Forum Discussion

nitapet's avatar
nitapet
Tuning in
21 days ago

TV 360 feedback

We get this issue too. We were downgraded to the 360 without any explanation or choice when our TIVO box died. The engineer just said he was giving us a new box. We weren't given a choice.

The 360 is truly appalling. So many features are missing, the interface is unfriendly, search is awful and often won't find what we are looking for and then we find we have missed a show. Now resort to doing an internet search for what we want to watch then scrolling through the guide to set the record.

It is glitchy, stuttery and unreliable.

We often get failed or partial recordings or it simply doesn't record something we know we set to record. Yesterday it recorded 43 mins of a 2-hour program, with nothing set to record before or after it on any channel, nothing happened to disrupt the recording, nobody touched the box during that time it just cut the recording after 43 mins. This is not unusual. Today I pressed record to catch the end of a show I was watching as I had to go out. It recorded 10 mins and cut off.

We are out of contract this month and realising that we are watching more freeview and streaming apps on our TV, its looking like it will be cheaper to pay for add free versions of apps than pay an inflated virgin subscription for a rubbish substandard box.

 

[Mod - title edited for clarity]

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person

    If it was an original TiVo box not a V6 TiVo box that what you get with a replacement. 

  • japitts's avatar
    japitts
    Very Insightful Person

    Both TiVo's and V6 are fault-replaced with V6 as a matter of course.

    TV360 is a completely different software platform, and conversions are completely voluntary. If yours was as you've described, you would appear to have a good case for complaint.

  • It was a V6 Tivo. Not that it makes any difference to the failed and partial recording problem with the 360. Whatever its replacing it not an excuse for a poor piece of kit that Virgin have the cheek to charge the same or more for.

    As I say we're out of contract and its looking like an HD freeview recorder and paid apps are going to be cheaper and more reliable for us.

    • japitts's avatar
      japitts
      Very Insightful Person

      its looking like an HD freeview recorder and paid apps are going to be cheaper and more reliable for us

      Just to give two examplea of where a recording box is still one up on this solution, ITV & C4 only allow skippable adverts on their programmes on the premium-levels, whereas recording from a FTA channel remains free.

      And if you regularly access any premium, pay and/or sports channels, you'll struggle to record/rewind from those with any of the streaming services - live viewing only for the most part.

      Just really to reinforce that "online-only" methods will never fully replicate the functionality of broadcast-recording. I agree that in this case, nitapet issues do seem a combination of fault & functionality.

      • nitapet's avatar
        nitapet
        Tuning in

        @jalpitts Thanks for trying to help but you are defending the indefensible. As a supposedly "insightful person" your reply made me laugh! Why do you all jump in and defend what is a ridiculous failure? It is actually difficult to find anyone (apart from the so-called superstars and insightful people on here) who has a good word to say about TV360. The only plus you seem to be able to find is voice control which lots of folks don't like and which is no use if the software it is controlling doesn't work properly.

        If you read my previous post, paid for apps (the premium add skipping ones) plus an HD recorder are going to be cheaper for us than paying close to £100 every month to virgin for a sub standard box. Recording FTA channels isn't "free" with virgin its part of a paid for subscription, and its useless if the recorder is unreliable.

        You are all quick to jump on the live sports bandwagon, we don't watch sport so "struggling" with that isn't an issue for us. 

        After over a decade as a Virgin customer it's sad to see Virgin defending such a rubbish bit of kit. If they just held their hands up and admitted it and committed to improving we might be tempted to stay but as it is we won't be signing up to another 18 months of this.

  • The quick answer is to make sure the box is set to fast start or active start and never switched off at the plug.

    If the answer to the above is this is how it's set up, what happens if you press record on another channel when you are watching something, does it record or do you still have problems.

  • Yes this is how it's set up.

    As stated in my original post it regularly cuts recordings short, even if nothing else is set to record at the same time, immediately before or after, and even when nobody touches the box or remote. To be clear its not just the beginning or end few minutes of a recording e.g. it lost 1hr 15 mins off a 2 hr show yesterday. Sometimes it just doesn't record stuff we know we have scheduled. 

    Suspiciously when we click on a partial / failed recording the "also available on" rail at the bottom will frequently direct us to buy it on the virgin store even when it is a film available free on player. (The search function does this too.)

    • roy247's avatar
      roy247
      Superstar

      You might have a faulty box / hard drive after the "update" to 360 some of the older V6 boxes don't like the change.

      As a test if you watch a film or the same channel for 2 to 3 hours you should be able to rewind to when you started watching, if you can't then you definitely have a faulty box.