Top Up TV Anytime details
Details are slowing becoming available of TopUp TV Anytime.
It seems that the current subscription service will be reducing its output to make way for a new service. Top Up TV Anytime will cost an additional £2, there are some changes to the lineup, and the service needs a PVR (digital recorder) to capture programmes. The set-top box is being manufactured by Thomson (model DTI 6300-16), and it has a twin tuner plus 160gig hard-drive (for 120 hours of TV). Boxes will be available from October 2006, priced £180 to new customers or £100 to existing customers.
FrequencyCast will be sticking with this story and featuring it in the next show. You can find more details on this at www.frequencycast.co.uk/topuptv.html
Once again we are being lured into another phase of technology through some supplier offering what ?? We first got top up TV but with very few benefits, over the freeview channels and with restricted viewing times. To receive this restricted service we bought special top up TV Set top boxes which were twice as expensive ( or even more) than a standared STB, which now appear to redundant or soon to be, and the supplied restircted service being reduced even more.. How long will the next generation last, why go this way when you can go for sky, both will have a minimum 12 months membership, which is what a lot of people were trying to get away from. What is the new service going to offer as Value added, Sky offer most of its requirements free including fitting.. I do not think I will be taking up the new top up TV option, and even now knowing my existing boxes are soon to be redundant am considering whether to continue on their restricted offering. Not impressed.
I liked TopUp TV even with its limitations. Not wanting to subscripe to SKY (with it’s high prices)and unable to get cable, this was a nice alternative. I have just signed up for their new service so will let you how it goes. loved Podcast 5 and for anyone having trouble with Freeview I found that my tv and set the ITV and BBC channels to 2 different channel numbers. This ment that channels 1, 2, 3, 6 for bbc1 and bbc and itv1 – 2 where rubbish but I found them on a higher numbers and had to reconfigure the tv and now I get all the channels for FreeView.. Please excuse any spelling errors as the red wine is taking effect..
If I’m going to have to pay that sort of money I’d rather go back to Sky or NTL.
I will definitely not be going with this option.
I’ll just stay with the freeview channels.
I can live without TUTV.
I think that they may just have shot themselves through th foot
I wish I ahd seen the fact that all the topuptv programs will be a day later. That sucks! I had already signed up for the new servicew before I found this out. Time shifting is fine but it should have been made clear on the website that this was the case. At least they are not timeshifting the freeview channels, but will you be able to record these in real time whilst the dvr is set to record a topup tv program? I agree with a previous blog. TUTV may well have shot themselves in the foot on this one.
Having just forked out a small fortune for a Media Center PC there is no way TopUp TV will be getting extra cash for yet another set top box. Especially when the content they offer will be 24 hours out of date. Have they ever heard the phrase “Yesterday’s News” I wonder?
I for one will be cancelling the subscription ASAP and can’t help thinking this new business model will lose them a lot of customers.
Ho Hum back to Sky……..
Another bunch of ‘Arthur Daleys’ with a get rich scheme printing their own money with old rehashed TV programmes.Not satisfied with that they now want me to throw away my Humax 9200T and purchase yet another set top box. At least SKY did give you the first one free.It doesn’t look like they learnt anything from ONDIGITAL either,they virtually sunk themselves.
Their nice new box will have 2 tuners and 160 gig hard drive. They do mention somewhere that 140 gig is reserved for themselves leaving you with a measiy 20 gig and I wonder how much use you will get out of the twin tuner which must be in use downloading the next days progammes.
I have had a subscription for nearly a year now and to be quiet honest with the intrduction of Film 4 they have just sunk my piece of the gravy train.
Further to my earleir comments I decided to knock the service in the head, I have tried to cancel my subscription over the phone, which to date has not been succesful.. so much so I have just written to TUTV with the following note.>>>>>>>>I would like to advise you of what I believe is restricted practises on your Customer Care (?) service help line.. I have tried several times to get through to cancel my subscription option 5 only to have to listen each time to the advertising blurp and then be met by an engaged tone , this is quite the opposite of all the other options which all answer with an agent who advises you must once again ring the customer service number listen to all the blurp again and be met with an engaged tone.. To an outside person it would look like TUTV do not in any way encourage disconnection of their service, having said that they are probably making a fair amount of the 087 number in wasted calls. I did not get this problem when I wanted to take out the subscription.
