Honest Review Of BT Vision Please

onephat · 12-06-2011, 08:12

Hi Guys,

I hope someone can provide me with a little info regaurding BT Vision. I currently have Freeview with TUTV (SkySports/Espn). I'm moving soon (hence cancelling my VM subscription and the jump to TUTV). I wont be in a cable area so its Sky (not in a sky llu area) or BT. BT is working out much cheaper for BB and SS1/2.

Whats BT Vision like? is the extra content worth the money? or is it a load of cr*p? My estimated speed is likely to be around 5-6mb/s with infinity coming later in the year.

Thanks
Ben

MP34L1fe · 12-06-2011, 08:19

when it comes down to it, it all depends on what you want, I have a wife that does different shifts and 3 daughters that range from toddler 2 teen, the VOD suits my family perfect however it isn't for everyone, The VOD tends to be between 6 months and a year behind first broadcast tv (except the catch up channels) but it does have full series and it is a good choice, the film club offers a varied amount of films from a lot of distributors, The kids section is very good it does have iPlayer/40d/itv player and demand 5 (demand 5's content isn't brilliant but it is improving), BTV does lack discovery type programs which is a shame, there are plenty of but none that really interest me (personal opinion again).

If you want a good and relatively cheap setup then BTV is excellent at it, if you want 200 odd channels then go with Sky, personally I think BTV is a g8 concept and well worth the money and with youtube and iptv channels for the future, things are looking up, its up to BTV to try and stay ahead of the game

Hope that helps

MostynDS · 12-06-2011, 11:00

This is of course, my personal opinion...

Your circumstances are difficult. Normally I would say that if you're interested in ESPN then BTV represents good value at £12.50 per month, as it includes ESPN at this price. But as you already have access to ESPN, £12.50 is poor value for BTVs VOD content particularly for you, because as you've recently had VM, you've already had the chance to see most of it many months (or years) ago.

I was in similar circumstances to you when I joined BT and found that once the novelty wore out after the first two weeks or so, the only VOD content that I was interested in, I had already seen on VM before I joined. And to make things worse, when I left BT a year later (I was able to re-join VM) most of that content was still available to view due to it not having being updated.

skunkboy69 · 12-06-2011, 13:32

Had it 6 months and love it.Had no problems at all with it.And got it virtually free on a retention deal.

SimonBlackham · 12-06-2011, 14:37

We have BTvision now on the £12.99 deal* and SKY sports 1&2 at an extra £17.99 - iPlayer has just arrived (today!) although we had it on the TV anyway.

We watch a little VOD as "Free" with the package - generally TV and films and a little "Replay".
We have watched a lot of Sky Sports (Football) since getting it earlier this year but little ESPN.
We watch the odd PPV film every so often.
We have set up a lot of (series) recordings on the Vbox even if we intend to watch live - just in case. Eg "Dr Who" is being recorded and for various reasons I have watched it on iPlayer and recordings rather than live and the missus watches "Holby City" - usually recording rather than (TV) iPlayer. I watch "Click" - used to be recordings - but now usually iPlayer (which now invariably has the 'long' version).
BTvision has the advantage of being able to record 301 (for F1 practice etc when on at inconvenient times).
The (our old ?) Vbox can record SKY and ESPN.

We have a silver Vbox and connect to the main TV via HDMI (output from Vbox) but not set to HD so the kitchen and bedroom TVs can use the RF output in correct aspect ratio to watch recordings and live Sky and ESPN (chops off edges to 4:3 on RF out if you use upscaled HD 1080p output via HDMI).
iPlayer (on first view) seems to be good - if not better than iPlayer on the Freesat TV.

The Vbox has no problems with A/R on the minor and VOD "channels". VOD works like playing back a recording - with FF, FRew, 30sec jump etc and will restart where you left off if you change 'channels' or stop playback (again just like recordings)

Only you can decide if the VOD content suits you - but at £12.99 a month its not expensive IMHO.

One gets the impression that BTvision is continually developing and every so often you get new things (that have not been promised as a way to get you to buy). eg the iPlayer screen appeared on the system earlier this year saying it was coming soon but use Replay in the mean time (which we have) - and within a short period it has arrived. I would not be surprised if we got ITVplayer, 4OD and the Five equivalent soon - which are already on Replay. What next? - its a case of watch this space.

The main thing I find is that it just works.

NB: BTvision uses QoS which will ring-fence some bandwidth when downloading/streaming (releases it when you are not) so the bandwidth should not be a problem. We have measured around 5mb/s bandwidth (BT speed check and speedtest.net) and have no problems with streaming (although we have had a little glitching on BT iPlayer - new today - so probably not set up properly yet)

Perhaps only downside is that the box cannot cold boot or be set to record if broadband is disconnected (it will record items already set up but (used to?) leave out the programme name and info.

*we have been on some time on a more expensive deal and had added ESPN a long time ago on a deal that gave the card for free.

