Re: TiVo
 

Who knows.

Perhaps if TiVo is the only thing available there won't be the extra £3 charge. It could just be included in your monthly fee by then.

Re: TiVo
 

It was literally state of the art when the original model launched in 2000. They priced it highly and look how that ended up........

Re: TiVo
 

Well all the US cable Co charge for using TIVO , well the ones who have it as an option although it's not there main PVR to be fair.

Re: TiVo
 

I think Muppet was saying he just wanted to use it as a PVR without paying the extra £3 per month. Is that possible?

Re: TiVo
 

That's not really a satisfactory solution now though for people who just want a PVR; 20 hours HD recording just isn't enough.

Maybe VM need to offer a pure PVR only, with a decent size hard drive, and less the £3 charge for the Tivo functionality. Maybe it's already in the works?

This reduced sized Tivo coming in June for a rumoured £49 still has a question mark over it as 'reduced spec'; this could mean reduced hard drive only, or reduced hard drive size and reduced Tivo functionality. No one seems to want to expand on that.

Re: TiVo
 

I rather doubt it as the may be to much disabled on the box without the fee.

---------- Post added at 17:41 ---------- Previous post was at 17:40 ----------

Probably because the is no more information available at this time.

Re: TiVo
 

http://www.smallworldcable.com/Boxes

States box is free when took with HD pack

Re: TiVo
 

Well, it's about time there was. The CEO office are refering to it as an option for those not prepared to pay the 1TB price. If the CEO office is talking about it, surely functionality specs should be made available, otherwise, how can pepole make a valid choice now.

Re: TiVo
 

A fee free PVR for top tier customers is a must.

Re: TiVo
 

Beg to differ, I have had issues, particularly US shows which do not show UK premier air dates.

Prime example, Spartacus: Gods of the Area, Mon 4th April will be a UK premier but it's shown with the US air date of 21 Feb and is seen by the box as a repeat. I already reported this one here... still not fixed.

One of the selling points for TiVo is that it can make suggestions on new shows that may interest you, but if the new shows are not correctly flagged then how can that function work properly ? I actually missed the first ep of Spartacus and only found it browsing the Guide.

While I'm at it, I'm still not sold on the whole concept of thumbs up/thumbs down. Yes it theory it sounds great. Thumb up the stuff you like and thumb down the stuff you don't and then in theory it should automatically record stuff you like. The problem is, let's say I like stuff like Quantum leap, so should I thumb up it ? Well if I do then I will get several hundred repeats (as I have watched every episode already) but then if I thumb down it, or don't thumb it, how will it ever learn what I like ?

Additionally I hate coming into a show half way through a season. So what I really want it to do is automatically record *anything* that is S1Ep1, regardless of my likes/dislikes.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a pretty good start, but there is clearly work needs to be done still.

And personally I think even just for it's PVR functions it's worth the £190 quid. I don't think you can buy any decent Freeview HD PVR for less than 200quid.

Re: TiVo
 

Not really as they are just concentrating on the present box that is soon to become available to all any other boxes for the moment are secondary.

Re: TiVo
 

Well perhaps it will get announced after TiVo officially launches in the next couple of weeks, after all the new Electric magazine does hint at a lower capacity HDD TiVo being made available at sometime.

But the 1TB is the flagship TiVo product and as such will have a higher cost to have it.

Re: TiVo
 

They need to learn to multi-task then. If a box is due for release in June, are you trying to tel me that they don't know the specifications?

Sorry, but that sounds like a very poor excuse to me. They must know the specs, but for some reason, they are not releasing them, depriving people of making an educated choice as to which is the best box for them; the 1TB or the 500(?)gb one.

Re: TiVo
 

Spot on matey

Re: TiVo
 

The magazine may hint at it, but one of the emails sent from the CEO office (posted on a forum) said it was a fact.

Re: TiVo
 

Amen to that. If they are going to charge so much for TiVo, then why can't they swap the hard drives in V+ boxes to add a bit more recording space.

I'd happily pay £50 to be able to record 40/50 hours, instead of the 20 if you lucky currently.

Doesn't even need a new box, just a refurb and drive swap. I'd do it meself if it didn't risk me getting in hot water!

Re: TiVo
 

Have all the e-mails batches been sent I still have not received any e-mail?

Despite pre-reg and entering the draw.

Double :-(

Re: TiVo
 

£3 is nowt to me. Thats half a pack of fags, or a pint, or 5 cheap iPhone apps, or a sarnie from the Texaco... It's not a lot really.

