Forum Discussion

elyuw's avatar
elyuw
On our wavelength
4 days ago

Are there any benefits going from Tivo to TV 360?

We just got an email saying we can get a TV 360 Upgrade for free, which means we'll get the most out of our services.

But it says they can't transfer saved programmes (not an issue, we don't have any) or Series Links (which would be a huge pain to recreate). Plus, we might be moving away from VM in about 15 months, so I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.

So, are there any benefits people have found that make it worthwhile?

One thing I use a lot is FFWD, which still shows the picture on screen rather than just jumping forward 10 secs (or whatever). Does the TV 360 do that?

 

8 Replies

  • Tavis75's avatar
    Tavis75
    Super solver

    The 360 has a few extra apps and voice control (if you can be bothered to use it and don't use a universal remote), but is missing a lot of features compared to the V6\TiVo.

    Some of the missing features are as follows; Quickplay (play 10% faster with audio), Wishlists (where you can set the box to record programs on certain subjects or featuring certain people), undelete, series link+, suggestions, setting of series links for programs not in the current TV guide, ethernet control, keyboard support via USB, turning off the mini-preview screen while browsing menus, switching between tuners with constant buffering, skip-back on fast-forward, default recording options, cancelling individual recordings from a series link, multi-channel series links, radio channels allowing recording of radio, separation of recordings between boxes, watching recordings when internet is not available and probably a few others I've forgotten.

    Also, extra boxes do not have their own hard disks or tuners (unless converted from a V6 box), so you lose storage space and recording ability and are also reliant on the main box being on to watch and set recordings and also on having a decent wi-fi signal (or ethernet cable) between the two boxes when watching recordings. If the boxes are used by independent family members i.e. older children living at home, then there is also the issue of recordings being pooled across all boxes, so everyone's recordings are mixed up, rather than being separated. This also means that if there is a show that both people watch and one person watches and deletes it then it is gone for the other person as well, and can't be recovered due to the lack of undelete.

  • japitts's avatar
    japitts
    Very Insightful Person

    Fundamentally TiVo-firmware (driving TiVo & V6 boxes) and Horizon-firmware (marketed in the UK as TV360) are very different. TiVo-software was designed in a recording-centric environment and has had streaming & VoD added. TV360 is designed the opposite way, where online is first & recording comes second.

    Series links are one area where the functionality differs between the two.

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta

    Of course the 360 has advantages. It's far more powerful than the old TiVo which is on its way out, supports a much greater range of apps like 5, BBC iPlayer, Apple TV+, BBC Sounds, Channel 4, Disney+, ITVX, Netflix, Paramount+, Prime Video, Sky Sports+, U and YouTube. It's UHD and HDR. A major benefit is voice control which I use all the time.

    • elyuw's avatar
      elyuw
      On our wavelength

      Fair enough.

      None of that is relevant to me, though. We use a Roku stick for all streaming needs, and hate voice control. The Tivo is used purely as a DVR box, for which it does the job perfectly well. 

  • Tavis75 answer covers all the TiVo features that the 360 doesn't have, if you are thinking of leaving Virgin in 15 months time you could try the swap to 360 knowing that if you still have the TiVo V6 box you will still keep a box with recording facility because it will just receive a software update, not sure what the default box replacement is if you have an old TiVo box, you might need to specify you want a box that can record.

    If you do decide to leave Virgin in 15 months you might only be offered a streaming service with no box recordings which seems to be the way both Sky and Virgin are going.

     

  • elyuw's avatar
    elyuw
    On our wavelength

    Thanks for the replies. I think we'll stick with what we have. None of the 360 benefits are benefits to us. 

  • Hi,

    This is good to know, we've had a V6 box for many years - I think we had a TiVo box but can't remember.

    On another post I made last week I was surprised (but also thankful to be told) that Virgin is going for the stream only boxes now by default - I didn't even know they did those.

    The fact that you can't record on them is a big no no for us so we'll always go for a recording one.

    Based on this post I will make sure we get a V6.  That thing about recordings being shared on the 360 would be really annoying.

    What I have noticed however is the standard of V6 box you get varies. 

    We had a box that was really slow to respond, would heat up etc.  When we'd had enough of it it was swapped for one that was much better.

    Years later that died and we were given a new one.... which is yet again a slow clunky one.

    This year we'll be moving into our new house and we'll be getting Virgin in 2 rooms.  I assume it's not a problem asking for a 2 V6 boxes.

    What are our rights if we have another crappy one?  We normally just put up with it but can we ask for one that works?