Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

looked on the internet and I can see a lot of bad reviews on the scientific atlantic v+ box and how much better the Samsung box is. I have had the SA box for 3 years and not had any issues, sure it can be at times be a tad slow in changing channels but not so bad that it becomes a problem and the HD picture is pretty good to me.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

If you have a good one then keep hold of it. It's has a dated look it's got a noisy hard drive, slowness especially at midnight. It's sd picture is phenomenal though, wipes the floor with my tivo

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Yeah agree that the SD picture is excellent, especially against what I have seen from the SKY SD picture. Not seen the SD on a Tivo yet.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Until there has been the software update to TiVo to fix SD picture for some TV, it cannot be judged fairly against any STB!

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

i have the SA V+ box , had it for nearly a year now, am very happy with it, not had any issues at all

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

I had an SA V+ and it was very noisy; at first I had it on a wooden TV stand and it sounded like someone was constantly drilling.

When I moved to a glass stand it was better, but you noticed it was much quieter in the room when you turned it off (even when the TV was on).

The channel changing speed I could live with, but when you pressed i and could actually watch it slowly draw a black background, followed by a grey outline then add the text that was painful.

Then it developed problems; it would randomly reboot, usually when recording something.

That, the fact it looked like something the 80s wanted back, and the measly 20+ hours or HD space meant I jumped to TiVo straight away - mainly for the extra hard drive space.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

VM are planning a software update to improve SD picture quality on TiVo?

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Yes.

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...ty/td-p/500443

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

I have a S/A V+ box funnily enough i do not find the hard drive paticularly noisy,but yes it does slow down at midnight alright.!

But am very impressed with the sd picture quality so much so when i took HD on sky sports for a while i did not thenk it worth the extra cash,as the V+ picture on sd is so good.I plan to hang to my one for the foreseeable future.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Three things I don't miss about the SA V+

(1) The midnight/1am slowdown (avoid using FWD/REW, try to watch programmes with no advert breaks !)
(2) Having to nurse it through HD recordings - only being able to record one HD channel at a time, not being able to watch another HD channel whilst it was recording an HD channel or face the wrath of the random reboot
(3) Unreliable CatchUp - sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't, usually within a few seconds of selecting the same programme

Other than that, and some slowness, generally the SA V+ was a good machine - yes the SD picture was marginally better than Tivo, but not a deal breaker in my opinion.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

The midnight slowdown is one big bug, and that'll never be fixed - but by itself I can live with this.

The only real "irritant" are the 4 dud recordings I have to delete every morning and have done for the past few years. I know I could easily reformat but for the hassle of wiping or having to dump all the other recordings, that's always felt a little extreme. If the UK4 software update clears this longstanding bug, then I call that a result :-)

When publicity for the TiVo first came out a few months ago I was rather tempted. But to be honest, I've rather gone off it.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Before Tivo I had the TVDrive silver version.
Never had a problem with it in all those years.
I was sad to see it go, but the rotters wouldn't let me keep it.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

I have one dud recording on my SA V+ that occurred when it tried to record the same program twice at the same time due to a bug with the EPG data at the time. I've just left it there - no point in deleting it for it to re-appear.

I don't use the box for HD and only have had minor issues with it. I'll reformat it should it ever be empty!

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Other than the midnight slowdown I never had a problem with my old silver SA TV Drive until the hard disk gave up the ghost six weeks ago. Now on my 2nd replacement Samsung, which admittedly doesn't suffer from the slowdown problem. But as the first one only lasted 3 weeks, I do wonder about Samsung V+ reliability.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Had my Samsung over a year now very reliable ( touch wood) My first V+ box!

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

I'm on my third SA V+ box in 4 years, the first cause the screen to flash red every few seconds. Reboot the box and it would be ok for a couple of days.

The second the HDD drive slowly died, it started when I put my centre speaker from surround sound system on top. I did remove it and it did improve but eventually it died! Failed recordings initially and then wouldn't play back recorded programs. I should have bought a shielded speaker but I'm tight:)

The third is fine, but they had to boost the signal at the distribution box up the road from me to get VOD to work reliably!

But on the whole it’s not a bad box!

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Had my TV drive (V+) from day one of it being available in Swindon, It has only recently died (faulty HDMI socket) after all these years. Had a black SA V+ installed. Other than the origanal needing replacing after a few years, not had any major issues with SA boxes at all (except the midnight slow down bug)

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

I`ve had the same SA V+ box since they were introduced still giving no problems which is why i have kept as my second box even after being offered new box

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Got TiVo box 10 days ago,no problems with that one,they also replaced our second box,SA V+,with a Samsung V+,telling me it was a better box and because we were changing contract because of a bereavement,they had to swap it out.....

Since then have had 2 replacement Samsungs and today I have had to arrange for another 'engineer' to come and try to get it working,it will be another 2 days at least before anything gets sorted out....

Box in question is for my 80 y.o. mother,I am disabled and have a few problems getting to the back of the box when it freezes up to reboot it for her and now wish I had kept the old box...

Originally I thought about 2 Tivo boxes to replace the V+ ones,but the extra cost for installation is prohibitive....In the end it would have been cheaper for Virgin to give us a second TiVo box (installed free) than the cost of at least 4 'engineers' visits....

Will just have to see what happens next !!!

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

If it helps, you can reset a Samsung V+ by holding the standby button on the front panel for 5 seconds (until the display says "STOP"). Should be easier than reaching round the back.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Thanks for reply....

Unfortunatly box 'freezes up' completely,no lights on front and no buttons work exept on/off

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

You could buy a remote controlled mains socket and reboot it that way. They are usually RF so it doesn't matter where it's plugged in. This method works for me both on Tivo and my previous V+ boxes.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Have got remote sockets throughout house - a good short term fix,thanks - but that just hides my original problem with all the boxes tried (present box even freezes up when attempting to change channel),it's impossible to watch or record anything....

When rebooting box it just stops loading at 'ld40' or 'pl30' and I have to fire it up again,it can take up to 20 min to get it going,usually short term...sometimes getting message about 'services not available,call 150'... tried that on a few occasions,everyone has had that experience at some time...will have to see what they say on Wed...

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Maybe you could also get one for your mother's house? ;):D

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

She lives downstairs in same house......problem machine in her living room.

Re: Is the SA V+ box really that bad?
 

Update - All ok box up and running....

Seems we were just unlucky with boxes...the 6th one in 2 1/2 weeks works...