Virgin Media V+ service

[Tim Procter]

[quote=Kwickkwack;195009]
Oh yes and does the phone have to be connected to do the update[/quote]


Good question.:confused:

[machasm]

I don't know if it will work with the sky+ box but worth a try.
As far as the phone line goes then no.
The update is downloaded in the same way as tv programs are.
i.e. it is a data stream sent down via the sattelite itself.

[ChrisB]

Great info here.

I am on my 4th Sky Plus box in 2 years,this one has been the most reliable at just over a year old but has started to fail the odd recording and when you come down in the morning its switched on where it was left on standby the night before,this usually means when you try to use it the live pause wont work or playback will result in it crashing.Rebooting it normally clears it for a while.

I have nearly watched all the programs in my planner so when i manage to get it empty i am going to do a full system reset as in the installers menu option as recommended by Sky.I have tried several planner rebuilds but i cannot clear this unstable running lately.

I am also going to disable Anytime TV as i dont use this and it causes the box to be running much more downloading all the content i dont even want.This is done overnight i have been told which may be part of my problem.

Like Phil said,its a bit like last chance saloon really,i dont want to do away with Sky Plus but i am being drawn to trying the Virgin package.

Thanks again for all the input from everyone.

[heliTV]

I have V+ and find it really good. I was worried when Virgin took over Telewest that the customer service would suffer but if anything its better. I had a fault on the V+ box, called the support centre at 9 in the morning and an engineer had replaced it by 11 - that's what I call good service...

My Mrs doesn't like satellite dishes on the house so cable was the only alternative and I have to say, i'm very pleased with it.

I have an HD TV but don't worry too much about it - truth is, many progs are still shot SD anyway so there's no real benefit in HD just yet unless the stuff you watch is shot HD. Most of the "satellite" content is SD repeats anyway!!!

Hope this helps

Graham

[flatspins]

When it is working properly, the V+ is good,
Being able to record 2 progs and watching another is handy.

We have had loads of problems with them though.

The box has packed up a couple of times and needed replacing, the phoneline has been a constant nightmare, not allowing incoming calls.

Their customer service has been shocking everytime somthing has gone wrong.

They just dont want to help.
Wont send anyone out to look at it untill you have phoned them every day for a fortnight.

Been without tv for 2 weeks a couple of times
Been without the phone for 3 months.

They have no interest in helping, it is so frustrating trying to deal with them.

Threatened to stop paying until it was fixed, all they said was they would sue us for breaking he contract.
Demanded to speak to a supervisor, they wouldn't do it.
Wrote o them, and finally got it back on.
Wouldn't give s anything off our bill, or even a couple of free pay per veiw films.
Our contract runs out shortly, can't wait to change back to Sky

[Aidi]

Chris,

I had V+ for just over a year. As a whole its pretty good. One thing i would say is whenever you speak with Virgin with regards to problem etc Note the Time, date and who you spoke to and if possible get a direct number to call them on. A couple of times when i needed assistance i would be told someone will call you back etc etc and it never happend. When i called again they said they had no record of the original call.

Oh, and its best to call during normal working hours... And spk to someone in the UK. The call center on the other side of the world can deal with minor problems, but they just read off scripts and are not really that useful. Ashame its like this but its the truth.

Over all i liked it..

Rgds
Aidi

[SRH990]

We swapped from Sky to Virgin Media for TV a few months ago. My Sky+ box was on it's third hard drive and recordings were failing plus other problems so I looked at the cost of a V+ box, we already had a standard cable box so not a huge problem. As we already had the broadband & phone we went for the VIP package so installation was very cheap and we've got the second box relocated in our bedroom. Picture quality is pretty close to Sky imho, certainly good enough for picture quality to become a problem. The V+ box upscales and is connected to our 40" LCD via HDMI, stations with high bandwidth are pretty good, low bandwidth stations like Eurosport & Motors are passable.

I did ring SKy to see what they would offer as I was considering a Sky HD box and had been offered one for £150, best they could do was £270 :eek:, ended up with cable and paying quite a bit less plus Sky 1,2 & 3 are now back on. A month or two later Sky offered me an HD box installed for £50.

[ChrisB]

Thanks again all.

I have not needed to speak to anybody from Virgin regarding anything fault related since they were NTL and i remember the support was poor then.

I turned off the Anytime TV on my Sky plus box last night and will run it for a few days to see if it is any more reliable,also i only have an episode of Frost and a couple of documentries to watch then the hard drive is empty so i can do a full system reset.I have not got a DVD recorder or anything at present to dump them on to first.

If it behaves then i will stick with it,failing that i will give Sky a call and see what they offer me,failing that i will go for the V+.