Can you use YV without internet?

Jameseh. · 07/09/14 - 19:23

Looking for a PVR for an elderly relative without internet, the TalkTalk YV+ box on eBay is half the price of the cheapest and nastiest Freeview+ (SD) boxes, so would it work fine without internet?

Obviously no catchup or anything, just as a recorder.

chrisjr · 07/09/14 - 19:33

It works as a basic Freeview recorder without an internet connection. Though I wonder if the extras that come with an internet connection might not cause some confusion as they may still be visible but unusable.

technologist · 07/09/14 - 19:46

If you are looking fir a pvr .. Or any Freeview kit
Go for Freeview HD kit ... It is more future proof
AnD handles retune LCN swaps etc all without you doing anything....
Never mind the HD ,!

David Waine · 07/09/14 - 20:16

A YouView PVR without the Internet connected is a Freeview HD PVR, except that some of the IPTV channels that have surfaced recently on Freeview, such as Motors TV, won't work on YouView. You will still pick up all the channels broadcast from your local transmitter, and be able to record them.

gomezz · 07/09/14 - 20:39

The Youview PVR while it was specifically aimed at the novice user and has a slick looking UI is actually a pig to use in practise.

jasonjimbob · 07/09/14 - 20:58

I have seen YV boxes for sale in Cash Generator, now that I know they work without the internet i might go and pick one up, I use a BT vision box as a PVR only (without the Internet connection) and it works fault free

David Waine · 08/09/14 - 05:25

gomezz wrote: »

The Youview PVR while it was specifically aimed at the novice user and has a slick looking UI is actually a pig to use in practise.

What is so difficult about it? It works in much the same way as any other PVR. The Huawei box that TalkTalk use has been roundly criticised for slowness, but the recent update has changed that for the better.

gomezz · 08/09/14 - 10:35

Let's see: It is a PVR right? That means it is a recorder. Now how do I get to a list of the recordings it has made so I can choose one to watch? There must be a button on the remote to show them to me. Surely, surely? What? I have to press this button then that button then this other button just to see what there is? You are joking, right?

And there are lots of other inanities in the UI which people have been complaing about since the first trial boxes were sent out three years ago. About the only one which was fixed was the arse about face page scrolling on the EPG.

David Waine · 08/09/14 - 17:49

No, I am not joking. The box is easy to operate. The only repeated complaint that I have read concerns its speed of operation, and that has now been addressed.

gomezz · 08/09/14 - 18:13

I wasn't referring to you joking. I was referring to the UI designer who has hidden at least two of the most commonly used features behing multiple key presses. Worst UI ever!

David Waine · 08/09/14 - 18:53

I apologise. I thought that when you wrote, 'You are joking, right?' you were asking me if I was telling a joke. I am sorry that you find pressing a few buttons so exasperating. I don't have a problem with it.

gomezz · 08/09/14 - 22:56

It is a basic of good UI design that you make it quick and simple to do the things that people do most of the time. This UI fails that test.

David Waine · 09/09/14 - 06:18

If it really annoys you that much, move to a different system. You are the only person I have ever encountered who made that complaint. If you have a number of recordings on your playlist, it will take more than one button press anyway to select the one you want and set it playing, regardless of system. You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but I think you are complaining about nothing.

gomezz · 09/09/14 - 08:49

You obviously did not frequent the Youview triallists forums where the majority were complaining about such things. I would love to ditch it but I love my MotoGP too much and as a hardline Sky refusenik do not have much option. The OP was asking about a suitable PVR for an inexperienced user and I could not honestly let a recommendation for the Youview box go unchallenged, As it happens I have my Harmony remote programmed to give me one press access but that is another story.

David Waine · 09/09/14 - 18:47

Okay, I'll recommend it instead.

egal · 18/09/14 - 23:20

I wonder if I might be permitted to ask a couple of questions relating to TalkTalk Youview box?

Is it possible to delete channels from the channel list?

Is it possible to edit recordings, for example to remove padding from start and end of recorded items?

David Waine · 19/09/14 - 06:05

I can answer one of them. You can't delete channels, as such, but you can hide them so that they don't appear in your epg, which amounts to the same thing effectively.

gomezz · 19/09/14 - 13:34

Be careful to not make a mistake hiding a channel you did not mean to though. You then have to unhide *everything* then start all over again! Just one of the ridiculously implemented features of this device.

DX30 · 19/09/14 - 14:19

The biggest pain I find with hide is doesn't work with search. Search will "helpfully" tell me about all these programmes I could get on these hidden channels. If I hide a channel I expect it stay hidden, not pop up again in random parts of the UI.

Possibly this won't be an issue for the OP if they don't connect the box to the internet. I have and it is my "hidden" extra internet channels I find annoying.

Hey there!

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