Virgin Media TiVo 1TB review: Still going strong six years later

While not everyone can get Virgin Media’s wide range of cable services, it’s becoming much more widespread than you might think. It’s been over 6 years since Virgin Media started rolling out its Tivo-powered PVRs and the box has now become the core of the company’s Virgin Media TV offering akin to the Sky+ brand of its main competitor. Since then, a new competitor has arisen in the form of YouView, backed by BT and TalkTalk.

You might be familiar with the TiVo brand already, especially considering it’s become increasingly popular overseas in recent years rather than our land of Sky dominance. Interestingly, we did get a bit of TiVop action in the UK way back in 2000, with the first ever hard-disk based recorders, but they were a bit too ahead of their time. They didn’t sell all that many, and the Sky+ Box was the final nail in the coffin. Fast forward to the present, and we’ve had the TiVo box firmly in our homes for around 6 years now, but does it still hold up compared to its competitor’s offerings?

BLACK BOX

The box itself is pretty tasteful, all black with a bunch of not too bright LED indicators along the front. There’s a collection of useful buttons too, just in case you can’t find the remote. As usual, we wish that such boxes were as wide as standard Hi-Fi components and had flat tops, but it seems we’re on a losing battle with that one.

The TiVo box’s all-black finish is quiet and understated

On the rear of the box are all the ports you should need. The HDMI output is the only way to get HD video out of the box, as with previous V+ HD boxes there’s no component option, not that many people will be bothered by that these days. The SCART output is likely to be ignored by most too, as it doesn’t support HD signals. For those with an AV receiver that doesn’t support HDMI inputs, there’s an optical S/PDIF to hook it up.

As expected, the Ethernet port has never found a use, as the TiVo does all its communicating via its cable connection, the same goes for the two USB ports. Finally there’s the all-important smartcard slot, without which you won’t get very far – there’s still no Freesat equivalent for cable TV services.

TUNING IN

Inside there are three tuners, so you can record up to three shows at the same time, and even watch recorded or on-demand content while doing so. All three tuners have their own buffers, so you can be recording two programmes, watching another, and still flick between the three and browse back through the buffered video as you wish. By comparison the Sky+ HD box only has a buffer on the currently watched channel – so you can’t flick to another channel, flick back, and still rewind. You can also press record half-way through a programme you’re watching and it will include the buffered video in the recording. This was a key feature missing from the old V+ box.

You can permanently store buffered TV into a recording by pressing record while watching a TV show

There are actually two TiVo boxes on offer, all but identical except for their storage capacities: 500GB or 1TB. Whichever box you get, it will hold a lot more TV than the old V+ box, which only had a capacity of 160GB that equated to eighty hours of standard definition (SD) broadcasts or only 20 hours of HD. The new 500GB TiVo box can store 250 hours of SD or 60 hours of HD, with the 1TB box weighing in with 536 hours and 120 hours respectively.

It’s worth pointing out, for those new to Virgin Media, that you don’t actually own the TiVo box; instead you rent it from Virgin Media. The upside of this is that it will repair or replace the box should anything go wrong, the downside is that you can’t sell it on eBay after a year if you decide to cancel your contract.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT?

The cost of the box depends on which TV service you are signed up to, or are going to sign up to. The pricing details of all the various bundles are too complex to go into here, but you can look into Virgin Media services in your area online.

Essentially the box costs an additional £5 a month on top of your usual bill, with a one-off £50 ‘activation’ charge if you want the bigger 1TB capacity (though it’s free with some high-end packages). However, it’s now included as part of Virgin Media’s various ‘Collections’ of TV, broadband and phone services, and so the vast majority of those signing up to Virgin Media will get a TiVo box. The only alternative now is a non-recording V HD box, which is usually used a second room set top box.

A summary of charges for the TiVo box – click to enlarge

With most people opting for a deal that includes the box, it’s hard to put a price on the box itself, though its capabilities are still well worth considering in depth if you’re considering whether to go with Sky, Virgin or YouView in the future.

VIRGIN TERRITORY

If you’re used to Freeview PVRs or set-top boxes, the TiVo’s interface may come as a bit of shock. Yes, Virgin Media’s corporate colours may be bright red, but even so, does the whole interface need to be a slave to that garish shade? There’s also Virgin’s logo on almost everything, which seems an unnecessary use of valuable screen space when you’re already signed up.

