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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

NOW CLOSED: YouView feedback thread: Non Testers: share the TV programme you'd love to rewind, watch again or pause for a chance to win a £100 JL voucher

274 replies

AnnMumsnet · 12/03/2013 10:59

Hello

This is the feedback thread for the 20 testers who have received a new YouView TV box and who are currently trying it out in their homes.

YouView say "YouView is a subscription-free television service which seamlessly combines live and catch-up television. The service offers over 70 free to air channels and radio stations via a TV aerial and also connects to any broadband service to bring catch-up and on demand programmes directly to your TV. The TV service, which launched in July 2012, is backed by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva"

The YouView box allows you to record, pause and rewind TV, as well as featuring BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5.

Testers: we'll be asking you to add feedback twice - we'd like your first impressions now and in a couple of weeks we will add some more questions.

So, in terms of your first impressions. please....
~ give your overall impression when it arrived
~ describe the set up: did you set up your YouView box yourself? If not, who did? How easy did you / your DH/DP etc find it to set up your YouView box?
~ tell us which TV is it on/ in which room
~ share what you/ your family think the first couple of times you used it - what was the best feature and what, if anything, have you struggled with

If you're not a tester, YouView would love to hear from you - for a chance to win a £100 John Lewis voucher please share on this thread the programme(s) you'd love to pause, record or watch again - this could be a programme that's on now, or something special from the last few years or even something from your childhood - the programme which is really special to you and/or your family. Maybe you were on TV as a child and would like to see it again or you want to relive an Olympic moment or even maybe you're a massive Corrie fan and want to never miss an episode! Please share this on the thread and you'll be entered into the prize draw.

thanks
MNHQ

Please note: The final questions have now been added to the thread on Tues 2 April at 11:30

OP posts:
Indith · 07/04/2013 17:07

How long did it take you to understand how to use YouView?

No time at all, it is pretty easy to work out. However the remote can be counter intuitive at times, having to use the "wrong" arrow to scroll up and down for example. Also the time lag between pressing a button and it working takes a bit of getting used to and can be frustrating.

Has your child/children used YouView? How long did it take them to understand it and get used to it?

Mine are 6 and 4 and don't use it themselves. They ask for stuff but just do NOT get the concept of recording! You'd have thoguht that given we have had BT vision for a long time and used it to record stuff a lot they would be used to the idea!

Which programmes have you most enjoyed watching on YouView so far?

We have just had our ususal TV on series link. How I met your mother, Suits for dh, OBEM for me. That way we can sit and watch them at a convenient time. We have also been working our way through Teachers on 4OD which is great.

Which of the following services have you most enjoyed so far? Live TV/ on-demand/7 day catch up

We use a lot of 4od and i player. Iplayer mostly for cbeebies. We really llike being able to just put one single episode of something on. I find with kids watching live TV when one thing ends it goes right into more fun and stuff with the presenters or right into the next thing so they complain at turning it off. Recording often gets the first few mins of the next thing too so then they get frustrated when it cuts off (see above about not understanding recorded, they expect me to be able to magic up the rest of the episode that has not been recorded). iplayer avoids all of that by just stopping at the end. We don't watch much live TV now that we have decent access to iplayer etc. We record what we want to watch and when we fancy jsut sitting and watching some crap instead of ending up watching yet more Man Vs Food or something we can actually find and watch something fun.

Who in your family has used your YouView box the most?

pretty equal I think.

What have you found YouView most useful for so far?

See above really. Recording and being able to find something decent to watch at any time instead of ending up watching mindless rubbish.

Other comments if I may:

Text on screen is difficult to read. Our old vision box was very clear. this one I have to get close to the TV to see it clearly. WE only have a small TV BUT I could read the old box fine and I have no trouble with tiny football scores etc so I think it is the box.

Remote is too long! You have to move you hand up and down it rather than being able to hit all important buttons from one position.

You can't delete groups which is especially annoying if you have stuff on series link and it decides to record every episode from every series in the world ever (E4 need to sort themselves out, it is an E4 specific vice with american series that if you series link it is just record ALL of it even if you set it to record first play only). Anyway much easier to just delete the whole group than have to work your way through.

On the deletion subject, you don't get asked "are you sure?" which makes it very easy to delete by mistake. Especially when children get hold of the remote.