PS we used to use TopUpTV as well but found BTvision superseded everything we used it for and more and has a much more sensitive tuner. The aerial goes into the Vbox (single I/O not double like TUTV Thompson box) and then through a splitter to bedroom (STB) and kitchen (iPTV) with no problems.

Mike_1101 · 12-06-2011, 14:51

It depends if it does what you want. I took BT vision as a replacement for Virgin cable after they seriously annoyed me. The BT rep. on the phone assured me it would receive and record freeview HD as well as the extra programmes down the telephone line. All I really wanted was a freeview HD recorder.

After some "discussions" with BT they admitted it could not receive and record freeview HD and I was allowed to keep the box, only paying for broadband internet and the telephone.

I suppose it's ok if it delivers what you want though. One of the BT people told me a new box is on the way that can do freeview HD.

SimonBlackham · 12-06-2011, 15:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike_1101

It depends if it does what you want. I took BT vision as a replacement for Virgin cable after they seriously annoyed me. The BT rep. on the phone assured me it would receive and record freeview HD as well as the extra programmes down the telephone line. All I really wanted was a freeview HD recorder.

After some "discussions" with BT they admitted it could not receive and record freeview HD and I was allowed to keep the box, only paying for broadband internet and the telephone.

I suppose it's ok if it delivers what you want though. One of the BT people told me a new box is on the way that can do freeview HD.

The one thing I would say is their sales department is terrible - only believe what you see on the website and be very careful with exactly what the sales rep says - they are happy to lead you up the garden path if they think they can sell you more - you can easily catch them out if you know what is actually supplied by reference to the website.

I wanted Sky Sports 1&2 and the offer was for both at £17.99 - but only on an 12 month contract (not a problem for me as it happens - but the rep should have told me at the time as it might have been)

If you have trouble with your line speed - we had a problem when it dropped to 512kbps! a year or two ago - contact the BT line people not BTvision customer services.

In fact my advice is to avoid BT customer services as far as you can! - you will probably get sent to the sales department whatever you actually want!

Note that HD recording is not as simple as SD recording - see notes about HD recorders on these threads.

I have Freeview HD and asked about an HD Vbox - and got a load of rubbish from sales. I would like to record HD - but BTvision with upscaling is good enough for the time being.

onephat · 12-06-2011, 20:20

cheers guys.

Although ive had sky in the past the fact im about to move to an area that has no LLU support at present means BT vision makes more financial sense over sky and either their broadband or another 3rd party. Were just waiting for the phone lines to be connected to the estate and then i'll see about ordering. At present the postcode were getting doesn't show up on their site.

Thanks again

Ben

Pure Genius · 12-06-2011, 23:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by onephat

cheers guys.

Although ive had sky in the past the fact im about to move to an area that has no LLU support at present means BT vision makes more financial sense over sky and either their broadband or another 3rd party. Were just waiting for the phone lines to be connected to the estate and then i'll see about ordering. At present the postcode were getting doesn't show up on their site.

Thanks again

Ben

hmmm...

as Mostyn has said your situation is difficult, in that your not in a Sky LLU area.

You don't mention if you have other LLU providers at your exchange...? Maybe a 'third' way?

also remember Sky TV, doesn't 'need' broadband or even a landline...mobile data??

Whats your usage like? Times and volume?

its unfair to compare BT Vision and any other TV service to Sky as for 99% of people its about content, and for that there only is one winner.

also remember that if you want sport then Sky give you 1,2,3 and 4 plus Eurosport, ATR, Motors etc...

..and HD (which is a gimmick according to some !

)

Hows the price made up..?

From what the BT website shows.

a 10GB package (18mth) would be c. £35 including L/rental plus £17 for SS....which is £52.

but if 10gb suits then surely going mobile data would be better avoiding a line rental charge?

Sky sports (in glorious HD, 4 channels) would be £50, which then leaves you with broadband to find.

Also factor in SkyGo, which is a new service that allows you to mirror your sky sub, across a 1 computer and 1 mobile device or 2 in total, for free. Take your TV with you!

..plus at the moment, the offer to join is free kit and 3 months HD free (thats £30.75) and £50 worth of M&S vouchers....£80 in total.

...to me if you want Sport it's a no-brainer, there is only one way to go but of course YMMV.

Pure Genius · 12-06-2011, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonBlackham

The one thing I would say is their sales department is terrible - only believe what you see on the website and be very careful with exactly what the sales rep says - they are happy to lead you up the garden path if they think they can sell you more - you can easily catch them out if you know what is actually supplied by reference to the website.

I wanted Sky Sports 1&2 and the offer was for both at £17.99 - but only on an 12 month contract (not a problem for me as it happens - but the rep should have told me at the time as it might have been)

If you have trouble with your line speed - we had a problem when it dropped to 512kbps! a year or two ago - contact the BT line people not BTvision customer services.

