August 06, 2010

Changes to VIP 50 Bundle from 5th August 2010

From the Virgin Support forum
Following the launch of the new Sky Premium HD channels, we have some great news for new and existing VIP customers. From 5th August, all VIP 50 customers will automatically receive the new Sky HD premium channels on their main box for no extra cost! This represents an additional £7 per month worth of value included with VIP 50, making our top pack the best way to enjoy ultrafast broadband as well as our complete range of HD channels. VIP 50 customers that have already purchased the Sky Premium HD pack, will automatically see a reduction on their bills, ensuring all VIP 50 customers get the same great benefits.
The VIP 50 is the ultimate Virgin Media package, so we’re making sure loyal customers on this package get the very best of all our services. However VIP 20 customers aren’t being left out - as a special offer, VIP 20 customers looking to take advantage of extra broadband speeds and the Sky Premiums in HD can now get free installation to upgrade to VIP 50 (£20 activation still applies). Upgrading to VIP 50 will mean even faster speeds, as well as the inclusion of Sky Premium HD with no extra monthly fee.
That's me on the phone then tomorrow morning  :o)

27 comments:

Dan said...

How much does VIP cost? I can't see it really being worth the upgrade. I'm XL and pay £40 p/month for TV, 20MB broadband and phone. Wouldn't I be better off paying an extra £7 for the Sky Premium channels? Not that I would.

Nialli said...

But you don't have Sky Movies or Sports for that package, do you? And you need to take those for the HD versions.
Which TV package do you have? The VIP is the top end one and is includes a V+. The VIP also has a second V box as part of the deal

Dazza124 said...

Nialli,

whats the total price for VIP 50 with movies/sport and Hd versions.
I have found differing prices quoted on various forums.
I think the most reliable one is £98/month.
Please confirm if existing customer is there any setup fees to be added e.g can you self install the 50mb modem.

Dan said...

@Nialli. I'm XL - all regular SD and HD channels, just not the Sky Movies/Sports. I was wondering if the benefits of VIP are worth it, or if paying £47 (incl. £7 for the Sky Premium) is worth it. I wouldn't watch Sports, it's just that the movies package interests me. And super-fast broadband would be cool, but not essential.

@Dazza: Anyone who pays nearly £100 for VM is, surely, crazy. I don't care HOW fast the broadband is, I can't see it being worth that price. I'm quite happy to wait 2 hours (at the most) for downloads rather than jizz my pants that something downloaded in 30 seconds.

Nialli said...

@Dan: Well I pay £93 a month and I'm not crazy.
20mb broadband for a single user should be sufficient, but in my house there are three laptops plus various phones and iPods all sharing the same bandwidth, hence me seriously considering moving up to 50mb. Multiple V boxes too, movies, sport and HD - it all adds up.
@Dazza124: I think the best way to find out bundle info is to call 150 as it seems the info online isn't always the best deal

streaky_7 said...

I pay £89.50 on VIP 20 and have currently got premium HD channels for free for 6months after which it will go up to £96.50 (this is before the upcoming price increases). I have just called VM and was told VIP 50 for me would cost £97.50. So come January I will be better off paying the extra £1 to get the 50MB broadband. The only question for me really is whether it is worth upgrading now and paying the extra £8 between now and January...any advise from anyone who already has 50MBwould be appreciated - is it worth it??

@Dan - its not crazy to pay these prices - I understand it may seem a lot if you are not interested in Sky Sports and Sky Movies as that alone is £27.50 a month, extra if you go HD. But I use 2 laptops regularly in my house, I download a lot of music and films. Plus I like having multiroom (somewhere for the misses to go and watch some rubbish whilst the footie is on) and I believe HD is well worth the extra. Throw in a phone deal in which I don't pay any extra for calls 24/7 unless they are premium or mobile and its actually a good deal in my book. I work from home at least once a week and use the home phone during the day. And don't forget these prices I am quoting includes my phone line rental with VM!

It's not for everyone granted - but that doesn't make me or anyone else crazy. With a family at home I am not allowed out as much these days so at least this way I have plenty to watch on the telly!!

Dan said...

I can understand £90 p/month being worthwhile if you work from home, your business relies on the internet, and you have a big family all using the 'net or watching TV at the same time -- well, just about. But I still would NEVER consider paying around £1,000 per year on Virgin Media. Just... no.

I'm a pretty big user of the internet myself (lots of downloading, but admittedly no gaming), and watch more TV than the average person every month, and I thought £40 pcm was pushing the boat out! I used to do the 3-for-£30 deal, but accepted the extra £10 hit for HD last summer. I'd perhaps consider going to £47 for the movie package, but I'd probably hate myself. Unless for £50 I could get the movies and 50MB broadband thrown in, together with my existing XL package.

Oh well, whatever you can afford, I guess. But I somehow can't believe you guys truly get £50-60-worth of extra value from Virgin every month. That's a LOT more money for what amounts to assurance multiple laptops don't get sluggish and your wife/husband can watch TV in another room.

David said...

i upgrading my vip package to vip 50 getting 50mb bb installed on 18th august can't wait

streaky_7 said...

@Dan - but if you pay £40 now without movies, it would be £59.50 if you added the movies wouldn't it? Sky movies collection is £19.50? or am I missing a deal?

Also, do you get your phone line rental included in the £40? Or do you pay extra for that (either through VM or another provider). and what phone package are you on, free weekend calls? evening and weekend calls? Anytime calls?

I do see what your saying Dan - and its making me think - but I would have to have Sky Sports and Movies as they are the main channels I watch - all the others are for the Wife - I have no interest in watching four weddings or Bulging Brides on channels like Living TV.

Sports and Movies alone is another £27.50 - which would take your £40 to £67.50. All of a sudden it's not as far from what I am paying now - throw in the line rental at £11.99 and then its £79.49. then you have multi-room, premium HD Channels, the odd tv channel which you would normally pay for, and the top phone package which is all worth the extra tenner

BUT I do agree with what you are saying - it's all only worth it if you are interested in it - especially the Sports and Movies - and it definitely sounds a lot when you point out I spend over a £1000 a year with VM...but I couldn't live without my sports!!

streaky_7 said...

if anyone does already have the 50MB deal, I would love to know if it is worth having - if the difference is really noticeable between that and 20MB? I'm just thinking you can only get it so fast before you don't really notice the difference - the lady on the phone told me with 20MB I can download a standard MP3 in 2-3seconds. The 50MB would download the same file in less than 1 second - I am thinking I can save the extra money for the sake of the extra second??

Louise said...

50mb broadband is a lot quicker than 20mb. I have lots of consoles, ipod and htc Desire running of my wireless and they all run really fast. Since upgrading to 50mb we have noticed no lag whilst playing games online at all, something we did get especially on GTA ON 20mb. On my Desire and PS3 it shows the speed as 54mb running wirelessly. Running the net direct through my PC without a wireless router it shows on speed tests as over 100mb. I don't get that! One word of caution though, I got the new XBOX 360 slim and when I ran it wirelessly it absolutely ate all the signal and all our other devices slowed dramatically even with the 360 off. When we ran it direct to the router all was good again. If anyone else has noticed this I would love to know.

Dan said...

@Streaky: Yes, you're right. I would be paying £59.50 if I went for the Movies in HD. Too much, imo. I get my phone line included in the £40 pcm, yes, but I hardly ever use my home home. I think I get free weekend calls to landlines.

If you're happy with what you pay, and what you get for that, fine. I understand that people who want sports and movies have always paid more. I can do without them, personally. I pay £16 pmc to LoveFilm, so can pick and choose what I want, and Blu-ray's better than Sky HD (1080P, HD sound, extras, etc.)

I just can't see myself ever wanting to spend more than £40 pcm. I took a deep breath going over £30 pcm! :)

streaky_7 said...

@Dan - mate, if you got XL TV, phone, line rental and 20MB Broadband for £40, then I wouldn't change either - sports and movies aside as thats a luxury extra but with a deal like that it's no wonder you think people like me are crazy...lol.

I have just selected what you have on a bundle on VM and it would cost £55 so you have a fantastic deal at the moment! I dont like paying £90 a month but to get what I want I just dont have a choice - VIP is the best and cheapest way to do it...oh well...hopefully they really vamp up VIP in the new year!!

Dan said...

@Stready: I guess I am! Not sure how that came about! Oh well, best not tell Virgin of they may realize their mistake?

Oh, sorry for going OT here, but: my Samsung V+HD box (one of the new ones) is playing up with its recording (keeps resetting to show old, failed recordings I can't play and want to delete forever)

So, how do I do a complete DELETION of the recording area? Is that possible? I don't want to erase the V+HD box, I just need a better way to scrub that recording area clean. Any ideas? Can't find anything in the menus! Am I blind?

streaky_7 said...

I had similar problems a while back and when I called VM they re-formatted the hard drive BUT that obviously wiped all my recordings...not happy! Hopefully someone else on here will have better way for you to do it.

Dan said...

@Streaky: I've intentionally deleted ALL my recordings, so that doesn't matter to me. I won't lose anything. I just need to know what VM did. Or do you mean you have to call them out?

Dan said...

Not to worry - I assume this is all I need to do. http://vmhd.blogspot.com/2008/04/format-your-v.html

Is it dangerous? Don't want to ruin my HDD.

Nialli said...

@Dan: those instructions for reformatting are for the SA box - I do not know if they will work with the Samsung V+

Nialli said...

check this thread http://www.digitalspy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1174847

Dan said...

Oh, okay. Well if anyone knows to safely delete my HDD without causing irrepairable damage, let me know! I hate having 13 pages of Mock The Week failed recordings come up (don't ask!) and a bloody Stargate I recorded by accident that failed after 4 mins anyway. It's driving me round the bend and I'm only now at a point where I don't lose anything if I wipe the drive.

streaky_7 said...

I called them and spoke to service and they formatted my hard drive there and then. They made me go through the usual turning off the box, leaving it, turning it on, which is standard for any problem from what I can gather, but then they remotely formatted the box.

I have had this done twice in the last 3 years - the last time was about 2 years ago - maybe slightly less. I heard if you do not let your expired series link recordings to build up then it helps stop problems? I dunno if it's true or a coincidence but since the last format I make sure I always delete an old series link so I never have more than about 15 or so active links set up and I haven't had a problem since...(I bet I get a problem this weekend now!!)

Give VM a call - I'm sure they can format the hard drive for ya whilst you are on the phone...

Dan said...

@Nialli: Excellent - that method via your link worked a treat! Easy and painless. Thanks for your help. Sorry to hijack this thread somewhat! :)

Big Red said...

VIP50 Price is £97.50 per month
Note you choose which box you want the HD channels it does not have to be the V+ Box if your 2nd box is the VHD Box.

VIP20 Price is £92.50

Extra £5 per month and you get 50mb BB and Free Sky Prem HD channels.

Also follow updates @ http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/11/33667486-vip-vip-new-improved-vip-package.html

I will try to keep posting updates here also.

We emailed the Executive Office amd we are starting to see results.

streaky_7 said...

Not that it's a big difference but I pay £89.50 for VIP 20 and checking online that is still the case - £77.51 plus £11.99 phone line rental = £89.50.
So it's £8 extra for the broadband and HD channels - which is still a great deal obviously as the HD channels alone are an extra £7 - so you are in effect getting 50MB for £1 plus £20 activation...

Krankor said...

Signed up!
Earliest installation is 17th August, but I'm happy to wait :)

Unknown said...

My VIP 20 bill is £99.99 every month, including caller ID (£2) and an extra V box (£5). With premium HD channels, I'm looking at £106.99. So unless I'm missing something, a charge of £97.50 for VIP 50 would result in a grand total of £104.50 with my extras - a saving of £2.49 with faster broadband! Seems like a no-brainer...

Unknown said...

Right, that's my VIP 50 upgrade booked for this Saturday! They tried to tell me it's the £20 activation fee that's been waived and I still had to pay the £35 installation, but I wasn't having that and they eventually agreed to charge me only the £20.