Re: TiVo
 

Not recieved mine either but I only entered the raffle.

But I did get an email saying I lost the draw and would get a special offer soon.

Re: TiVo
 

This industry is changing so fast with the likes of Apple and Google TV, and TV makers looking to license AirPlay etc, in 3 years it'll look very different to now, and hopefully cheaper for all.

---------- Post added at 19:34 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------

Sounds like you guys who got it free were beta testers to iron out the bugs. Which is no bad thing in my ind. You've done us a good service, and I thank you for your patience.

Now,

---------- Post added at 19:36 ---------- Previous post was at 19:34 ----------

That's a good question! I could have done with bigger HD over Xmas!

Re: TiVo
 

I think you are correct there though it will take some time before all boxes are TiVo. Just don't see how Virgin can drop the £3 when they have to pay TiVo monthly fees, to do so means they would be making a loss and not a wise thing to do in their financial position.

Re: TiVo
 

Don't forget the cisco hd box can run the tivo UI so I guess that will become the standard box for customers who don't want a pvr.

I guess it wont do suggestions etc or have aps so no £3 charge.

Re: TiVo
 

Maybe, it all depends on the terms of the agreed monthly fees - might be fixed or variable guess we will never know.

Re: TiVo
 

Spot on Paul. Me too. I'd do it myself also. They should offer that option.

Re: TiVo
 

I haven't received it either, despite getting the "we'll be in touch soon" email the other week.
I knew I should have changed my name to Dean.

Re: TiVo
 

I know the thread is a bit more on topic again now, but my internet connection has been Deaned since yesterday morning so couldnt post till now....

Anyway if I worked in VM marketing I would suggest having some fun with the Dean fiasco and try and turn it into an advantage - get rid of the womans voice on the phone and replace it with Dean. Change the online help from 'Ask Jenny' to 'Ask Dean'. Give all the techies Dean name badges. Edit the TV ad to include a few Dean references etc etc!!

Cheers
Grim

Re: TiVo
 

Sounds like good crisis management to me.:D

Re: TiVo
 

Is TiVo smart enough to know that it's missed a recording due to a power cut and then go look for another showing?

Re: TiVo
 

It is so smart it is powering the international space station:D

Re: TiVo
 

Finally i get a suggested program in hd the mentalist on 5hd at 9pm,Only had tivo since 12 march.Thought id recieved a late april fool lol

Re: TiVo
 

I've also found my Tivo doesn't like to record HD suggestions. I reckon it'll be down to the fact that HD recordings take more space, but there should be an option to change it.

Re: TiVo
 

I must say that I've had the opposite recently. On thursday, all suggestions that were available in HD recorded in HD, 4 in total. For a moment I thought they'd upgraded the software but having read your comments, obviously not.

Re: TiVo
 

I also have tivo and agree its wrong that the install fee is being charged. its good though and i have no problems its quicker and as good a picture as my SA V+

Re: TiVo
 

Stupid question but is there an official launch date for TiVo set for everybody?

Re: TiVo
 

The problem is the £3s per month add up, well over £100 per month is getting ridiculous for media services.

Re: TiVo
 

But it's not like you're forced into getting a TiVo box. It's a choice.

Ultimately, Virgin are having to pay Tribune an amount of money to provide episode guide data formatted in a particular manner, tagged with appropriate metadata (eg: actors, genres) and so on. Clawing back some of that cost from TiVo subscribers - who all chose to partake of the TiVo service - doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Otherwise the burden of cost is more likely to be spread across all Virgin subscribers (irrespective of TV package) so that the company doesn't make a loss on the venture.

If everyone was forced into upgrading to TiVo, then I can see cause for complaint, but this is not the case.

Re: TiVo
 

Sky's EPG data mustn't cost them anything then :rolleyes:

Re: TiVo
 

No not with virgins track record of vagueness.

Re: TiVo
 

Or maybe, just maybe, because they have many many more subscribers than Virgin Media, they're just taking a smaller amount from everyone. Or maybe it comes from the £10.25 a month they charge for their HD pack.

None of us have Sky's internal accounting data to determine this, so ultimately no amount of eye rolling or 'Sky vs Virgin' comparison is going to be useful.

Re: TiVo
 

Sky never charged once the sky+ charge was dropped on sky+ boxes and the VM XL was like for like pricing with Skys 6 mix so work that out and there was no HD or charge then.

Re: TiVo
 

It might look like that, but you've no information as to whether Sky's internal costs have changed during that period, and whether the EPG costs were effectively absorbed.