In fact my advice is to avoid BT customer services as far as you can! - you will probably get sent to the sales department whatever you actually want!

Note that HD recording is not as simple as SD recording - see notes about HD recorders on these threads.

I have Freeview HD and asked about an HD Vbox - and got a load of rubbish from sales. I would like to record HD - but BTvision with upscaling is good enough for the time being.

I have no problem recording my HD programmes !

Don't think I could recommend a product or service if the 'back-end' support is so terrible tbh.

Mike_1101 · 12-06-2011, 23:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius;50738722[B

]I have no problem recording my HD programmes ![/b]

Don't think I could recommend a product or service if the 'back-end' support is so terrible tbh.

Are you sure? the box they sent me won't tune the HD channels in.....

Pure Genius · 12-06-2011, 23:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike_1101

Are you sure? the box they sent me won't tune the HD channels in.....

Sorry, you missed my sarcasm.

I don't have bt vision (but have had it) I use a more complete and technologically enlightened tv service.

Mike_1101 · 12-06-2011, 23:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

Sorry, you missed my sarcasm.

I don't have bt vision (but have had it) I use
a more complete and technologically enlightened tv service.

Well I did wonder

My next more advanced system will hopefully be like this
http://www.strongsat.com/tvweb4/index.php?id=252
if I can find something in this country.

MP34L1fe · 13-06-2011, 07:25

I thought this was about an honest review of BTVision and not a Sky sales pitch?

Pure Genius · 13-06-2011, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by MP34L1fe

I thought this was about an honest review of BTVision and not a Sky sales pitch?

a truthful review of the former nearly always turns into the latter.

As it does for most other TV packages...

onephat · 13-06-2011, 20:27

as for usage im looking at the 40gb usage limit burdening on the unlimited as i download a fair bit.

Pure Genius · 13-06-2011, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by onephat

as for usage im looking at the 40gb usage limit burdening on the unlimited as i download a fair bit.

then I'd double check ya figures and go to SamKnows to see who is in your local exchange as with that level of usage...

BT will want £42 from you for unlimited bband and line rental....!!

as I said in an earlier post, if you want to watch sport, there is only 1 choice.

MP34L1fe · 14-06-2011, 00:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

then I'd double check ya figures and go to SamKnows to see who is in your local exchange as with that level of usage...

BT will want £42 from you for unlimited bband and line rental....!!

as I said in an earlier post, if you want to watch sport, there is only 1 choice.

Sport, you can't beat Sky..they have the monopoly (and they know it) unlike Sky tho with BT you get unlimited hotspot usage (their BT Fon/Openzone network is very good) I use them on a regular basis and they come in very handy, personally if I had to recommend a stand alone ISP it would be BE* but as they don't so fibre (yet) and they are a little on the expensive side (but top quality product), Sky are good at what they do, the downside is they are not cheap with Youview coming next year (it certainly looks like its finally getting somewhere) combined with the BTV and infinity they offer a very good deal, I'm under no illusion that they have anywhere near the content of Sky, no they haven't but the prices are good, its very reliable and its well priced, it comes down to what you want, have a search around the net and come to your own conclusions.

kesterwww · 14-06-2011, 01:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

as I said in an earlier post, if you want to watch sport, there is only 1 choice.

Onephat doesn't mention wanting sport at all (granted he/she says they currently have sports channels on tutv).
Infact, they mention downloading as being important. In which case BT is the only option. If Infinity is coming this year to the area you are moving to, you'll have up to 40mbps download speed, twice what Sky is able to offer. Also, in order to take BT Vision, you have to take their broad band as well, which you may or may not know. This atleast ensures QOS. I'd get the unlimited offer, only £5 a month more.
Anyway, as was your original post, my honest opinion of btv is that it is a good service. I was in the same situation as you in autum '09, I had vm then moved to an area which didn't have cable. I took the service and was impressed with the amount of on demand content. Plus the stb works a lot better than the scientific Atlanta V+ box. Much faster and smoother and the menu's are a lot more attractive.
I did miss having some of the channels, and HD content. But think HD is something which will develope as BT's infrastructure improves. May take a few years yet though. (If hd is important, you'd be surprised how fast you can download HD content with 40meg). Also, you may find that Vision morphs into YouView in the future, which should be an improvement (Not heard much on that front lately).
Anyway, a year and a half on, I am pleased with the service. My misses enjoys it too, she loves all the music video's.

onephat · 14-06-2011, 06:24

I'm male

There are currently no LLU operators at all at my exchange but infinity is on the way. I had a mailshot from BT offering 40gb useage the payg tv and skysports for the mid £40's a month. Sport is very important. If i want with sky i'd be looking easily £49 for sky (1mix sports and espn) + broadband.

Whatever broadband i pick its going to suck compared to what i have at the moment i guess.

