Eir TV (eir Vision replacement - tvOS/Apple TV based)

campo · 07-04-2020 12:49pm

tech wrote: »

HI campo , what free to air / freesat box have you?

as such most of the Eir channells are free to air?

I went with a cheap Amiko Mini Combobox and only reasons I got it was for the following

1. To record RTE, Virgin, BBC etc
2. Since EIR TV runs off broadband if your BB goes down so does your TV so I wanted a backup option for when that does happen ( as it will )

tech · 07-04-2020 12:53pm

yes I was thinking the same, but looking at it. most of the channells from Eir are as such free to Air. ......?

campo · 07-04-2020 12:58pm

tech wrote: »

yes I was thinking the same, but looking at it. most of the channells from Eir are as such free to Air. ......?

Yes there is but as an example the mrs loves to record Love Island on Virgin Media and give it 30 mins so she can forward over ads, can't do that on Eir TV and worse again the Virgin App is not on Apple TV so forget about catchup.

But if you have a FTA box installed she can record Virgin Media and in the meantime we can put on a quick show on Netflix on Apple TV, then after 30 mins switch back to freesat box and start our recording on Virgin.

Is it a little messy? yes however it suits our need and I am currently paying half of what I was paying Sky as really with Sky you are paying for the ease of use more than anything else.

Machinehead · 10-04-2020 4:13pm

As of yet I haven't bit the bullet and made the switch and made the move to Eir TV from Eir Vision. Sine the switch by Eir the Eir Vision service as a whole has diminished considerably. Eir have made changes to the overall package available to Eir Vision customers without prior notification. Due to the launch of Eir TV they have started a spat of some sort with Virgin Media the consequence of which was to lose the HD variants of VM1 HD, VM Three HD & most of the output from VM1+1. The mobile app as designed for Eir Vision & which has been replaced by the Eir TV app, now only carries the sports channels & TG4. Gone from the mobile app all the UK channels, documentaries, movies plus much more. The new service I understand doesn't allow recording of some channels but as a broadband service provider they have included Amazon Prime Video with whichever package customers are on. Looking at the channel list available on the Eir Vision service, the vast majority are already available FTA (& some of which are in HD) on satellite. Eir need to get their stuff together.

ppn · 10-04-2020 8:39pm

So, the new apple tv box is a pile of crap from the sounds of this thread?
We have the old eir vision tv box; the biggest issue being that you can only record 1 channel while watching another or 2 while watching a recording. The user interface and tv guide is also rubbish but for the price with 80 channels or so, it wasn't bad apart from the sub-par recording issue.
Now off contract, the price is 20% dearer and have just gone with new contract with the Apple box.
Not interested in netflix or sky sports, just like watching or recording terrestrial channels and any other channels. Already have Amazon Prime which is ok. HD not an issue as tv is 4k and HD was not noticeably better when we had it.

To confirm, with Apple box, we can only record a very limited number of channels and are forced to use 'Player' type apps, which are unreliable with ads?
Can you keep the old eir vision box? Or we may just try a different provider - virgin or vodafone...

kooga · 10-04-2020 11:13pm

ppn wrote: »

So, the new apple tv box is a pile of crap from the sounds of this thread?
We have the old eir vision tv box; the biggest issue being that you can only record 1 channel while watching another or 2 while watching a recording. The user interface and tv guide is also rubbish but for the price with 80 channels or so, it wasn't bad apart from the sub-par recording issue.
Now off contract, the price is 20% dearer and have just gone with new contract with the Apple box.
Not interested in netflix or sky sports, just like watching or recording terrestrial channels and any other channels. Already have Amazon Prime which is ok. HD not an issue as tv is 4k and HD was not noticeably better when we had it.

To confirm, with Apple box, we can only record a very limited number of channels and are forced to use 'Player' type apps, which are unreliable with ads?
Can you keep the old eir vision box? Or we may just try a different provider - virgin or vodafone...

Did you have to take the Apple TV when you recontracted ? Couldn’t keep the evision box ?

Machinehead · 11-04-2020 2:52pm

ppn wrote: »

So, the new apple tv box is a pile of crap from the sounds of this thread?
We have the old eir vision tv box; the biggest issue being that you can only record 1 channel while watching another or 2 while watching a recording. The user interface and tv guide is also rubbish but for the price with 80 channels or so, it wasn't bad apart from the sub-par recording issue.
Now off contract, the price is 20% dearer and have just gone with new contract with the Apple box.
Not interested in netflix or sky sports, just like watching or recording terrestrial channels and any other channels. Already have Amazon Prime which is ok. HD not an issue as tv is 4k and HD was not noticeably better when we had it.

To confirm, with Apple box, we can only record a very limited number of channels and are forced to use 'Player' type apps, which are unreliable with ads?
Can you keep the old eir vision box? Or we may just try a different provider - virgin or vodafone...

