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tassiekev · 25-03-2015, 18:33

[/COLOR]The EU have mandated how much power both 'simple' and 'complex' STBs should consume.

But there isn't really a need to worry about whether one box has the same power supply as another, as the main reason for the phone charger standard was how often people change their phone and get a new charger along with it. STBs don't get swapped as much.[/QUOTE]

Appreciate your point and I'm definitely not in a position to argue from a technical point of view - just a users point of view. There are two points I would make:

1. PVRs/DVRs are basically a low-end PC dedicated to a particular purpose
2. The capabilities of these devices are limited by marketing, not hardware or software. eg. The Fire TV box can access Netflix & Amazon but not NowTV; The NowTV box can access NowTV & some on demand services but not in HD - also can't access Netflix or Amazon; Tivo can access Sky & Netflix but not NowTV or Amazon. Similar limitations apply to SkyHD, Roku etc.

If we, as consumers want to access these services then we're forced to buy/rent multiple boxes. I'd love to see a box designed where it was possible to plug in various tuners: cable, satellite, Freeview etc and purchase the services required via that box**. Now, I know that Sky, Liberty etc are not going to acceed to this because it would limit their control and be good for the consumer so I think the least the various manufacturers/service providers could do is provide us with at least a common power supply so that I don't have to crawl about labelling everything. How much simpler life would be if all the 'complex' STBs had kettle plugs or similar - it would be a start.

**There are, of course 'Smart' TVs already made with Freeview/Freesat tuners & CI slots which would do the job and and I would be interested in hearing why these are not able to be accessed by VM or Sky customers.

Sorry, I've messed up the Quote bit at the top - don't know how to fix.

25-03-2015, 18:33	#2489
tassiekev Inactive Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 255	Re: General TiVo Discussion Part 3 [/COLOR]The EU have mandated how much power both 'simple' and 'complex' STBs should consume. But there isn't really a need to worry about whether one box has the same power supply as another, as the main reason for the phone charger standard was how often people change their phone and get a new charger along with it. STBs don't get swapped as much.[/QUOTE] Appreciate your point and I'm definitely not in a position to argue from a technical point of view - just a users point of view. There are two points I would make: 1. PVRs/DVRs are basically a low-end PC dedicated to a particular purpose 2. The capabilities of these devices are limited by marketing, not hardware or software. eg. The Fire TV box can access Netflix & Amazon but not NowTV; The NowTV box can access NowTV & some on demand services but not in HD - also can't access Netflix or Amazon; Tivo can access Sky & Netflix but not NowTV or Amazon. Similar limitations apply to SkyHD, Roku etc. If we, as consumers want to access these services then we're forced to buy/rent multiple boxes. I'd love to see a box designed where it was possible to plug in various tuners: cable, satellite, Freeview etc and purchase the services required via that box. Now, I know that Sky, Liberty etc are not going to acceed to this because it would limit their control and be good for the consumer so I think the least the various manufacturers/service providers could do is provide us with at least a common power supply so that I don't have to crawl about labelling everything. How much simpler life would be if all the 'complex' STBs had kettle plugs or similar - it would be a start. There are, of course 'Smart' TVs already made with Freeview/Freesat tuners & CI slots which would do the job and and I would be interested in hearing why these are not able to be accessed by VM or Sky customers. Sorry, I've messed up the Quote bit at the top - don't know how to fix.