MostynDS · 14-06-2011, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by onephat

I'm male

There are currently no LLU operators at all at my exchange but infinity is on the way. I had a mailshot from BT offering 40gb useage the payg tv and skysports for the mid £40's a month. Sport is very important. If i want with sky i'd be looking easily £49 for sky (1mix sports and espn) + broadband.

Whatever broadband i pick its going to suck compared to what i have at the moment i guess.

Your next concern should be 'shaping'. This is a phenonimum where the ISP reduces your bandwidth at peak times when you overstep what they think is a fair usage limit.

BT are apalling for this.

I was on their option three (unlimited) broadband but presumibly because I make a lot of Skype video calls my 4.5Mb connection plummeted to less than half a meg at about 4pm right through to midnight and all day at weekends. This made any video calling impossible and even audio calls were poor quality.

You'll not have seen this before on VM (I'm lucky enough to have been able to return to them and now get 32Mbs off my 30Mbs connection 24/7) but I understand that Sky BB does not employ any 'shaping' on it's unlimited service.

Perhaps PG might be able to confirm this.

MP34L1fe · 14-06-2011, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by MostynDS

You're next concern should be 'shaping'. This is a phenonimum where the ISP reduces your bandwidth at peak times when you overstep what they think is a fair usage limit.

BT are apalling for this.

I was on their option three (unlimited) broadband but presumibly because I make a lot of Skype video calls my 4.5Mb connection plummeted to less than half a meg at about 4pm right through to midnight and all day at weekends. This made any video calling impossible and even audio calls were poor quality.

You'll not have seen this before on VM (I'm lucky enough to have been able to return to them and now get 32Mbs off my 30Mbs connection 24/7) but I understand that Sky BB does not employ any 'shaping' on it's unlimited service.

Perhaps PG might be able to confirm this.

only shaping I get is on Torrents and that is tiny, Newsgroups are not affected as I always dl at 30 meg (my Infinity speed), you seem to be the worst affected by shaping that I have ever seen Mostyn, Virgin were appaling when I had their dsl product could never get past 1 meg had to threaten them with legal action to get out of the contract they were that bad!

scotty2808 · 14-06-2011, 11:06

Honest review of Vision:

Brilliant ~2years back. Now starting to show it's age with the lack of HD channels and (inclusive) HD content in the Gold Pack.

I have been pitching for sometime about next gen stuff and stuff such as multicast (which will allow linear TV transmission) and improved VOD will significantly change what BT offer in the next 1-2years with the proposed changes in infrastructure (eg. CDN and WCC).

As a short term - Vision is good value product and I use it a lot.

Some plus points:
Still good for a range of VOD - picture quality good.
Still good for new iPlayer service launched.
Good library of HD Films on PPV are good - about 80 HD films plus some 3D.
HD Films have changed the download mechanism and are now faster to download.
Film Club is handy. Many of the films will have been on TV recently but FilmClub has no adverts!
Sky Sports & ESPN package good value.
Freeview picture quality is good.

My conclusion - You can wrap up line rental/phone/broadband/tv/iPlayer/Film Club (~70films a week) and sport for under £60 a month if you can get a good deal.

Also - if still available the "Line Rental Saver" offer is worth taking up. Reduces line rental to £10 per month.

kesterwww · 14-06-2011, 18:48

I can also say that I'm not affected by traffic shaping on BT, with exception of Torrents. My DL speed is usually 37.5mbps and will maybe dip to around 33meg at busiest times.
I know this isn't about BroadBand, but it is relevant to BT Vision. Also, don't like to get caught up in petty arguments about which service is better. I have no problem with Sky, in fact I get Sky Player on the xbox for the sports channels, but am looking at taking it with BT as a cheaper option, even though I'd lose a few of the channels plus the on demand content on there, such as premiers league games.
As for ESPN on BTV, it is free with a one off payment of £10 for the viewing card. But you don't get ESPN 2, Classic or America. Just the TUTV version which starts broadcasting around 11am.

MostynDS · 14-06-2011, 19:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by MP34L1fe

only shaping I get is on Torrents and that is tiny, Newsgroups are not affected as I always dl at 30 meg (my Infinity speed), you seem to be the worst affected by shaping that I have ever seen Mostyn, Virgin were appaling when I had their dsl product could never get past 1 meg had to threaten them with legal action to get out of the contract they were that bad!

My shaping affected everything except Vision as the QoS took care of that, but as there was nothing worth watching on there, it was academic.

My shaping was triggered by Skype (a P2P network like bitTorrent) but affected everything I did on the internet. Browsing, eMail, Messenger, FTP, Usenet etc, etc.

I seem to remember seing BTs keeness to use shaping discussed to death over and over again on the broadband forum and even on this one in the past.

