December 07, 2016

Virgin Media's V6 - First Reviews

Or, more accurately, the first I’ve found. Here’s what Pocket-lint concludes about the new box:
It’s clear that the company has made every effort to take what is good about its existing TiVo platform and improve on it in every way.
It has clearly been inspired by Sky Q for several new features, but has also added a few of its own - such as the multiroom tech utilising existing hardware rather than different devices.
The future proofing also offers great potential, with Virgin Media telling us that the box could even be made compatible with cloud recording services somewhere down the line. And, for us, the speed of use over the existing TiVo box is almost enough on its own. It is lightning quick, easy to use and we’re looking forward to giving it a proper, real world work out soon.
Perhaps then we can judge whether it is able to topple Sky Q off its lofty perch. Or at the very least offer a credible alternative.
See the full review at Pocket-lint 

And here's what Trusted Reviews felt:
The Virgin TV V6 doesn’t look like much, but it is a massive leap from the existing software and hardware that the company has been rocking for years. I’ll need a thorough play through the interface to see if it really is as fast and smooth an experience as Virgin claims, but for now it looks like Virgin has managed to evolve its home entertainment offering into a modern and genuinely useful service. Watch out, Sky Q…
Read more at Trusted Reviews

38 comments:

howardmicks said...

watch out sky my arse,£65 installation to replace a tired old tivo box with no 4k programs other than what his available on any smart 4k tv.virgin media can shove it were the sun dont shine,Counting the days till february when i can get out of my contract after the first of the 4 price increases next year .

Unknown said...

I was told last night if I wanted to replace our Tivo with a V6 it would be £65 upfront and then an extra £11 a month.
I have no idea where the £11 a month comes from but I might try again and see if I get a different person in retention and get the £11 a month dropped.

Unknown said...

There should be no monthly subscribe charges for v6 unless you have 2 boxes then you pay for an extra socket

Unknown said...

When is the v6 starts ?

Chris said...

We're getting our V6 TiVo tomorrow. Only really getting it for the streaming aspect, and the extra speed.

But I won't be so happy if we don't get Sky F1 4K when it starts next season. That would be quite hard to accept considering the Sky sports price. Along with missing out on BT Sport UHD.

ratedjko said...

Free install £15 activation £49 for the box which I'm ok with,can't fit it till 11th of January.seems like everyone gets told something different as usual!

Kevin Lloyd said...

We've just ordered a V6. One off fee of £49.95 plus activation of £14.99. The £11 per month charge is the opening gambit if you upgrade but keep the current TIVO box. However, a quick on line chat (always better than trying to call in my experience) established that if you do want to keep the current box as well there are better deals than £11 per month. We were offered a deal which would have been about £4 per month.

Chris said...

My initial thoughts after playing with it for 30 mins:

The streaming works well, but the same rights restrictions that made streaming between TiVo boxes pointless, also hamstrings this effort almost entirely. It seems to work on BBC, but no sports channels or most of the stuff I watch. It may work on the other main channels so if that is the case, it'll be fine for most people, but not for me.

The main menu doesn't render in 4K, but the video window in the top right seems to be higher res than before. So that's basically a no effort benefit.

The guy used the same HDMI cable that the old box used. I questioned that and mentioned that the PS4 pro comes with a new generation hdmi cable that can take advantage of HDR I believe. On the YouTube app, it seemed to display 4K though, so I guess you only need to upgrade if HDR works. Which I'll have to check.

The speed difference is very significant. It's so snappy. I'd say it's worth it just for that.

The remote is smaller and nice feeling. I immediately was using it the same way I used the previous one and it felt right straight away. I instinctively knew where all the buttons were despite the size being quite different.

So yeah. Typical VM. Good, but could be a lot better. I would still recommend it though.

Paul O'Hare said...

called up to enquire. Got told one off fee of £49.95 and thats it. I am on 100mb broadband and tv xl. Specifically asked if it would affect my £35 a month deal (thats £35 all in including line rental) they said no it wouldnt change that at all and doesnt affect my contract length either, will still have 9 months left on contract. Also asked if any other fees and they said no more other than £49.95 fee. Getting installed on 25th Jan (earliest they could do it). Interesting others have been told different pricings!

Danny Boy said...

I tend to find it's better to go through relations to get that better deal.

Unknown said...

They wanted to charge me 116 pounds rang billing got it for 49.95 installed today

Danny Boy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I'm in. Stiff sky. Virgin broadband blows sky out of the water.

Greg said...

Arrived yesterday, wow it's fast. As has been said that and the 6 tuners makes it a worthwhile upgrade. Watching the Beeb's UHD trial on IPlayer is stunning.

Has anyone got Netflix 4K to work?

Unknown said...

Ok would love some advice on what's best deal on virgin media, I am currently on 200mb internet, basic phone rental, and full house TV which is everything apart from movies and sports.

To be honest we have Netflix and amazon prime and tv is only good for ability to record.

The TiVo box I 100% want to upgrade to the new one.


I am paying £76 a month

What my best option for getting a good deal.

