Virgin preps step-down Tivo box
Cheaper, 500GB DVR in-bound
Virgin Media will release a lower-capacity version of its Tivo-based cable box next month.
The current model, which the company has been teasing its £30.50-a-month XL TV subscribers with, packs in a 1TB hard drive and three separate tuners.
The new version has three tuners too, but only 500GB of programme storage capacity, will be pitched not only at XL subscribers but also folk on Virgin's £12.50pm M+ and £18.50pm L telly packages too.
The box is expected to cost £49.95 up front, as per the current V+ HD set-top box, and there's an extra monthly fee for the Tivo functionality too. It's not yet clear whether buyers will also need to upgrade their broadband to the 50Mb/s package.
Virgin will say more closer to the launch. ®
COMMENTS
Pfff
I still can't get a new Virgin package with the 1Tb TiVo anyway - all I seem to be able to sign up for is the V+ HD box. Seriously, they've only been bigging up the damn TiVo for nearly a year now and only celebs and triallers seem to be able to get their mitts on them. If they even exist at all. So who cares about a non-existent 500Gb version?
Sweet merciful Jeebus, given how long it take these muppets to get a product to market, we'll all have the Alzheimer's before we see it. At least all our shows will seem like new again.
Good! £200 is way too expensive for the 1TB box
Virgin just seem to be taking the p*ss more and more with various things lately - the price for the 1TB TiVo box is just stupid - why not invest some more money in some of Sky's offerings / technology that people want? (Remote recording / remote viewing for instance) - for a supposedly superior network they are p*ss poor at utilising it.
I would be tempted with this cheaper version 500GB is plenty for what I need - but mainly because my V+ box is so sh*t at doing anything faster than 1mph and loves resetting mid recording.
Not to mention even thinking about using your box after midnight as it is completely unusable.
No thanks
I'm on the TV XL package and 20MB broadband and I won't be upgrading - its expensive enough already and I've already got a PVR that comes with that plan that does the job well enough. Okay so it doesn't "know" me and record stuff just in case I might want to watch it, but then I'm quite happy to check out the listing mag once in a while and if I've missed something, so be it - someone will repeat it soon enough on one of the other channels and if I still miss it, so what, its not the end of the world...
Monthly fee
I have no interest as long as there's an *additional* monthly fee. If I'm paying up-front for the box anyway, I'd like to be able to use the box without an additional subscription. What is the subscription for anyway, all the hard work is done by the box itself with the exception of the TV guide and I can't imagine that costs as much as [monthly fee] * [number of subscribers] to provide.
Plus I bet it doesn't have an Android app like the Sky+ box does...
I wish there was an open standard for cable TV that meant you could buy your own hardware to plug in.
Pi$$ taking alright
If they offered a discount to "loyal" customers, not the crappy one they offer at the moment. and gave me back the money I already coughed up for the XL HD box then I would consider the 1TB box, if the only way they can drop the price is with a 500GB box I'd rather have Sky's 1TB box, at that is saying something as I hate Sky.