12-06-2011, 08:12	#1
onephat Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Leicester Posts: 825	Honest Review Of BT Vision Please Hi Guys, I hope someone can provide me with a little info regaurding BT Vision. I currently have Freeview with TUTV (SkySports/Espn). I'm moving soon (hence cancelling my VM subscription and the jump to TUTV). I wont be in a cable area so its Sky (not in a sky llu area) or BT. BT is working out much cheaper for BB and SS1/2. Whats BT Vision like? is the extra content worth the money? or is it a load of cr*p? My estimated speed is likely to be around 5-6mb/s with infinity coming later in the year. Thanks Ben

12-06-2011, 23:01	#9
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by onephat cheers guys. Although ive had sky in the past the fact im about to move to an area that has no LLU support at present means BT vision makes more financial sense over sky and either their broadband or another 3rd party. Were just waiting for the phone lines to be connected to the estate and then i'll see about ordering. At present the postcode were getting doesn't show up on their site. Thanks again Ben hmmm... as Mostyn has said your situation is difficult, in that your not in a Sky LLU area. You don't mention if you have other LLU providers at your exchange...? Maybe a 'third' way? also remember Sky TV, doesn't 'need' broadband or even a landline...mobile data?? Whats your usage like? Times and volume? its unfair to compare BT Vision and any other TV service to Sky as for 99% of people its about content, and for that there only is one winner. also remember that if you want sport then Sky give you 1,2,3 and 4 plus Eurosport, ATR, Motors etc... ..and HD (which is a gimmick according to some !) Hows the price made up..? From what the BT website shows. a 10GB package (18mth) would be c. £35 including L/rental plus £17 for SS....which is £52. but if 10gb suits then surely going mobile data would be better avoiding a line rental charge? Sky sports (in glorious HD, 4 channels) would be £50, which then leaves you with broadband to find. Also factor in SkyGo, which is a new service that allows you to mirror your sky sub, across a 1 computer and 1 mobile device or 2 in total, for free. Take your TV with you! ..plus at the moment, the offer to join is free kit and 3 months HD free (thats £30.75) and £50 worth of M&S vouchers....£80 in total. ...to me if you want Sport it's a no-brainer, there is only one way to go but of course YMMV.

12-06-2011, 08:19	#2
MP34L1fe Inactive Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Stalybridge Posts: 678	when it comes down to it, it all depends on what you want, I have a wife that does different shifts and 3 daughters that range from toddler 2 teen, the VOD suits my family perfect however it isn't for everyone, The VOD tends to be between 6 months and a year behind first broadcast tv (except the catch up channels) but it does have full series and it is a good choice, the film club offers a varied amount of films from a lot of distributors, The kids section is very good it does have iPlayer/40d/itv player and demand 5 (demand 5's content isn't brilliant but it is improving), BTV does lack discovery type programs which is a shame, there are plenty of but none that really interest me (personal opinion again). If you want a good and relatively cheap setup then BTV is excellent at it, if you want 200 odd channels then go with Sky, personally I think BTV is a g8 concept and well worth the money and with youtube and iptv channels for the future, things are looking up, its up to BTV to try and stay ahead of the game Hope that helps

12-06-2011, 11:00	#3
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	This is of course, my personal opinion... Your circumstances are difficult. Normally I would say that if you're interested in ESPN then BTV represents good value at £12.50 per month, as it includes ESPN at this price. But as you already have access to ESPN, £12.50 is poor value for BTVs VOD content particularly for you, because as you've recently had VM, you've already had the chance to see most of it many months (or years) ago. I was in similar circumstances to you when I joined BT and found that once the novelty wore out after the first two weeks or so, the only VOD content that I was interested in, I had already seen on VM before I joined. And to make things worse, when I left BT a year later (I was able to re-join VM) most of that content was still available to view due to it not having being updated.

12-06-2011, 13:32	#4
skunkboy69 Guest Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 8,966	Had it 6 months and love it.Had no problems at all with it.And got it virtually free on a retention deal.

