Anytime Plus for Thomson Box

[Deleted User] · 11/12/10 - 09:40

Hi

Anybody know when they will roll out the service for Thomson box owners?

001

technoguy · 11/12/10 - 19:18

The latest i've heard was the Thomson boxes will be updated on the 12th of Never.

[Deleted User] · 11/12/10 - 20:34

That would be very uncool, given we had to pay for our boxes. I predict a riot.

Blake Connolly · 13/12/10 - 10:58

Been said before, but having paid £300 for the box and four and a half years of HD subscriptions, it's really annoying that we're all still having to wait for this service when people getting their boxes installed today are getting it.

[Deleted User] · 13/12/10 - 13:57

Blake Connolly wrote: »

Been said before, but having paid £300 for the box and four and a half years of HD subscriptions, it's really annoying that we're all still having to wait for this service when people getting their boxes installed today are getting it.

Sky I do hope your listening!!!!!

Rowey · 13/12/10 - 16:05

The thing is you two guys are the only people left who still have working Thomson boxes. Most of them have died due to them having poor quality capacitors. So for Sky its probably not worth bothering to update such a small number of boxes.

Even if they did update them, the Thomson box has such a slow processor it would be awful to use with Sky Anytime+.

When my Thomson died Sky offered me the choice of a free 500gb box or a cheap 1TB box. For me going from using a Thomson to the 1TB box was like going into the future. I love it and highly recommend it to anyone.

So thats one option you have if you really want Sky Anytime+.

[Deleted User] · 13/12/10 - 17:21

If there are only two of us then sky can afford to swap us over for free!

What was the 1TB price?

[Deleted User] · 13/12/10 - 23:31

never going to happen,but the 1tb box are selling for £299 on website but if you call sky and say your old box is buggered,they will give you an offer to the new 1tb box for,£199

[Deleted User] · 14/12/10 - 09:59

001 wrote: »

Sky I do hope your listening!!!!!

Hahaha best reply in ages..

SKY listen, they don't give 2 hoots about their customers.. if they did they'd offer loyalty bonus to long term customers, the ones that paid for their equipment.

I just got a Thomson box, not sure what model it is.. all I can say is 2 weeks in to use, and its drive me nuts.. drive clunky, recording interrupted on playback.. the list goes on.

And yeah it would make sense for SKY to roll out new firmware to all makes rather than just newer ones!

CaffeineJunkie · 15/12/10 - 23:14

technoguy wrote: »

The latest i've heard was the Thomson boxes will be updated on the 12th of Never.

Sky have said that all boxes will be updated, including the Thomson boxes.

[Deleted User] · 16/12/10 - 14:38

Just spoken to Sky and have been told that they expect to do Thomson boxes in Feb 2011......for what thats worth

[Deleted User] · 16/12/10 - 20:40

Also noticed on SkyHD's twitter account (@skyhd) that all boxes should have software by early 2011...

However there was an intriguing tweet that I've asked them to confirm - sorry can't post link by have copied and pasted - feel free to check out their tweets from 14th December as this is one of them....

@rjm70 The Thomson boxes have already been updated with the Anytime+ software if compatible.

[Deleted User] · 16/12/10 - 20:43

...and just got this reply....next year then - maybe!

@willfrancis71 It has only been Amstrad, Pace and Samsung boxes at the moment, Thomson boxes should be updated soon

[Deleted User] · 18/01/11 - 15:35

It's all gone quiet on the A+ updates for the Thomson. Anybody know anything? Am I right in thinking that most of the other boxes have received both the Darwin and Anytime Plus updates?

[Deleted User] · 21/01/11 - 13:04

I asked Sky this very question via Twitter and got the following responses:

I said when is Anytime+ coming to Thomson boxes and they said: "Hi unfortunately there isn't any news to when these boxes will be rolled out with the Anytime+"

So I then asked if I should be looking to get a new box if I want Anytime+ and they said: "Hi the plan is to still roll the software out to all HD boxes but unfortunately no timescale at the moment"

Not a whole lot of new information in these responses...

jonmorris · 21/01/11 - 13:08

While I got my Thomson repaired and it will no doubt last for ages, it is far too slow (in my opinion) to do much more than it already does. I mean, the EPG is already slow and it's rubbish at fast forwarding, rewinding etc.

