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Message 1 of 8

BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

Migrated from Virgin 3 months ago due to house move.

Thought I'd come back to BT as I couldn't get Virgin where we moved to.

The Pro box is a major disappointment.

No padding available for recordings means the ends of programmes are missed.

Recordings inexplicably stopping half way through.

I've got to endure 24 months of this before I can move somewhere else.

Frustrated.

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Message 2 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment


@bds1702wrote:

No padding available for recordings means the ends of programmes are missed.


What channels & mode are you experiencing this on? The freeview channels in internet mode certainly do as does BT Sport but the now channels certainly don't

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Message 3 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

Agreed, having had virgin before I moved home, I can say virgin had really good recording options. Helped by really good enhanced meta data. 

Things youview could add but it would be complex to add it in. For those who didn't know virgin can:-

  • Alter the start and end times of padding
  • Alter the series link to record all or just new 
  • Alter the series link to record HD only, HD preferred with sd as fallback, or all
  • Allow phantom recordings which if selected aren't actually recordings they are hot links straight to catchup. 
  • As tivo used to call it 'season pass' which was essentially a series, series link. It would pickup the new series and record that series. 

There is a known bug in bt at the moment where some recordings are chopped off before they end. This is not due to lack of padding because I've seen recordings end before the supposedly actual end in the guide. 

Virgin had great meta data that could pull up actor info, film rating, and other cool stuff like poster art etc. 

BT system via youview isn't bad, just needs some improvements. Things will come in time I'm sure.

I think though alot of providers are starting to push away from recordings and enter 'watch lists'. Catchup is **bleep** IMHO as forced adverts are a literal pain. Seems illogical to pay to remove ads when you already pay for TV in the first place. 

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Message 4 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

We watch/record everything via Ethernet. No arial.

 

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Message 5 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

I am in similar situation. I have added BT Sports to watch baseball but the two games  I recorded this week cut out long before the end, even though in the info box it said the whole programme was recorded. This never happened with Virgin. Fed up.

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Message 6 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

Pulling my hair out as the last couple of minutes of a Series usually is important to the storyline.

When my contract ends I shall be cancelling.

So sort it out BT. Can't be that hard 

 

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Message 7 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

I think all TV service providers have problems right now regarding functionality versus customer expectation, changing attitudes to TV packages in general, changing methods of content consumption, perceived value and technical capability (or lack thereof) of kit. 

Everyone wants to take your money, but no one can provide a consistent service and the right mix of content that gets close to the price they expect you to pay. 

I used to like the YouView platform, was an early adopter and big supporter/beta tester, but it has lost it's way. It doesn't provide the breadth of integrations that people are looking for these days and feels remarkably dated (which some people may like I guess).

But, if after 13 years you are still having to tell people to watch YouTube (and other apps) through a different device, well, you might as well use the other device permanently. BT just haven't taken it seriously enough and the pricing is totally overcooked. You can use Freeview Play and go direct for the app access for much less without a 2 year contract.

On the other hand Sky Q is showing it's age and the boxes are unable to keep up with the demands placed on them, so you can access loads of apps but most of them don't work properly or consistently.

Sky Glass is an overpriced budget to mid-range TV that they want premium money for and 2 years in you are still an unpaid beta tester.

Sky Stream is slightly better, but is still woefully underpowered cheap hardware, is also still battling bugs and as with Glass, most people are finding that actually, it doesn't "just work over WiFi" and unless they have FTTP (reminder, most of us still don't), then no, your 30 Mbps FTTC connection can't actually run multiple UHD streams, allow gaming as wells as let the kids watch Netflix and TikTok, despite what the fancy marketing might lead you to believe. 

Probably worse is Sky's pricing model which is now totally out of step with how most sane people would value their service. No wonder they buried the Sky figures in a new column with other parts of the wider Comcast business at the recent earnings update, plenty of people in the know say churn is through the roof across Europe.

Virgin Media, well, all of the above (especially their network issues), plus terrible customer service and the worst sales teams in the industry. I just won't ever go there again. 

I feel better having got all that of my chest... 🤣

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BT Smart Hub 2 | Halo 3+ | Digital Voice | BT TV Pro | Sky Q | Apple TV 4K | LG OLED
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Message 8 of 8

Re: BT TV Pro Box - Major Disappointment

My VCR in the 80s had the ability to add padding. The amount of time I've not got the full recording and had to go to iPlayer is numerous. Of course for non BBC programmes you'll have to put up with adds. The reason to record in the first place.