£3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Simple question really.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

The top two options I agree with! An extra £3 for the extra functionality is well worth the money. However, my subs are high enough so if there was ever the chance of it being dropped or incorporated into a new VIP Tivo package I would be even happier. Not a game changer in my opinion though. A pint in my local pub costs more than £3!

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

BUT ... surely it depends on whether over the long run the fee stays the same or if VM see it as a way to increase revenue

IF VM plan on keeping it as is or even removing the charge over time then i dont see any problems but if VM see the cash signs then the fee could rise steadily over time.

Cindy Rose stated its a premium product at lauch and thats why there is a charge .. fair enough .. but she goes on to say they will adjust it dependant on how they interpret the customer is willing to stump up extra charges.

My views are known ... i believe VM will use the charge and increase it over time year on year to increase their turnover and keep investors happy ... but will be extremely happy if i end up wrong but cant see VM passing up opportunity to make money

So i vote option two

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Cozzy has a point 3.00 could easily become 5.00 over time and subs for digital TV are high enough on all platforms.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

He may have a point but the possibility of an increase in the charge should not be taken into account when deciding how to vote.

There is also a possibility that the charge may be removed in the future. That is, after all, what happened to the V+ charge.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

My opinion is that the £3 fee is like a licensing fee to use the TiVo name as well as the EPG data supply. If this is the case then this cost must be fixed in a long term contract between TiVo and VM which of course neither party will disclose.

It would be pretty naive to think that this will not increase and I fully expect it to until they see sub numbers dropping in future.

Like with any business, they need to make money and having a separate line on the bill gives another opportunity for price rises.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

It's interesting to note that Comcast TIVO service is also an additional $2.95 or it was when I last looked and there service isn't as advanced as VM.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I think there should be another option. Something like, "I'm prepared to pay it to get tivo functionality"".

I think that has a distinctly different meaning to your first option, and is my position.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

As I see it I've forked out £149 to cover the PVR hardware, 3 tuners, 1TB etc.

So my £3 sub covers the extra is really covering the enhanced EPG data. If VM can iron out most of the issues in the EPG data then I am happy. If I continue to find issues with it, then I'd consider pushing back on the £3 sub.

All TiVos fancy features are dependent on the EPG data being "near 100%". It's sod all use having wishlists etc if it still doesn't record because the data is bad.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

It is quite simple really, do you want a TiVo and its functionality?

If yes then £3 per month is a small sum to pay.

If no why are you still reading this post.;)

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

People are reading this because, last time I checked, thi was a a discussion forum and the 3 pound charge is a valid discussion point.

Not everyone has a 'take it or leave it' attitude to this. It's important that people at VM are aware of peoples feelings about the 3 pounds charge, and forums are a good way for this to be fed back.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

You are not going to get that functionality elsewhere for £3 per month and no one else will be supplying a TiVo box any time soon so it is either pay and receive the service or not get it for the sake of £3.

The are over 100,000 people who have registered an interest and the are very few on here or even other forum complaining about the charge so it is unlikely to make any difference.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

So what? Does that mean it shouldn't be discussed?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Not in the slightest, all I am pointing out what you get for less than 75p per week which is quite a lot, I expect most people would spend more than that in a week on tea or coffee in work, and in that context it is not a lot to pay.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Registering an interest and actually taking out a product are two quite different things, let's give it a year or so and see how things pan out.

I don't believe and never have that an average joe subscriber will pay for such functionality as I personally doubt most even need it. That is possibly borne out by the quite astonishing slump in Tivo's subscriber/active customer numbers worldwide even in markets where it has no ongoing subscription, a 'basic' PVR seem to suffice.

We'll see though, I genuinely hope i'm wrong for competition's sake.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I personally don't disagree with the charge even though I would prefer it to be zero.

But if you look at premium ESPN sports included free with the XL pack, you can see why some people object to the charge. Now, I suspect that having free ESPN in XL brings in more customers, so the cost to VM of ESPN is more than covered by the extra revenue, making free ESPN a good decision, even for non sports fans.

