TiVo : VM 360 box.

[homesecurity]

@gus0898uk Having installed and maintained both generations of these boxes on physical customer setups, here is the plain English breakdown of what is actually happening with your V6 and what changing to the 360 really means:

1. The Physical Box Is Exactly the Same Hardware
Many customers assume Virgin sends an engineer to swap the box, but in reality, the V6 and the main TV 360 master box are physically the exact same unit (the Arris / Humax DCX960 platform).
- Inside your existing V6 box is a 1TB SATA hard drive and multiple DVB-C broadcast cable tuners.
- When Virgin 'upgrades' a V6 to TV 360, they don't replace the box at all. They post you a new TV 360 remote control, and when you enter the setup code, Virgin pushes an over-the-air firmware update down the cable. This replaces the old TiVo software with Liberty Global's newer Horizon/360 interface.

2. Does the TV 360 Still Record? (Yes, 100%)
There is a lot of confusion online because Virgin also has a small 'Stream' puck (which has no hard drive and only streams over Wi-Fi).
- However, an upgraded V6 running TV 360 software RETAINS its full physical 1TB hard drive.
- You can still record six channels simultaneously while watching a seventh.
- You can still pause and rewind live linear broadcast TV.
- Crucially, your broadcast channels and recordings still travel down your physical copper coaxial cable via dedicated TV frequencies, meaning watching or recording TV does not consume a single megabit of your home broadband data allowance or slow down your internet.

3. The One Big Warning: Existing Recordings Will Be Wiped
This is the most important thing for you to know before accepting the upgrade:
- The firmware flash from TiVo to TV 360 completely reformats the internal hard drive.
- Any recordings you currently have saved on your V6 box WILL BE PERMANENTLY ERASED during the update.
- If you have films, series, or family favourites stored on your V6 that you want to watch, make sure you watch them before you trigger or agree to the 360 migration.
- Your scheduled Series Links will also need to be re-selected on the new 360 guide (which uses 'Record Series' and Watchlists instead of the classic TiVo Series Link menu).

4. The Remote Control Differences
The classic peanut-shaped TiVo remote uses infrared/RF with dedicated buttons for Guide, Info, and 30-second skip.
The 360 remote is a slimmer Bluetooth remote with a built-in microphone for voice commands (e.g. you can hold the microphone button and say 'Fast forward 4 minutes' or 'Go to BBC One'). It is very intuitive once you spend an afternoon with it.

Bottom line: If recording live TV to a local hard drive is your main priority, moving to TV 360 keeps that capability intact. Just make sure you clear your current recordings backlog before the software switchover happens.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by homesecurity

@gus0898uk Having installed and maintained both generations of these boxes on physical customer setups, here is the plain English breakdown of what is actually happening with your V6 and what changing to the 360 really means:

1. The Physical Box Is Exactly the Same Hardware
Many customers assume Virgin sends an engineer to swap the box, but in reality, the V6 and the main TV 360 master box are physically the exact same unit (the Arris / Humax DCX960 platform).
- Inside your existing V6 box is a 1TB SATA hard drive and multiple DVB-C broadcast cable tuners.
- When Virgin 'upgrades' a V6 to TV 360, they don't replace the box at all. They post you a new TV 360 remote control, and when you enter the setup code, Virgin pushes an over-the-air firmware update down the cable. This replaces the old TiVo software with Liberty Global's newer Horizon/360 interface.

2. Does the TV 360 Still Record? (Yes, 100%)
There is a lot of confusion online because Virgin also has a small 'Stream' puck (which has no hard drive and only streams over Wi-Fi).
- However, an upgraded V6 running TV 360 software RETAINS its full physical 1TB hard drive.
- You can still record six channels simultaneously while watching a seventh.
- You can still pause and rewind live linear broadcast TV.
- Crucially, your broadcast channels and recordings still travel down your physical copper coaxial cable via dedicated TV frequencies, meaning watching or recording TV does not consume a single megabit of your home broadband data allowance or slow down your internet.

3. The One Big Warning: Existing Recordings Will Be Wiped
This is the most important thing for you to know before accepting the upgrade:
- The firmware flash from TiVo to TV 360 completely reformats the internal hard drive.
- Any recordings you currently have saved on your V6 box WILL BE PERMANENTLY ERASED during the update.
- If you have films, series, or family favourites stored on your V6 that you want to watch, make sure you watch them before you trigger or agree to the 360 migration.
- Your scheduled Series Links will also need to be re-selected on the new 360 guide (which uses 'Record Series' and Watchlists instead of the classic TiVo Series Link menu).

