Tivo V6 : V6 box reviewed in The Guardian

[murfitUK]

The Guardian's Consumer Technology editor has written a review of the V6 box. Don't know why now, seeing as its been around for a while. Anyway, it scored 4 stars out of 5.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...ew-tv-recorder

[Raider999]

Originally Posted by murfitUK

The Guardian's Consumer Technology editor has written a review of the V6 box. Don't know why now, seeing as its been around for a while. Anyway, it scored 4 stars out of 5.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...ew-tv-recorder

Guardian has obviously just woken up to the fact Virgin have a new box - only 3 years too late.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Raider999

Guardian has obviously just woken up to the fact Virgin have a new box - only 3 years too late.

I agree that the UI is outdated and old fashioned, but I must say that I don't think the other downsides identified are of any concern to most people. It makes great play of the lack of Sky UHD material but ignores the fact that this will be rectified early next year. The omission of the Sky Atlantic channel is annoying, but those of us who want to see that material have found other ways to do it. And the statement that you cannot access Game of Thrones on the V6 is wrong, because it is available from the Virgin Store, albeit on a PPV basis.

All in all, I prefer Virgin's system to that of Sky, with their swish new interface. My wife still struggles to work out how the Sky Q menu system works; you can only record from the main box and whereas VM viewers can find alternative ways of viewing SA, Sky viewers cannot access Virgin's Ultra High Definition channel. Amazon Prime isn't available yet on Q either.

At £99, the total VM bundle I have represents excellent value, particularly when I recall that I was paying £120-ish every month with BT in the 1990s.

Value it may be, but the concept of paying £100 a month for TV makes my eyes water. You must do little else but sit on your couch with a remote in your hand ...

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Chris

Value it may be, but the concept of paying £100 a month for TV makes my eyes water. You must do little else but sit on your couch with a remote in your hand ...

TV, broadband and landline, actually.

We do tend to be in most evenings - not through choice, and the TV provides us with our entertainment. Otherwise, I'd probably be down the pub, going to theatres/cinemas, etc, all of which would cost rather more than £99 per month.

The TV does not normally get switched on before 7pm and I am rarely in the room to watch it until after 8pm.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

My wife still struggles to work out how the Sky Q menu system works

Being that your wife has Virgin V6 at your home that's hardly a shock is it , you get used to the interface you use daily.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Being that your wife has Virgin V6 at your home that's hardly a shock is it , you get used to the interface you use daily.

Not really. When I showed my wife how to use the TiVo, she clicked in immediately. With the Sky Q she said words to the effect of 'I can't be doing with that!'.

Personally, I don't have a particular problem with the Q, but I know what she means. And although I am pretty proficient with both systems, I prefer the Tivo.

Just to be clear, I am not criticising Sky, I am just pointing out that some people do not take to it very well. It's a bit too clever for its own good.

[muppetman11]

To find anything on Sky Q you don't realistically need to mess in the UI you can pretty much find everything with voice , I just wish they'd hurry up with the further enhancement of voice as it's so much quicker and easier.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

To find anything on Sky Q you don't realistically need to mess in the UI you can pretty much find everything with voice , I just wish they'd hurry up with the further enhancement of voice as it's so much quicker and easier.

Voice? I think we might be into mental breakdown territory!

I'm afraid that my wife might want to have a conversation and discuss some personal issues. Please don't go there - I'm not encouraging it!

[muppetman11]

It's much easier even my parents use it daily and trust me if they can anyone can.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Trust me it's much easier even my parents use it daily and trust me if they can anyone can.

Believe me, I have no problem with voice. But I am not the only one living here!

And you have not met my wife....(as far as I know!).

[SonicMaster]

Shame about all the innacurracies already pointed out, as well as:

Catchup content is handled by the respective broadcaster’s apps, not fully integrated into the platform as recordings are.

It appears the reviewer only bothered to look at the BBC catch up content.

[nialli]

Samuel Gibbs reviewed Sky's Q box a week previously and gave it a glowing five star review, despite the lack of HDR and Amazon Prime. I think he's just more familiar with Sky Q as his criticisms of the V6 aren't substantial.
I prefer Sky's blue to Virgin's purple but other than that have few problems with Virgin's EPG's TiVo design. We're not permitted dishes on our property so I've never been a Sky customer. Virgin with an occasional month or two of Now TV meets all our TV needs, and £99 a month is a lot less than my friends with Sky Q pay for all of their services.