Could the same happen with tivo? If it's so good that it brings in new customers and extra revenue, could the 3 pounds be dropped or reduced becuse of the extra reenue? I don't know, but that sort of thing leaves room for discussion making the 3 pound charge not just a black and white situation.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I would just like to say that I think that the £3 charge for TIVO is well worth it as you get a lot more than the V+. It is a lot more slick and also the UI is a lot better to navigate.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

We'll see remember it was quite popular in the US until recently , that may have something to do with the subs they charge , and the majority realising a basic PVR is enough.

The results as I type have 56.45% saying subs are high enough which is a high percentage for a forum full of tech fanatics.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

At the current rate of rollout, I wonder if a significant number of those 100,000 customers will have lost interest in TiVO by the time an installation date becomes available, 4+ months after registration and without lottery invites in some cases.

As has been said here on occasions, its only a PVR. A bloodly good one, but still, a PVR.

For £3 extra per month, I'd expect nothing less.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I haven't got TiVo, but from what I have read and heard you do seem to have a valid point that you do get a lot more than the V+. However, although this is clearly their flagship STB, the initial outlay of £149 should be all that is required from the customer. I believe it would be a much more viable 'weapon' against Sky if it didn't carry this extra monthly charge.

As muppetman mentions when he made that post more than 56% believe they pay enough already and that is in a forum of tech fanatics. I would be surprised if much of the general joe public would be willing to fork out the monthly fee as well as the initial outlay.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Excellent point re Joe public , especially when you consider there's a free PVR to be had from BT Vision and Sky.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Better than the £10 a month they wanted for the TV-Drive!

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Virgin are no better than other companies in the respect that they will take us for every penny they can get from us.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Don't forget they still charge non XL customers £5 a month for V+, they say it isn't 'cost effective' not to!

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

That is a very valid point! I understand what you mean in regards to Joe public and why will they need to pay the £3 charge, So they maybe looking in to this ( As it has been stated they are looking at lower HDD drives in the boxes ) and also moving all customers over to TIVO.
Here is what I think may happen:
1TB BOX = £3PM ( with all the bells and whistles )
500GB BOX = £2PM ( with some of the above )
250GB BOX = £1PM ( with no bells just whistles )
NO HDD = £0 ( with just the UI )

Just a thought?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I can't see why smaller HDD would mean a lower cost , I can understand maybe a free non PVR TiVo but I think all TIVO PVR will incur the 3.00 charge and lower tier subscribers may need to pay more.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

What I meant was for less of the functionality E.G APPS,SUGGESTIONS E.T.C on the lower HDD sizes and if they wanted the lower HDD and all the functionality pay more PM. ( HOPE THIS MAKES IT CLEAR OR AM I JUST MAKING IT WORSE? )

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

It will be a pricey outlay for new customers at 199 for a box they don't own and 40.00 install plus 3.00 a month. That's 275.00 without your XL sub in year 1.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But a 1TB Sky HD box is 249; fairly similar pricing. Do sky charge an install fee for new customers? If so, tivo is cheaper.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

You are correct it is, the one main difference is with Sky you own the box and if you cancel it will still work with 240 FTA satellite channels and a few HD channels.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I've never understood this issue with owning the box. With VM you get exclusive use of your box and indefinite extended warranty. I can't see how that is a bad thing.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I'm on your side. Those on the other side of the argument say that they can continue to use the box if they leave Sky and that they can sell the box. They also refute the fact that you need some sort of extended warranty after the 1 year guarantee.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Ditto. To me, the renting of the box is a good thing. The number of old Sky boxes I have had in my time is stupid!

I guess it is all down to personal circumstances again. For me living in a cable area and not planning on moving for years, having a lifetime warranty is an excellent thing. However, if I was expecting to be moving around a lot - perhaps in and out of cable areas - having to rent a box each time I rejoined could be a bit irritating.

For me though, renting is a definite plus point.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I agree the extended warranty is a good thing , however most electronic equipment lasts for years , admittedly though you can be unlucky.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I wonder how many people look at it in the same way that you have just stated? As most maybe take out a extended 3 year warranty and do not think about it, But VM could state this when they take the box and also charge a extra X amount PM for the first term of the contract (12/18 months )

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

At the minute 60% are saying there subs are high enough , speaks volumes.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

The market will decide in the end :)

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I think what you should have done is vote and then leave a post and then you would be able to see the votes to the comments as you have got 84 votes and a lot are posts from the same people. Also to state why they thought what they voted?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

very true DF , however people on here are generally pretty techy and want the latest toys , imagine if it was a general poll to all subscribers.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But without the recording function which is disabled.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But you can pay just for,the recording feature , my v+box has no recording now I'm on the M pack .

