GEtting TIVO next Saturday...any other AOS'ers have it?

[Gazjam]

Moving from V+ to 1TB tivo..should be good.

Any others have it?
What do you think compared to V+?


thanks.

[Jonboy]

funny you should mention that as we are about to change as well, our hd box keeps playing up, you book in and record your programs as normal and they don't record, the menu says it is now critcal on the hard drive for space, so we delete a couple of half hour programs and then we have 25hrs or more free :scratch: :steam:

I hope the Tevo is better

[Reid Malenfant]

Sorry guys I'm not that up on information about these things :eyebrows:

However, when I used to use a DVD recorder with built in HDD to record from TV transmissions & the HDD space got low there were a couple of options. A defrag to create a big space or remove consecutive stuff to also leave a big space ;)

If you just remove odd programs here & there then you may not effectively have a big enough space to record a program in one lump & these things might not like it? :scratch:

No idea, just my experience with Pioneer DVD recorders with an HDD. Something tells me Pioneer would somehow be better than any set top box thing a magig ;)

[Ali Tait]

Yes, you need to periodically defrag your sky box. Most folk don't realise this, so that's why some get problems.

[sparrow]

The only thing that puts me off getting a Tivo is tha there are no audio outputs in the back..I might have to get one soon though as our V+ box is very tempremental.:mental:

[allsorts]

2points. A pvr(personal video recorder) works better when a number of recordings are deleted at one time rather than deleting one at a time. This is from my pvr manual. Hard drives also supposedly run better with 10-20% free space. Recordings for archiving may need to be copied to another hard drive.

Over here in Oz, the TiVo brand is actually controlled/ owned by the TV companies and many of its better features ie ad jumping have been nobbled.
Is this the case in UK?

[mattross]

I have had the 1TB Tivo from launch. It's very good now they've just finished upgrading the software on it. Was a bit iffy before with random reboots and the red ring of death (where the UI got stuck a lot). Can now be be remote controlled as Virgin have enabled the ethernet port on the back. I'd recommend it if you're a TV junkie like me!

[Arfa]

Did I read that the new Virgin TIVO box has (or will have) a Spotify client too?

How responsive are the menu's? Both in browsing recordings/schedules and in normal live TV and on demand gubbins? I've got a basic HD box at the moment (no PVR). Works fine, but bloody slow browsing listings and on demand stuff.

[Alex_UK]

Did I read that the new Virgin TIVO box has (or will have) a Spotify client too?

How responsive are the menu's? Both in browsing recordings/schedules and in normal live TV and on demand gubbins? I've got a basic HD box at the moment (no PVR). Works fine, but bloody slow browsing listings and on demand stuff.

No idea on the box speed etc., but yes, Spotify Premium is now available on Tivo boxes according to Virgin. http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/broadband-extras/spotify.html?buspart=Spotify_1

[RichB]

we're also having virgin tivo installed on friday, just in time to record all the rubbish christmas tv!

i believe it has optical audio outs, (it better have as I've just picked up a toslink cable from maplins) and my old virgin box had no audio outs. I was having to use a scart with rca breakouts which actually sounded surprisingly good into the arcam solo neo.

Getting it installed and activiated for free after spending some time on the phone to virgin complaining about the lack or audio outs on their boxes.

Will try the toslink into my standac and then to the arcam, interested in seeing how the youtube and spotify apps will work given that scrolling and menus on previous virgin boxes have been painfully slow.

will report back here to let you have my opinions after it is installed.

[RichB]

whilst i was in maplins i also picked up one of their 6way mains conditioning extension things.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/6-way-mains-conditioner-plus-rfi-filter-for-home-cinema-and-hi-fi-46830

any views on these? only 40 notes so perhaps worth a try... and can always find a use for the extra sockets... perhaps a different thread?

[Arfa]

Got a couple of them Tacima mains strips. These tend to come in and out of fashion (like a lot of gear). In the past, they've been heavily discounted to £25 ish. Might be worth a shop around.

Either way, in my setup, I'm pretty sure I heard some difference with my turntable. This was before I had a Heed Orbit regenerating mains box. So my guess is, it cleaned up the mains a little and stablised the decks speed - perhaps. Didn't notice much else, better or worse.

They been in for a few years now, not tried swapping them out, so couldn't say if they still make a difference with my current kit. Can't be arsed TBH. They were cheap at the time, they protect against surges, that's good enough for me! My Dad has lost a lot of kit through surges in the past, but he is in the sticks.

[icehockeyboy]

Re the Tacima stuff

I have been an advocate of them since I got mine, but recently noticed a lot of folk here saying the Belkin PF 30 was so much better.

Anyway, couldn't get one, so, again as recommended by an AOS member, bought an F9G623UK 6 way, rrp nearly £60, for less than £12, and it seemingly blew the Tac out of the water!

Bad new is they are all sold out at that price, but you can still find them for less than £30 generally.

My thoughts are if you are thinking of shelling out up to £40 for a Tac, don't! Get the Belkin, it is a lot better SQ wise.

Erm.......sorry if you have just bought a Tac.......:rolleyes:

[twelvebears]

I've had the V+ Tivo box for about a month now and really like it. Came back to Virgin from Sky because although Sky's picture quality is defo better, it just wasn't cost effective to have a split service using both Sky and Virgin just to get the best of both (Sky's ADSL broadband can't touch Virgin's flawless 50Mb cable service).

I really like the way Virgin have seamlessly integrated the various internet on-demand services into the TV guide.

Have always like the Tivo system having had it years back as a stand-alone system (which was admittedly a PITA to get set-up properly), and it really is worth using the :thumbsup: to 'train' it with what you do and don't like.

[RichB]

hi all,

as promised thought i'd pop back and give you the update on the new Tivo from virgin installed last week.

Overall positive, have audio connected to standac via optical out on tivo... sounds pretty good. Menus and browsing tv guide etc is a doddle and dead fast, recording function straightforward (Mrs B has mastered it so we'll never miss a certain cockney soap again, phew lol)

Apps are definately a stong point, spotify, youtube and iplayer all working pretty good, fast to load and browse Indeed to give its audio a run i found a load of porcupine tree on youtube and just let it play. Didnt let the system down at all.

Cant really comment on the whole thumbs up/down function, been using them and the box is supposedly meant to get smarter recommending stuff I'd like... perhaps it takes time to build recommendations from these.

Picture quality is definately improved, although i do have bad eyesight so will have to sit closer to the tv when playing hd stuff to really spot the difference. Access to HD channels as part of the package is a plus. Its the 500GB version we've got, i've recorded about 5 or 6 movies from over the christmas and never had it past 11% full.

Also, added the tacima 6 way mains conditioner to the system... if i'm not mistaken the sound is now a bit more laid back... neither bad nor good, as others have said its probably worth the money for surge protection so i'll leave it in. Not a massive improvement but not a huge difference either.

[Gmanuk101]

yep, I've just had tivo installed on saturday (27th jan 2012). Was with SKY HD. To me the picture quality is superior, the box is also superior too as is the software on the box.

I know sky HD was 720i or p not sure, but the Tivo you can have 1080i. Or 1080p at max 24fps.

[sparrow]

Getting a Tivo instale tomorrow...can't be worse than my V+ box which is very slow and crashes far too often.