TiVo : Sky VS Virgin Media - Comparison

[tweetiepooh]

How nice to have a thread like this without either side calling the other rubbish or worse. There are things I'd like to see in our TiVO, dynamic EPG being near the top.

[Mick Fisher]

I have had Sky for so long now it's a job to remember how bad Virgin was back in the day.

On demand was rarely available and when it was the content was very sparsely populated.
Content that should have been WS being shown in 4:3
Huge black screens telling me the remote was not available while the STB was updating itself. Hit any key to remove.
The incessant need to keep rebooting the box daily, sometimes twice daily after it "updated" itself.

Just some of the annoyances that come to mind.

Suffice to say VM was not in the same street as Sky in those days.

I'm glad to hear things have improved a bit, they sure as hell needed to.

I'm once bitten twice shy and wouldn't entertain services from Virgin if they paid me to receive them.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

I have had Sky for so long now it's a job to remember how bad Virgin was back in the day.

On demand was rarely available and when it was the content was very sparsely populated.
Content that should have been WS being shown in 4:3
Huge black screens telling me the remote was not available while the STB was updating itself. Hit any key to remove.
The incessant need to keep rebooting the box daily, sometimes twice daily after it "updated" itself.

Just some of the annoyances that come to mind.

Suffice to say VM was not in the same street as Sky in those days.

I'm glad to hear things have improved a bit, they sure as hell needed to.

I'm once bitten twice shy and wouldn't entertain services from Virgin if they paid me to receive them.

Each company has its strengths and weaknesses and whats one mans rhubarb is another mans custard.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

I have had Sky for so long now it's a job to remember how bad Virgin was back in the day.

.

Which makes the rest of your post pointless IMHO (sorry).

You find it hard to remember and even if you could, it is irrelevant because VM have moved on so much recently, with a new box with excellent functionality and many more HD channels. Sky has also moved on. The thread is comparing VM and Sky as they are now.

[oliver1948uk]

I am sorry to hear of Mick's unpleasant memories of cable.
Fortunately I can assure him this is not the experience of all customers. I have been an ntl / VM customer for about 12 years and 99% of the time have experienced good service from my cable equipment.

[nicknewark]

Same Here, it would take a lot to make me go back to SKY. Very Happy VM Customer.

[andy_m]

To be honest when I first moved to Virgin there was a part of me wondering what I'd done when presented with the V+hd box, but since upgrading to TiVo I can't really imagine going back. Sure Sky have all the channels, but actually I really don't miss scrolling through loads that I would never watch so to my mind I'm not sure if you can call channel selection a plus or whether all you can really say is they're different.

The Sky stb is faster than TiVo, but that isn't to say TiVo is slow, because it isn't.

As far as od is concerned I actually think Sky were probably beginning to edge it because I'd take quality over quantity, and I was starting to wonder if it was worth looking at them again but I have to say I'm delighted with Netflix and would say this is now another area where neither comes out top necessarily, just different.

[muppetman11]

The TIVO interface is very good in my opinion the updates received have made it into an excellent experience , I use it once a week so hardly class as a frequent user however in my experience its pretty much a pleasure to use that said for my use I have absolutely no issues with Sky+ either.

I find it hard to believe that anyone considers V+ to be a better option than TIVO though , only the other day I turned my parents V+ on and used On Demand (IPlayer) what an awful clunky experience when compared to TIVO and Sky+.

[clayts]

For me it's a no brainer. I still have a cracking loyalty deal which means I get Tivo, XL, Sky sports/movies (HD) (together with 'slow' BB - 20 MB - and Talk Weekends) for around £82 per month.

I rarely watch the movies, but it's actually cheaper to keep them in my bundle than change to Premier or VIP (I have no need of a box in another room or faster BB).

For me the deal-killer is BT Sports bundled in with XL, and in HD to boot. And the addition of Netflix gives me everything I (nearly) want.

For sure, the addition of Sky Atlantic and Sky Sports 3 and 4 in HD (not fussed about Sky Sports News) would be the cherry on top of the cream on top of a lovely pudding, but I'm very happy with what I have and see no reason to change to Sky.

There's much of a muchness now, but I think the latest Tivo update, which vastly improved the user experience, just edges it for me.

[Chad]

I would have to say I found both Virgins and SKY's customer services to be of a fairly high standard. I know not everyone will agree however never really had too many major problems when calling either for help.

What I would say is I'm a fiddler. For as long as I can remember I've always messed with remote controls when watching TV. It drives my wife crazy. TiVo is much better to fiddle with than SKY, if your waiting on a program to start or are simply bored. So much more to see and do on TiVo. Messing about with wishlists, actor searches, reviewing suggestions etc...

[RobboEdin]

Originally Posted by Chad

I would have to say I found both Virgins and SKY's customer services to be of a fairly high standard. I know not everyone will agree however never really had too many major problems when calling either for help.

What I would say is I'm a fiddler. For as long as I can remember I've always messed with remote controls when watching TV. It drives my wife crazy. TiVo is much better to fiddle with than SKY, if your waiting on a program to start or are simply bored. So much more to see and do on TiVo. Messing about with wishlists, actor searches, reviewing suggestions etc...

...and, of course, you can fiddle more with the latest software level which has more HD screens with the little PIP.

[solitaire]

Originally Posted by Chad

I would have to say I found both Virgins and SKY's customer services to be of a fairly high standard. I know not everyone will agree however never really had too many major problems when calling either for help.

What I would say is I'm a fiddler. For as long as I can remember I've always messed with remote controls when watching TV. It drives my wife crazy. TiVo is much better to fiddle with than SKY, if your waiting on a program to start or are simply bored. So much more to see and do on TiVo. Messing about with wishlists, actor searches, reviewing suggestions etc...

Virgin's overseas customer services used to be quite poor, but they seem to have improved lately. The last two occasions I have rung them I received good service with both problems needing an engineer visit, fixed quickly both times.

[RobboEdin]

Originally Posted by solitaire

Virgin's overseas customer services used to be quite poor, but they seem to have improved lately. The last two occasions I have rung them I received good service with both problems needing an engineer visit, fixed quickly both times.

Yes, I've never had any problems with any Virgin Media call centre.