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

We are the market;)

Can I also ask what will a brand new customer to Virgin pay for Tivo? For example someone wanting XL plus HD, will they pay:

£149 for the Tivo box
£49 for HD activation
£40 installation (or whatever it is these days)
£36 Tivo fee through the year

Unless you are hungry for the latest technology, I can't see Virgin winning many new customers unless they offer some pretty attractive deals.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But a more relavant question would be, "Even if you think the subs are high enough already, will you still pay the extra 3 pounds for tivo?"

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I believe all them except HD activation and the box is 199 to new customers.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But any new customer to pay TV will compare it to Sky and a 1TB sky box is 249 plus install.

As posted before, the difference is marginal.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Very well said:D:D

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I voted for saying that subs are high enough however I expect I shall pay the £3 extra.

I see the 1TB disc as the most important feature over the V+. It is very difficult recording the cricket in HD due to lack of space.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

A new customer to VM taking TIVO and XL would pay

Box 199
Install 40.00
TIVO sub 36.00
XL 294.00
Totalling 569 for yr1

Sky+HD
Box and install free
6mix 24.50 x 12 = 294
HD Pack 123
Totalling 417.00 a year.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Why do people always look at the first year as most people have never switched provider and this has been stated before so in the long run VM would be the best as you do not get call out charges if the box goes down?

Just a thought? This will be for new customers taking out maybe multiple services?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But most companies have retentions deals after year 1. I know what you.mean though and to be fair the TIVO box is 1Tb were sky+HD is only 250gb although it will tape 60 hours of HD.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Have you missed off the 1TB sky box and install cost?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

The sky+hd 1 TB box is 249.00 to new customers , however over on AV forums existing customers were being offered the box for 149 and free self install option.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

yes he has......living upto his name again:rolleyes:

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I am some what confused by VM at times, they say they are all about VOD and yet they are pushing the 1 TB TiVo box to record material. To me that says they are not confident of being able to supply all the catch up content in the future just as they are not at the present time.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

lmao :d

---------- Post added at 20:01 ---------- Previous post was at 19:55 ----------

The sky box is actually a 1.5tb however 500gb is allocated for Anytime.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But weren't you talking about new customers who have to pay 249 for the 1TB sky box; you quoted tivo new customer pricing.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

On the other hand it shows that they really do listen to what their customers want at times. Customers have been shouting out for a box that allows them to record more, much much more than 20 hours worth of HD material. This box answers their demands.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Sky refer to it as "Sky+HD 1TB box"

Are you going to re-do the figures :D

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

A switch to mpeg4 would sort that out, my Sky box is 500gb , 250gb for personal recording and 250gb for Anytime. The 250gb records 60 hours of HD.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

So in essence it is a 1TB box?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Yes but the recording times are 240hrs of HD more than double TIVO , and 500gb for Anytime/Anytime+

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

No the recording times on the TIVO box that I have got says 121HRS hd and also for SKYS so called on demand/anytime ( what ever you want to call it ) you do need extra HDD, You do not need this with VM as it is separate?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I just cannot possibly imagine the average punter ever needing that sort of capacity be it with a Sky box, VM box or any sort of box. Even less so with Tivo because of catch up, on demand and it's online streaming capabilities.

I think VM are spot on to say they will provide lower capacity HDD's as 1TB just seems like overkill to me given all the online and OD content it will or potentially can provide.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

No mate the 1TB personal use records 240 hrs of HD

http://www.sky.com/shop/boxes/1TB

---------- Post added at 20:37 ---------- Previous post was at 20:35 ----------

Fully agree mate my Sky+HD box records 60 hrs HD more than enough for me.