Spoke to a guy at Eir CS around the time of the Apple TV launch, he said that he was sticking with the old service purely because of the recording issues with certain channels (he liked to record Match of the day while at the pub & watch when he got home. Can't record with the new service & iPlayer not available here). He also said that it would probably change in the future as rights issues were resolved with the relevant broadcasters. Eir needs to sort a lot of stuff out with the Apple TV service. They need to get VM on board with HD. They also need a functional mobile app on par with Sky Go & recording of all available channels. They also need to add HD for Quest, BBC News Channel, Sky News and more +1's for some channels which are already FTA via satellite.

ppn · 11-04-2020 9:26pm

kooga wrote: »

Did you have to take the Apple TV when you recontracted ? Couldn’t keep the evision box ?

I'm sure I can keep the evision box but rep said it will be obsolete. IMO, it was obsolete at launch, i.e. basic recording limitations and basic user interface. UPC (VM) was miles more advanced than Eir 3-4 years ago (possible to record 4 channels at once and user friendly tv guide, whats on next guide, etc.)
Going to go back to VM after a few years with Eir as it's too basic for the pruce and the Apple box was advertised over the phone as being the solution to the existing limitations, which it is not...

ppn · 11-04-2020 9:30pm

Machinehead wrote: »

Spoke to a guy at Eir CS around the time of the Apple TV launch, he said that he was sticking with the old service purely because of the recording issues with certain channels (he liked to record Match of the day while at the pub & watch when he got home. Can't record with the new service & iPlayer not available here). He also said that it would probably change in the future as rights issues were resolved with the relevant broadcasters. Eir needs to sort a lot of stuff out with the Apple TV service. They need to get VM on board with HD. They also need a functional mobile app on par with Sky Go & recording of all available channels. They also need to add HD for Quest, BBC News Channel, Sky News and more +1's for some channels which are already FTA via satellite.

Can't see Eir resolving any rights issues or moving forward in any area with VM, Sky, etc.
Eir had some decent positives when they had Eir movies pay-as-you-view feature and Setanta, i think it was, with F1 but lost all of these and their customer service has been shocking...

greendom · 11-04-2020 9:36pm

ppn wrote: »

Can't see Eir resolving any rights issues or moving forward in any area with VM, Sky, etc.
Eir had some decent positives when they had Eir movies pay-as-you-view feature and Setanta, i think it was, with F1 but lost all of these and their customer service has been shocking...

It's a dead duck if they can't get the rights for its users to record BBC C4 etc

Bored Accountant · 14-04-2020 4:22pm

I moved from eir vision to the new eir TV since its launch in November.
When we moved, I went through what we recorded (mainly soaps, and some tv series). I know don't record one thing from Eir TV.
Anything that is on RTE, we just watch from the RTE player on the apple box. Anything that is on virgin Media, you either watch when its on, or else have to watch via the player on laptop connected via HDMI to telly.

BBC/Virgin consider eir TV to be a streaming service rather than a TV service so they will never get the rights to allow recording in the cloud.

I have netflix, prime, disney+, now TV and use apple tv to watch all which is very handy. I really only ever use Eir TV to watch something that is on live, so news or something like that in the evening.
Never really watched match of the day, or other programs on the UK channels, so the loss of recording has been pretty limited.

icdg · 14-04-2020 6:38pm

The Apple TV box is one of the best media streaming devices on the market - if you are willing to accept the “walled garden” approach of Apple (which I know is a deal breaker for a lot of the more technical minded), and are willing to pay the admittedly on the expensive side price. Don’t confused Apple TV, the kit, with eir TV as a service. Eir TV is just another app running on the Apple TV platform, the hardware hasn’t been built especially for eir and can be bought in any Curry’s PC World or suchlike.

kooga · 14-04-2020 6:50pm

the evision box was never perfect and has lost some of its shine compared to when it first came out and one got the eirsport and bt sport pack as part of the basic package in HD for €15pm - if you were into sport no other platform could give you that value or option. In addition TG4 and VM1 came in HD so other bases were covered.

so here we are now evision has been retired and its the apple TV now - i'm out of contract in august would like to continue with a loyalty discount but would be slow to part with the evision box. I have found it reliable with no failed recordings - my wife finds the platform easy to navigate and it tapes her shows such as homeland, orange is the new black, outlander etc etc. i don't have a streaming service sub. If i was to compare it to a car brand if comparing to other more expensive platforms such as sky q its a seat/skoda v audi - and that's where the price difference in finish shows but i don't care - it does what its ment to do at a price i'm happy to pay.

ppn · 19-04-2020 12:25am

Big issue with recordings was inability to record an individual season of a series without recording every season; i.e. you set what you are guessing is season 1 to record and as Eir does not differentiate between seasons, you get a mixture of seasons from a series and cannot easily watch or record seasons as they air. I noticed early on with Eir, the guide does not tell you which season or episode you are watching - very poor.
Made the change back to VM anyway, should never have left, it's a leap forward in tech and Eir have continued to shoot themselves in the foot with non existent customer service...If Eir want to move forward with Apple then they should sell themselves as a streaming service and not on a par with Sky or VM as a usable tv viewing and recording platform

tech · 19-04-2020 10:43am

EIR tv doesn't sound it can master recording so ...

