- Have any Samsung V+ users experienced failed recordings?
- Are there any other problems with the newer box you would warn me about before making the call?
January 21, 2010
Samsung V+
My previous post has led to a number of recommendations that I ask Virgin to replace my box with a Samsung. Couple of questions:
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14 comments:
I had 2 Samsung boxes installed about 4 weeks ago. Not a single problem, haven't had to reset them once and haven't had a single failed recording. They are a massive improvement over the crappy old SA boxes.
I'll second that, I think in the past 2-3 months it's been reset twice, but no failed recordings.
There is an issue with the Samsung boxes with the deletion of files. Although the file is deleted it can appear again later on. Deleting it several times may be needed to remove it from the list but the files still exist on the HDD. The result is that you may think you have plenty of disc space but a recording may fail and the HDD size goes critical.
The solution to this is to re-format the disc.
The Samsung box is much better. One of the big improvements is the fact that the guide operates more quickly. I got mine by phoning through to 'I'm thinking of leaving Virgin' and saying that I was fed up with my box crashing all the time. It's worth the hassle in my opinion
I got mine because our old SA box started to tape a programme and then the clock would stop. The recording would however carry on and I woke up to an eight hour recording. Called VM up and the replaced it 2 days later.
I'm tempted to phone Virgin myself as we've had a few failed HD recordings now and have now resorted to just recording SD. The failed HD recordings for us are really strange though; we will have something recorded and say watch half of a programme, then go to watch the rest a day later and it will say Failed :S. My question is: Will Virgin copy over my recordings or will they 'meh'?
Much quicker than the SA box,the odd unexplained reboot but no failed recordings.
Just before Christmas I thought I would take a radical approach when dealing with Virgin: honesty. I sent multiple emails to them explaining that I was unhappy with my Virgin box. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing I was called by a very friendly member of their call centre staff who told me that there was no difference in the speed of Samsung vs SA boxes. I pointed her in the direction of various forums which stated the opposite point of view. I said that there was nothing technically wrong with my SA box - but it was slow and I would like a faster Samsung box instead. I said I was happy to pay for an upgrade provided the charge wasn't obscene. Alas I was told that they wouldn't oblige. Apologetically the girl suggested calling back in mid-2010 to see if Virgin had changed their policy then. So, gutted - I still have an SA box. Sticks in the craw a bit that lies are rewarded and honesty is not.
I have had no problems with my original V+ bix, not samsung, for about 6 mnths (i was seeing problems before). Could this have been more software than hardware related? Maybe the old boxes have had sofwtare upgrades to make them more resilient.
@matty: no you are just lucky mate! I have an old style box and I am lucky if it does not freeze and need rebooting every day.
The problem for me is that we never watch everything on the HDD so I can never be bothered to call Virgin as I know we will lose all the recordings! Vicious circle...
I, too, am one of the 'lucky' SA V+ box users. I have very few issues with it (rebooted once a month - if that) and the channel changing speed, contrary to myth, is only marginally slower than the Samsung V+ my parents had installed before Christmas.
Having timed both numerous times (how sad) a channel change takes +- 1 second on the Sammy and +- 1.5 seconds on my SA box.
It's reliability that will make the decision for me I guess. At the moment almost everything I'm recording is in HD - Being Human, Hustle, Mad Men, Heroes, Desperate Housewives, How Earth Made Us - and if I get more failed recordings I'll take some action. I've got stuff on my V+'s disc but I can always copy that onto my DVD recorder's hard disc.
Very happy to say the new Samsung box has been very reliable and significantly quicker too. No failed recordings at all in about 3-4 months. My SA box was not bad either but it did have failed recordings from time to time especially on HD and now I am recording a lot more (mostly) HD with the new channels.
Also, with its standard SATA drive, it is VERY easy and now not too expensive to upgrade to a 1GB HDD (almost vital IMO for mostly HD recordings), although of course if you mess it up you would be liable for the cost of a replacement box, or worse!
what do people think is the best way to convince Virgin to give me a new samsung box? Apart from looking better are they?
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