Which is the better set top box

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Where's the BT Vision box , Smallworld box , freesat box , freeview box and how is Sky+ a new STB.

There is no pleasing you master is there.

[Alan Fry]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Where's the BT Vision box , Smallworld box , freesat box , freeview box and how is Sky+ a new STB.

I was talking post Sky+ and V+ (formerly TVDrive) STBs

There are many diffrent Freeview and Freesat STB's

Not sure about Smallworld, BT Vision and BT Vision+ though (Smallworld does only cover fairly area compaired to others)

Smallworld's STB is rather good!

[kop32]

Originally Posted by Alan Fry

TIVO is better than better overall then any VM Set Top Box to say and SKY+ HD, all we need is more content and VM will be ahead of Sky!

Which is your opinion and judging by most of your past posts your opinion means absolutely nothing to me.

Whichever box is provided by a company that can provide me with streaming versions of the vast majority of their channels on iOS.

[Alan Fry]

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Whichever box is provided by a company that can provide me with streaming versions of the vast majority of their channels on iOS.

That will be the Apple HDTV then!

[Mick Fisher]

When I had digital cable TV I was unfortunate enough, over time, to experience the performance of both a Pace and a Samsung SD STB. Both were as slow and clunky as can be, both needed to be rebooted at least once a day, both went into a coma at midnight, the Samsung frequently changed channels on it's own, the Samsung used to display a screen sized black box several times a day to inform me "my remote would not work while VM were performing important upgrades to my service and I should press any button to remove this message"

I persevered with this dreadful service for a long time with seemingly pointless fortnightly engineer visits until one engineer snapped at me that "this is the same service that anyone gets on cable, you will just have to put up with it."

Well that made up my mind, I decided not to put up with it. With the help of a Sky special heights installer I got a dish erected and Sky+ box installed and for years now I have been very satisfied with them.

The sky service has proved ultra reliable as has the box which super responsive and almost never requires rebooting. I only briefly lose my signal during very heavy snowfall or really bad thunderstorms.

I suppose I should be considering upgrading to Sky+HD but as I discern only a trifle more sharpness from HD on my 32" Panny and the ageing Sky+ continues to perform faultlessly I can't really see any point.

I'll close by saying I would not go back to cable based TV even if it was provided to me FOC.

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Haven't used anything Sky other than a basic box so I couldn't answer.

Then don't!

BTW, is 'Jameseh' ...

• James E-H: a double barrelled surname
• James E. H.: a middle initial and surname
• James, eh?: a Canadian interjection
• Or something else

... ?

[muppetman11]

To be honest I just want to watch the shows my hard earned cash allows me to at the time I want , realistically all those PVR boxes allow you to do that so really it's more down to the content you want to watch unless you want to spend all night playing around with your STB. CONTENT IS KING.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

To be honest I just want to watch the shows my hard earned cash allows me to at the time I want , realistically all those PVR boxes allow you to do that so really it's more down to the content you want to watch unless you want to spend all night playing around with your STB. CONTENT IS KING.

And apart from Sky Atlantic Virgin and Sky's content is generally the same.

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

When I had digital cable TV I was unfortunate enough, over time, to experience the performance of both a Pace and a Samsung SD STB.

I've had (what is now) Virgin Media cable TV for many years, going back to the pre-digital days. I have had my Pace digital box replaced once in that time due to a hardware failure but in general the daily use of the service is uneventful and performance is more than adequate with any delays in response being attributable to the simultaneous download of the EPG at 06:00 or a periodic update of the box software.

Other than the make, you haven't said what model boxes you had (mine is a Pace Di4000-N non-PVR, non-HD basic box) but I suspect that there was a period when the cable network's facilities overtook the capacity of some older boxes. I also believe that successive updates to the software have improved the performance of some sluggish boxes, possibly including the Samsung units.

I think that you should review your options and reconsider cable TV again some time in the near future. We are expecting exciting developments in the Virgin Media service during 2012 and 2013.

---------- Post added at 18:39 ---------- Previous post was at 17:10 ----------

Originally Posted by Masque

one major thing to consider is that no matter how long you have a Virgin Media Set Top Box any engineer visit will always be free as will any replacement equipment, plus the wait for an engineer on average is a lot shorter.

Now with SKY you own the box and after a year you have to pay an insurance premium to cover for any technician visits or replacement boxes or go to their version of retentions and try threatening to leave.

Now which is the better option.

All true which suggests that all VM STBs should be called V+ for value-added!

Originally Posted by Masque

"The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Virgin Media's positions, strategies or opinions."

... and I'm not on commission either!

Actually, "The postings on this site are ..." those of a number of people so perhaps you might want to reword that to be more specific to yourself.

Sorry for the recent spate of Masque bashing. It's just fun. You are a very valuable resource and helpful member of the team.

---------- Post added at 18:58 ---------- Previous post was at 18:39 ----------

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Could have swore the thread was which is the better set top box not who has the best repair policy.

One common theme so far has been "content is king" and it doesn't matter which box or, indeed, medium delivers it. However, I think the features of the box, such as search, scheduling, additional internet content, IMDb lookup etc. are value added features as is the bandwidth and reliability and viability of the delivery medium as well as the support for the equipment.

All part of the scoring process I'd say!

---------- Post added at 20:48 ---------- Previous post was at 18:58 ----------

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Why bother

Why bother posting "Why bother"?

If you're not interested, don't say so!

[windy]

I hope there is more to come to the tivo box

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by Alan Fry

I think this vote is about "Recent" Set Top Boxes!

I didn't see a rule to that effect! It just asked "Which is the better set top box" but limited the choice of answers.

Did I mention it's a travesty of democracy?

---------- Post added at 20:55 ---------- Previous post was at 20:54 ----------

Have a long good Friday 13th and a great weekend all.

[devilincarnate]

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

Then don't!

BTW, is 'Jameseh' ...

• James E-H: a double barrelled surname
• James E. H.: a middle initial and surname
• James, eh?: a Canadian interjection
• Or something else

... ?

You need to get out more mate

[Nedkelly]

My Silver V+ with tv drive on it is still going strong only had to wipe it once

[andy_m]

It's a shame, MM, that you've been so quick to rubbish this thread. Since you're a Sky+ hd customer AND have used Tivo, your's is one of the opinions that would be worth listening to on this subject.

And fwiw, I know one or two United fans who are prepared to accept that Citeh have the better players.