BT TV Box Pro - Yet another issue

[alexmidd]

I’m getting so frustrated with this box. Several times lately it has just decided to have a conniption when trying to rewind footage for something I missed. Came to a head on this afternoon’s The Chase on STV. I missed a comment by Paul Sinha and decided to rewind to hear it again. However, the box would not play back beyond about 5 seconds prior to the point it happened, and the recording would jump back a few seconds, then forward a few seconds, then back again, then forward again, but it would not play back prior to that.

So, I decided to press the record button so that it would save what had been watched so far. However, on going into the recording it was acting weird again. It would play Ok for the first few minutes of the recording, but after about the five minute mark the progress bar jumped back to the start, and at any point after that pressing play either jumped the play point to either the very start or the very end of the recording - there is no way to actually watch the recording Also, the displayed length of the recording was showing as 10 hours!

I realised I had lost this portion of the programme, so started watching it live again, having missed about 15 minutes of the programme. This time I made the mistake of pausing the programme and when I pressed play again nothing happened. So that was the rest of the programme gone.

After the recording had finished I accessed it and was encouraged by the fact that the recording length was now showing as just over an hour. However, the same behaviour occurred as before and the recording is unwatchable. I then rebooted the box and tried again, but still the same.

This is happening so frequently now that I am scared to pause or rewind the programme, so a major function of the box is unusable. Mind you, this seems to be a common problem with all recordable boxes as I have looked for alternatives and they all seem to be “flaky”. Not sure why the techy folk can’t get a box to work properly yet.

[curlywatts]

Exactly same here, this is the worst box I have had. Had the other bt box for years and worked fine till recently. Only had this one about 6 months.

[alexmidd]

Halfway through watching recording of Morning Live today, watching on chase, so the programme was still being broadcast at the time. We ere about 20 mins earlier than the live programme. Box just crashed out of the play-back and went back to live TV. It also stopped recording the remainder of the programme. This happens periodically but it’s very annoying when it does. Anyway, I just gave up with it and watched it on iPlayer.

It’s getting increasingly difficult to rely on this box. I use it mainly because it’s tied into my BT subscription, so I can watch and record the sport on BT and NowTV directly via the box. I also use it because it, supposedly, can record 4 programme at once as opposed to 2 on the Manhattan T3-R. However, if there are more than 2 programmes scheduled it invariably fails on one or more of the recordings.

The other night, Motorway Cops popped up in the schedule unexpectedly, so I rushed to cancel it but it kept starting to record again. I eventually got rid of it but in the process it cancelled Only Connect as well. Had to use iPlayer for that as well. I suppose I should just start using iPlayer instead of recording stuff, but I like to have a recording as sometimes you check iPlayer and the programme you want is not available. 

Anyway, sorry for the long post but I think we either just have to put up with and handle these issues as they crop up, because it doesn’t look like BT are too concerned about it. 

[Les-Gibson]

I haven't yet found a use for the box, it just sits there on a timer which allows it to power up during the economy7 hours so that it doesn't miss any updates just in case it should become useful at sometime.

At all other times I use the various apps on my smart TV or a firestick, both of which allow you to watch shows you might have missed and rewind the programme you're watching to see anything you might have missed first time around.

[Anonymous]

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@alexmiddwrote:

…I also use it because it, supposedly, can record 4 programme at once as opposed to 2 on the Manhattan T3-R. However, if there are more than 2 programmes scheduled it invariably fails on one or more of the recordings.

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It can record 4 things at once, but only when used in aerial mode. When in internet mode, it can only manage 2 currently.

Which mode are you using, all channels through the internet or some via the internet (NOW/BT Sport) and Freeview via an aerial?

If it’s the former, that is expected behaviour.

I received the pro box on a Friday and cancelled and sent it back on the Monday, it wasn’t for me sadly, too many compromises.