Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Probably a silly question (she controls the TV and associated gubbins) so I've not taken much interest, but . . is it still actual HDD in these boxes, and would/could SSD perform better or am I well behind the times here? :dunce:

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Nope. When the box shuts down in standby, it does a controlled unloading of the hard drive. If you just pull the plug, it can't do that.

Plus by powering it off, you are putting it through thermal cycles that can cause damage long term.

It's an actual HDD. It is fast enough to do everything that is required of it, so putting in an SSD would just be a waste of money.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Best practice is to simply put the box into standby when you're not watching TV as this is designed to do a graceful power down of the hard drive to unload and park its heads. (I put my TV 360 into eco mode.) Even when it needs to come out of standby, e.g. for EPG updates, this is managed and not multiple times an hour. Keeping it always on means constant buffering which generates unwanted heat which degrades the box. And you certainly shouldn't just pull the plug repeatedly as this risks a catastrophic head crash.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

So is it advisable to put the box into standby on occasion rather than just leaving it on all the time?

I have read that putting STB's into standby simply kills the audio & video output and thus saves hardly any power at all.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

We still have a Plasma TV, so no concerns about the extra power from an STB in standby :D

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

It's said that plasma TV's are better than the LED/LCD screens that we use today.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Thats generally true, they had better picture contrast and could be viewed from more obscure angles (not sure why you would want to).
They were sometimes noisy and also easier to damage. I had one for about 8 years, I think its almost 10 years now since anyone (major) made them.

OLED is generally considered to be better than plasma was.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

OLED will use less power too. My next TV will be OLED, apparently Sony are the best manufacturer.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

I think you are referring to early US TiVos where standby did not spin down the hard drive at all. However I believe all of VM's current boxes do a graceful shutdown when you select standby with read/write heads parked, actuator locked and platters spun down gradually until completely stopped.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Oh right, i'll put it into standby when not using it then.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

The Donald's a big Tivo fan, not sure he'd be 'upgrading' to 360 :D
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b3028030.html

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Report that some customers have received the following email:

I imagine that this is a prelude to either premium sport or films being removed as they seek to wind down the TiVo and push people onto the 360.

As I don't take either premium service through Virgin, I will remain as I currently am.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

"stop working altogether" seems pretty clear.
Not just removing a few services, they will become dead boxes.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

When decommissioning boxes they usually gradually remove services, before crippling them altogether.

Bearing in mind the usual vague Virgin way of saying things, perhaps erroneously, I took it to mean that it would lose some functionality soon and then eventually stop working altogether.

Re: TV360 - pro and cons
 

Depends on the TV box in question. After all, V6 with TiVo can run TV360 software, so there's no hardware issues.
With 2m customers still with V6/TiVo, far from being a simple matter.