form virgn.

Is a good bit of kit and the wife can record 3 episode of ncis at once so she loves it!

biggest gripe is with the outside installation of virgin who have made a real mess of it which it looks like I'm going to have to sort as there customer service isn't great and they don't seem to interested.

[djdave01]

thanks for all the replys, i think we're going to give the Tivo a go.

i managed to have a play with one the other day, its certianly slower than a sky+hd box but i like the extra features like Iplayer being built in.

Im going to be saving £35 a month and tripling my BB speed too

[Chris1984]

Im going to be saving £35 a month and tripling my BB speed too

pretty much our reason for doing it too!

[DJ Jules]

pretty much our reason for doing it too!

Cable Broadband is the deal clincher for me as well. ADSL is a joke by comparison and BT's new fibre services are a long way off (actually, I just checked with BT's service availability tool and it couldn't give me any information at all!)

I have no desire to ever have to deal with BT again (part of my job used to involve dealing with BT to provision services to commercial premises and they were an absolute nightmare to deal with).

Julian

[Steve the DJ]

Cable Broadband is the deal clincher for me as well.

It was for me as well and I ordered 30MB Broadband from VM and found that it couldn't even stream YouTube after 7 PM!

As I said, the kit is pretty good but whether or not the service works well depends on the state of the network in your area. Mine was fine during the day but useless at night.

I'm lucky that I am in a Sky unbundled/BT Infinity area and able to get Sky Fibre (BT Infinity really) from April at £20 per month, which was another reason for me to move back along with ITV Player and (later this year) iPlayer being added to Sky Anytime.

Oh and the fact I will shortly be able to use The Cloud for free (http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/44210/sky-40mb-fibre-broadband-announced) as well when on the move. :)

I think the key to both providers really is their local network and how it performs, if I wasn't in an unbundled area I probably would have gone for Infinity.

[discomobiledj]

If you have Sky then they are launching Sky Fibre Optic on the 12th April.

[djdave01]

thats me finally got the Tivo installed. Only had a couple of hours playing with it so far but it seems fine. Definatly slower than Sky+HD box but not that bad.

Got an app to control it from my phone or ipad too.

Now on 30Mbs broadband as well. All good so far, fingers crossed

[Chris1984]

What app you got?

[djdave01]

What app you got?

On andriod, RXC for TiVo

On IOS, Peanut.

Both control the TiVo box via a home network.

[Chris1984]

I've got peanut its great - we use it for watching the downstairs box on the upstairs tv if that makes sense!

i thought for a min virgin had finally realised the tiro app that they have been promising! :-(