Been out of contract for ages.


Royalbeech said...

I was on the same except for the BB, they have put me on 200Mbs BB and sky movies for £3 less

Danny Boy said...

Speak to relations

Nialli said...

Or "Retentions"

Unknown said...

So I'm on full house and 100Mb but have just been told on the phone that you have to be on 200Mb to get it for the £49.99 fee (+£14.99 activation)?!

If only VM had something on their own website about upgrade prices... the guy on the phone didn't have a clue (which he was upfront about) and had to keep getting someone else with lengthy hold periods. So I'm not convinced what I've been told is right.

Unknown said...

Typical old school sales tactic - "have to have a word with my manager", goes over and talk trash about you/the match on Saturday then comes back with a new story. They thought it was a good idea in the 90's and some till try it on. Why? I put the phone down and redial, you never know.

Unknown said...

I did

They offered me £3 off for next 6 months lol

Greg said...

It was a hdcp handshake issue, working now

Anonymous said...

I'm not impressed with the box so far.

It keeps going into power saving mode despite changing the settings and it doesn't record my shows when it's on power saving mode (standby). I spoke to customer services about it and they said they will get back to me within 5 days?!

Unknown said...

Whats the virgin tivo v6 like? Is it worth having the v6 box ?

Anonymous said...

I'd recommend visiting a VM shop if you can. Had no luck with customer services on the phone so went to a VM shop today.
Pretty taken aback by the service - they put my order of 2 V6 boxes through, arranged a pre xmas install & also reduced my XL monthly bill by a few quid!
The guys in the shop may be a one-off but they were genuinely helpful and seemed to over rule their call centre cousins.
They gave me a decent demo too, speed is clearly the biggie when compared to our worn-out TiVo.
Interestingly, they believe Amazon Video will be integrated in 2017, there will be more 4K content, plus a voice search feature.
The only negative was they didn't think the UI will be modernised. Who knows what will actually happen but still good to hear.
All in all, a positive experience which has restored my faith 😀

Unknown said...

I will try pop in tomorrow to my local VM shop and will let you guys know how it goes

rstevo28 said...

Rang virgin this morning, £49.95 installation for a engineer to come and fit, have to wait till February 14th though. Plus I got sky movies half price for six months once fitted. Saves me £10 on my bill.

Unknown said...

I went to VM shop, they arranged install for v6 TiVo and a super hub 3 for Monday ( today been Friday) £77 install and activation but told me ring retention to get charge cancled or reduced.

Danny Boy said...

Not the best review but currently the only one on YouTube
https://youtu.be/0Ml1GvH8GOs

Unknown said...

As far as I understand it, there is no HDR support until after a software update next year

arsenal86 said...

Hope virgin negotiators are not in charge of hostage situations - can't stream on TV anywhere over 4g because they don't have the rights, release v6 but don't have the rights to any 4k broadcasts...

Anonymous said...

Had 2 v6 boxes installed today. Am more impressed than expected.
The speed actually makes you want to use the menus!
The search integration with Netflix is fab - the series link automatically picks up all episodes of your Netflix favourites. You can easily edit by season etc
It's also surprising how convenient it is to stay in your virgin box while using iplayer, you tube, Netflix.
Other good bits - accessing the other box"s recordings is cool, the remote is familiar but more intuitive, and catch up / on demand content is v impressive now it's not painfully slow to search.
Bad bits? I'd personally prefer a new UI with a modernised feel, even larger tiles. Amazon video would have been fab. Some other apps aren't super quick. Voice search would be useful. Most of all, VM need to tie up more 4K content deals.
Haven't tried the app yet.
All in all, the evolutionary improvements combined with the speed has revolutionised virgin tv for me.

howardmicks said...

its just basically what you have on a 4k smart tv,your paying £65 fot them to update your tired old tivo totally rip off

Dan said...

It's rubbish. sent it back to get my old tivo box back. Much better now. Don't bother getting it.

Danny Boy said...

So the pro's of the V6 are a faster UI and 6 tuners
Everything else stays the same....

Dan said...

It's rubbish don't bother. The tivo box is much better.

Unknown said...

Ordered mine, got cross at the increase in monthly fees, so they scrubbed it, but, still having to pay the installation fee which is ridiculous. I therefore grumbled and got a free superhub 3. Just shows how much they are looking to rip you off. I'm cancelling my sky sports HD package as it's now £38 a month just for the sports!!!!!

IanJ said...

Had my unit installed earlier this week, had a few problems with the internet as it reset during the setup, may have been VM resetting both V6 and previous TIVO."This content
works well and certaainly fastand not too bad looking with all the other hi-fi equipment.
One plus point, whilst the new remote is RF the IR still works ideal if like me you have a programable remote control that works on IR.

One thing to look out for is a problem if passing through a receiver such as my Denon, to a HD, not UHD TV in that you get an error message "This content can not be displayed because your TV does not support HDCP 2.2" The V6 works is connected directly only when passing through this is resolved by using a HDMI splitter between the V6 and Amp/receiver