Forum Discussion

Stefthepest1's avatar
Stefthepest1
Joining in
9 days ago

Existing TiVo on old TV. Is upgrade necessary?

Hi there 

I’m writing on behalf of my friend, she lives on her own and is in her 70s. She has a TiVo box and an elderly TV. She concerned she has to upgrade her box as she doesn’t know how to. She’s quite happy with TiVo at present but as I’ve read myself some of its features will gradually be phased out.

Would it be worth my friend buying a new smart TV? Do Virgin have support for elderly folk? She’s getting worried and is confused as to what she has to do.

If anybody can help I’d be very grateful 

thank you

6 Replies

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    9 days ago

    First question to ask is what channels does she watch?  Are they available via Freeview or Freely?  If so, then she doesn't need VM TV.   You can get a new Smart TV with Freely and/or a Freeview box.  Both Freely and Freeview are free to air, no subscriptions.

    • Stefthepest1's avatar
      Stefthepest1
      Joining in
      9 days ago

      Thanks for your help. I know she records a lot of programmes 

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    9 days ago

    She doesn't HAVE to upgrade. What VM calls an upgrade is a completely different way of operating the TV box, which elderly people in particular have found it difficult to use. 

    If her existing Tivo and TV are doing what she needs, she can stay with them. 

  • Tavis75's avatar
    Tavis75
    Super solver
    9 days ago

    At the moment it is mainly apps that are starting to disappear from the older boxes, specifically the original TiVo box, currently the V6 (also running the TiVo software) is less affected. Eventually VM are trying to move everyone over to the 360 and then Stream boxes but that's not happening yet.

    For now, she will be fine sticking with the older box unless she uses the affected apps and I would recommend doing that, the TiVo\V6 is far more focused on recording and handles it far better then the 360 which is geared more towards streaming (the Stream box does not record at all), the TiVo\V6 also has many features that are missing from the later boxes.

    When VM do eventually force the switch, the situation will have to be revisited, but at that point, there is always Freeview!

    • Stefthepest1's avatar
      Stefthepest1
      Joining in
      8 days ago

      Thank you so much that’s great I will let my friend know. Cheers!