General TV360 - pro and cons - Page 24

Carth · 29-07-2026, 08:18

Probably a silly question (she controls the TV and associated gubbins) so I've not taken much interest, but . . is it still actual HDD in these boxes, and would/could SSD perform better or am I well behind the times here?

spiderplant · 29-07-2026, 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodrogd

I think you would have trouble beating the amount of times the TiVO firmware fires up the hard drive in standby. It can be 2 or 3 times in any one hour period. If you switch it to always on, it would be permanently buffering 6 channels. Using the off switch is by far the best idea to stop wear and tear.

Nope. When the box shuts down in standby, it does a controlled unloading of the hard drive. If you just pull the plug, it can't do that.

Plus by powering it off, you are putting it through thermal cycles that can cause damage long term.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carth

Probably a silly question (she controls the TV and associated gubbins) so I've not taken much interest, but . . is it still actual HDD in these boxes, and would/could SSD perform better or am I well behind the times here?

It's an actual HDD. It is fast enough to do everything that is required of it, so putting in an SSD would just be a waste of money.

gunner45 · 31-07-2026, 17:15

Best practice is to simply put the box into standby when you're not watching TV as this is designed to do a graceful power down of the hard drive to unload and park its heads. (I put my TV 360 into eco mode.) Even when it needs to come out of standby, e.g. for EPG updates, this is managed and not multiple times an hour. Keeping it always on means constant buffering which generates unwanted heat which degrades the box. And you certainly shouldn't just pull the plug repeatedly as this risks a catastrophic head crash.

RichardCoulter · 31-07-2026, 20:52

So is it advisable to put the box into standby on occasion rather than just leaving it on all the time?

I have read that putting STB's into standby simply kills the audio & video output and thus saves hardly any power at all.

Carth · 31-07-2026, 20:57

We still have a Plasma TV, so no concerns about the extra power from an STB in standby

RichardCoulter · Yesterday, 00:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carth

We still have a Plasma TV, so no concerns about the extra power from an STB in standby

It's said that plasma TV's are better than the LED/LCD screens that we use today.

**Paul** · Yesterday, 02:14

Thats generally true, they had better picture contrast and could be viewed from more obscure angles (not sure why you would want to).
They were sometimes noisy and also easier to damage. I had one for about 8 years, I think its almost 10 years now since anyone (major) made them.

OLED is generally considered to be better than plasma was.

RichardCoulter · Yesterday, 09:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Thats generally true, they had better picture contrast and could be viewed from more obscure angles (not sure why you would want to).
They were sometimes noisy and also easier to damage. I had one for about 8 years, I think its almost 10 years now since anyone (major) made them.

OLED is generally considered to be better than plasma was.

OLED will use less power too. My next TV will be OLED, apparently Sony are the best manufacturer.