February 07, 2011

TiVo - some early first impressions

From a Comment posted in response to my previous post

Starting with the positives on Virgin's TiVo:
  1. The suggestions folder - based on your thumbs up & down, the box will start making recommendatons of programmes it thinks you will like, it will record them for you, then the choice is yours to watch or not to watch.
  2. Search & Browse - being able to search for an actor, tv show or film.
  3. The 28-day programme guide - the guide shows up to 14 days, but in the search & browse section it will show programmes up to 28 days in advance, it does not give the date & time but you can set it to record on here as well. If you have actually missed the programme you can set it to record and it will record it the next time it is on.
  4. Recording - as well as the normal record function and the bit mentioned above, when you do a series link you get the option of how many episodes to record from 5 to all episodes, just the first showing or all showings, set extra time before and after (but unlike the V+ it is more than just 10 minutes) - set for manual deletion or automatic when the disc is getting close to being full.
  5. If you make a mistake and delete a programme in error, you now have the option in the deleted folder to restore the programme
And some less positives:
  1. It looks as if there is no page up and down function, however if you press the channel up & down button, this operates the page up & down function. Had to find this out by messing with the remote as it does not mention it on the screen.
  2. When deleting a programme it is a long winded process - delete, confirm - the go to the deleted folder to delete again, but you when doing this you can only do one programme at a time, there should be the option to do a full delete of everything in the folder.
  3. When scrolling through the TV guide it always defaults back to the first channel on whichever section you are on, which can be a bit of a pain.
  4. There is also a bit of an issue with having to put your pin number in on the sports channels, example ODI cricket because the programme started after 2200 hours again this can be a pain but it something that VM are working on.
More promised soon. He also says that the video is not showing the finished article, there is still a fair bit of testing going on and that the menu is much faster than what you can see on this video clip. Most of the menu is HD as well.
Cheers, mate!

7 comments:

Viola said...

You can press Clear to delete an entire folder.

Also check out what the other tuner is doing by pressing info and scrolling down to the R option.

Square eyes said...

Just a bit more positive info

The wish list - you can create search through wish lists - select either an actor, film genre, and the box will put them in the wish list folder for you, there is no limit to the amount of lists that you can create.

Recording Hiccups - If you have a failed recording or one that say deleted or wont record, the box will give you a reason for that, example

deleted - if you enter into the deleted programme, it tells when it was deleted (time & date)
wont record - this is normally a 2nd showing of a programme
failed recording - may have clashed with another planned recording with a higher priority based on viewing history

Catch Up - to access a programme through catch up TV has been made even easier, on the TV guide if there is a symbol - curved arrow & "c" this means the programme is available on catch up. But here is the best part - if you arrow left whilst on the TV guide you can go back over the last 7 days and select the catch up programme without having to go into the on-demand menu.

Lastly for now - Help & settings
In this menu you have a message folder in which you receive messages from VM advising of any update changes to the TIVO box, plus items which may have appeared in the wish list or suggestions folder.

Hope this answer many of the questions that some of you may have - if there is something that I have missed, just leave a comment and I will do my best to answer it.

Square eyes said...

Thanks Viola - did not know about the clear option to delete the entire folder

Bofrok said...

Thanks guys, all of this is really useful info!

Square eyes said...

Have tried the clear option - does not work in the "recently deleted" folder. you still have to delete one at a time

Unknown said...

Does the tivo make recommendations and automated recordings based on what you watch, or just what you record? e.g., my kids watch the same pre-school kids shows every day (Peppa, Oso, etc), so that would be very high on our 'most watched' list, but extremely low on 'want to record'!

Square eyes said...

TPO - it is based on thumbs up & down plus vieweing history.

But if you don't want this to be recorded - give it 3 thumbs down and it will not record, no matter how many times your kids watch it.

What you will have to watch for is the box making suggestions for other childrens programmes - if it does, again just 3 thumbs down.