TRake my word for it go with Sky at least you know were you are and no signal interferance and missed recrdings etc to contend with. Top up tv is the pits.

YMMV mine dont !

Thanks

Barry

OK, I’ve been playing with my one for the last 4 months and all I can say is – THE DEVICE IS UNFIT FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT IS SOLD

After being used as a recorder for some months, the unit now regularly corrupts recordings – AND when this happens IT ALSO LOSES ANY SERIES LINK ENTRIES – this means if you were recording a series, it stops doing it!

It locks up regularly to the point of requiring power cycling at the wall switch and many times it ranges from difficult to almost impossible to delete corrupt recordings – attempting to play or delete them ofetn results in a system lockup.

I believe this box is Linux-based, after observing the hard drive format and the way certain things are done – Linux/GPL licensing conditions REQUIRE that customers be made aware that they are buying GPL software-based equipment, and the software + SOURCE CODE must be made available, along with the source code of any modifications made to the software – this is not done with the TUTV box – that makes the device a copyright violation and TopUpTV a bunch of SOFTWARE PIRATE

Internally – the chipset was obseleted 2 years ago and chipset manufacturer data (SG/Thomson) makes it clear that it’s specifically intended for this purpose – however they refuse to divulge technical specifications – Thomson have been sucessfully sued for GPL software violations in the past and I believe they’re doing it again.

Moving onto the software – the front panel USB slot is intended for a hard drive. This is part of the software in the chipset. It appears that TUTV had deliberately disabled it, as well as encrypting even freeview recordings on the internal hard drive, making it impossible for users to extract their recordings.

I am currently working on finding out how they’re encrypted as I believe the frontend software being used is GPL software being used illegally with obfustication being used to disguise this – TUTV whould take note that the last UK company found to be doing this went out of business as a direct result of legal action which proved “willful” copyright violations instead of merely accidental/unintentional violation

I believe the instability and terrible general performance is a direct result of incompetent and obfusticated modifications of existing programs by TUTV – there are other boxes based on this chipset on the market and they work fine.

Looking forward to seeing court orders blowing this mess open. Just because TUTV is Jersey based won’t protect them and there is plenty of european legal precedent over the last 10 years.

Guys: Comply with GPL conditions, it would take you 45 minutes to do so. The last judgment against a company which deliberately violated GPL and set out to obscure that they’d done so resulted in costs, legal fees, damages approching 250,000 pounds and orders requiring they not only remove the product from the market but also that all sold copies be taken back and purshasers compensated – that was a small company. Judgements go up with the egariousness of the violations.

Software piracy is software piracy. If TUTV do not comply with licensing conditions then they as pirates as much as any knockoff artist flogging counterfeit copies of Microsoft Office.

WHAT A CON

I was told by the salesman that the month starts once I put my card into the machine.
Two weeks later when I got round t opening my letter, it mentioned that I would have to cancel my trail by a certain date, about two weeks time now. I phoned them and asked is that the date I will get charged for the service, of which the reply was yes. And they told me the card is activated from the date it is sent out. This is a contradiction from what the first sales guy had said. So basically I had been given mis information / lied to just so they can get my card details and the possibility I would not cancel in time and make there extra money.

Why can’t free trails let you decide to pay for the rest? Either they have no confidence in there service of how good it is that customers would be happy to carry on and pay , or sounds like they do this to make money from new users who accidentally go over there free trial period. Much like a DVD rental company I once tried with.

I complained about the fact I had to phone them due to there fault and they gave me a refund of £9.99 to cover the calls to the 0870 and for the inconvenience. Although I did say id report them too.

All I got to do is check in two weeks to make sure they have refunded me, since reading some comments from above about them being a con type company. Which means that they might try there luck at no refunding me. But don’t worry I will like some of you persevere. Since they must make millions this way over the masses of people who do try.

Rip off is a good word.

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Since we had the TUTV Anytime box in December 2006 it has constantly crashed and missed recordings, and the series link and subtitles have only just started working after the latest sofware download. Small comfort.

I have been calling TUTV at least twice a month since we got the thing, noting the name of the member of staff, time called and what discussed / promised. By June I had had enough of broken promises (they never call back), and duff advice such as ‘turn it off and on again’… so I cancelled my Direct Debit.

Then all hell broke loose. Despite never responding to my calls or letters, the moment they noticed my DD had been cancelled they wrote me a snotty letter threatening to pass my details to a debt recovery agency. I called them back, insisted on speaking to a team leader, and listed the numerous problems and my attempts to resolve them. She basically called me a liar, denied any knowledege of my earlier calls, and insisted that the subtitles, series link, etc, DID work.

But she did agree to hold off involving a debt recovery agency, gave me a month off the subscription and promised the technicians would call me the following evening to resolve the problems… But surprise, surprise, no-one called me back.

I wrote back to them pointing out their latest failure to keep their promises and asked for a returns label and a refund. No reply.

The subtitles and series link functions spontaneously started working about three weeks ago.

Yet in the meantime my TUTV account appears to have been frozen, meaning i can’t view any of the downloaded content… more’s the pity, as it was a load of rubbish repeats anyway!

So it appears that I have ‘won’, in a sense. I’m free of the 12 month contract, and since the TUTV downloads ceased I have a massive 80 hours of space on the hard drive. (Although for £75.00 I could no doubt buy a better Freeview PVR with more features and a clearer picture.)

So anyone reading this who is thinking of signing up – DON’T. And if you’re trying to get out of a TUTV contract – write to them, list your grievances and cancel your Direct Debit if you don’t hear from them within 14 days.

Disgruntled former TUTV customer

The time sharing system had also lead to criticism as it has cut programmes off before they are finished – especially on British Eurosport, and to a lesser extent on UKTV Gold. In its argument to the Advertising Standards Authority (see above), Top Up TV claimed that its channel suppliers joining the service had given an undertaking to align their channel’s schedules to fit around Top Up TV’s time sharing but that still left a few programmes cut off part way through.

On May 18, 2006 Top Up TV Ltd, Top Up TV’s holding company, changed its name to Minds 1 Limited and entered members voluntary liquidation [15]. According to Top Up TV the move is part of a restructuring programme, and will see the company demerged into three separate companies; Top Up TV 1 Limited, Top Up TV 2 Limited, and Top Up TV 3 Limited. The voluntary liquidation, combined with the initial heavy £7 million loss as reported in its own annual report, has resulted in increased media speculation regarding the viability and future of Top Up TV.