I find that the type of people who dont understand thae service
are the same people who didnt understand topuptv in its original form
It is quite plain to understand. This site seems quite anti-topuptv, a service I have had for over 2 years, who’s initial service
I understood that I was getting selected hours as was plain in the starter pack.
I subscribed to anytime, paid £75 and am very aware of the service I am getting.
People who sign up to something theinking they are getting something else, should let their parents
handle their affairs.
Top up has been a low cost alternative to Sky or NTl for the last couple of years. The negative side of the service has been the limited transmission times where you are not always guaranteed being able to see the beginning or end of some programs. All this said the service has been reasonable value for money.
The new service offered is not good value for money. Most Top up customers have already had to purchase a top up box in the last couple of years. They are now faced with having to buy a new box before the old one has packed up.
The new set top boxes that Top up are selling are overpriced. Most viewers want a choice of what to watch or record not the choice made by Top up which will leave very little space on the hard drive of the box for recordings the viewer may want to make
In addition to this Top up are busy reducing their service to their existing customers (reduced transmission times and channels removed on an almost daily basis.
This seems like a risky process of upsetting existing customers with a choice of price hikes, reduced and greatly changed services. Together with a statement that they have asked by viewers what they want.
I contacted Top up for clarification of what was going on nearly 2 weeks ago. I have received no response whatsoever so am now changing to Sky.
not happy at all, when we eventually decided that being ripped off once again to buy a new box for top up tv at £80 we would try get the £75 deal by signing up to a years contract but as topup messed up my direct debit last year meaning a missed payment they have decided that i can’t get the offer and have to pay £99 i have loged my complaint with top up, will i be signing for £99, like thats going to happen not will be canceling. kenny
I thought I was doing the right thing when I first subcribed to tutv having no contracts to worry about. But this latest idea has gone too far as I have only just last month had to buy a new box. I also feel angry as the store who sold me the box did not even warn me of the changes which I have just found out about after being away for a few weeks. So I feel I have been a mug twice over. Anyone taking up this new service will have to remember to keep yesterdays papers to see what is on today!!!
I agree that topuptv sucks. I was suckered into buying the box 6 months ago and it’s now useless to me as they’ve removed channels and reduced hours on the one I wanted – Eurosport. Their customer service stinks – you ring up and have to listen to adverts for the new ‘Anytime’ service and by the time you speak to someone you’ve spent £4.00 on the call. Then they don’t do what they promise. They don’t reply to emails. They don’t give their customers any notice of changes but expect you to give a month’s notice of cancellation. I did so but can I get a refund of advance subscriptions? No chance. Avoid them like the plague – with luck th whole thing will go belly up.
I was looking to buy a PVR anyway and £75 is a very good price for one also the increased variety in programs is great and well worth the extra £2 per month. I can’t wait
I have signed up to the service because the type of programs TUTV shows OR the SKY basic package for that matter, is suited to recording for viewing later. It is never live and often repeated anyway. So to be able to watch a program when i want plus the use of the PVR for my own recordings it seems a great idea. This service is not designed for a TV junkie but for those who wish to watch some TV ,some of the time, when it suits. However no exact Launch date is given and how reliable is this technology going to be? I feel this service deserves to work. We need another option to SKY.
Anyone not happy with the changes to Topuptv and the terrible customer service? Why not join me in emailing bbc to see if they can bring some pressure to bear….
try emailing to
watchdog@bbc.co.uk or….
working.lunch@bbc.co.uk
do yourself a favour and join me in protesying!
Is it legal for Topup TV to reduce the existing service without reducing the price? Why have they done this before Anytime is activated? It seems obvious they are doing this to blackmail users into subscribing to the new service. That’s not acceptable – is there anyone out there who could look at this from a legal point of view?
My Sky+ box is screwed (doesn’t record audio and drops frames on live tv) and Sky want £200 for a replacement.
So, I’m in the market for an alternative. I thought TopUp TV would be a good deal for £10 a month and leave me free to buy my own PVR. Not anymore…
After experiencing the pain of being an early adopter to new technology (Sky+), I’m not going to go through it again with TopUp TV.
So what else is out there?