---------- Post added at 20:38 ---------- Previous post was at 20:37 ----------

Fully agree mate my Sky+HD box records 60 hrs HD more than enough for me, and there's no 3.00 charge LOL :D

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Well said, i have to admit that i have got HD recording and also about 20+ movies for the kids in SD and i have barley scratched the surface of the HDD.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

You don't want to be doing that - it'll make the read/write heads jump......:D

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

good one Hugh.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2012/04/8.gif

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

From the sky price calculator:




that's 417 for 12 months HD TV + 249 for the box = 666.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I always thought they were the number of the beast:erm::D:D:D

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Don't forget though you don't have to have HD with sky the box can be used as a sky+ saving you the 10.25 a month.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Whatever happened to the idea a PVR was merely for timeshifting? I couldn't envisage ever needing 500gb of space let alone 1TB, in fact I don't ever recall my V+ ever being anywhere near full, we just watched and deleted virtually everything. Even more so with VM as catch up negates the need to record loads of stuff.

I just think providing 1TB capacity increases to the expense of Tivo, that coupled to the ongoing sub may well make joe bloggs run a mile.

Bring that lower capacity box out asap, can the monthly charge and they have the making of a great offer. Otherwise I see it going the same way as the other incarnations of Tivo. Merely a niche, techie gadget with a very limited customer base.

Until it becomes the de facto platform anyway.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Excellent point a 500gb TIVO with no 3.00 charge and they have a winner.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

But you were comparing sky with tivo that has TV XL and so comes with HD (at no extra cost).

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I was comparing to sky+hd as the majority do not need 1tb when on mpeg4 however I agree VM will bring a smaller TIVO out which will compete.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I don't want anything less than a 1TB box. I rarely use catchup and would like the freedom to watch things maybe a few weeks later and not worry about running out of disc space.

We all operate differently.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

That's a fair point mate , and on mpeg2 about 120 hrs my 250gb mpeg 4 does 60hrs.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Sounds a bit like goal post moving to me. :D

How can you compare a sky HD box that records 60 hours HD with tivo that trecords 125 hours HD? (twice the amount)

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I wasn't moving goalposts was merely meaning most people have enough recording on a standard sky+hd box doing 60hrs HD but admittedly not everyone like yourself, the sky 1tb does 240hrs HD how many people really need that

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

TiVo isnt for Joe Bloggs, its being marketed by Virgin as a premium product. The V+ and vhd is for the average vm customer. If you want TiVo you pay £3 a month, if you dont Virgin have other products for you, simples.

Regards

John.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Agreed mate it looks a good product and will probably appeal to people even more when the different HDD sizes are available.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

One thing i wownt be getting Tivo way to expensive cant afford it in these times more important things to pay for Tivo maybe good but to expensive

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Strange, as your original comparison was

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

the way Tivo is going in the US and downunder i can only see the same happening over here in time.

so ill hold off getting it who knows if its still going strong and getting stronger in a couple of years i may get it.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

That is interesting regarding catch up, personally I wouldn't be without it. Do you regualrly use VM's other OD services?

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Wonder why the delay

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/21...-again-delayed

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

DirecTV have been having issues with their own software from what I can gather.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I wonder if it really has to do with the ongoing litigation cases, Tivo are now obtaining further lines of credit to fund these cases which seems one huge gamble.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I was more meaning are DirecTV that bothered about TIVO




Even Duke Nukem finally got a release date that looks like it is going to happen, and we have to wonder at this point how relevant the DirecTV box will be when it is finally released. Additional rumors seem to suggest that it will not offer many of the features found in the latest CableCard generation Series 3 TiVo units, and it could even lack some of the features of the latest generation of DirecTV DVR units; if true, this means that it could be an uphill battle for the box.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

There seems a massive difference with DirecTV and VM.

DirecTV don't appear to be planning to implement Tivo as their de facto platform, rather just a premium product much like all the other platforms in the US which given the uncertainty with Tivo makes perfect sense. They have a healthy alternative range of advanced but cheap or indeed free STB's for the masses. If Tivo went belly up I suspect it wouldn't be a disaster for them.

The cynic in me thinks they are biding their time to see how things pan out with the court cases. I cannot see how it can take 3 years to launch a PVR no matter how good it is.