kooga wrote: »

the evision box was never perfect and has lost some of its shine compared to when it first came out and one got the eirsport and bt sport pack as part of the basic package in HD for €15pm - if you were into sport no other platform could give you that value or option. In addition TG4 and VM1 came in HD so other bases were covered.

so here we are now evision has been retired and its the apple TV now - i'm out of contract in august would like to continue with a loyalty discount but would be slow to part with the evision box. I have found it reliable with no failed recordings - my wife finds the platform easy to navigate and it tapes her shows such as homeland, orange is the new black, outlander etc etc. i don't have a streaming service sub. If i was to compare it to a car brand if comparing to other more expensive platforms such as sky q its a seat/skoda v audi - and that's where the price difference in finish shows but i don't care - it does what its ment to do at a price i'm happy to pay.

ellee · 20-04-2020 10:40am

FWIW

Long time user of Virgin - 10 years or so

Switched to Sky c Oct 2018

Switched to Eir in Feb 2020.

Whole family loves the simplicity of use. You can toggle really quickly from one app to another - YT, Nfx, Eir etc.

Remote is a dream though I'm terrified we will break or lose it. Flies up and down the menu. Very intuitive. Brill.

The lack of recording has not been a major issue for us but we are not big watchers of drama or soaps. I switched to Sky because I had an impression the quality of tv on offer was better, but apart from Sky Arts it was no better for my viewing habits. I was v disappointed and the interface (basic package) was v clunky. Worse than VM imo.

Was a bit worried about broadband capacity but it copes with me watching Nfx, 1 child on YT, another on Roblox and hubby also on YT. We are in Dublin though. Copes fine with 2 of us working at home and kids both on something also.

Have watched a couple of things on Prime but would not pay for it separately. Apple tv is expensive but nice if you want to treat yourselves or the kids to a decent movie.

Overall, v pleased. Delighted even. And €50/m is a perfect price point. Hopefully we will be able to get another deal next year. We're set up for everyone at this stage anyway, so simple enough to move around. I'd personally go back to Virgin over Sky. I'd be sad to leave the eir set up however.

minikin · 20-04-2020 10:47am

Have had sky tv for years, switched from VM broadband to eir with eir tv - on the basis that we would drop sky. Thankfully we kept sky. Can’t fault the broadband (getting 95mb down) but Eir TV is rubbish, great interface but the inability to record is insane, the inability to skip over ads on catchup is rubbish. Why would anyone choose this over sky? The ATV 4K is lying sadly idle.

ellee · 20-04-2020 10:48am

I guess if you're not recording much, it doesn't matter that Eir can't record?????

minikin · 20-04-2020 12:48pm

If you’re happy to pay to go back to 1978 TV, when you can only watch what they broadcast when they broadcast it, that’s fine... just seems mad to me given we have several exciting things on “the internet” nowadays.

AndrewJRenko · 22-04-2020 3:54pm

minikin wrote: »

Have had sky tv for years, switched from VM broadband to eir with eir tv - on the basis that we would drop sky. Thankfully we kept sky. Can’t fault the broadband (getting 95mb down) but Eir TV is rubbish, great interface but the inability to record is insane, the inability to skip over ads on catchup is rubbish. Why would anyone choose this over sky? The ATV 4K is lying sadly idle.

This on its own would be the dealbreaker for me.

ando · 28-09-2020 1:04pm

Can you pause, rewind and fastforward live tv on Eir?

I'm paying Sky €65 a month right now but they want over €90 now as my contract is ending

greendom · 28-09-2020 2:02pm

ando wrote: »

Can you pause, rewind and fastforward live tv on Eir?

I'm paying Sky €65 a month right now but they want over €90 now as my contract is ending

You can but only for a few channels and as I recall, none of the main ones.

That's why I didn't switch from sky

un5byh7sqpd2x0 · 28-09-2020 2:18pm

ando wrote: »

Can you pause, rewind and fastforward live tv on Eir?

I'm paying Sky €65 a month right now but they want over €90 now as my contract is ending

Are you on Sky Signature? It won’t increase by that much if you switch to it

bugsyb4 · 02-11-2020 1:35pm

Sorry for dragging up old thread but had a query that might fall into here.

I was on Eir website and wanted to see if I cancel my Sky Sports, BT Sports and Premier Sports that I currently have on my Eir vision box can I get these channels put back on in the future?? I ask this as recently got a text from Eir offering 3 months free Sky Sports through NOW TV, I would happily cancel Sky Sports from Eir but turns out all in a bundle with BT and Premier Sports too and don't want to lose these channels. I have been getting all sports channels half price for 6 months and this ends in Dec with no option of getting again so might be best to move to NOW TV.

I know they don't do these Eir vision boxes anymore and instead is all Eir TV which I didn't join up with at the beginning due to lack of recording options, as an aside has this improved much?