The 1TB box is also a lot smaller, so I think it's had a fair crack of the whip and now it's time to move on. Sky offered some Thomson box owners the 1TB box for £149, which I got for my main box - and it's brilliant (or as brilliant as it can be running Sky's buggy software!) so I do intend to change the other box if they offer the upgrade again. £200 is too much, but I am sure you could haggle or write to the CEO and grab the £149 deal.

By all means keep the Thomson box if it's got the PSU fixed and you want something cheap and cheerful, but don't keep it if you want to use Anytime+.. it will be a very poor experience I am sure.

[Deleted User] · 21/01/11 - 13:17

Not heard anything. Time to chase sky.....

moox · 21/01/11 - 17:21

jonmorris wrote: »

While I got my Thomson repaired and it will no doubt last for ages, it is far too slow (in my opinion) to do much more than it already does. I mean, the EPG is already slow and it's rubbish at fast forwarding, rewinding etc.

*snip*

By all means keep the Thomson box if it's got the PSU fixed and you want something cheap and cheerful, but don't keep it if you want to use Anytime+.. it will be a very poor experience I am sure.

But you are forgetting that the new software is likely to be a complete rewrite (and certainly a new operating system at its core) - it is possible that the new software could improve the performance of the box.

Not everyone has the money (or the inclination) to spend on new boxes, either.

jonmorris · 21/01/11 - 19:25

Do you really think that? The processor must be MUCH slower than the newer boxes, and given how c**p the Sky software is (even if it IS better than what it was before) I don't have much faith that their programmers will be able to optimise the code to make it run fast. Do you remember how slow many early digital boxes were? Sagem still seem to manage to make really slow boxes today, even including their Freeview+ HD box!

And if Sky COULD make the software run faster, then I'm outraged that they haven't made any attempt to do this during the time most people owned the box. It's far too late now, and Sky is probably having trouble getting it to work at all, let alone speeding it up.

I accept not everyone has the money, but when you and I do get it, I think you'll definitely get the inclination to get a new box - or just not use it!!

DrProzac · 21/01/11 - 20:42

I just hope something gets sorted out soon.

The last couple of weeks I've been plagued with bad recordings and loads of breakups on the HD channels.

Is this likely to be the box (psu already upgraded) or could a new hdd help (not done anything with this yet)

Or do pending software updates really cause problems like this, and if so how?

moox · 22/01/11 - 12:18

jonmorris wrote: »

And if Sky COULD make the software run faster, then I'm outraged that they haven't made any attempt to do this during the time most people owned the box. It's far too late now, and Sky is probably having trouble getting it to work at all, let alone speeding it up.

You probably know as much as I do about the state of Sky/NDS' development team, but it could be that resources were diverted from improving the situation with the current software, in favour of getting "Darwin" done. It isn't a 5 minute job to rewrite everything on top of a new OS.

jonmorris wrote: »

I accept not everyone has the money, but when you and I do get it, I think you'll definitely get the inclination to get a new box - or just not use it!!

I'm going to keep an open mind and wait and see how well the box performs, if/when it gets the new software. If it doesn't, I'm not going to phone up Sky and pay them for a new Amstrad. Perhaps I'll either email Darroch and moan that they've broken my box, or dig out the old Sky+ box...

[Deleted User] · 28/01/11 - 08:50

Spoke with them. Still promising that Firmware will be updated, but still no date.

Two months after release it ain't looking good.

Blake Connolly · 28/01/11 - 10:45

Might have to bite the bullet and go for a 1TB Amstrad if I can get it for the reduced price. I could do with the extra space, anyway.

[Deleted User] · 28/01/11 - 11:45

Let us know the price. Gonna have to be cheap. Will there be an install cost?

Blake Connolly · 28/01/11 - 21:27

001 wrote: »

Let us know the price. Gonna have to be cheap. Will there be an install cost?

I asked about the £149 offer for people with Thomson boxes that's been mentioned on here, was told that it the offer was only valid back in April and the current price is £249.

I know that people have been able to get that offer still by sending emails to the MD. I'll wait it out till mid-Feb and see what happens.

jonmorris · 28/01/11 - 23:05

I'd keep pushing and maybe send those emails to the MD - as for all the problems Thomson box owners have had to endure (and for longer than most), Sky ought to really bend over backwards.

I wouldn't expect the box for free, given you are getting more than just a replacement, but £149 seems fair and reasonable - especially as it hooks you in for another year.

Given Virgin is about to start pushing TiVo, which is a gazillion times better than Sky+, Sky really want as many people tied to a contract as possible right now. If I had cable, I'd be leaving Sky tomorrow for TiVo.

Hey there!

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