What I hate about UPC Television

Sunny!! · 11-08-2012 1:28pm

Lack of channels (music in particular)
the noise the box makes when it randomly reboots:eek:
the guide takes way too long to come up
people might think this is rubbish but i think the picture quality is worse than sky
Lack of hd
Recording - sometimes the ending of a programme is not recorded
The Remote, just too big and awkward
Since the ondemand has launched nothing seems to be added
randomly reverting back to channel 100 the most annoying thing ever!!!!

However I would not revert back to sky, the multiroom and hd are far too expensive with sky compared to upc!

mike65 · 11-08-2012 11:46pm

Too often UPC has pixelation when anything fast happens on screen (esp if its red). That said some channels seem to have worse PQ than others in any event.

Ally Dick · 15-08-2012 12:10am

I used to have awful problems with pixellation, channels that I couldn't access e.g. temporarily unavailable, and also picture freezes, at least five times a night. That all stopped when I upgraded to the recorder box. Haven't had a bother since. Although I am happy enough with the service, I keep getting phone calls from UPC hounding me into possibly taking broadband and phone off them. I am getting mighty sick of it. I have warned them that if they keep it up, I'm off to Sky. However, with Sky getting into broadband and phone, they will start the hounding if I go over to them !

califano · 15-08-2012 11:35am

Another problem i have that hasnt been mentioned. When i set a programme reminder and the notification box pops up on screen when it becomes time when i press ok to go view the reminder programme and change the channel the screen freezes and i have to plug out and back in again to get back.

blindsider · 15-08-2012 12:47pm

Ally Dick wrote: »

I used to have awful problems with pixellation, channels that I couldn't access e.g. temporarily unavailable, and also picture freezes, at least five times a night. That all stopped when I upgraded to the recorder box. Haven't had a bother since. Although I am happy enough with the service, I keep getting phone calls from UPC hounding me into possibly taking broadband and phone off them. I am getting mighty sick of it. I have warned them that if they keep it up, I'm off to Sky. However, with Sky getting into broadband and phone, they will start the hounding if I go over to them !

I'm sure the pestering/hounding is annoying, but the BB is the best available. When Sky do offer bb, it will still be over eircom's awful, antiquated and unreliable network.

You get very used to having 30Mb BB I have to say.

bayou · 19-08-2012 7:28pm

Another issue with UPC, aside from the fact that I will be having my third engineers visit in 3 weeks on Tuesday morning. Picture still freezing, slow reaction time on remote and when you change channel you get the sound from original channel for 30 seconds.

Anyway, I have the HD box and a Sky Sports subscription. HOWEVER if I want to watch SS1 and 2 in HD, they want another tenner a month. All the other HD channels are seemingly included in the package, but no one told me about the extra for SS. I took it I would be getting it in HD for the price quoted.

If my picture is not sorted on Tuesday, I will look to have my contract cancelled and go cap in hand back to Sky.

Its not nearly good enough

Eamo71 · 21-08-2012 12:29pm

I was looking at some videos of the new UPC box due over her some time next year in Q1 or Q2 and it looks as if you'll be able to use your smartphone such as an iPhone as a remote. I'm also assuming that the remote with this new box will be superior to the current unresponsive one.

bronn · 21-08-2012 2:04pm

CSU wrote: »

'Go To Info Channel' Bug - Sometimes when I hit the 'volume up' button on the Remote it will flash up '5', then hiccup and go to the 'UPC Info Channel'...VERY ANNOYING

I can help you with this one and it works perfectly; lock out the Info Channel and it won't go there again. Even if it tries to, you just get a "this channel is locked" screen. Since I locked the Info Channel out, it never hopped back to it. Since I first did it, the menu may have changed around a bit, but you'll get the general idea from this.

First, set up a PIN which is useful so nobody can unlock channels. Go to;
Menu --> Settings --> PIN Settings --> put in your PIN of choice.

Once you've got your PIN in place, then go to;
Guide --> Settings (press the green button) --> Press OK --> To lock a channel press the yellow button --> Lock channel 100 --> No more irritating Info Channel.

Hope that works for you. It certainly did for me - couldn't tell you the last time I saw Info Channel or channel 3e or whatever is was called.

Wish I could help with the other stuff but I'll just have to add a massive "me too". I hate that stupid guide that takes forever to load and I also really miss the dual record feature.

shane. · 21-08-2012 6:37pm

Eamo71 wrote: »

I was looking at some videos of the new UPC box due over her some time next year in Q1 or Q2 and it looks as if you'll be able to use your smartphone such as an iPhone as a remote. I'm also assuming that the remote with this new box will be superior to the current unresponsive one.

if the rollout for the horizon box is anything like the rollout for the on demand service its gonna be an absolute mess

pm1977x · 21-08-2012 10:36pm

bronn wrote: »

I can help you with this one and it works perfectly; lock out the Info Channel and it won't go there again. Even if it tries to, you just get a "this channel is locked" screen. Since I locked the Info Channel out, it never hopped back to it. Since I first did it, the menu may have changed around a bit, but you'll get the general idea from this.

