@imacken
Comments in italics.
“I am trialling EE TV with a view to ending my 23 year relationship with Sky, and I can't say I'm too impressed so far.
Now, some of these may be fixable, and if so, any help appreciated.
1) Can't easily skip adverts on ITV recordings, although I realise this can be avoided if I use the box in hybrid aerial/internet mode.
This is a requirement that ITV have placed on recording their channels over IPTV. They can’t enforce it on Freeview, though perhaps they would like to.
2) on the iPhone/iPad app, there does not seem to be a way of watching channels like BBC1, Sky Sports, etc.
On the iPhone/iPad you have the BBC iPlayer and Now apps that you can watch these things on. Even with Deep Linking, implemented in the EPG of the Pro box, the relevant channel’s Player is called to play the programme.
3) can't watch recordings on the app, or make them.
You can’t watch them, true; but if you pair the app with your Pro box, you can make them, by setting them up remotely, programme or series, to be recorded on your Pro box.
4) the mini-box seems to be a standalone device with no connection to main box, so no access to recordings etc.
Yes. Such access is technically possible, but again, the broadcasters won’t permit it.
5) the 'What's On now' live TV bar only highlights SD channels, so seems like a waste of time.
Yes, a long-standing gripe. On BBC One and 5, though, you can press Info, and get the option to watch in HD. Not on itv or Channel Four though, it seems.
6) only seem to get surround sound from Sky channels, not on BBC1, etc.
Do you get surround from these channels over Sky? The broadcaster has to provide it for you to get it.
7) if I select a programme to 'series record', all versions of the programme, e.g. on +1 channels, get recorded.
That shouldn’t happen. The box should only record one copy of a given programme, though if the recording fails on the main channel, the box will attempt to record a later version, likely from a +1 channel.
However, it does absolutely rely on the broadcasters getting the CRIDs (Content Reference IDentifiers) correct.
There’s a Series CRID and a Programme CRID. When you record a Series, you are telling the box, ‘Please record anything with this Series CRID’ which it will do across all channels. And it has no idea of programme names, or anything we might identify them by. But once it finds a programme with that Series CRID, and successfully records it, it makes a note of the Programme CRID, and doesn’t record any further copies of that Series/Programme, which is how it ought to know to skip +1s.
Two ways this can go wrong; firstly, if it makes a successful recording but doesn’t think it has, then it will get the +1 as well. Secondly, if the broadcaster has erroneously given the +1 a different Programme CRID for the main broadcast.
If you are getting examples of this, then we need to know which programme, and the channels and times of each recording.
Any help or comments on this would be appreciated. At the moment, I am thinking of returning to Sky.”
*Longtime YouView box owner & broadband customer (was BT now EE), but only recently a full EETV subscriber*