Personally I think it's pretty simple. If you don't like the cost (either for TiVo or the per-monthly service charge), then don't pay it. I guess I don't quite understand why people still view it negatively when it's optional, but I appreciate that everyone's got different bones to pick when it comes to Virgin Media's operations.

Anyway, have a good weekend!

Re: TiVo
 

I do agree in principal about a charge included in sky sub somewhere , however I feel once the only PVR option with VM is TIVO , Sky will swoop on this charge in comparisons , especially when you think Sky premium customers on VM pay 7.00 add TIVO and your at Skys HD charge. Stephen stated on here that all TIVO PVR boxes would incur the 3.00 charge.

---------- Post added at 10:56 ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 ----------

You have a good weekend to mate.

Re: TiVo
 

You are right that people aren't forced into Tivo, but HD channels are forcing them to make some sort of choice.

20 hours HD recording on the V+ box doesn't cut it anymore.

So, people are looking at three choices:

Tivo

V+ (which doesn't cut it for HD recording)

Sky HD, with 60 hours recording

I think Virgin need to address their customer base who want HD and enough space to record it but don't want to pay the extra £3 for Tivo functionality, otherwise, they may see some people heading over to Sky.

TBH, I think it's pointless focusing on 'the £3 Tivo charge'. You should look at the overall cost of the package for the services you want and compare that between providers. But sadly, people aren't doing that and are letting one aspect of the charge dominate their thinking rather than considering the overall costs.

Re: TiVo
 

Wheres Digital Fantastic hes been very quiet lately, he has not done a Lord Lucan has he.
Its always nice to hear his poetic words.

Re: TiVo
 

VM should give users the option of upgrading the hard drives in V+ boxes but I can see that option canabalising sales of Tivo

Re: TiVo
 

Maybe he's
a) working
b) fed up of the abuse

Re: TiVo
 

I do not believe in abuse on any forum.

Re: TiVo
 

Indeed, checking back thru my bills I see I knocked £13.53/month one year with VM by having a rant about their CS and agreeing to sign up for another 12 month contract. There will certainly be ways to absorb that cost if you play it right.

Boz

Re: TiVo
 

I was hoping they had,Must admit i have had my suggestions turned off for a couple of days(sick of constant deleting) so when it suggested that in hd thought they had sorted it

Re: TiVo
 

It's not so much that, more of why would Virgin upgrade STBs that run on a platform that will eventually be turned off?

Virgin have already stated that they will move all customers over the TiVo platform in the next few years, so that's where their investment will be

Re: TiVo
 

or

c) Licking his wounds because none of his many predictions on "Pleasant Surprises" came true!:redcard:

Re: TiVo
 

what u get for the 3 pound is more than u get on v+. it alot better guide cleaner, VOD is alot better easier to use. still quite a few bugs with it but it will be sorted.

Re: TiVo
 

lmao :d

Re: TiVo
 

Bet he comes back as Dean the Digital Fanatic.
:LOL:

Re: TiVo
 

See "point b)".....

Re: TiVo
 

Or Deano the Beano.

Re: TiVo
 

Perhaps you will come back as Den the constant whinger.


Oh, sorry - you're already here as that....:D

Re: TiVo
 

Sticks and stones can break my bones but insults will nether hurt me.

Re: TiVo
 

Correct Den there's a few on here who take things way to personal LOL :D

Re: TiVo
 

Well, to be honest, there is no point in taking it all too seriously. If we can have a laugh at each others expense, that has be OK!

Now! Where's my B****Y Tivo.:rant:

Re: TiVo
 

Its coming soon but how soon is the question.

Re: TiVo
 

Just back from Falkirk where I popped into the VM store to have a look at the TiVo....very impressive, however I did get some info from the staff.

They have been told they can start taking orders from anyone from Monday 18th April, this includes new customers. They had been told that information earlier this morning. The salesman also said that there is an iPhone and Android app in the works but he knew nothing about an iPad app.

The price he quoted was £149 plus £40 installation plus £3 per month, it wasn't clear if this was just for existing customers on XL only.

PB

Re: TiVo
 

Seem's to me that you guy's like to dish it out a little but you can't take it

Re: TiVo
 

Especially if someone questions VM. LOL :D

Re: TiVo
 

The ordering emails for pre regs are meant to go out from the 11th April, so if they get those out on time, it gives a week for pre regs to order before it goes out to general ordering.

Re: TiVo
 

They'll not move me if i have to pay anything remotley near the £200 currently being banded about.