An interesting thought: Become friends with your neighbour and sign up for a multi-room Sky+ subscription (£50pm), now get your neighbour to buy a http://www.tvlink.co.uk box. He can now watch your 2nd (unused) multi-room Sky+ box from his house, while you watch the main Sky+ box. Ask him for £25pm and everyone’s happy… Sky for 1/2 price! ;-)
I think it is dreadful that Topup TV have been allowed by the office of fair trading to, pardon the language’ screw their existing customers who paid good money for boxes with the ‘slot’ as recently as a few month ago. What is wrong with the world? Can’t anybody do business the honest way rather forcing people into a corner? Shame on you Topup TV.
Having finally had a digital aeriel installed. I retrieved my set top box from the back of the wardrobe, connected it, and connected my 1 month free trial of TopUpTV (the box was a pressie a while ago).
Having been connected to 7 channels for very limited hours rather than the previously stated 11 channels, I’m already feeling a bit conned.
And to top that off, whilst experiencing this “fantastic” service, whilst watching a film on TCM it cuts out at 1am (end of viewing hours) and I miss the last 20 minutes!! Great.
I did at least manage to watch all the episodes of Doctor Who in UKTVGold’s “Doctor Who Week” last week – but this is a perfect example of where the download service will fail. With each channel allowed a few hours per week, how can something like that be covered? Not to even mention live sporting events. Eurosport viewers must be a bit gutted.
Now I discover they want mega dosh for a new box and a higher monthly fee – and I just don’t get how the limited download service compares to live channels. If I wanted a digital personal video recorder, I would have bought one.
And as for the Cartoon Network being on 9am-11am – correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t most children AT SCHOOL during these times???
Surely this is heading the way of ITVdigital PDQ.
hi would like topup tv do i have to buy the thomson box or can i buy a box like the Topfield Tf5800pvr 250gig
I do not wish to change to top up anytime. I have paid a lot of money for a t.v with a cam so I wouldn’t need a set top box. I also have a dvd recorder so I do not need to have another product that will do the same as the equipment I have ONLY JUST purchased. Fine if you want to cut the viewing hours of top up t.v but then you should reduce the monthly subscription shouldn’t you. After all I will no longer be getting what I am paying for.
Looks like TUTV could not obtain viewers to break even especially when E4 went to Freeview
Went into voluntary receivership last year. Paid £20M by channel 5 for part ownership.
TUTV now only has reduced channels. 2 taken up by FiveLive and FiveUS. Thus reduced mainstream channels available.
Anytime is way of streaming content down when channels not being used and cost saving.
Seems TUTV have been guilty of misleading public with relation to future of company. Anytime will not be affected by TUTV which IMO, will disappear within a year.
Used membership as cheap purchase of Twin Tuner. Idea is good depends on content.
I am looking forward to the new service am somewhat frustrated of the wait but can live with it. I am somewhat puzzled having read some of what people have to say on here.
For example it has been confirmed that the service will be able to record 4 things at once 3 streams from the top up programs and one from freeview, and when the top up streams are not automatically downloading we should be able to record 2 freeview ones or any of the linear top up channels from the old service!!
£9.99 a month is a good price to pay! I find it hard to watch all the stuff I have recorded from my topfield and probably spend most of my time deciding which to delete!
People have very short memories it was not a long time ago that sky were charging people double the amount for their STB and a subscription charge to record the content (which even exists today) – even now their sky plus box is £99.
Where does it say you need a 12 month contract? you can pay £75 for box in full with a 12 month contract or £99 with a pay monthly as you have been doing.
Seems some people have been told incorrect information.
I received the advert through the post at the end of August telling me that I could subscribe to the new anytime service, great I thought and eagerly waited my turn on their customer service line.
Well its now the middle of November and I’m still waiting, they’ve confirmed that the £20 deposit was taken from my bank account on Sept 6th and the advisor told me today that because the Disney Channel has been added all the Anytime Boxes have had to be returned to the manufacturers because the software is not compatible with Disney Channel, I think I’ve been flammed here, has anyone else had this excuse and for that matter has anyone else got the Anytime box.
I’m currently a sky+ subscriber and I’ve finally had enough of the fact that you have to pay extra to enable the recording functions (which I think is an enormous con, the recording functionality is in the box and sky disable it) I’m looking toward TUTV anytime, in theory, it looks like a good idea, but of course, time will tell, anybody got any idea when the boxes will start shipping ?