12-06-2011, 14:37	#5
SimonBlackham Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NewForest (Free-View/Sat+19E) Posts: 7,719	We have BTvision now on the £12.99 deal* and SKY sports 1&2 at an extra £17.99 - iPlayer has just arrived (today!) although we had it on the TV anyway. We watch a little VOD as "Free" with the package - generally TV and films and a little "Replay". We have watched a lot of Sky Sports (Football) since getting it earlier this year but little ESPN. We watch the odd PPV film every so often. We have set up a lot of (series) recordings on the Vbox even if we intend to watch live - just in case. Eg "Dr Who" is being recorded and for various reasons I have watched it on iPlayer and recordings rather than live and the missus watches "Holby City" - usually recording rather than (TV) iPlayer. I watch "Click" - used to be recordings - but now usually iPlayer (which now invariably has the 'long' version). BTvision has the advantage of being able to record 301 (for F1 practice etc when on at inconvenient times). The (our old ?) Vbox can record SKY and ESPN. We have a silver Vbox and connect to the main TV via HDMI (output from Vbox) but not set to HD so the kitchen and bedroom TVs can use the RF output in correct aspect ratio to watch recordings and live Sky and ESPN (chops off edges to 4:3 on RF out if you use upscaled HD 1080p output via HDMI). iPlayer (on first view) seems to be good - if not better than iPlayer on the Freesat TV. The Vbox has no problems with A/R on the minor and VOD "channels". VOD works like playing back a recording - with FF, FRew, 30sec jump etc and will restart where you left off if you change 'channels' or stop playback (again just like recordings) Only you can decide if the VOD content suits you - but at £12.99 a month its not expensive IMHO. One gets the impression that BTvision is continually developing and every so often you get new things (that have not been promised as a way to get you to buy). eg the iPlayer screen appeared on the system earlier this year saying it was coming soon but use Replay in the mean time (which we have) - and within a short period it has arrived. I would not be surprised if we got ITVplayer, 4OD and the Five equivalent soon - which are already on Replay. What next? - its a case of watch this space. The main thing I find is that it just works. NB: BTvision uses QoS which will ring-fence some bandwidth when downloading/streaming (releases it when you are not) so the bandwidth should not be a problem. We have measured around 5mb/s bandwidth (BT speed check and speedtest.net) and have no problems with streaming (although we have had a little glitching on BT iPlayer - new today - so probably not set up properly yet) Perhaps only downside is that the box cannot cold boot or be set to record if broadband is disconnected (it will record items already set up but (used to?) leave out the programme name and info. *we have been on some time on a more expensive deal and had added ESPN a long time ago on a deal that gave the card for free. PS we used to use TopUpTV as well but found BTvision superseded everything we used it for and more and has a much more sensitive tuner. The aerial goes into the Vbox (single I/O not double like TUTV Thompson box) and then through a splitter to bedroom (STB) and kitchen (iPTV) with no problems.

12-06-2011, 14:51	#6
Mike_1101 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lancs Posts: 7,928	It depends if it does what you want. I took BT vision as a replacement for Virgin cable after they seriously annoyed me. The BT rep. on the phone assured me it would receive and record freeview HD as well as the extra programmes down the telephone line. All I really wanted was a freeview HD recorder. After some "discussions" with BT they admitted it could not receive and record freeview HD and I was allowed to keep the box, only paying for broadband internet and the telephone. I suppose it's ok if it delivers what you want though. One of the BT people told me a new box is on the way that can do freeview HD.

12-06-2011, 15:10	#7
SimonBlackham Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NewForest (Free-View/Sat+19E) Posts: 7,719	Quote: Originally Posted by Mike_1101 It depends if it does what you want. I took BT vision as a replacement for Virgin cable after they seriously annoyed me. The BT rep. on the phone assured me it would receive and record freeview HD as well as the extra programmes down the telephone line. All I really wanted was a freeview HD recorder. After some "discussions" with BT they admitted it could not receive and record freeview HD and I was allowed to keep the box, only paying for broadband internet and the telephone. I suppose it's ok if it delivers what you want though. One of the BT people told me a new box is on the way that can do freeview HD. The one thing I would say is their sales department is terrible - only believe what you see on the website and be very careful with exactly what the sales rep says - they are happy to lead you up the garden path if they think they can sell you more - you can easily catch them out if you know what is actually supplied by reference to the website. I wanted Sky Sports 1&2 and the offer was for both at £17.99 - but only on an 12 month contract (not a problem for me as it happens - but the rep should have told me at the time as it might have been) If you have trouble with your line speed - we had a problem when it dropped to 512kbps! a year or two ago - contact the BT line people not BTvision customer services. In fact my advice is to avoid BT customer services as far as you can! - you will probably get sent to the sales department whatever you actually want! Note that HD recording is not as simple as SD recording - see notes about HD recorders on these threads. I have Freeview HD and asked about an HD Vbox - and got a load of rubbish from sales. I would like to record HD - but BTvision with upscaling is good enough for the time being.

12-06-2011, 20:20	#8
onephat Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Leicester Posts: 825	cheers guys. Although ive had sky in the past the fact im about to move to an area that has no LLU support at present means BT vision makes more financial sense over sky and either their broadband or another 3rd party. Were just waiting for the phone lines to be connected to the estate and then i'll see about ordering. At present the postcode were getting doesn't show up on their site. Thanks again Ben

12-06-2011, 23:04	#10
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by SimonBlackham The one thing I would say is their sales department is terrible - only believe what you see on the website and be very careful with exactly what the sales rep says - they are happy to lead you up the garden path if they think they can sell you more - you can easily catch them out if you know what is actually supplied by reference to the website. I wanted Sky Sports 1&2 and the offer was for both at £17.99 - but only on an 12 month contract (not a problem for me as it happens - but the rep should have told me at the time as it might have been) If you have trouble with your line speed - we had a problem when it dropped to 512kbps! a year or two ago - contact the BT line people not BTvision customer services. In fact my advice is to avoid BT customer services as far as you can! - you will probably get sent to the sales department whatever you actually want! Note that HD recording is not as simple as SD recording - see notes about HD recorders on these threads. I have Freeview HD and asked about an HD Vbox - and got a load of rubbish from sales. I would like to record HD - but BTvision with upscaling is good enough for the time being. I have no problem recording my HD programmes ! Don't think I could recommend a product or service if the 'back-end' support is so terrible tbh.