Re: TiVo
 

they bringing other tivo boxes out with smaller hard drives which will be lot cheaper than the 1TB ones there the premium boxes remember £250 for sky hd 1TB which never be as good as tivo

Re: TiVo
 

Is it just me or could the delay in the pre-reg be down to another code drop for the box to get it better and also new apps or services, as i posted earlier in this thread about the I-PLAYER now only been accessed through the app?

Re: TiVo
 

Or Sky

Re: TiVo
 

Can someone confirm whether you can or can not select a recorded program to output via one of the scarts on TIVO and then carry on watching normal TV or another recording? At the moment I use this method not to archive/record onto DVD in the background, but to send recorded programs to kids bedrooms via scart output to RF modulator via coaxial runs to other rooms. It sounds like I would lose this with the new TIVO?

Also, would Virgin be likely to do a deal for people that would like to swap both of their Samsung V+ boxes? i..e. Would it be £149 x 2 + £40 x 2 + £3 extra per month or £6 extra per month?

At the moment I think the main issue people have, is that a 160gb HDD is not cutting it for HD recording times. The price is too high for people that have already invested in V+ tech.

Re: TiVo
 

Oh, forgot summat that I got told in the VM store

The EBAY app, which the guy admitted was pretty much for browsing, is being looked at so that it links to your own eBay account. If you win then the cost of your winning bid will be added to your following months Virgin bill!!

Ok, I'm taking this with a major pinch of salt but he had a couple of other VM staff who were agreeing with him so maybe there is substance to this? Can any of the VM staff on here confirm this?

Having seen a demo I've gone from being a bit "Yeah, TiVo might be a nice bit of kit to have" to full on rabid "GIMME GIMME GIMME"!!

PB

Re: TiVo
 

TiVo only has one SCART and no you can't

Re: TiVo
 

It's called being neutral one or two on here want to try it , have I ever said sky don't make negotiations hard NO merely said there's always to sides to any story , I've commended VM for many things like their BB , and even TIVO seems a decent enough product but a product to make people leave Sky in their droves I think not.

Re: TiVo
 

I received the TiVo user telephone call from Virgin Media last week asking me what I thought of it. I told them I'm mostly pleased with it and if they can continue improving speed and reliability, as well as adding box-to-box streaming of recordings as well as support for the TiVo bluetooth slide out remote control then I'll be very happy. Has anyone else been called?

Re: TiVo
 

Woah, chill. Tongue in cheek again, I'll put it away, sorry.

Re: TiVo
 

lol :d

Re: TiVo
 

There's not much more to be said on this thread really! Maybe it's time to put it to bed and start a fresh topic without all the recriminations.

Re: TiVo
 

No, not yet. Need to get to page 400 first!

Re: TiVo
 

Yes but then you may say get to 500?:p::p::p::p:

Re: TiVo
 

Have Virgin Media ever given a solid launch date for any product that they've released in the past? Serious question. :)

Re: TiVo
 

Wooooohooooo we've reached page 400 :LOL:

Re: TiVo
 

I think the point he is trying to make is because of the high
cost of TIVO VM are unlikely to get the uptake they hoped they would. Perhaps the baby TIVO will do better if marketed and priced better.

I do understand where people are saying that VM need to recover their costs but this also needs to be weighed against maintaining their customer base. I am not excessively complaining though - I'm just sticking with my V+ box until the time is right. I think many others will do the same.

Re: TiVo
 

I entered the website competition but didn't win. I didn't bother pre-registering as I believed in all likelihood I wouldn't be able to afford it. I think that the £149 plus a £40 intall fee for a box that you are renting, when many of us paid upfront for V+, I was right. I was a little surpirsed, as I thought that pre-reggers would get a better deal than that, but there's no point in moaning as there is no compulsion to get one. It looks like a good product, albeit still with the odd bug, I'll probably take a look at the smaller version when that is launched.

For the people who were moaning when it got to March 31st and were moaning they hadn't had their email, have you really been sitting round your computers for 4 months waiting, LOL! And as for some of the abuse at VM staff, well that is completely out of order. If waiting for a new cable box is the worst thing that is happening in your life, then it ain't that bad! ;)

Re: TiVo
 

Has any company? Serious question. :)

Re: TiVo
 

So much for my suggestion then!:Peaceman::Peaceman:

Re: TiVo
 

I don't see the justification to charge a higher/lower price for the size of hard drive. Hard drives are incredibly cheap nowadays and that's at retail costs. So I don't see the justification in releasing a lesser sized version and pricing it much lower, the cost of the box would be very very similar so why charge much less/more (depending on which way you look at it).

