VirginMedia gets TiVo

Feathers · October 18, 2011, 08:11:58 AM

Looks like the news is a little old but it seems that VirginMedia (probably the only cable company in the UK these days) now has 500Gb/1Tb TiVo devices instead of the usual DVR offering.

This is probably a good thing but as I have no real idea what a TiVo offers over and above any other hard disk recorder, I can't really say.

Should I be considering switching from Sky+ for this?

Rico · October 18, 2011, 08:24:59 AM

Love my TIVO! Never misses a show, guide info is vastly superior to other DVR's. Works like a champ. But didn't TIVO get dropped in the UK not too long ago?

Feathers · October 18, 2011, 08:27:17 AM

Quote from: Rico on October 18, 2011, 08:24:59 AM
Love my TIVO! Never misses a show, guide info is vastly superior to other DVR's. Works like a champ. But didn't TIVO get dropped in the UK not too long ago?

I don't know, it never really had much publicity over here. Virigin are pushing it heaviliy on TV now so it looks like their exclusive deal may have been part of the dropping of 'normal' TiVo services over here.

Rico · October 18, 2011, 08:31:20 AM

I think I heard that sometime on a tech podcast. Plus, I'm not sure this would be the same type of TIVO I'm used to using. Other nice thing about TIVO over here is I can take shows and dump them off to my PC, convert them if I want and then put them on a portable device. Or just use a nice big hard drive on my PC as a media network storage device. Not sure many other DVR's out there can do that.

billybob476 · October 18, 2011, 08:36:36 AM

Yeah we've had it here for a few years and it's just not that popular.

X · October 18, 2011, 08:42:05 AM

Tivo is awesome. The just updated the HD menus and I'm playing with it now. You can stream from your PC and transfer programs from Tivo to Tivo. You can also, with the desktop software, auto encode shows without copy protection (everything except premium tv) to your devices to watch on the go.

Did I mention that you can also boost storage on most Tivos using a ESata equipped external drive?

Meds · October 18, 2011, 08:42:38 AM

My mate Pete has had a Tivo virgin box for about 6 months now and he loves it. I'd have one but we dont have any virgin cable laid down here.

X · October 18, 2011, 08:43:26 AM

virgin cable laid down ....

Feathers · October 18, 2011, 08:47:09 AM

This is the TiVo publicity from Virgin.

http://tivo.virginmedia.com/discover

I haven't read it in detail yet but it seems to do more in terms of recording options (i.e. it will find the new series when it starts instead of me having to worry about it etc.) Not sure about the other details you've described.

Dangelus · October 18, 2011, 11:07:11 AM

Quote from: Rico on October 18, 2011, 08:31:20 AM
I think I heard that sometime on a tech podcast. Plus, I'm not sure this would be the same type of TIVO I'm used to using. Other nice thing about TIVO over here is I can take shows and dump them off to my PC, convert them if I want and then put them on a portable device. Or just use a nice big hard drive on my PC as a media network storage device. Not sure many other DVR's out there can do that.

Yeah we can't do that here, that feature is disabled. :(

I considered getting a TiVo box to replace my current V+ HD Virgin DVR but they were asking too much money for it. I couldn't justify the cost considering how little TV we watch. Most of my TV watching is sourced from the Internet these days, streaming and downloads.

I was a Windows Media Center user for many years and I used to record my TV from an attached DVB-S2 satellite card. I had the system perfected to record and cut commercials etc but I moved to cable simply because I was streaming more than watching live tv. Other media software such as XBMC is far superior or this although Media Center is still the bet choice for recording TV (without having to pay a premium for cable or satellite).

bevs_plaything · October 18, 2011, 01:21:55 PM

I have been toying with get the new Tivo box for months now. Originally Virgin Media was only offering the 500gig box, but the 1 TB box seems to be available now. Prices have come down, and activation is currently free! Some of the features on the box sound rathering interesting to me!! :)

Dangelus · October 18, 2011, 02:21:19 PM

Apart from the ability to record premium channels which you obviously can do with a regular box, the features are limited compared to an HTPC :)

Meds · October 18, 2011, 02:40:06 PM

Quote from: X on October 18, 2011, 08:43:26 AM
virgin cable laid down ....

Yeah for cable, we dont have it in our town.

X · October 18, 2011, 06:38:53 PM

Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on October 18, 2011, 02:40:06 PM
Quote from: X on October 18, 2011, 08:43:26 AM
virgin cable laid down ....

Yeah for cable, we dont have it in our town.

LOL ... that's not what I meant ... some of those words have slang meaning here and it could come off as something sexual to some people reading it.

Meds · October 18, 2011, 11:55:15 PM

Ha ha oh i see what you mean.