There's much to like about Virgin Media TiVo. For existing Virgin Media customers, it's miles better than the old, slow box underneath your TV and definitely a worthwhile upgrade.
For everyone else, it's not such a must-have. TiVo has the potential to be the perfect PVR, but we can't help feeling that what's needed is the perfect on-demand box. There are too many niggles, inconsistencies and annoyances at the moment, although things may get better in time as the software is improved.
We have been very pleased with both the TiVo box and the Virgin Media service in general. The box works perfectly and the menus and content are easy to access as well as fast to use. Picture quality has been very good throughout; especially pleasing is the SD upscaling, which feels like a step up from Sky’s HD service. Sound is another area in which the TiVo box outclasses Sky; the HDMI Dolby Digital 5.1 is far better quality to our ears than the optical only Sky HD box and even improves basic 2.1/2.0 content too.
Virgin TiVo is a great step up for the company and we really hope that they keep improving the service with new channels as well as fixing some of the small niggling issues that are within the TiVo software. If they do, they could be doing some great things for the future of TV in the UK.
The TiVo looks very nice, is generally speedy and is packed with potential – the Games & Apps feature allows for future enhancements which could see the TiVo become the centre of a home’s entertainment world.
But as product being sold right now it should be measured on what it actually does, not what it might do in a few weeks or months. And on that basis it falls short of expectations.
Thought it has good points and obvious potential, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a product awaiting software updates to implement features most users would expect as standard.
Largely, however, the TiVo is a resounding success. It’s more responsive than the Virgin V+ box and generally easier to use. It’s far more powerful, packed with clever features and boasts more capacity. The only criticism we have is over the “activation” pricing of the 1TB box – £150 is way too expensive for a box you’ll never own, particularly as Virgin Media is asking you to spend an extra £3 per month after that.
So that just leaves the 500GB box at £50, and we’d say at this price it’s worth an upgrade. For anyone who’s struggled with the clunky interface of the V+ box and cursed its restrictive capacity, it will come as a breath of fresh air, a shaft of sunlight after a summer thunderstorm. We urge you to order one as soon as you can.
When it first appeared, TiVo was well ahead of its time. UK viewers can now have a TiVo suited for video-on-demand and HD, in addition to its many other assets, but there are rough edges that need sorting, such as the fragmented TV catch-up situation and the over zealous PIN protection that, at the time of writing, can’t be deactivated.
Overall, it’s an impressive and promising (re)start. While some people may prefer the familiar simplicity of Sky+, others will welcome this smart recorder with open arms – and thumbs resoundingly up.
If you’ve got a V+ box at present then TiVo is a huge step forward and worth the extra £3 a month for anyone who watches more than the most minimal amount of TV. The interface is improved, the content is easier to find, plus you can record much, much more of it. At present the 500GB box is a much better deal for existing subscribers at £50, with the 1TB box looking overpriced by comparison.
It’s hard to put a score on a device like this, as its pricing and usefulness is inextricably linked to Virgin Media’s other offerings. However, it’s simply a must-have for the vast majority of those on the TV cable service, and a serious weapon in Virgin Media’s armoury to tempt current ADSL and Freeview users into the world of cable services - so we’ve given it our Best Buy award.
Virgin have taken a huge step forward and brought their PVR kicking and screaming into the new decade and while it has a few niggles that need sorting out, it has been worth the wait! I highly recommend upgrading, the disk space alone is worth it if you tend to record a lot of HD. With Tivo prepared to defend their patent portfolio aggressively in court (as shown by their long running court case with Echostar) a lot of these features may never make it to other PVRs and this should give Sky plenty of restless nights.
Virgin Media Powered By TiVo is a step into the future where television can be viewed on your terms. With its 1TB hard drive, three tuners and unique learning brain, TiVo could change the way we watch television but this is very much a first foray into the future rather than a fully developed solution. The TiVo box is the most powerful set top out there at the moment and it has laid down the challenge for everyone else to follow.
...While there are certainly some drawbacks, Virgin Media freely admit that this is just the beginning and the powerful box offers so much more than any of its competitors do. Its unique learning brain will bring you to television places you could only have dreamed of. It will introduce you to shows you will love (and hate) and will help you view television in the way you want to view it. The potential for growth is huge with TiVo and if Virgin Media get it right then it will set the standard for how we watch TV for a long time into the future.
So far, the Virgin TiVo box is looking good, but we need to spend more time with it before issuing our final verdict. We'll have a full review in the June issue of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, on sale from May 10th.In the meantime, Andy praised the BBC iPlayer app and the Catch-Up EPG, but:
...the biggest improvement is the inclusion of TiVo technology. For those not familiar with it, it's been a big hit in the States but less so (so far) over here.Read the full article at What Hi-Fi.
Essentially TiVo analyses your viewing habits and the box uses smart technology to record automatically shows it thinks you might like. Very nifty. You can help it decide which programmes you like by using the thumbs up/thumbs down button on the remote (see below).
Press the thumbs up button three times and it will record similar genres of programme to the one you've rated highly; give a programme three thumbs down and it will know not to record that type of programming.
While the usability issues are annoying, this is a big improvement on the old box. The menus are slicker, it’s easier to find the shows you want, and the remote is well laid out and simple to use. And the extras, though nice, are far from a deal breaker. The price will be a little high for some, with a £199 one off fee, £26.50 a month for the XL TiVo package of over 160 channels (including a phone line; it’s £32.50 a month without), and a £40 installation fee. It’s a shame, because if the price came down and the basic usability issues were ironed out, this’d really give Sky HD a run for its money.