First, set up a PIN which is useful so nobody can unlock channels. Go to;
Menu --> Settings --> PIN Settings --> put in your PIN of choice.

Once you've got your PIN in place, then go to;
Guide --> Settings (press the green button) --> Press OK --> To lock a channel press the yellow button --> Lock channel 100 --> No more irritating Info Channel.

Hope that works for you. It certainly did for me - couldn't tell you the last time I saw Info Channel or channel 3e or whatever is was called. Wish I could help with the other stuff but I'll just have to add a massive "me too". I hate that stupid guide that takes forever to load and I also really miss the dual record feature.

Great idea, cheers!

theteal · 26-08-2012 1:19pm

I'm back over in the parents house for the weekend. In the time since I was previously here I contacted UPC to upgrade the TV equipment in the house as the folks still had the original NTL equipment from ~7 years ago which didn't have the new fancy features yet was still the same price as their monthly current tariffs. Also the remote controls were showing their age and starting to die.

I fear I may have made a grave error. Browsing the channels now is horrendous on the new boxes, it's sooooo slow. On the old set up, I'd just hit "browse" which gives the on screen channel list pop up and then hit "pg up" or "pg dwn" to get to the different sections i.e. movies, sports, radio etc. That's the way it was for years and it worked quickly and perfectly.

Now I'm finding that it's the painful situation of having to navigate through the channel list 1 by 1, am I doing something wrong? There is no browse button. 1st world problem I know but if worked perfectly why change it to make it a worse experience for users?

Cushie Butterfield · 26-08-2012 1:22pm

theteal wrote: »

There is no browse button. 1st world problem I know but if worked perfectly why change it to make it a worse experience for users?

There should be a Guide button, which has replaced the Browse button.

theteal · 26-08-2012 1:27pm

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

There should be a Guide button, which has replaced the Browse button.

guide isn't the same, guide takes up the whole screen, the old system had guide too, very rarely used it. browse just brought up a pop up at the bottom of the screen. the page up and down button doesn't skip to the different sections in guide either.

CSU · 26-08-2012 1:28pm

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

There should be a Guide button, which has replaced the Browse button.

...indeed, but what a load of rubbish it is.

Instead (I find) the best way to browse is to add them to your favourites and use the mini-guide pressing the blue button to access your favs.

...I don't watch more than ~10 channels so this works for me:)

Cushie Butterfield · 26-08-2012 2:04pm

theteal wrote: »

guide isn't the same, guide takes up the whole screen, the old system had guide too, very rarely used it. browse just brought up a pop up at the bottom of the screen. the page up and down button doesn't skip to the different sections in guide either.

Pressing the oK will give the now & next, & arrow down shows more. Arrow left & right for other channels. You can change what the guide shows by using the red search button & the green settings button. Page up & down on full guide skips by the hundred.

Cushie Butterfield · 26-08-2012 2:05pm

CSU wrote: »

...indeed, but what a load of rubbish it is.

Instead (I find) the best way to browse is to add them to your favourites and use the mini-guide pressing the blue button to access your favs.

...I don't watch more than ~10 channels so this works for me:)

Yep, favourites is probably the best option.

jack presley · 26-08-2012 2:08pm

I hate when you enter a channel number that doesn't exist or miss a digit or whatever and it automatically tunes to the Info page with that dick talking.

Why don't they just leave it on the channel you are on or the nearest one to the number you typed?

djimi · 26-08-2012 2:17pm

jack presley wrote: »

I hate when you enter a channel number that doesn't exist or miss a digit or whatever and it automatically tunes to the Info page with that dick talking.

Why don't they just leave it on the channel you are on or the nearest one to the number you typed?

These are the kind of things that annoy me about UPC. Its for the most part simple things that are immediately obvious as annoyances when using the system, but that they make no effort to resolve. The way the guide scrolls is just ridiculous; why on earth would you move the entire page around a bar when it would be simpler to just move the bar? Anyone who used the system for more than a minute would see how bad it is. Its like they dont do any user testing on their equipment/software before sending it out, or if they do its as if they dont listen to any feedback.

Cushie Butterfield · 26-08-2012 2:23pm

jack presley wrote: »

I hate when you enter a channel number that doesn't exist or miss a digit or whatever and it automatically tunes to the Info page with that dick talking.

Why don't they just leave it on the channel you are on or the nearest one to the number you typed?

Yes this really gets on my wick. Though after reading somewhere on boards recently (might even have been on this thread) I locked the info channel so as when it does go to it you just get the 'this channel is locked' screen, which is a lot less annoying than that annoying three tones & Craig Doyle.

Cushie Butterfield · 26-08-2012 2:28pm

Another annoying thing about the info channel: whenever you inadvertently end up there the red message button flashes leading you to believe that there is an important message about new channels or whatever available that you have not read, & then when you press it you find messages over a year old that you have already read.

I wouldn't mind being 'forced' to the info channel if there was a valid reason.

Profiler · 26-08-2012 10:08pm

What is annoying me this week is when I change channel to RTE1, RTE2 or TV3.

That on demand player decides that it will be switched on... without me even pushing a button :mad:

When I want "on demand" I'll be the one demanding it... no you UPC :mad:

Morf · 30-09-2012 12:57am

My UPC box usually just stalls and the picture freezes and the remote in unresponsive.