The most obviously TiVo influenced part of the interface, and remote control, is the thumbs-up and thumbs-down system. While you’re watching a programme you can press either the green or red buttons to give it up to three thumbs-up or -down. The TiVo service then looks at other TiVo users who liked that programme; and makes recommendations to you based on other programmes those viewers enjoyed.

Tell your TiVo what you like, and don’t like, and it will listen

It makes the recommendations, called TiVo Suggestions, in two ways. Most obviously, it has a ticker tape of images across the top of the main screen, including both shows and actors. The images used aren’t simply stills from the shows, but publicity shots complete with the show’s logo. You can browse through these using the remote control and select the ones you want to record and the box even explains why they’ve been suggested to you. Somtimes these are useful, but we’re irked by the regular addition of advertising into this bar – both for random products and for pay-per-view content.

TiVo will actually go and record some of the suggested shows without even asking you. Such suggested recordings won’t ever clash with a scheduled recording, nor will it delete stored recordings to make way. Also suggestions are always deleted first when you run out of space on your hard disk. What it will do is fill up spare space on your hard disk with shows you might want to watch. Over the years we’ve has the box, we could count on both hands the number of times we’ve watched these recordings, though sometimes it does record something we forgot to schedule ourselves, which is very handy.

The main menu with TiVo suggestions at the top

Obviously, with a whole family using the box, who have a wide variety of tastes, it will throw up a lot of suggestions that won’t be to everyone’s liking. When you first turn on the box, it will suggest hideous popular trash too, which you’ll have to put up with until it gets used to your own tastes. There should be a way to set certain genres as complete non-starters, for example we’d happily ban our box from ever suggesting any sort of reality TV show. Still, it’s a good way of getting you watching new shows, and of giving you a big range of programmes to view without having to resort to live TV and its unskippable adverts.

RECORDINGS AND SERIES LINK

Obviously you’ll want to make your own recordings too. As we mentioned above, you can record three shows simultaneously, so you shouldn’t get many clashes. Attempting to set up a fourth simultaneous recording prompts a screen that asks whether you want to cancel the last previous recording – it doesn’t offer you a full list of possible cancellations unfortunately.

Setting up series links has been much improved over the original firmware. Press record on any show (either while watching or in the guide) and you get an option to set up a series link on this show, alongside recording a single episode. Managing your series links is still a little trickier, though, as they box switches to a low-resolution menu. Here you can do some useful stuff though, like order your series links in importance, so that you get the most important recordings guaranteed.

The series link feature works fine, but parts feel a little tacked on

You can access your recordings using the dedicated My Shows button on the remote. You get a list of shows, which can be ordered by date or alphabetically. Programmes from the same series are grouped together and indicated by a number in brackets. As you browse through you get a promo shot for each show as well as genre information, a HD logo if applicable and a channel logo. It all works very well, though we’d happily lose the TiVo recommendations bar from the top of the screen to free up more space.

The My Shows menu lets you access your recordings

GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL UP

Of course, even with your own recordings, series links and TiVo’s own suggestions, you may occasionally miss something you wanted to watch. The TiVo box’s catch-up TV options are pretty impressive, thankfully, if a tad unorganised.

For ITV, Channel 4 and Five (plus associated channels) you get one week’s worth of catchup TV integrated into the EPG. This isn’t every programme, but a good amount of the most popular stuff is present, and if you know when something was on you can just flick back and watch it.

Programs available this way are clearly marked on the EPG, and it’s great for picking through a night’s TV if you get in late. Some are streamed from Virgin’s servers using the box’s built-in tuners, and so will use a tuner to watch, but won’t impact your broadband bandwidth; others are simply slick links through to catch-up services, most notably iPlayer where you get all the usual options (including HD is available).

This ‘pull’ catch-up system is superior to Sky’s overnight ‘push’ system, which uses downtime overnight to fill Sky+ boxes’ hard disks with catch-up content, as you don’t have to wait to the net day to watch something. You also get catch-up content for any Sky channels you subscribe to, such as Spartacus on Sky 1, though this is found in the On Demand section rather than being integrated on the timeline like the terrestrial channels.