My initial assumption would have been that the lower model would have no hard drive or that it would have reduced functionality but the majority (from what I've read about it) seem to have the impression it'll just be a reduced hard drive size.

Yet I'd wager that wouldn't equate to more than £30 (probably less when you consider economies of scale) in cost differences yet the difference in their price will obviously be more than that. No point in having two tiers of the box that are almost the same price after all.

In truth I was expecting that they'd fore-go the £40 install fee for pre-regs and at that price I'd have gone for it. I felt £150 was on the steep side (especially considering there's a monthly fee too - though replacing my second V+ box I may end up making a saving) but I was just about willing to pay that. Now I'm not so sure.

They can justify the monthly fee for their ongoing services but I don't see any justification for what will obviously be a significant price difference when this second lower tier box arrives. Especially if it's just a smaller hard drive.

Re: TiVo
 

Don't Sky charge less for the 500Gb version of Sky + HD? (by less, I mean nothing when taken with the HD pack). The price difference between that and the 1TB version is a mere £249, with the same functionality on both versions.

Re: TiVo
 

exactly you pay £250 just for a 1TB hard drive with sky just for one thing to record more it does not do one thing extra than a normal sky hd box can do with tivo you get 1TB hard drive and lots of extra functions the v+ has not got and it best box out by miles

Re: TiVo
 

easy enough to chuck a 38 quid samsung F3 1tb in im sure

of course if you have an older box it will be ide and therefore more expensive and less capacity max

Re: TiVo
 

Well Apple always give dates to when they're launching products. If I see a trailer for a film I like, I know when that's going to be available for me to go see. I remember Sky Atlantic being advertised as coming 1st Feb, so that had a launch date. Call of Duty Black Ops had a set in stone release date almost a year before lauch. Almost every other major game also gets launch dates months and months in advance.

I'm sure there's many more examples also. :)

Re: TiVo
 

I totally agree with you.

Re: TiVo
 

You are correct the 1TB Sky+HD box is the same box with the same functions as the Sky+HD 250gb box the only difference is the 250gb records 60 hrs HD and the 1TB does 240 hrs HD , it's only one advantage over TIVO is it records double the amount. Sky have it as a premium product as for most 60 hrs HD is more than enough , I think somebody on here had rang Sky who offered to match TIVO pricing for their 1TB box and over on AV forums people are getting it for 150.00 through retentions.

Re: TiVo
 

Overall, all they need to do is take away install fee, make the 1tb box £99 for pre regers and existing high paying customers, and take away the £3 per month extra fee. A lot of us already pay over £60 per month for our services which is enough already. The prices just went up anyway and another £3 is just taking the mic for the same premium TV service just for a newer, better STB which is over due anyway to address storage issues.

Re: TiVo
 

I think virgin have it right with the pricing. They need to keep demand at a reasonable level. If it was as cheap as sniper thinks it should be thousands of folk woud be snapping them up and there simply wouldn't be enough techs to install them.

Re: TiVo
 

Can anyone confirm when using twitter , eBay and other apps can you still watch the TV Ie you can tweet whilst watching a show ?

These seem a good interface

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmxqzWhpVs8

Saw them on a recent trip to the USA.

Re: TiVo
 

Hi, Have had my email about Tivo now :-) Am on VIP20 would someone be able to tell me how much I should pay if I upgraded to VIP50 with 2 x Tivo and 1 x V+? Also would I pay the £150 activation once or twice with having 2 x Tivo? Cheers Chris

Re: TiVo
 

Unfortunately if using the apps you can't watch TV at the same time.

Having watched the vid, the app graphics cuts off the picture which is a bit strange. Would of thought they'd do a picture in picture.

Re: TiVo
 

Has anybody had the discovery bar recommend any Sky content?

Re: TiVo
 

The sidebar like in the link I've posted seems a better option , I'm sure Samsung connected TV's do this as well. I thought that was the point of social integration.

Re: TiVo
 

Just had a look and yes, there is some Sky content on there. Examples being Cougar Town (Sky Living) and Hawaii Five-O (Sky 1)

On another note, if you select one of the shows on the discovery bar and go to set a series link, the set up graphics stay in the HD UI as opposed to the poor looking SD graphics when you set a link up through the EPG.

This annoys me even more now as the code to do this in the HD UI is already written, they just need to transfer it over to the EPG :rolleyes: