"Just spoke to VM to see if I could get a TiVo box, and was informed that I would have to wait until March as an XL customer. VIP's will be eligible to upgrade from January and the price will be £149 for the box and £40 installation fee."Personally, with my new Samsung in place and there likely to be a few bugs with the TiVo on release, I may wait a while. I may see what the early adopters report on stability and performance before ordering. The 1Tb disc is the main attraction for me, but (unless Sky Atlantic HD arrives on VM) I can't see a great deal being recorded early in the New Year anyway.
Then again I am a man who acts on impulse so you never know...
10 comments:
£189... thanks, but no thanks!
If true another letdown for "VIP" customers...
I suspect take-up will be slow at that price, especially if the third tuner is not yet activated. I want the 1 TB drive, but will wait a bit longer.
Happy Christmas and thanks for the blog!
Yep me to....i'll wait for the bugs to be ironed out and the price to come down..£189 seems a little steep..
Anyway thanks for a great blog throughout the year!!
january of which year?
Happy Christmas Nialli to you and yours. Keep up the good work with your excellent blog in 2011.
Seasons Greetings to all other contributors and casual readers alike.
Total agree,Well overpriced for a product you never own.When v+(tvdrive) first came out i paid £150.00 then £10per month for 12 months then paid another £100 to stop the monthly charge totaling £370.00 now they are expecting another £189...Thanks but no thanks !
I can buy a Boxee Box, any number of 3d Blu-ray players, an AppleTV, ipod Touch or XBOX 360, freeview/freesat HD receiver, for £200
I get to keep them forever, they arent tied to a specific service, and dont have to hand them back if I cancel.
Basically Virgin are asking you to pay their wholesale box price upfront so they are risking nothing, they get to keep it if you cancel, AND charging you a premium to plug it in AND charging rental on top of your existing fees.
Nice way to discourage people from taking it up Virgin!
(£200+40+36 for the first year is £276 fr somthing you dont own....)
There are better devices out there than the Boxee - I don't think I've seen a good review of that curiousity. Ditto Apple TV.
I don't have a problem with a one-off payment for a better V+ experience - I'd prefer that to a monthly charge and Sky charge £249 plus set up for their 1Tb box.
I don't understand the issue people have with the rental vs ownership of a Virgin box - it would be useless off-network so why would anyone want to own it?
Any disc-based storage is going to have a limited life - you can keep it forever but it won't last more than a few years.
I have been using a TIVO in the UK for years - it is excellent. So much quicker, more flexible and easier to use than the current V box. The only advantages of the V box are the ability to record HD and the three tuners, otherwise my current TIVO would still suffice.
I paid £10 per month subscription for that on top of the unit cost and a few disk upgrades so the new unit cost is not a problem for me. The installation fee is a pain though.
@ Nialli,
The difference between renting and owning ss simple. You can sell on the box afterwards and reclaim some of your investment back, and give people a cheaper route into Digital TV...
See ebay:
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=sky+hd+1tb&_sacat=See-All-Categories
Furthermore, there are plenty of good reviews of Boxee Box too, and the same with AppleTV.
However, the point was, it's pretty much the VM cost price, and yet they still charge a premium for the privilege of using it!! (£3 on top!)
I wouldnt mind if that also covered rental, I already pay Virgin money for XL TV services...
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