[DSuser]

I currently have all 3 services(tel,TV, broadband) and use the V+ box. I'm thinking of switching it for a Tivo box but want to retain my existing services rather than opt for one of the collections.Does anyone know if that is possible please?

If so is it cheaper in terms of rental to have the Tivo instead of the V+ box?

Also the David Tennant adverts talk about having a Tivo and an additional V+ box. Does this mean you keep your existing V+ box or will Virgin replace it with one of the new V+ boxes I have seen?

If so what do they charge for the newer box please?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.TIA.

[martine93]

Originally Posted by DSuser

I currently have all 3 services(tel,TV, broadband) and use the V+ box. I'm thinking of switching it for a Tivo box but want to retain my existing services rather than opt for one of the collections.Does anyone know if that is possible please?

If so is it cheaper in terms of rental to have the Tivo instead of the V+ box?

Also the David Tennant adverts talk about having a Tivo and an additional V+ box. Does this mean you keep your existing V+ box or will Virgin replace it with one of the new V+ boxes I have seen?

If so what do they charge for the newer box please?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.TIA.

The Premiere Collection and VIP collection include a 2nd box

There isn't new V+ boxes , the Premiere collection and VIP collection includes a 2nd box which is a V HD box which can' t record , You can keep your V+ as the 2nd box instead of getting the V HD box.

The Premiere collection with XL phone costs £66.90 per month.

[gilbatburton]

I had 2 V+ boxes and rang them up. I went for a b/band upgrade to 60mb (which hopefully will double when they do my area) and 500gb Tivo. I was near the top package anyway but not b/b.
My extra subscription was less than £5 (£3.50 I think) but they will charge for installation etc so check that out.
They will move your existing V+ box.
As an existing customer you won't get any of the great deals but best to ring them and see what you can get rather than the online "upgrade your services" option.
As you can see I'm not entirely happy with Tivo but in general it is a much better box than V+ I just can't get on with some features.

[DSuser]

Originally Posted by martine93

The Premiere Collection and VIP collection include a 2nd box

There isn't new V+ boxes , the Premiere collection and VIP collection includes a 2nd box which is a V HD box which can' t record , You can keep your V+ as the 2nd box instead of getting the V HD box.

The Premiere collection with XL phone costs £66.90 per month.

Thanks for that,martin93. Looks like getting a Tivo and keeping the V+ box might be the best option as I tend to record quite a lot.

As I currently have an old HD CRT TV I will probably need a new smart TV, one with a spare USB port that I could use for recording programmes onto a hard drive.

Thanks again for your help.

[DSuser]

Originally Posted by gilbatburton

I had 2 V+ boxes and rang them up. I went for a b/band upgrade to 60mb (which hopefully will double when they do my area) and 500gb Tivo. I was near the top package anyway but not b/b.
My extra subscription was less than £5 (£3.50 I think) but they will charge for installation etc so check that out.
They will move your existing V+ box.
As an existing customer you won't get any of the great deals but best to ring them and see what you can get rather than the online "upgrade your services" option.
As you can see I'm not entirely happy with Tivo but in general it is a much better box than V+ I just can't get on with some features.

The V+ is quite a good box.It does not have as many tuners as the Tivo, which is what attracted me to the Tivo. My problem is that my current TV has no HDMI connections so when I eventually get a new one I'll be looking for one with lots of connections that can get me connected to the Tivo,my Sky box and my VCR/DVD player. Might even consider getting Sky HD and get a free Sky Plus HD box but it all depends on the cost.

As for the V+ programme clashes I got round them by setting up off peak recordings of the programme repeat later in the week as usually the 8pm to 10pm slot is where there are a lot of clashing good programmes.

[gilbatburton]

There are certainly a lot of good deals out there for tv's and or bluray players so make the most out of your Tivo etc. I bought a Tesco outlet/refurbished 42"LG passive 3D at a very good discount.

[DSuser]

Originally Posted by gilbatburton

There are certainly a lot of good deals out there for tv's and or bluray players so make the most out of your Tivo etc. I bought a Tesco outlet/refurbished 42"LG passive 3D at a very good discount.

Yes, I have been searching online and there are some great models out there. I am only looking for a 32" but there seem to be some great models by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, LG and Panasonic.Do not want to spend more than £500 so I'm weighing up the pros and cons of each model at the moment.

[joshua_welby]

Originally Posted by DSuser

The V+ is quite a good box.It does not have as many tuners as the Tivo, which is what attracted me to the Tivo. My problem is that my current TV has no HDMI connections so when I eventually get a new one I'll be looking for one with lots of connections that can get me connected to the Tivo,my Sky box and my VCR/DVD player. Might even consider getting Sky HD and get a free Sky Plus HD box but it all depends on the cost.

As for the V+ programme clashes I got round them by setting up off peak recordings of the programme repeat later in the week as usually the 8pm to 10pm slot is where there are a lot of clashing good programmes.