12-06-2011, 23:14	#11
Mike_1101 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lancs Posts: 7,928	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius;50738722[B ]I have no problem recording my HD programmes ![/b] Don't think I could recommend a product or service if the 'back-end' support is so terrible tbh. Are you sure? the box they sent me won't tune the HD channels in.....

12-06-2011, 23:30	#12
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by Mike_1101 Are you sure? the box they sent me won't tune the HD channels in..... Sorry, you missed my sarcasm. I don't have bt vision (but have had it) I use a more complete and technologically enlightened tv service.

12-06-2011, 23:54	#13
Mike_1101 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lancs Posts: 7,928	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius *Sorry, you missed my sarcasm.* I don't have bt vision (but have had it) I use a more complete and technologically enlightened tv service. Well I did wonder My next more advanced system will hopefully be like this http://www.strongsat.com/tvweb4/index.php?id=252 if I can find something in this country.

13-06-2011, 07:25	#14
MP34L1fe Inactive Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Stalybridge Posts: 678	I thought this was about an honest review of BTVision and not a Sky sales pitch?

13-06-2011, 09:16	#15
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by MP34L1fe I thought this was about an honest review of BTVision and not a Sky sales pitch? a truthful review of the former nearly always turns into the latter. As it does for most other TV packages...

13-06-2011, 20:27	#16
onephat Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Leicester Posts: 825	as for usage im looking at the 40gb usage limit burdening on the unlimited as i download a fair bit.

13-06-2011, 22:50	#17
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by onephat as for usage im looking at the 40gb usage limit burdening on the unlimited as i download a fair bit. then I'd double check ya figures and go to SamKnows to see who is in your local exchange as with that level of usage... BT will want £42 from you for unlimited bband and line rental....!! as I said in an earlier post, if you want to watch sport, there is only 1 choice.

14-06-2011, 00:12	#18
MP34L1fe Inactive Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Stalybridge Posts: 678	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius then I'd double check ya figures and go to SamKnows to see who is in your local exchange as with that level of usage... BT will want £42 from you for unlimited bband and line rental....!! as I said in an earlier post, if you want to watch sport, there is only 1 choice. Sport, you can't beat Sky..they have the monopoly (and they know it) unlike Sky tho with BT you get unlimited hotspot usage (their BT Fon/Openzone network is very good) I use them on a regular basis and they come in very handy, personally if I had to recommend a stand alone ISP it would be BE* but as they don't so fibre (yet) and they are a little on the expensive side (but top quality product), Sky are good at what they do, the downside is they are not cheap with Youview coming next year (it certainly looks like its finally getting somewhere) combined with the BTV and infinity they offer a very good deal, I'm under no illusion that they have anywhere near the content of Sky, no they haven't but the prices are good, its very reliable and its well priced, it comes down to what you want, have a search around the net and come to your own conclusions.

14-06-2011, 01:30	#19
kesterwww Inactive Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 84	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius as I said in an earlier post, if you want to watch sport, there is only 1 choice. Onephat doesn't mention wanting sport at all (granted he/she says they currently have sports channels on tutv). Infact, they mention downloading as being important. In which case BT is the only option. If Infinity is coming this year to the area you are moving to, you'll have up to 40mbps download speed, twice what Sky is able to offer. Also, in order to take BT Vision, you have to take their broad band as well, which you may or may not know. This atleast ensures QOS. I'd get the unlimited offer, only £5 a month more. Anyway, as was your original post, my honest opinion of btv is that it is a good service. I was in the same situation as you in autum '09, I had vm then moved to an area which didn't have cable. I took the service and was impressed with the amount of on demand content. Plus the stb works a lot better than the scientific Atlanta V+ box. Much faster and smoother and the menu's are a lot more attractive. I did miss having some of the channels, and HD content. But think HD is something which will develope as BT's infrastructure improves. May take a few years yet though. (If hd is important, you'd be surprised how fast you can download HD content with 40meg). Also, you may find that Vision morphs into YouView in the future, which should be an improvement (Not heard much on that front lately). Anyway, a year and a half on, I am pleased with the service. My misses enjoys it too, she loves all the music video's.

14-06-2011, 06:24	#20
onephat Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Leicester Posts: 825	I'm male There are currently no LLU operators at all at my exchange but infinity is on the way. I had a mailshot from BT offering 40gb useage the payg tv and skysports for the mid £40's a month. Sport is very important. If i want with sky i'd be looking easily £49 for sky (1mix sports and espn) + broadband. Whatever broadband i pick its going to suck compared to what i have at the moment i guess.

