01-12-2019 12:28
Can anyone tell me the best Now TV box to go for as an alternative to my YouView Talk Talk box?
I don't want to lose any freeview channels. Who can advise me the best option? I also have the Roku Now TV (original box).
I am with Talk Talk for TV, Broadband and Calls (including LandLine). It would be so handy to go with Now Broadband, but am wondering whether "NOW" do a package deal like this?
Thanks for your help in advance.
01-12-2019 13:25 - edited 01-12-2019 13:30
@Anonymous User
NowTV had a brief flirtation with a box with a Freeview tuner on it, but people mostly couldn’t see the point of it, and the absence of numeric buttons for channel changing made it cumbersome to use, and you can no longer obtain it new.
Though those who still have them love them, and they go for quite remarkable prices secondhand...
But you don’t want to go that route, I would suggest. Your TalkTalk YouView box will work perfectly well on NowTV Broadband (insofar as anything works perfectly well on NowTV Broadband), and the only thing you will lose is any access you had to TalkTalk Boosts, and any recordings you might have mode of them.
Bur Freeview will work perfectly well, Freeview channels will work perfectly well, and both past and future recordings from Freeview channels will work perfectly well.
And the TalkTalk box is yours to keep, and was from day one*.
So hang on to it, and keep using it.
As to a NowTV box, the original white one is now a bit past its sell-by date, but the black ones are still fine. We are assured that full NowTV is coming to YouView boxes, but it is taking rather longer than winter took to come to Westeros.
There is no package deal with NowTV; Broadband and Streaming Devices are two separate things that you buy individually, though the Broadband sometimes comes with offers for discounted streaming Passes.
*There is an exception for TalkTalk boxes replaced on subscription after the one year’s guarantee had expired. But I don’t think TalkTalk are going to chase after these. So ignore any Jiffy bags they ‘helpfully’ send you to return your TalkTalk box in; you don’t have to, and I wouldn’t.
01-12-2019 14:17
Thanks @RoyB
Although, I hasten to add, I thought I had the original box (its black, but no coloured NowTV logo). Great answer, very informative. So, I wouldn't lose any of the freeview channels that I already have, due to using Now TV instead of Talk Talk? Only, as you say "will lose any recordings saved"? Would be grateful if you could confirm this, thanks?
Regards,
Jamie
01-12-2019 14:57
@Anonymous User
Even better than that 😃
“.....the only thing you will lose is any access you had to TalkTalk Boosts, and any recordings you might have made of them.
Bur Freeview will work perfectly well, Freeview channels will work perfectly well, and both past and future recordings from Freeview channels will work perfectly well.”
That is, you won’t lose any recordings you currently have from Freeview channels, only any recordings you might have made from TalkTalk Boost channels.
Of which, you may not have any anyway, as most TalkTalk customers don’t.
Changing from TalkTalk to NowTV Broadband won’t affect your Freeview channels at all, as these come from your TV aerial, not over the Internet. Only extra channels from TalkTalk Boosts, which do come over the Internet, and only from TalkTalk, will no longer be there.
Have you got any TalkTalk Boosts? If you haven’t, nothing at all will change; but if you have any, best see which non-Freeview channels you like watching from Boosts, as we don’t want you disappointed by losing a channel that you thought was Freeview, but wasn’t.
If you have any such that you are not sure about, list them here, so we can check if they are Freeview or not.
And if your box is black, coloured logo or not, it’s still going strong, so that’s fine.