Launched, when you receive. let us know what you think of the service
What a con.
Seems to me TUTV have been panicked into giving up their bandwidth for commercial reasons (ie not enough customers versus their costs) and dreamed up this half-baked, limited appeal and confusing alternative whereby you get a limited subset of programmes from a limited subset of channels to view on a next-day basis.
When they discovered that nobody actually wanted the new service, they then decided to retain the pathetic remnants of the old one (but with the financial imperative, for how long?) but at the SAME price as for the old service!
Anyone who touches this unstable and doomed crock of sh*t with a disinfected barge-pole wants their head examined.
verdict out but twin drive with 160gb drive, to me a bargain at £99. Picture box could be a winner.
Do not criticise untill seen.
If you want to cancel your service with TopUpTV just ask your bank to stop the Direct Debit – easy. If you do get through to the cencellation line they pull your service there and then no matter what you have remaining of your months subscription. Gone with Sky+ and very very happy
Well, my new didgbox/pvr finally arrived last friday. Plugged it all in and went through the setup without using the manual. Quite straight forward. Left it on overnight and sure enough it had downloaded some of the programs. Had a quick scan and deleted most of them leaving me with 43 hours available for my own progammes. Great I thought, it works as advertised. left it on the following night……the box was red hot and had locked up displaying no signals or error messages. I unplugged it to let it cool down and lo & behold, it came back to life. Since then, no problems. Picture quality is good with little evidence of noise or break-up. Only real criticism is the length of time to switch channels and the manual does not show any error pictures. The one you get frequently is a skeleton tv antenna with a cross next to it showing the channel is not being broadcast. Watch this space for further updates!
I installed my new box on Saturday. Between then and now I have had to unplug and reconnect the box three times due to it locking up. I have called the helpline and been told that the boxes have a software problem that will be fixed on or before Friday. The fix is going to be sent over the airwaves in the same manner as the programmes. Let’s just hope our boxes are not locked up when it tries to send the update.
I’ve just received and installed the box and like most people have had it lock up and die for no apparent reason, I’ve also turned off most of the downloaded content as it’s either not to my taste or stuff I’ve already seen. My main reason for getting it was the DVR functionality but even that seems a little limited, especially when it tells me it needs the channel I’m watching on to record a program – if that’s the case why have the two tuners? The other annoying thing is the inability to watch the live Top UP channels, the box shows the program menu but won’t show the program. I’ve tried ringing the help line but so far I’ve given up after 20 minutes on hold and then been given two contradictory repsonses when I have got through. All in all £99 for the box is OK but the content of the service and the limitations will probably condem the service to a slow and painful death.
Well my box, installed on Tuesday has not locked up yet but refuses to show any of the “Anytime” loaded programs and now won’t show any of the TOPUP TV channels either.. Screen just blank!!
The help screen says it is recognising the TOPUP TV card.. Recording and installing other programs seems OK though which was my main reason for getting the box. Will be intersting to see if it get’s fixed this week.. Can’t get beyone dthe recorded message on the TOPUPTV phone number (the one that ends in 543210)
seems cards need to be activated.Call 08712712712.
If you can get through (option 4)
Ask for card activation.
I’ve also suffered from the box locking up each night and having to unplug it the next day. The fact that I set the box to record a programme on another channel I wasn’t watching only to be told it needed my tuner, cancel or delete??? No option to say OK and I swear the box didn’t record it. I figure box was using the other tuner to record something from Anytime. I wish I could choose what programmes from anytime channels to record. As filling my harddrive with editions of Badly Dubbed Porn/Naked Funny from Paramount comedy is not my idea of entertainment.
We got our box on Thursday and it has also locked up several times already. We also cannot play the Anytime offerings…but I have discovered that no-one can. If you do play one and fast forward it, you can see it is forwarding through a programme of the correct length…there are just no sound and pictures…which would enhance the experience somewhat!
Other problems encountered are:
1. Programme failed to record (the box was frozen on a ‘still frame’
2. The Box went to standby and the remote did not operate the DVR…even when turned off at the wall and rebooted. The solution was to select a programme manually (on the box itself by going to the menu, then ‘guide’, and scrolling to BBC1 and pushing ‘OK’…the remote then began working again).
