TiVo

[heavyside]

I've got VM phone, XL TV and XXL broadband but I've yet to receive a Tivo phone call. I did get my VM email thanking me for registering and telling me I will be getting Tivo in late March. I'm as keen as anyone to get this piece of kit but after reading some of the comments from those that got an early install over on the Tivo Community website I'm beginning to think that the delay might be a blessing in disguise. It seems that the box has more than its fair share of bugs. I'm hoping that these will be sorted by the time I eventually get mine and that the all-important (for my household, at least) third tuner is up and running.

What heavyside said - I too have rx'ed the email, and am pleased others will be the testers for the initial roll-out, as bugs often only come to light in the first tranche of an implementation (ask any software provider....).

[ShadowTD]

*sigh*

I'm trying not to act like a hissy teenager (there's enough of that on CF these days! ) but like many people I'm triple play with XL TV, registered on Day 1 of the TiVO page and have so far had:

*No Remote
*No Phone Call
*No letter

I've stashed my £150 to one side and it's rapidly burning a hole in my pocket. We'll see how long I manage to hand on to it before blowing it on some other shiny tech. I wouldn't mind too much but since a bunch of new programs launched I've been dancing round clashes on Sunday evening, all of which would have been sorted automatically by the intelligent scheduling engine in the TiVO. Ho hum.

[Perfect Choice]

Originally Posted by pauldavies83

They've had years to bring out a larger HDD V+ and not bothered, so why would they now when they can charge £199 for a TiVo?

£199 is the premium Tivo box/service and that is the price for new customers of VM not existing customers. Sky charge something like £250 for their 1TB box although I've seen posts of deals being done bringing it down to £150 area.

Agree though that VM should have brought out a larger HDD before now but VM have publically stated there will be lower cost models coming out later this year (haven't got the link but it is buried on a thread on cable forum somewhere ), so a case of doing something they should have done some time ago agree. At least VM have stated they will be launching lower cost boxes later and that may be a 500Mb HDD at least so dealing with customer requirements for improved flexibility but not wanting to go to the full premium Tivo product.

It is a case of packaging in the end and the current Tivo box with all features is only the start. Also let’s not forget they plan to put Tivo software at least on some of the existing boxes (doesn't address the HDD capacity admittedly) but I expect that to be the Tivo UI only with no extra features like Internet information access, as I suspect you need the power of the new Cisco box to do that.

[Cozzy]

bit of conflicting info comming out in this thread ... can we have a definative answer from someone in the know please

The Tivo £3 a month subscription ... is this JUST for the extras above and beyond the current V+ box or as suggested by others ... IF you dont pay the £3 a month you lose the recording playback facility as well hence making the tivo a standard VHD box

I think this needs to be cleared up in advance as its actually a very inportant issue as far as i am concerned

[muppetman11]

The price is 149 to existing customers no install fee I believe. I think you have to pay the 3.00 a month for TIVO this isn't an option.

[Perfect Choice]

But isn’t that a commercial option not even available yet?

The £3 only applies if you buy the current premium Tivo box/services which is only available to TV XL customers right now. I’ve not read anywhere that you can buy a Tivo box and not have the £3 monthly levy.

Apologies if I’ve missed something but is this speculation as to what VM will do for the future or has something been said by VM which I have missed?

Doesn’t affect me personally as I want the whole package but appreciate other people may want to be looking at a more cost effective solution just to get the greater HDD capacity say. Just thought that is going to be the lower cost model(s?) coming out later this year for which no details have been released yet, apart from knowing there will be a lower cost model!

[Cozzy]

Originally Posted by Perfect Choice

But isn’t that a commercial option not even available yet?

The £3 only applies if you buy the current premium Tivo box/services which is only available to TV XL customers right now. I’ve not read anywhere that you can buy a Tivo box and not have the £3 monthly levy.

Apologies if I’ve missed something but is this speculation as to what VM will do for the future or has something been said by VM which I have missed?