14-06-2011, 10:12	#21
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	Quote: Originally Posted by onephat I'm male There are currently no LLU operators at all at my exchange but infinity is on the way. I had a mailshot from BT offering 40gb useage the payg tv and skysports for the mid £40's a month. Sport is very important. If i want with sky i'd be looking easily £49 for sky (1mix sports and espn) + broadband. Whatever broadband i pick its going to suck compared to what i have at the moment i guess. Your next concern should be 'shaping'. This is a phenonimum where the ISP reduces your bandwidth at peak times when you overstep what they think is a fair usage limit. BT are apalling for this. I was on their option three (unlimited) broadband but presumibly because I make a lot of Skype video calls my 4.5Mb connection plummeted to less than half a meg at about 4pm right through to midnight and all day at weekends. This made any video calling impossible and even audio calls were poor quality. You'll not have seen this before on VM (I'm lucky enough to have been able to return to them and now get 32Mbs off my 30Mbs connection 24/7) but I understand that Sky BB does not employ any 'shaping' on it's unlimited service. Perhaps PG might be able to confirm this.

14-06-2011, 10:15	#22
MP34L1fe Inactive Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Stalybridge Posts: 678	Quote: Originally Posted by MostynDS You're next concern should be 'shaping'. This is a phenonimum where the ISP reduces your bandwidth at peak times when you overstep what they think is a fair usage limit. BT are apalling for this. I was on their option three (unlimited) broadband but presumibly because I make a lot of Skype video calls my 4.5Mb connection plummeted to less than half a meg at about 4pm right through to midnight and all day at weekends. This made any video calling impossible and even audio calls were poor quality. You'll not have seen this before on VM (I'm lucky enough to have been able to return to them and now get 32Mbs off my 30Mbs connection 24/7) but I understand that Sky BB does not employ any 'shaping' on it's unlimited service. Perhaps PG might be able to confirm this. only shaping I get is on Torrents and that is tiny, Newsgroups are not affected as I always dl at 30 meg (my Infinity speed), you seem to be the worst affected by shaping that I have ever seen Mostyn, Virgin were appaling when I had their dsl product could never get past 1 meg had to threaten them with legal action to get out of the contract they were that bad!

DS Forums

Honest Review Of BT Vision Please

14-06-2011, 11:06	#23
scotty2808 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 435	Honest review of Vision: Brilliant ~2years back. Now starting to show it's age with the lack of HD channels and (inclusive) HD content in the Gold Pack. I have been pitching for sometime about next gen stuff and stuff such as multicast (which will allow linear TV transmission) and improved VOD will significantly change what BT offer in the next 1-2years with the proposed changes in infrastructure (eg. CDN and WCC). As a short term - Vision is good value product and I use it a lot. Some plus points: Still good for a range of VOD - picture quality good. Still good for new iPlayer service launched. Good library of HD Films on PPV are good - about 80 HD films plus some 3D. HD Films have changed the download mechanism and are now faster to download. Film Club is handy. Many of the films will have been on TV recently but FilmClub has no adverts! Sky Sports & ESPN package good value. Freeview picture quality is good. My conclusion - You can wrap up line rental/phone/broadband/tv/iPlayer/Film Club (~70films a week) and sport for under £60 a month if you can get a good deal. Also - if still available the "Line Rental Saver" offer is worth taking up. Reduces line rental to £10 per month.

14-06-2011, 18:48	#24
kesterwww Inactive Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 84	I can also say that I'm not affected by traffic shaping on BT, with exception of Torrents. My DL speed is usually 37.5mbps and will maybe dip to around 33meg at busiest times. I know this isn't about BroadBand, but it is relevant to BT Vision. Also, don't like to get caught up in petty arguments about which service is better. I have no problem with Sky, in fact I get Sky Player on the xbox for the sports channels, but am looking at taking it with BT as a cheaper option, even though I'd lose a few of the channels plus the on demand content on there, such as premiers league games. As for ESPN on BTV, it is free with a one off payment of £10 for the viewing card. But you don't get ESPN 2, Classic or America. Just the TUTV version which starts broadcasting around 11am.

14-06-2011, 19:31	#25
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	Quote: Originally Posted by MP34L1fe only shaping I get is on Torrents and that is tiny, Newsgroups are not affected as I always dl at 30 meg (my Infinity speed), you seem to be the worst affected by shaping that I have ever seen Mostyn, Virgin were appaling when I had their dsl product could never get past 1 meg had to threaten them with legal action to get out of the contract they were that bad! My shaping affected everything except Vision as the QoS took care of that, but as there was nothing worth watching on there, it was academic. My shaping was triggered by Skype (a P2P network like bitTorrent) but affected everything I did on the internet. Browsing, eMail, Messenger, FTP, Usenet etc, etc. I seem to remember seing BTs keeness to use shaping discussed to death over and over again on the broadband forum and even on this one in the past.