4. The Remote Control Differences
The classic peanut-shaped TiVo remote uses infrared/RF with dedicated buttons for Guide, Info, and 30-second skip.
The 360 remote is a slimmer Bluetooth remote with a built-in microphone for voice commands (e.g. you can hold the microphone button and say 'Fast forward 4 minutes' or 'Go to BBC One'). It is very intuitive once you spend an afternoon with it.

Bottom line: If recording live TV to a local hard drive is your main priority, moving to TV 360 keeps that capability intact. Just make sure you clear your current recordings backlog before the software switchover happens.

Thank you simply put , must be I understood it

[raging bull]

Thanks for the info!
I will get the Mrs to report back as and when.

[homesecurity]

No problem at all! Glad the breakdown cleared up the confusion. If either of you run into any quirks with the remote pairing or HDMI-CEC handshakes when the 360 firmware lands, just give a shout.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by homesecurity

No problem at all! Glad the breakdown cleared up the confusion. If either of you run into any quirks with the remote pairing or HDMI-CEC handshakes when the 360 firmware lands, just give a shout.

Honestly I haven't a clue what that means .

[homesecurity]

Haha, sorry mate, installer jargon slipping in!

In plain English, it's just the two annoying little things that can happen when you turn the telly on:

1. The "One Remote" Magic (HDMI-CEC):
Basically, your TV and the Virgin box talk to each other down the HDMI cable. When it works properly, pressing the power button on the Virgin remote turns on both the Virgin box AND your TV at the same time, switches the TV to the right HDMI socket automatically, and lets the Virgin remote control your TV volume.
The "handshake quirk" is when they have an argument! Occasionally, you'll turn the Virgin box on, but the TV stays in standby, or the TV switches to the wrong input (like your DVD or game console) instead of Virgin. If that ever happens, going into the 360 Settings -> Audio & Video -> One-Power (HDMI-CEC) and toggling it off and on usually sorts it out straight away.

2. The Remote Bluetooth Pairing:
The old TiVo remote used infrared like an old-fashioned remote—meaning you had to point it directly at the front of the box.
The new 360 remote pairs via Bluetooth (like wireless headphones). That means you can hide the Virgin box inside a closed cupboard or behind the telly and it still works without pointing at it. But occasionally after a software update, it drops that Bluetooth link and drops back to infrared. If you ever find you suddenly have to point the remote directly at the box again, you just hold down the 'TV' button and the '0' button together for 10 seconds until the red light flashes, and it re-pairs itself wirelessly.

Nothing technical you need to worry about day-to-day—just handy little tricks to keep in your back pocket if your telly ever plays silly buggers after the upgrade!

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by homesecurity

Haha, sorry mate, installer jargon slipping in!

In plain English, it's just the two annoying little things that can happen when you turn the telly on:

1. The "One Remote" Magic (HDMI-CEC):
Basically, your TV and the Virgin box talk to each other down the HDMI cable. When it works properly, pressing the power button on the Virgin remote turns on both the Virgin box AND your TV at the same time, switches the TV to the right HDMI socket automatically, and lets the Virgin remote control your TV volume.
The "handshake quirk" is when they have an argument! Occasionally, you'll turn the Virgin box on, but the TV stays in standby, or the TV switches to the wrong input (like your DVD or game console) instead of Virgin. If that ever happens, going into the 360 Settings -> Audio & Video -> One-Power (HDMI-CEC) and toggling it off and on usually sorts it out straight away.

2. The Remote Bluetooth Pairing:
The old TiVo remote used infrared like an old-fashioned remote—meaning you had to point it directly at the front of the box.
The new 360 remote pairs via Bluetooth (like wireless headphones). That means you can hide the Virgin box inside a closed cupboard or behind the telly and it still works without pointing at it. But occasionally after a software update, it drops that Bluetooth link and drops back to infrared. If you ever find you suddenly have to point the remote directly at the box again, you just hold down the 'TV' button and the '0' button together for 10 seconds until the red light flashes, and it re-pairs itself wirelessly.

Nothing technical you need to worry about day-to-day—just handy little tricks to keep in your back pocket if your telly ever plays silly buggers after the upgrade!

Totally get Bluetooth, hearing aids use it so no problem. Thanks again

[Huxie]

Originally Posted by homesecurity

……….The "handshake quirk" is when they have an argument! Occasionally, you'll turn the Virgin box on, but the TV stays in standby, or the TV switches to the wrong input (like your DVD or game console) instead of Virgin. If that ever happens, going into the 360 Settings -> Audio & Video -> One-Power (HDMI-CEC) and toggling it off and on usually sorts it out straight away……

On my 360 (version 5.30), One Power is found under Settings -> System -> One Power.