Doesn’t affect me personally as I want the whole package but appreciate other people may want to be looking at a more cost effective solution just to get the greater HDD capacity say. Just thought that is going to be the lower cost model(s?) coming out later this year for which no details have been released yet, apart from knowing there will be a lower cost model!

couple of pages back when discussing the raffle .. the T&C's say if after a year you wish to drop the tivo service (sub £3) certain features of the box will be disabled .... it was suggested that would mean losing the ability to record as well ... now i know its early stages but if in the future VM increase the sub beyond what its deemed resonable there must be an opt out but they wont remove the box just disable features .... so im asking if the recording feature is part of the £3 (and future sub costs) or will the recording feature still be available as is currently on V+ boxes

hope that all made sense

[pesty]

Two envelopes turned up in the post for me today from virgin. One a mobile phone offer,no good as I'm already under contract with them at mo. The second was the black envelope with my ticket in it to register for the tivo prize draw.

[Perfect Choice]

Thanks Cozzy, didn't spot that, sorry.

So a case of VM saying the £3 could be dropped after a year but not specifying which features will be lost as a result. VM clearly need to provide full details for purchasers of Tivo today who made decide to take this option after a year.

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Cozzy

couple of pages back when discussing the raffle .. the T&C's say if after a year you wish to drop the tivo service (sub £3) certain features of the box will be disabled .... it was suggested that would mean losing the ability to record as well ... now i know its early stages but if in the future VM increase the sub beyond what its deemed resonable there must be an opt out but they wont remove the box just disable features .... so im asking if the recording feature is part of the £3 (and future sub costs) or will the recording feature still be available as is currently on V+ boxes

hope that all made sense

If you dropped the £3 TiVo sub, you'd lose all the TiVo stuff, such as recording/searches/wishlists/apps. It would basically take it to a standard box with 1 tuner and a nice EPG.

[Cozzy]

Originally Posted by Digital Fanatic

If you dropped the £3 TiVo sub, you'd lose all the TiVo stuff, such as recording/searches/wishlists/apps. It would basically take it to a standard box with 1 tuner and a nice EPG.

Thanks for clarifying .... given the choice i would rather stick with a V+ as long as possible if they are going to charge to record and have 3 tuners on the Tivo .. poor decision IMHO by VM

Addition

I can see it now ... 2011 and a couple million subscribers sign up for full tivo @ £3 a month ... 2013 .. the bombshell VM announce an increase to £5 a month ... 2015 another bombshell an increase to £7 a month ...

dont wish to speculate and scaremonger at all ... but with the old tivo s1 charging £10 a month ten years ago (i believe thats what i read) i can see VM milking a cash cow in the future with price hikes for those just wishing to be able to record the tv

[Rjs37]

@Digital Fanatic: Surely it should go down to what a V+ offers?

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Rjs37

@Digital Fanatic: Surely it should go down to what a V+ offers?

I'm only going by what I've been told in training for TiVo. Plus it's only £3

---------- Post added at 11:35 ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 ----------

Originally Posted by Cozzy

Thanks for clarifying .... given the choice i would rather stick with a V+ as long as possible if they are going to charge to record and have 3 tuners on the Tivo .. poor decision IMHO by VM

Addition

I can see it now ... 2011 and a couple million subscribers sign up for full tivo @ £3 a month ... 2013 .. the bombshell VM announce an increase to £5 a month ... 2015 another bombshell an increase to £7 a month ...

dont wish to speculate and scaremonger at all ... but with the old tivo s1 charging £10 a month ten years ago (i believe thats what i read) i can see VM milking a cash cow in the future with price hikes for those just wishing to be able to record the tv

I'll try and get some more clarification about it, but the TiVo charge goes mainly to TiVo to provide the guide data/support for the UI etc.

I don't think we've got an ability to still allow recording without the TiVo flag on the account. Maybe the lower end model will allow this once launched later this year?

[warrenb]

Still no letter here.