3. This problem of “which tuner am I watching?” I think is caused by the ‘Stream Swap’ not functioning at all (which is fairly fundamental to the whole priciple of the box). You are supposed to be able to press ‘0’ and swap between tuners (and ‘recording viewing’) but it does not work. I am told this will be corrected by the software update…let’s hope it is not delayed as often as the start date!!??
When the message comes up saying that “the tuner you are watching is required…” you should press ‘cancel’ which means “Cancel the message”…’delete’ deletes the programmed recording.
It really makes one wonder how on earth this box got through testing “I assume someone was interested enough to see if it actually worked??”. The locking up is one thing…perhaps they just got a better box…but the functionality on the “stream swap” must surely have been missing on all the boxes…together with the ability to view the Anytime offerings. Doesn’t it just make you laugh that we were delayed receiving the boxes (so they said) in order to programme the boxes to receive the Disney Channel. First, if that WAS true, do we have to return the boxes each time they introduce a new channel? Second, don’t you think there were more important things to iron out?
i got my box this morning, plugged it in and cant get any channels,cant activate the card, cant get through to customer services. ive always wanted a dvr box, with sky+ you pay for the channels you pay for the box and you pay each month on top for the thing. i refuse to be ripped off by sky and ntl anymore. saw the anytime box a couple of months ago, thought wow, the box the channels i want (animal planet, hallmark and paramount comedy, and a kids channel for my daughter and now wow disney channel to) this for 10 quid a month. i instantly paid the deposit, then later realised i was getting selected programmes, and i was really miffed. phoned them up and they explained to me what they was going to do and if i wasnt happy with the service i have a week to decide, not long but i have a choice. then i thought about why i got rid of sky, i was sick of watching the same programmes repeatedly. am i angry? no firstly its brand new, im old enough and wise enough at 29 to realise that with anything new there will be problems, also theres thousands of people that are getting boxes over this last week and for the fore seeable future (i couldnt get through to ntl many of times after they had things up and running for 10 years+)ive waited a couple of month for the box i can bear with them for a few more days to sort things out. secondly i should have read all the information before paying the deposit as its all there about recieving the programmes, plus there should be no repeats within a couple of days of each other. and lastly, if i dont like the box and have to pay for for a year (cant remember if i was contracted or not) im still paying over £200 less in a year than i would for sky+ and thats why me paying full price £180 for the box. the sky+ plus the channels i watch and the using it fee is £495, this box £180 years contract £120 plus the connection fee little over £300. and remember after a year your still paying about £30 quid a month for sky+ and the channels, im more than happy to pay £10 for preselected programmes and not repeats, and to use my new box.
Yes, another box received! No topup channels yet and I feel the quality of the picture is not quite as clear as my actual TV (seem to see the little squares of the picture e.g. around the features of faces.) seems ok so far but I am wondering about the topup channels… how long do we wait while we still pay for it?
I was quite pleased with the old Top Up TV service for £7.99 and now I have my new Anytime box and service for £9.99 a month I think it will be great when they iron out the problems. Like everyone else it seems, my box also will not download any programmes at the moment but the fact that I can now record anything I want onto the hard disk is great, much better than video tape, and like someone else said, the more of the downloadable Anytime channels you disable, the ones you wouldn’t watch anyway, you get lots more space for you own recordings. Luckily my box has not jammed up at all so for the time being at least, I am happy just to record my own selected programmes. Old channels like UK Gold and TCM are still in my Freeview list so I can still record them if I wish.
What a shame no subtitles available.
Customer service very poor and expensive
installed box this pm
seems ok. the fan and ? HD still run when the unit is on standby??
the intl HD is a seagate and aftera quick shufti seems easy to replace. anyone tried a bigger drive yet?
can the USB port be used to export video?
For your information: (hopefully this covers most problems you’ve got)
1. There are subtitles…it’s just not working for some people.
2. Some people are not getting teletext.
3. No-one can switch streams
4. Some people cannot use the remote (after the box freezes) even with a power-off reboot. The only solution is to power-up the box manually (on the front panel). If that doesn’t get the remote working, on the FRONT PANEL of the box do the following: push ‘Menu’, go to ‘Programme Guide’ using the arrows, press ‘OK’, scroll to BBC1 then press ‘OK’. The remote should work now. If not, try another power-off reboot.