The TiVo’s ability to watch iPlayer content isn’t as remarkable as it once was, with both Sky and YouView also doing this – and the latter also having timeline integration for such catch up. You can also access iPlayer (but not other catch-up content) through a dedicated app. The app is very familiar to us from other devices, such as the Xbox 360, as it’s the current layout used widely across numerous set top boxes, smart TVs and Blu-ray players.

iPlayer on TiVo has been updated to the latest version

The iPlayer app works well, it’s easy to navigate and you get HD content; though as usual you only get seven days of catch-up TV, rather than the wider range of programming accessible through the website. Also it’s worth noting that there’s no TiVo thumbs-up option while viewing this content, thoug you can thumbs-up catch-up content on the timeline.

Coming back to the EPG, it’s well designed and easy to navigate. You get two weeks’ worth of listings going forward, as well as the week just gone. You can see two hours of TV, and eight channels, onscreen at any one time. There’s a box in the top right-hand corner showing what you’re watching currently, and a description of the selected show on the top left.

Whatever package you’re on, you’ll have a lot of channels. Thankfully, you can flick through pages of channels using the volume up-and-down buttons, or slim down the selection using a variety of genre filters or by setting up a favourites list.

Shows in the past are marked a darker colour on the EPG, and some have the catch-up symbol next to them

If it’s all still too much, you can search for future or catch-up content from the search menu. This is a great tool, as it refines your searches in real-time as you type and brings up both shows and actors – so you can easily find programmes with people you like in, or find a programme where you’ve forgotten the name but remember the actor. We’re not keen on the square layout of the onscreen keyboard, but thankfully you can now enter characters using the alphanumeric keypad on the remote – just like texting in pre-smartphone days.

The as-you-type search function is excellent

RED BUTTON

Recently, the TiVo box was among the first to benefit from the BBC rolling out its Red Button content online. Pressing the red button on BBC One for example will bring up a menu of programme-related content – such as games on other courts during Wimbledon. More commonly, you get a list of News, Sport, Weather and others, with each providing a list of recent programmes or smaller TV pieces that aren’t available elsewhere. It’s a great addition to the wealth of content already on the box.

Red button content extends to much more than just convenient iPlayer links

NAVIGATION ISSUES

VIrgin Media has fixed a lot of our issues, and yours, with navigating the menus on the TiVo box. A record and remind function has been added, so it warns you that you’re favourite show is about to start (if you’re still keen on watching live TV), though a remind-only option is still missing. It’s not something we missed (given the recfording space on offer we’re happy to record anything we want to be reminded of, just in case we’re unexpectedly out) but it seems to be a big bugbear for some users. Series link has been much improved too (as we mentioned above).

It must be said that the actual physical remote is a delight to hold, with a great layout of buttons, all clearly labelled and with good feedback. The TiVo box itself has no internal volume control, but the menu system has a built-in function to teach the remote to control your TV or AV amplifier. We had no problem getting it set-up to control the volume on our Onkyo amplifier.

The remote control itself is a great design – click to zoom in

There are still a few niggles though. The window-to-full-screen button will take the TV playing in the corner window of any menu and make it full-screen, but pressing it again doesn’t then put it back in the window and bring up the menu you were just browsing.

Navigation has been much improved since its launch

We were also annoyed that there’s no consistent way to simply stop watching TV. The stop button has no effect on live TV, even when it’s playing in the corner window. To browse the guide in peace-and-quiet you have to pause or mute the currently watched programme. In the recordings menu, and some others, you can remove the corner TV window by pressing the Slow button on the remote – given how often we use slow motion, it should really have been relabelled.

Finally, when entering certain menus in the interface, such as the on-demand section, you get promotional videos running in the top right hand corner. The Slow button won’t get rid of these, so had to pause them every time we entered the menu to have a browse through the content without it distracting us.

LOADSA’ CONTENT, LOADSA’ MONEY

The amount of on-demand content TV you get depends on what package you have. The XL deal we’re on has loads of complete series of TV programmes available to watch. There really is something for everyone and the content is rotated regularly. It isn’t as easy to browse as they should be, though; plus there’s no way to set favourites to return to easily later.

The key problem is that 90 per cent of the content comes under the ‘Comedy and Entertainment’ category, making searching by genre a waste of time. There are no thumbnails for the series or shows either, just a text list with descriptions. Once again, the TiVo suggestions system doesn’t work here, so you can’t easily tell your box you like South Park, despite having just watched a whole season of it. Search works fine, but then you have to know what you’re looking for, rather than browsing for something new. Video quality here was good, with both SD and HD offerings living up to DVD or broadcast HD quality respectively.