If you get a Free Sky HD+ box now you can get three months Free HD pack, all you will be paying is for the Entertainment pack £25 for one month then £26.50 after that
as Sky are putting up their Prices in August 2012 and you will be paying £36.75 after the Offer finishes, it might be too expensive for you though

[DSuser]

Originally Posted by joshua_welby

If you get a Free Sky HD+ box now you can get three months Free HD pack, all you will be paying is for the Entertainment pack £25 for one month then £26.50 after that
as Sky are putting up their Prices in August 2012 and you will be paying £36.75 after the Offer finishes, it might be too expensive for you though

Thanks for that,Joshua. That's worth considering.

[Jukesy]

I do have to say that i think that the guys have missed a trick here, living in a house that loves simplicity and intuitive products (IE apple) and also having been blessed with V+ for the last few years i find TIVO very overcomplicated, it could have been so much better!

The remote control and it's buttons just don't seem right, constantly having to move up and down the remote control for different functions, we could use the v+ remote without looking and all the main buttons were in the right place so you didn't have to change the position the remote control was in to do 95% of what you needed to do.

Grrrr

[carl.waring]

Originally Posted by Jukesy

...having been blessed with V+ for the last few years i find TIVO very overcomplicated, it could have been so much better!

And, as I have said before, how can something that does so much (Tivo) when compared to a dumb DVR (V+) not be a little more "involved" to use?

The remote control and it's buttons just don't seem right...

Like anything new, you get used to it eventually

[Unigal07]

Well I love TiVo. So much better than Sky. I do agree with those that said iPlayer is a little slow on it, but I couldn't be without Tivo now. If iPlayer crashes I watch it on my laptop instead.

I love having the Suggestions switched on. Today I've had a lazy day and found all sorts on there that kept me entertained

[TRS]

Originally Posted by Unigal07

Well I love TiVo. So much better than Sky. I do agree with those that said iPlayer is a little slow on it, but I couldn't be without Tivo now. If iPlayer crashes I watch it on my laptop instead.

I love having the Suggestions switched on. Today I've had a lazy day and found all sorts on there that kept me entertained

Great selling point that!

You want to upgrade to V+, no such issues with iplayer

[martine93]

Originally Posted by TRS

Great selling point that!

You want to upgrade to V+, no such issues with iplayer

BBC iplayer on the V+ has less content than TiVo.

Also BBC iplayer on TiVo does not use a tuner.

[walterwhite]

Originally Posted by Jukesy

I do have to say that i think that the guys have missed a trick here, living in a house that loves simplicity and intuitive products (IE apple) and also having been blessed with V+ for the last few years i find TIVO very overcomplicated, it could have been so much better!

The remote control and it's buttons just don't seem right, constantly having to move up and down the remote control for different functions, we could use the v+ remote without looking and all the main buttons were in the right place so you didn't have to change the position the remote control was in to do 95% of what you needed to do.

Grrrr

How long have you had it? The remote is fine for me.

[Carltonted]

Got Tivo last month & got to admit, other than the larger hard disk for recordings I don't use the extra facilities greatly. However I remember that I was told I would "soon" be able to watch what I've recorded on my I pad, "or any other tablet computer" Does anyone have any idea when this may happen, or is it like my free faster broadband being advertised, still waiting for next year.

[Steven L Hunter]

I had TiVo from launch and couldn't really settle with it didn't like the whole menu so went back to V+HD and have since got Sky+HD about 3 months ago and I have now removed one of my V+HD Boxes and just kept one for the bedroom.

I find I get a lot more for my money from sky and only really noticed the channel differences when I got sky installed before that the extra channels didn't interest me.

I also love the sky go and rewards scheme that sky does. As much as I like Virgin Media I find sky has won me over and even looking at the V+ Menu I find it to be old looking but ok to use but sky wins hands down for me!

[mrkite77]

Originally Posted by martine93

I have read it is the same on Sky , other people would say it should go back to 101 because if I wanted the current channel I would just press OK to bring up the Mini Guide.

That'd be so damned irritating for us in the states. Our channels are usually zoned.

Channels 2-99 are network and basic cable channels. 100-159 are "Variety" channels. 160-199 are Sports and News. 200-299 are Movie channels. 400-499 are Spanish and foreign language. 500-599 are PPV. 700-800 are 3DTV channels. 900-999 are music channels.

.. and finally, adding 1000 to the channel is the HD version of that channel. (e.g. 137 = BBC America, 1137 = BBC America HD)

So I spend all my time in the 1000s.. and if TiVo jumped back to channel 2 or whatever every time I brought up the guide, I'd go insane. (American TiVo shows the current channel when you bring up either guide)

[gds1972]

Originally Posted by mrkite77

That'd be so damned irritating for us in the states. Our channels are usually zoned.

Channels 2-99 are network and basic cable channels. 100-159 are "Variety" channels. 160-199 are Sports and News. 200-299 are Movie channels. 400-499 are Spanish and foreign language. 500-599 are PPV. 700-800 are 3DTV channels. 900-999 are music channels.

.. and finally, adding 1000 to the channel is the HD version of that channel. (e.g. 137 = BBC America, 1137 = BBC America HD)

So I spend all my time in the 1000s.. and if TiVo jumped back to channel 2 or whatever every time I brought up the guide, I'd go insane. (American TiVo shows the current channel when you bring up either guide)

I don't know about the US but on Tivo and V+ when in the EPG we can just type type channel number and it will jump to the channel nearest to that.