Will it keep the TiVo fans and television nuts happy? Yes. Is it the most powerful box on the market? Yes. But is it better than Sky's flagship 1TB Sky+ HD box? Not yet. And it won't be until it's given a much needed polish.
We hope that the blips will be quickly wiped out as Virgin Media gathers feedback and improves its product, and we're always impressed by a product that gives you the power to do something seriously cool.
Perhaps the most important point about the TiVo box is that it takes the best points about being on cable – fast internet, instant HD on demand and the capacity to quickly suck in data, and makes them more fun, more usable and more powerful.Read the full review at TechRadar, and compare Virgin Media TiVo to Sky's HD 1TB box in the PVR Comparison Document.
Sky's deep pockets, greater range of context and simpler user interface remain a powerful force in British pay-television, but finally we have a challenger with the power and the hardware to genuinely mount a challenge. And with a bit of polish, The Virgin Media powered by TiVo box will become the finest PVR on the market.
The Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo is one of the best TV innovations we have seen released into the UK market, and it easily trumps the Sky+ HD box in both looks and functionality.Note that the £199 price is for new customers. Existing customers (at least, those lucky enough to have received a TiVo) have reported on various forums paying £149 for the box. The 'few pounds more a month' is actually £3 extra per month for both new and existing customers, plus a one-off charge of £40 for installation.
At a £199 install price, and only a few pounds more a month, it’s comparatively reasonable in price too.
It should be noted that you have to be on the Virgin XL TV pack to be eligible for TiVo at present, but we are sure this will change over time.
If you are already an XL customer, we highly recommend upgrading to the TiVo service – it really will change the way you watch TV forever, and if you are a Sky customer coming to the end of your contract – maybe now is the time to ditch the dish and enter the world of fibre optic.
We are enormously impressed by the TiVo box, and we have no doubt that this is a better product than either the Sky+ HD box or the forthcoming YouView box.
The User Interface looks great and vastly improves search and discovery. That is before the forthcoming tablet and mobile applications. Our favourite bit is that [Virgin] now has total flexibility between nVOD based on their catch-up service, and user defined record+play through the PVR functionality - and it’s all done in a easy to understand way.
....What sets the box apart is that there is an in-built modem with a dedicated 10-meg connection to the Internet on totally separate bandwidth to normal household access. No-one else will be able to match this fire power. There are rumours suggesting that the reason for the dedicated bandwidth is that there is content caching and p2p technology within the box which will further improve experience within cable network segments as penetration increases.
This follows a key principle of network theory - the cheapest and wisest place to put intelligence is at the edge of the network. It relegates BT’s Content Connect service to a second rate citizen before it is even launched.
That is before the all the other features and upstream benefits that the TiVo platform offers, especially in the area of audience measurement and advert insertion - which will become more critical as more TV consumption moves from linear to on-demand. In addition, the TiVo box has the ability to add applications, such as games, within a well-known flash-development environment.
The [Virgin] plan that the TiVo box is a product for all their customers is eminently sensible and follows BSkyB’s simple-is-better philosophy. There is a 3-to-4 year timeframe to replace their current Liberate platform in all their homes. However, BSkyB definitely have a big head start with most of their c. 3m HD-boxes ready for the on-demand upgrade.
Curbing our enthusiasm, this is currently a strategic advantage, but it is one which is replicable over time. TiVo is a great partner, but whether they can keep up with the rate of industry innovation is another matter.
So there you have it the Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo box – not just an upgrade for the company, but perhaps television per se. At £199, the “activation fee” may seem steep to some, especially when combined with the £40 installation cost and £3 per month extra on the bill, but not only is it cheaper than Sky’s initial HD device was when it was launched, it’s also a small price to pay for a remarkably powerful slice of technology.
It does suffer from the occasional gltch, after all these are early days and teething troubles are to be expected, but it is undoubtedly the future of TV. And it’s here. Now.
Once you’ve spent some time navigating around the gloriously designed menu structure and search functionality, you may never want to rely on plain old linear TV again. It’s all well and good having a billion HD channels, but if you can’t choose what to watch when you want to watch it, and in such style to boot, then what’s the point. There’s never anything good on.
There is on Virgin Media’s TiVo box.
As for the good stuff, well, let's just start by saying that for the last week, all I've been thinking about is "TiVo's coming back!" and ever since the install, I've had a huge grin on my face when watching TV. TiVo just makes you feel better. No matter how many bells and whistles and features, etc, TiVo simply makes TV watching, recording and exploring enjoyable. None of that is lost with this Virgin Media TiVo.Meanwhile, Cable Forums poster pythagoras has posted several screenshots from using you-know-what.
...the early indications are that this could be the best set-top box on the market – with only Sky's superior content offering allowing it to compete with a well-designed, intuitive and, frankly, superior user interface in a world of video on demand, catch up and web apps.
...Our final early impressions are that this is an exciting and thoroughly modern new offering from Virgin Media, which will not only be exciting to current customers but might just lure others to the black, red and gold side.
It is, quite simply, stunning. Both super quick and intuitive, there's a raft of cunning technologies whizzing about behind the scenes that make for the most pleasant TV experience on the market today.
Virgin Media's TiVo box looks like it will be amazing, giving Virgin TV the clear, logical, user-friendly menus it has always lacked. If it works as expected, TiVo's ability to record what it thinks you like will be a killer feature.
