Virgin media Tivo...am I stupid?

[Hicks12]

Had vm install new stuff to my house and one of the boxes was the new tivo box (replacing the v+) I wouldn't have chosen it but it made the contract over 10 quid cheaper a month than the standard box so went for it.

Anyways after a week of using it I'm struggling massively to find out what I'm doing wrong as it never seems to just "work".

My mum is a technophobe and only just got the hang of v+ with vm on demand (loved it in the end),so getting her to adjust is slow going. It seems she manages to create espress series links when browsing channels (a lot of the time my niece is down so a lot of cartoons!) as programs have just finished within that time slow but isn't clear, ok that happens and it's very different to v+, how do I add a pin requirement for adding series links so she knows to exit it and move on to the next listing to change to that channel?

It's stupid, she and my sister managed to setup links to 2 kids shows (one was on two channels at the same time and one on another so was recording 3 channels). Now I don't mind this but it seems tivo can't assume the very basics, we paused the f1 racing on bbc1,we had work to do so went back to it 30 mins later only to see it on a kids show, it changed channel even though we paused it!

Why does tivo assume recording have priority over a paused channel!? It's done this three times now (footy and other sports). All because it wanted to record these express links.

Is there a way to make pause the top priority?.

Next thing, it's not overly fast which is a shame, it's always on and making a loud hdd whiring, even though nothings recording and we really don't want it to be precaching the channel we are on as we haven't paused it. Is there a way to turn the hdd off I. E stop it using it while we don't need it?

And another point, why do we have the terrible flipping Internet version of bbci player? It takes yonks to load and you can fast forward and if you press either fast forward or dpad more than once without a second pause it begins skipping masses of time or you can skip at 1min intervals, pathetic...my v box in the next room is better! Am I being stupid here with the BBC on demand?

And finally, why is the box always on predicted search? If I put in formula 1 I'd rather hit enter that it search the whole listing for fo, it lags like mad and I'd like to disable it if possible?


Am I just being retarded and these are easily changeable but I've missed it in the manual? It's annoying as I'm told this is meant to be the best thing since sliced bread and I'm struggling to just watch the shows I want to watch as it's being to clever for its own good compared to the v+ boxes I've used.

Any helps appreciated as I'm going g mad with this(also sorry for poor spelling and grammar, in phone.. Takes ages haha)

[GoNz0]

it should not change channel, best bet is to hit record then pause (it will record back to the start of the viewing). also when doing a series link its important to go into the advanced options to pick new only and cherry pick the ones you want.

end of the day its got 4 recorders.

mines silent so arrange to get it swapped. the V+ box;s were loud not TIVO.

if they like something give it 2 or 3 thumbs up so it records stuff in the background, that way any mistakes are not a problem as chance is its already recorded it in the suggestions.


your more technical questions need to be asked on VM's forums.

[Dareos]

http://community.virginmedia.com

You can switch between the recodring channels if you bring up the onscreen menu (info, left or right), then press left and it will show you the 3 channels currently being recorded (or 3 tuners if you prefer)

Its always recording those channels, gives you about 30 mins viewing on each one.

Tivo learns, it takes time to learn tho, thumbs up and down help, but mostly its watched programs. When i first had mine it kept recording Angelina Ballerina, as it was one of the most watched programs by other Tivo users, it will soon stop that.

Give live programs one thumbs down, Tivo tends to record what you watch, even if you dont give it a thumbs up, therefore it records the news and so on, which is only relevant when you want to watch it.

6 weeks with Tivo, you will like it, after 6 months, you probably wont watch live TV again

[Hicks12]

thanks for the responses, ive been reading masses on the virgin forums (as you linked dareos) its handy and ive found some useful tips just like seeing what the tuners are currently on, dont suppose you know how it picks these channels? I assumed it was your 3 latests channels (unless of course you have recordings!) but it seems to remain unchanged even flicking through channels, apart from that it was very handy finding it out that it precached 3 channels as i thought it was only one .

Ive moved the tivo box outside of the box area we had, swapped it with the bluray player so it has much more room to stay cool (apparently poor ventilation can result in a slow throttling unit) its a bit quieter and now i dont notice it unless its dead quiet but my ears are honed in on HDD sounds (it purely is the hdd) but no one else is complaining and its only my mum that mentioned it while having nothing on she can hear it which now she says its silent, all good then .

I assumed tivo takes time and it can work great but its just not dumb proof(cant think of a better term), ive found no way of setting up pin requirements for all recordings, that would stop accidental express series links by the technophobes in my family using the tv guide.

And gonz0 i did actually setup a record but it was a clear oversight, i did it the night before just told it to record the f1 that would be the next day (thought just encase!) and well as mentioned the kids programs must have been setup (by accident... sister and mum clicked express series links without knowing it did recording thought it changed the channel... they need to read!) before my recording so they were higher on priority and so the f1 was cancelled, as it needed all 3 tuners i can only assume it couldnt keep it on pause as it thought the recordings was more important!. The other explanation is that something is totally wrong somewhere, i found this thread on the vm forums http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...l/td-p/1040181 and it seems very similar to whats happening in my case but im not using the tv 100% all the time so i can not give a definitive answer, all i know is that its changed about 3 times when we actually paused the channel and came back like 30mins later, which shouldnt happen .


Ive also found that the bbci player is so crap because BBC have told virgin they must use their online version as the tivo box can do flash... bloody pitiful as the virgin ondemand was better (and is) in both visual quality,performance and features!. Hopefully bbc gets their act together and develops a better app or allows VM to bring back their v+ on demand.


Im getting the hang of tivo but it is hard to teach my mum to use the thumbs up etc, it is a chore and a half ill tell you . At the minute ive changed it so suggestions arent recorded, it really isnt needed atm and id rather eliminate any issues first and then reintroduce that side of tivo.

Again thanks for the help guys!.

[GoNz0]

http://community.virginmedia.com

You can switch between the recodring channels if you bring up the onscreen menu (info, left or right), then press left and it will show you the 3 channels currently being recorded (or 3 tuners if you prefer)

cant get that up, how do you do it again ?

[Dareos]

at home,can check on the box now

ok, press i for info, then left, theres 4 options down the side, the last option is the tuners, will show the other 2 that you are not using currently

[GoNz0]

ahh, i didnt realise thats what it was, thanks

[Preacher]

Download the app. It lets you change channels, manage and edit your series links and even browse your recorded shows and start them on your TiVo. You need to link it to your home network by Ethernet for it to work but its well worth it.

I agree with bbc iplayer, it didn't start off this way. Originally it was like on the old box but they did an update and it changed for the worst!

When you think that the TiVo box has its own dedicated 10mb Internet connection, that's faster than most of the country and its just for your tv..