[stuntmaster]

Originally Posted by mrkite77

That'd be so damned irritating for us in the states. Our channels are usually zoned.

Channels 2-99 are network and basic cable channels. 100-159 are "Variety" channels. 160-199 are Sports and News. 200-299 are Movie channels. 400-499 are Spanish and foreign language. 500-599 are PPV. 700-800 are 3DTV channels. 900-999 are music channels.

.. and finally, adding 1000 to the channel is the HD version of that channel. (e.g. 137 = BBC America, 1137 = BBC America HD)

So I spend all my time in the 1000s.. and if TiVo jumped back to channel 2 or whatever every time I brought up the guide, I'd go insane. (American TiVo shows the current channel when you bring up either guide)

Why!?! as in why have virgin disabled this? I much prefer it to stay on the channel I was on. Granted the mini guide does, but that only has 3 lines, the main one has about 8?

This really baffles me, why have virgin requested all these changes?

could they not have left the software as it is, and just changed the colours + Wordings, and change the on demand stuff to match us? This is insane. Only the UK can do this though, we are that stupid. much like the same as slapping a USB port on every DVR/PVR but disable it for future use which never happens....

Originally Posted by gds1972

I don't know about the US but on Tivo and V+ when in the EPG we can just type type channel number and it will jump to the channel nearest to that.

it does that on the US TiVo too.

[rjb101]

Originally Posted by mrkite77

That'd be so damned irritating for us in the states. Our channels are usually zoned.

Channels 2-99 are network and basic cable channels. 100-159 are "Variety" channels. 160-199 are Sports and News. 200-299 are Movie channels. 400-499 are Spanish and foreign language. 500-599 are PPV. 700-800 are 3DTV channels. 900-999 are music channels.

.. and finally, adding 1000 to the channel is the HD version of that channel. (e.g. 137 = BBC America, 1137 = BBC America HD)

So I spend all my time in the 1000s.. and if TiVo jumped back to channel 2 or whatever every time I brought up the guide, I'd go insane. (American TiVo shows the current channel when you bring up either guide)

I have a Sky HD box and this drives me round the bend, so much so I use the sky box for recording only and watch TV on a humax HD freeview box.

Have they done it on the tivo just so it's the same as sky?

[Chris123]

Had the Tivo box in for a week now and just had my first oooh moment.

Missed the Golden Hour on radio 1 this morning and would normally just put it on my laptop and listen but remembered the iplayer had extra content and there is was (crashed twice while trying to load but am now listening to it via the surround speakers!

Other than the TV guide filling the whole screen I use it exactly the same as I did my V+.

Is the software just lifted from the American Tivo and changed to red? The menus are all over the place, fonts keep changing size on the TV guide, sometimes the bar at the top is there, others its not.

Takes some getting used to the mini guide, having thing the programme name first and the TV channel on the other side is a different approach - some of the channel logos fit nicely while while others are too big or too small.

Most annoying = when I select to go to the homepage I get a sound drop out on the TV volume. If I press the guide button I get no drop out but ones in the guide if I press home the drop out comes again!

One the whole the only difference to me is that it has a nice colour menu systems. Its not going to change my TV world but I don't think its going to hinder it either..... it's just the cable box under the TV.

[carl.waring]

Originally Posted by Chris123

Had the Tivo box in for a week now ...

Welcome to the Tivolution

and just had my first oooh moment.

I love those

Is the software just lifted from the American Tivo and changed to red?

That's probably an over-simplification but is essentially correct.

The menus are all over the place..

Hardly. Just some aren't in HD yet.

fonts keep changing size on the TV guide

Huh?

sometimes the bar at the top is there, others its not.

Probably by design. No room for it (and not required) on, for example, the "Upcoming Recordings" screen.

Most annoying = when I select to go to the homepage I get a sound drop out on the TV volume. If I press the guide button I get no drop out but ones in the guide if I press home the drop out comes again!

Weird. Neither experienced nor heard of that before.

Its not going to change my TV world...

Wait until you try an auto-recording wishlist

[DougP]

Tivo is superb. Love it!

[hd-media-nut]

Originally Posted by Steven L Hunter

I had TiVo from launch and couldn't really settle with it didn't like the whole menu so went back to V+HD and have since got Sky+HD about 3 months ago and I have now removed one of my V+HD Boxes and just kept one for the bedroom.

I find I get a lot more for my money from sky and only really noticed the channel differences when I got sky installed before that the extra channels didn't interest me.

I also love the sky go and rewards scheme that sky does. As much as I like Virgin Media I find sky has won me over and even looking at the V+ Menu I find it to be old looking but ok to use but sky wins hands down for me!

Agree with you getting my tivo taken out on the 16 of sep, And getting SKY HD installed 18 sep, they gave me E.S.P.N. free for 3 months, phone, sky movies pack half price for 3 months, HD pack, docu pack, sky sports pack., internet free for 6 months) and £100 worth of marks and spencers vouchers, got for a great price for the year, you do get a lot more for your money with sky.