Get a more expensive package and you’ll get plenty of on-demand TV seasons

The key differences between Virgin Media and Sky are down to which channels you get; further complicated by the fact that many of Virgin Media’s most desirable offerings are actually Sky channels. As everyone has different tastes in TV, it’s impossible for us to directly compare one with the other, especially once you factor in the labyrinthine price structures that both companies have for their various services (including broadband and phone deals).

It’s worth pointing out that Sky currently has more HD channels at present, with up to 66 on offer should you go for the top-end package, while there are only 43 available on Virgin Media’s XL. This is partly because some of Sky’s channels, such as Sky Atlantic HD, aren’t available on Virgin Media’s service. Suffice to say you pay for that extra content on Sky, though.

At the very top-end – with all the sports, movie and HD packages – Sky certainly has the edge in HD content. But then there aren’t many people who are happy to pay over £70 a month in TV subscription fees.

Sky still has the lead with 3D TV, on which you can enjoy some sports, movies and documentaries. There still isn’t a huge amount of content at present, and we’ve seen little growth over the two years since we first wrote this review. The TiVo box also supports 3D content, but without Sky Sports in 3D, the range is limited to a few pay-per-view movies and some shorts and trailers.

Speaking of movies there’s a huge choice of pay-per-view films through Virgin Movies, though they’re not cheap at £4 and £5 respectively for SD and HD versions. Quality is good, though such services now have heavy competition from online services – speaking of which there are no apps for Netflix or Lovefilm here, which seems a missed opportunity all round.

If you’re coming from Freeview, then it’s a hell-of-a-lot of TV whichever package you choose. And the video quality on cable TV is excellent and consistent, with no reception issues. One minor quibble is that the on-demand menus are a little sluggish to navigate.

SHOULD YOU GIVE A TIVO?

Here at Expert Reviews we use a variety of TV services, with Sky+, V+, Freeview PVR and PC-based Media Center users. How appealing the TiVo box is to you, will largely depend on where you’re coming from.

New to all this?

If you’re new to Virgin, and have come from Freeview services, then you’ll be amazed by how much TV there is on offer here. The sheer bulk of it does make it a little unwieldy to navigate at times, but at least you won’t have to switch from device to device to get all your content – previously one of us often found himself moving from a dual-tuner Freeview box, to the TV itself for its built-in iPlayer service, and then onto an Xbox for on-demand movies. At first the corporate branding on everything may irk you, but you soon learn to ignore it, and to master the occasionally iffy navigation.

The TiVo box certainly matches up well to Sky’s excellent Sky+ HD box. We think the TiVo has the edge technically, with its extra tuner, TiVo suggestions system, real-time search and arguably superior ‘pull’ catch-up service. Sky has caught up with additions like iPlayer content on the timeline (though still no dedicated app to browse), but TiVo has struck back with red-button interactive services.

That said, it’s content that rules. At present Sky has arguably the better selection of movies and you can get more HD sports channels from the satellite provider, plus the exclusive Sky Atlantic channel, which shows the best US shows and tons of excellent HBO content. A better box certainly levels the playing field, but for some it simply won’t replace certain much-loved channels.

On the plus side for Virgin Media, you can get some excellent bundles with super-fast broadband and TV, though even here Sky is fighting back with its new fibre-based broadband services.

Upgrading from V+?

If you’ve still got a V+ box then TiVo is a huge step forward and worth switching to one of the new collections packages to receive. For anyone who watches more than the most minimal amount of TV. The interface is improved, the content is easier to find, plus you can record much, much more of it.

FINAL SCORES

Two years down the line from its release the TiVo box has improved in many ways, though it still has a slightly clunky menu system and struggles to deal with the huge amount of content accessible through it.

It’s hard to put a score on such a device, as its pricing and usefulness is inextricably linked to Virgin Media’s other offerings – and how those then compare to Sky’s packages. However, it’s an accomplished set top box, and the equal of anything else out there today. It continues to be a key weapon in Virgin Media’s armoury to tempt current ADSL and Freeview users into the world of cable services – so it retains our Best Buy award.