Freeview and Interactive

[KenK]

I bought a Freeview box today. 10 minutes after connecting it up - all by myself, no installation fees - I was playing with the 'red button' interactive feature. It loads in 2 or 3 seconds, and a page turn takes 1 or 2 seconds. It's faster than analogue terrestrial teletext. It's a good 10 - 20 times faster than VM's offering - no 'please wait, just loading', no freezes, no reboots.
Why is a one-off £25 box from the supermarket capable of better basic dtv function than cable's service?

[cnewton2k]

it isnt better than VM by a long shot...

Does freeview have Ondemand?.... No

Does it @ the moment have a totally supported PVR service?... No

You cant really compare VM and Freeview, they are totally different platforms, it would be like comparing the £ and the $!!

[Chicken]

Originally Posted by Solventcandy

it isnt better than VM by a long shot...

Does freeview have Ondemand?.... No

Does it @ the moment have a totally supported PVR service?... No

You cant really compare VM and Freeview, they are totally different platforms, it would be like comparing the £ and the $!!

Do Virgin have a reliable OnDemand service?... no
Do Virgin have a reliable PVR service?... no.

'nuff said.

[danielf]

I think the OP was just commenting on how well interactive works on a bog standard freeview box compared to VM's interactive offering?

I was in currys last night and Sony have a superb box for £225 (sale price)

+160 gig
+HDMI connection
+1080p upscaling
++DVDR

i don't understand why (after several years on the market) they don't make these machines with 2-3 tuners - yet you can buy a Sony PVR with 2 tuners but no DVDR (quite a bit cheaper too)????

[darkm]

2-3 tuners is pretty much going to be the standard.

90% of PVRS have 2 tuners - what i can't figure is the moment they had DVD recorder they seem to remover a tuner? and it's been this way for 2-3 years

maybe there is some technical/legal issue but i can't see it and it's never been 'excused' as it were

[cnewton2k]

Originally Posted by Chicken

Do Virgin have a reliable OnDemand service?... no
Do Virgin have a reliable PVR service?... no.

'nuff said.

Yes virgin have a reliable on demand service

yes they have a reliable PVR service

i don't have any problems with mine what so ever..

"enough" said

[Mick Fisher]

Originally Posted by Solventcandy

Yes virgin have a reliable on demand service

yes they have a reliable PVR service

i don't have any problems with mine what so ever..

"enough" said

That's all right then. Gee all the people experiencing problems must be mistaken or lying then.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by Solventcandy

Does it @ the moment have a totally supported PVR service?... No

No but there are plenty of freeview PVR's around that work perfectly well.

[KenK]

Originally Posted by danielf

I think the OP was just commenting on how well interactive works on a bog standard freeview box compared to VM's interactive offering?

Yeah, I rather thought there might be a clue in the thread title...

Tonight I tried to use VM's interactive service for the Open golf coverage. After about a minute of "just loading, please wait", it went away - again. I'll need to reboot to get it back.

The recent BBC1 'Joseph' show had an interactive section, but only for satellite and Freeview viewers.

Does VM have a working red button interactive service?... No.

Originally Posted by Solventcandy

it isnt better than VM by a long shot...

Does freeview have Ondemand?.... No

Does it @ the moment have a totally supported PVR service?... No

You cant really compare VM and Freeview, they are totally different platforms, it would be like comparing the £ and the $!!

Of course you can compare them. They both aim to deliver a digital TV service, so compare them on that basis.
- My short experience suggests that Freeview is streets ahead of VM in interactive capability. I'm reliably informed that Sky's interactive is also much faster than VM's.
- Ondemand is so slow and unreliable that I rarely bother with it. By the time I've rebooted the box to get it working, and dragged through the pages of menus to try to stumble across something I might want to watch, I usually give up and find something else to do.
- Freeview does not have a 'totally supported' business model, or pricing structure. You can buy a PVR box of your own choice, and get on with it yourself.

VM is anything but cheap, and yet all their functionality seems dreadfully slow and highly unreliable. Why do I have to keep rebooting VM's digital TV box every time I want to use one of VM's digital TV functions?

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Solventcandy

Yes virgin have a reliable on demand service

yes they have a reliable PVR service

i don't have any problems with mine what so ever..

"enough" said

No problems here either

---------- Post added at 22:58 ---------- Previous post was at 22:55 ----------

Originally Posted by KenK

Why do I have to keep rebooting VM's digital TV box every time I want to use one of VM's digital TV functions?

Perhaps thats one question that VM could answer, have you contacted them about this problem so they can try and rectify it for you?

[DVD Cinem]

Originally Posted by KenK

I bought a Freeview box today. 10 minutes after connecting it up - all by myself, no installation fees - I was playing with the 'red button' interactive feature. It loads in 2 or 3 seconds, and a page turn takes 1 or 2 seconds. It's faster than analogue terrestrial teletext. It's a good 10 - 20 times faster than VM's offering - no 'please wait, just loading', no freezes, no reboots.
Why is a one-off £25 box from the supermarket capable of better basic dtv function than cable's service?

Freeview boxes, including PVR's, are just as unreliable and need reboots as with VM, in my experience.

What make/model of Freeview box did you buy?

[dragon]

Originally Posted by DVD Cinem

Freeview boxes, including PVR's, are just as unreliable and need reboots as with VM, in my experience.

What make/model of Freeview box did you buy?

Actually my modded thompson DHD4000 is pretty stable. (i replaced the stock 40gb hdd with a 160, although it only sees 138gb due to a hardware limitation)


Although Its in the bedroom so I don't tend to use it that often thesedays

[Mick Fisher]

My TV has an integrated Freeview tuner that has never needed a reboot in the year that I have used it. PQ and audio is better than VM.
My VM STB needs at least a daily reboot to be useable but still pulls up with "you are not subscribed" or the EPG just fails to load except for the now/next occaisionly.
My understanding is that glitches/freezes with freeview STB's/PVR's are a lot to do with the quality of the signal.
The same reasoning "may" be applicable to VM's service. I live in an old comtel/cabletel? area and I have heard that the cabling may be substandard. The odd thing is my BB is solid so I don't know if that rules out the signal problem theory? My signal levels are OK BTW but there may be more to a signal than just a strength measurement?