5. No-one can view ‘Anytime’ programmes.
6. The problem seems to lie with Thomson which has been testing the boxes for several months and said they had got it working. This ‘testing’ was the cause of the ‘Disney’ delay also. TUTV are not blameless either because (I am told) they just sent the boxes straight out when they arrived…a strange decision which I find difficult to believe.
7. ALL these problems (possibly!) are going to be solved by this miraculous “Software Update”. However, forgive me if I am a little sceptical of them writing software in one week that they couldn’t come up with in probably 2 years of development and several months of testing…I wait to be impressed.
8. The software update is due overnight tonight or tomorrow (early hours Wednesday or Thursday) so I suggest everyone does a power-off reboot (and test) then put box on ‘standby’ before you go to bed…just to make sure your box stands a chance of being ‘alive’ when the update arrives.
“I can bear with them for a few more days…”
I have just been told the update will be available on January 8th 2007.
We received our new TopupTV box yesterday and it looks very impressive. The picture quality is much better than our previous STB’s, Thomson/Astratec. The recording is very good and it is downloading, I’ve heard that some people are experiencing problems in this area. One problem area we have experienced, which could cause us to cancel, is that it is not supporting Subtitles yet. We have been informed that a download will correct this problem later this week (?). My wife is deaf and relies on the subtitles.
I got the new PVR box yesterday, and swapped it over. i couldn’t get a signal at first when I put the aerial lead into the ‘aerial in’ socket (as per instructions). I then put the aerial into the RF Loop in socket, and the out lead into the RF Loop out socket, and then I was able to pick up a signal.
It did the full scan and found 9 frequencies, plus programmes and software check. All was looking good, and I got a good picture. Then I tried changing channels, and instantly lost the signal (the screen goes black with a X nect to an aerial symbol). Tried switching off and reinstalling, and each time I got a perfect picture on one channel, and sometimes could get several channels, but eventually all went back to the black no signal screen.
Gave up, and reconnected the old box – perfect signal.
I rang the help line tonight, got through reasonably quickly, and was first told I obviously had a reception problem as the box ‘requires a stronger signal’. I said that the current box was fine and there wasn’t much more that i could do to improve the signal (it has a new, digital spec aerial and professional install amplifier).
I was then told that the box was probably picking up too many signals from different masts, which a software fix was going to solve. This fix should be sent ‘in the next day or two’.
The chap at the call centre clearly knew who I was and where I was calling from, which threw me slightly, and was even able to tell me which masts were being picked up on my digibox.
So I’m confused now – is this actually going to work?
To get Sky+ you have to pay extra or subscribe to the top packages. i don’t want to pay £30-£45 a month for a load of programming I really don’t want to watch. If they can get this to work, I’ll be reasonably happy 9although the programme choice could be more inspired). But at the moment, i can’t even use it to watch freeview, let alone anything extra.
have been happy with top up tv but when i saw thompson made the new box my jaw dropped they made the faulty sky boxs i had probs with and i now think skys tele sales people are handleing all phone calls ive been hung up on and engaged tone old box works better than the new one i was advised to continue useing old box but to keep new one and replug in after xmas for a software don load well its on its way back and i want my money back as well
old box worked fine, when new box installed nearly all the channels either cut out or are missing, have tried re-installing many times but nothing works. i have put the old box back and that works fine.
After initial problems for a couple of days my DTR is performing very well. The quality of picture and sound is excellent. The few minor niggles like no text and subtitles should be fixed soon. One has to phone to get the existing card initialised for the new box, or one cannot view the old channel lineup live, but call after 9pm and no problem. I think that it is well worth the money.
Has anyone else had a problem with setting the unit to record programmes, I set mine to start 5 minutes before and to end 5 minutes after the programme finishes but I am finding that although it does start early it finishes dead on time and I am sometimes missing the final few minutes of the recording which is very frustrating. The main selling point for me was that I would be able to record my own programmes to the hard drive but if you can’t rely on getting the end of your recording then it’s pointless.
I have had the new box since Thurs 14th Dec. Worked well for two days then packed up. Help desk spoke of software update but as I pointed out the box needs to be working to receice update. They then stated well nothing can be done to after Christmas anyway