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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Smart Box Review - July 2016

Been using my new Smart Box for just over a week so here are my initial thoughts.

 

I am running the box via ethernet on a fibre line so bandwidth is not a problem

 

As per both previous versions, of which I have had, the set up of the box is very simple - basically plug and play. Logging into you NOW account is simple and brings in your account passes etc with very easily.

 

My initial impressions of the picture quality is very good - better than the 2015 (black) box which ran on the same ethernet line. Sound is very clear. So far so good!

 

I have watched movies (I have the Cinema pass) and the picture is crystal clear with no buffering - as good as my now redundant Virgin box.

 

I was hoping for a more logical interface - it seems ridiculous to me there is not a dedicated button on the remote to bring up the "My Apps" page, which for me is one of the most popular pages. I understand that Sky wish to push their services but putting a dedicated "Sky Store" button seems a bit much.

 

The Freeview section needs work very quickly. Getting Freeview on this was one of the reasons I upgraded as I wanted the cushion of not relying just on the internet (Virgin internet is pretty reliable though to be fair). It really is a bit of a mess. On the Home page, you have a window showing the last live channel but this does not work if the Live channel was via the Entertainment pass only via Freeview. The EPG is poor and has room for improvement as does the reliability of channel availability as I have had 60 channels and then 29 channels in the space of 5 minutes. 

 

Lastly, I have found the box to be unstable with having to reset 3 times in a week to get anything to work including Freeview (I have has to rescan for channels every day) and Sky News.

 

I am hoping the next system update will get the box stabilised and more reliable and then over the next few months address the other issues I have mentioned above.

 

All in all its nearly there but needs some urgent work to get it where is should be. If you are new to NOW boxes I would wait a couple of months or purchase the 2015 version.

 

Another positive the NOW live chat team are awesome!

22 REPLIES 22
herojan
Expert

Hi

 

The stability problems you are having are odd, I'm trying to remember how many times I have had to reset the box (since I started the trial) and I cannot, the number is so low.

 

 


• Roku Streaming Stick+ | S/W 8.1.0 | Now TV app v3.12.132 | Wifi (DHCP)
• Internet - Plusnet Fibre @ 36M

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi @herojan - it is strange. Currently, it is with the NOW techies, for what i hope, is a resolution. As of this morning the box is stuck on the TV Guide and despite pulling the power lead and putting back in keeps going back to that state. My wife is not happy as she is not a techie and now has no TV!

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User

 

Have you tried a factory reset on the smart box ?

 

If not might be worth a try to see if the box is more stable after a reset.

 

Underneath the box is a small reset button, push the button in until the NowTV Welcome screen appears, then once the box has defaulted back to the home page go into the menu settings, select Advanced systems settings and do a factory reset.

 

The only problem with a factory reset is that you need to setup the box again from scratch which includes entering your wifi password, nowtv username & password and a new re scan of your TV channels.

 

Also, do you leave your smart box left on at the power mains each night or do you knock off all your electrical appliances.

 

I leave my smart box permanently switched on at the mains and it has been stable since the start of the trial (April 2016). Smiley Happy

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

thanks @schnapps for the message. Yes I have done 1 factory reset and folks at NOW have asked me to complete another one so when i get in from home tonight I shall do it again. I leave my box on all the time as I noticed in the settings it sleeps after 4 hours?

 

The problem comes when I'm not home as my wife is not technically minded so therefore i need a stable piece of tech and sadly the smart box isn't providing that at the moment!

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@schnapps ok just did a factory reset. Signed in etc. The Freeview has now picked up 109 channels which is the best ever. Will update you with any crashes etc!

BicBasher
Elite

@Anonymous User Some of those extra channels may be the extra Olympics Red Button channels which the BBC are adding for 75% of the country who can receive one of the extra HD multiplexes.

 

 

Networking Spec - ISP: TalkTalk VDSL2 @ 76mbps | Amazon Fire TV Cube 2nd Gen, Chromecast 3rd Gen WiFi, Motorola Moto G9 (Android 11), Dell PC with Windows 10 Home Edition using Now TV Player.
schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

@BicBasher @Anonymous User

 

 There is more information on this article linked below.

 

http://www.a516digital.com/2016/07/bbc-olympics-freeview-update.html  

 

Edit - Some areas might have had the extra BBC Olympic channels already, my area is updating on Wednesday.  

BicBasher
Elite

@schnapps Yes, I have them already.   A retune will probably be necessary on Wednesday again as BBC Four HD is moving to the HD multiplex with full coverage across the country.    Some areas will also have an extra CBBC HD channel on the mux that has BBC News HD and CBeebies HD due to space being used for the Olympics.

 

 

Networking Spec - ISP: TalkTalk VDSL2 @ 76mbps | Amazon Fire TV Cube 2nd Gen, Chromecast 3rd Gen WiFi, Motorola Moto G9 (Android 11), Dell PC with Windows 10 Home Edition using Now TV Player.
mark_suff
Expert

@BicBasher It's in HD on the Sky News app too.

BicBasher
Elite

@mark_suff The only reason I didn't mention the Sky News app is that it's buggy and the live stream has a noticible motion judder issue on the Smart Box.

 

 

Networking Spec - ISP: TalkTalk VDSL2 @ 76mbps | Amazon Fire TV Cube 2nd Gen, Chromecast 3rd Gen WiFi, Motorola Moto G9 (Android 11), Dell PC with Windows 10 Home Edition using Now TV Player.