virgin HD question

colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

I have virgin media cable tv, and have an old style box downstairs. I could do with another one for a tv upstairs.

I might as well get an HD one, as I will probably get an HD TV at some point and may be able to watch HD TV using a pc monitor in the mean time.

My question is, can i just buy a second hand virgin HD box off ebay, or is there some kind of installtion that needs to be done ?

I know I'll only get a few HD channels, and I know I wouldnt be able to use the recording facility of a HD box that can record, but otherwise, would i just be able to plug it in to use it ?
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Tarmacsurfer · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Karma :

You will need to pay an extra £10 a month for a second box iirc, it's tagged onto the Virgin Media network so you can't just "plug and play", also since they rolled out Nag3 encryption you can't even buy a third party box and use a little trickery.
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t121anf · World Chat Champion Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Karma :

£5 a month is on XL TV.

£75 for the "installation" if you move your current box to become a 2nd box, otherwise £150.

pretty sure virgin won't budge on these as i've tried a few times to get a second HD box (non-v+)

colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

Thanks for the answers, but they are answers to slightly different questions.

I think they are wrong answers too.

I dont need a second card, as my current cable tv box works ok without the card, just limits what channels I can watch.

I dont think its £75 or £150 for the installation, as virgin says its £50.

https://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/tv/v-hd-box.html

I think I'll just get their standard HD box as £50 isnt too bad, and the v+ boxes are probably only much better if you are using the recording, which I wont be able to without paying a monthly fee probably.
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GhostRider · World Chat Champion Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Karma :

If a standard box works out cheaper then go for that, I have a HD box with a HDTV, and flicking between the normal channels and their HD counterparts, I can't tell the difference. It's a con.

GhostRider
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carvell · Scuttler Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Karma :

Either virgin HD quality is awful (unlikely), or your TV or eyes are awful (more likely!).

HD is noticeably much better than SD, on my modest TV (32") and satellite HD anyway. It's annoying having to watch an SD channel after you've watched something on HD for a couple of hours.

The only channels that have 'HD counterparts' are Channel 4 and ITV1. DId you make sure that they were broadcasting in HD when you checked..? A lot of the time they transmit upscaled SD, if the program being shown hasn't been recorded in HD.

BBC HD, however, is proper HD 100% of the time.
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