This time something new happened. The channel remained on 3E no matter what channel I selected. If i chose a menu screen i got the menu text with 3e as the background.

Had to turn it off at the back. Seems a bit glitchy afterwards too.

the_rovers_one · 17-10-2012 5:22am

Alot of reason here why I refuse to move to UPC.

The remote doesn't bother me as much to be honest.
There HD services aren't as good as Sky IMO.
Their lack of interactive services.
The '+' option on sky is a million times better than UPC.
Sky have all the freesat channels and many more channels in nearly every genre.
Sky's new OnDemand+ is quite good with the amount of movies we are able to watch!
The EPG run's fast and smoothly compared to UPC's disaster.
When I turn the box off at night I want as little light as possible. The sky boxes have one little amber light rather UPC have a nice bright clock display.

I've loads more but I don't want to seem anymore cracky than I already am!

Mearings · 17-10-2012 1:39pm

+ No radio epg.
No recording of radio channels.

the_rovers_one · 17-10-2012 8:08pm

Mearings wrote: »

+ No radio epg.
No recording of radio channels.

I don't think anyone does recordings of Radio Channels... Although they would be decent no one does them.

Mearings · 18-10-2012 9:51am

I used to record record radio on a TVonics DTR-z500 Freeview recorder and on a Daewoo pvr.

paulbok · 19-10-2012 3:27pm

Having to reboot the box nearly every week as something isn't working.
Channel 100, everything about it.
crap remote control, channel selection usually ends up at ch 100
EPG is chronic slow
recordings not starting or ending on time. Video plus could do this correctly 15 years ago off an analogue signal.
The volume during adverts going up significantly to annoy the hell out of you. if you turn it down during the break you end up missing the program when it returns.
Customer service, they have improved when you get through but it still can take over 10 minutes to get an operator.

ted1 · 20-10-2012 1:36am

[*]Having to reboot the box nearly every week as something isn't working. Why?
[*]Channel 100, everything about it. Lock it.
[*]crap remote control, channel selection usually ends up at ch 100. IR interference, seperate box and tv.
[*]EPG is chronic slow. Use the web app on your phone.
[*]recordings not starting or ending on time. Video plus could do this correctly 15 years ago off an analogue signal. Broadcaster issue. Out of control, adjust start/end time in settlings.
[*]The volume during adverts going up significantly to annoy the hell out of you. if you turn it down during the break you end up missing the program when it returns. I believe this is outlawed from 2013, I run mine through an amp so not an issue.
[*]Customer service, they have improved when you get through but it still can take over 10 minutes to get an operator. Hang up and call back an hour later, or use there web page to request a call back.

who is this · 21-10-2012 6:51pm

ted1 wrote: »

[*]The volume during adverts going up significantly to annoy the hell out of you. if you turn it down during the break you end up missing the program when it returns. I believe this is outlawed from 2013, I run mine through an amp so not an issue.

Never ever heard of this. Also, how can you blame UPC for that anyway? It's not them who gets the ad money. They'd have no incentive to do that.

jack presley wrote: »

I hate when you enter a channel number that doesn't exist or miss a digit or whatever and it automatically tunes to the Info page with that dick talking.

Why don't they just leave it on the channel you are on or the nearest one to the number you typed?

The channel thing isn't exactly as you describe. It actually does sort of have a logic to it (but not a very user-friendly one).

If you put in a channel that doesn't exist it always goes to the nearest existing channel (at least on the HD boxes). i.e. putting in 157 will bring you to 153 . The problem is that anytime you miss a digit, the nearest value is..... 100. So you get the info channel.

Yes it is very very annoying. But it's not what happens every time a channel is misentered.

I would rather they not get rid of it altogether though: just ignore anything short of three digits. Frequently I try to get to a channel in the 130s or 140s that I don't know the number for. The 100s are so badly organised there's empty slots all over the place here, just begging me to accidently enter, say 139. At least it jumping to 140 leaves me in the general area of where I wanted to go.

jack presley · 22-10-2012 7:38pm

who is this wrote: »

Never ever heard of this. Also, how can you blame UPC for that anyway? It's not them who gets the ad money. They'd have no incentive to do that.

The channel thing isn't exactly as you describe. It actually does sort of have a logic to it (but not a very user-friendly one).

If you put in a channel that doesn't exist it always goes to the nearest existing channel (at least on the HD boxes). i.e. putting in 157 will bring you to 153 . The problem is that anytime you miss a digit, the nearest value is..... 100. So you get the info channel.

Yes it is very very annoying. But it's not what happens every time a channel is misentered.

I would rather they not get rid of it altogether though: just ignore anything short of three digits. Frequently I try to get to a channel in the 130s or 140s that I don't know the number for. The 100s are so badly organised there's empty slots all over the place here, just begging me to accidently enter, say 139. At least it jumping to 140 leaves me in the general area of where I wanted to go.

Yeah, you're right but somehow my mars bar size fingers always end up hitting buttons that bring me back to that annoying info channel.

What I hate about UPC Television

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