To me borrowing money to fund court cases is a bit like getting an overdraft to put on the ponies, maybe you'll win but maybe you wont so let's hope they win!

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Not that often. The ones I do check every now and then are Warner TV and US Box sets and sometimes re-watch a series I like.

US box sets never seems to have that much in the listings though.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Thanks, so what is it that attracts you to the TV service if you don't really use OD much? Catch Up is the killer app for me, without it I would cancel the TV services altogether as the linear lineup is lacking for us.

I go for content and nothing else, hardware is neither here nor there for me and that's why I have my doubts about Tivo being a mainstream product. Punters like me couldn't much care for hardware no matter how good it is so long as the standard kit does the job.

Just shows we are all different.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

My reason for switching to Sky was content and the fact the HD box was.free and recorded 60 hrs HD as opposed to 20 on V+. I record a lot of US sport so the V+ filled to easy when I recorded it off ESPN HD.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

With a 1TB hard drive, and 3 recordable tuners, I don't understand why you need catchup?

If you set series links for all the programmes you would watch on catchup, you've got them to watch whenever you want. As all the programes on catchup are on linear TV channels, you can't get anything on catchup that you can't get on a channel you can record.

Catchup can of course be usefull for programmes that you weren't aware of and hear about later. Tivo suggestions will help there though.

As for TV Choice on demand, I do find it usefull occasionally as I said, but I usually keep an eye out for programmes that I'm likely to want to watch. As I mainly watch US dramas, places like digital Spy are good for telling you what's new and coming soon in terms of US shows. And this is where TIVOs whish lists will come into there own. Instead of trying to find out when a new show I want to watch is going to come to a UK channel, I can just add it to the wishlist and TIVO will pick it up when a UK channel gets it.

It's the same with the season breaks that US dshows take; you have to keep an eye out for when the show returns, because V+ series links often don't pick the show up after the season break; Tivo will pick up new episodes whenever they occur for a particular show, even after season breaks and even the next season, sgown a year later without you having to intervene.

TBH, the only content I really want is Sky atlantic. CBS action and drama would be good but from what I've seen of the shedules, they're showing programmes that have been seen before, so nice, but not essential.

Of course I'd like HD versions of all the channels, but they will come and we've got a lot of HD over the last few months.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Maybe catch up isn't that much of a deal, perhaps why that's why so many people choose Sky but personally I love it and have always thought of it as one of VM's better points as you don't even need V+ for it and of course the vast majority of VM customers only have a non PVR box. If it wasn't for catch up I would have disconnected the whole TV service when I got Sky.

I have never rated TV Choice though, I don't miss it at all.

We are all very different souls, thankfully!

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Well, you need an extra catchup service with sky as you've only got two tuners :D

(just kidding) (but the third tuner does make a difference)

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

with the amount of program repeats the catch up service is almost redundant ... apart from live sport & news nearly every program gets at least one repeat in the same week just sometimes on a different channel

while the idea of catch up is great ... in practice a pvr and repeats makes it less of a requirement in general for recent programs and more useful for archive VoD

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

I haven't had a clash yet but the remote record tells you of alternative showings anyway which is handy for the inevitable time you do get a clash.

VM are somewhat unique providing three tuners which is good but I don't recall having a overwhelming need for it personally probably because of the excellent catch up service, I agree it is handy having it though.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

Last night we had three things recording between 9 and 10 and three things recording between 10 and 11. For us the third tuner is essential.

As with everything, depends on your individual needs.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

To be fair the Sky+ iPad/iPhone ,android app tells you about when a show repeats so even with two tuners I've not had any problems.

Re: £3.00 Tivo Charge
 

And you get your choice of a free ipad or iphone with every sky box. :D

I actually had a Sky salesman round here yesterday (they're installing a communal dish in the flats where I live so contacting everyone in the flats); he didn't mention the free iphone or Ipad :D

Actually, he was pretty useless; I had to correct him on Sky pricing and he thought the 2 free HD boxes he was offering were 1TB ones. He was going to check and get back to me but never did. I'd no intention of joining Sky (pretty much told him that), but was interested in their pricing. For someone like me, with 2 HD boxes, Sky are way more expensive than VM. And no TIVO. :)