Why is it that on a computer iplayer resumes where you left off if you get interrupted but on the youview box it doesn't? Would be nice to have that. 4od resumes so I assume it is technologically possible!

buggyRunner · 07/04/2013 18:43

True blood, Rev and Girls (sky Atlantic)

SevenReasonsToSmile · 07/04/2013 20:40

I'd love to re-watch the show Lost! (not the American series) which was on Channel 4 about 12 years ago. It's not available on 4OD :(

insertsomethingwitty · 07/04/2013 22:04

I want to watch The West Wing again, but only if I could re-watch it for the first time, which i'll never be able to as I've seen it, loved it though.

DoodleAlley · 08/04/2013 00:33

The BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice from 1996 I think with Colin Firth.

There are just some fab moments I'd love to watch and then rewind and watch again. I love the speeches especially Mr Darcy's first declaration of admiration.

Not only is it high calibre television but I was a teenager when it came out and it was my first costume drama and I use to live for each episode at the time.

Unbeatable!

Skiptomylou18 · 08/04/2013 14:38

Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid Love. Say no more.

Alicadabra · 08/04/2013 15:19

I'd love to be able to pause and rewind cooking programmes. I know you can usually get the recipes online afterwards but the most interesting (and useful) bits for me are all the little tips that they show along the way always at the exact moment that I get interrupted by the kids. I can buy DVDs or whatever if I want to see films or classic tv series again, but I'm never going to buy a DVD of Jamie's 15 Minute Meals or The Little Paris Kitchen just for that handy little tip about beating eggs or kneading bread!

Roseformeplease · 08/04/2013 15:21

Not a tester (not jealous - much) but I would love to be able to recapture the wonder of television as it was when I was a child. We had an hour, at best, on 2 channels, of children's programmes and we loved them all. I had lived overseas and had NO television so it was all amazing. Tiswaz, Noel Edmond's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Rainbow.

My own children flick from channel to channel and have a much richer and more varied experience. They catch up, rewind, watch online and see TV as a much more casual experience. For us, however, it was a total wonder.

DifferentNow · 08/04/2013 20:08

Not a tester.

I have really enjoyed the recent series of 16 Kids and Counting and have rewatched some of the episodes.

I am about to have my 5th child and it makes me feel calm and in control and like I have a weeny little family!

thebestpossibletaste · 09/04/2013 15:32

I'm not a tester, but would love to win a John Lewis voucher.

I love to pause, rewind and watch Pointless, to give us a chance to answer the questions before the people actually on the show, see if we can get a Pointless answer!

prettybird · 09/04/2013 15:33

Not a tester, but I'd love to be able to re-wind ad nauseam "The West Wing" and the BBC's "Pride and Prejudice" (picking a programme from both sides of the Atlantic.

They both warrant repeated viewing and you get more out of them each time you watch.

jes73 · 09/04/2013 15:42

Grey's Anatomy - I just love the series and have missed a whole lot in between so would love to be able to catch up from the beginning.

maloofysmum · 09/04/2013 15:45

Not a tester but we love watching Dr Who and often rewind/pause/ re rewind and pause so we can try to spot anything we've missed or to explain something timey wimey to the ds who needs to analyse every scene!

katiewalters · 09/04/2013 15:45

for me would have to be one born every minute, i love it, love watching it and now its finished would love to have recorded it and be able to watch it again

vienetta · 09/04/2013 15:49

I would like to see Moondial on tv again it was on in the early 90s & would live to rewind Byker Grove :-)

katiesobol · 09/04/2013 15:49

I'd love to have all of Poirot available to watch when I want - I could watch them again and again.
Also I'd like to see old episodes of Jonathan Creek - having just enjoyed watching the first in a new series - I'd love to rewatch the old ones.

jacobsyummymummy · 09/04/2013 15:53

When I was little we used to have a saturday family evening, lights off, popcorn and cuddles... it used to be Dick Turpin back then... I loved those evenings all 'cwtched up' as we say in Wales....

Now I have a family of my own, I try to recapture that special 'golden time' with my Ds (aged 13 and 6) and we are absolutely gutted it has finished when there was so much more to see :( but our absolute rewind is .... Merlin

titchy · 09/04/2013 15:53

What would I like to see again? A very peculiar practice deffinately, Brassed off (I think it was called that - Mr 'ardacre was a character, played by the bloke who married ivy Tilsley in corrie years ago!), twin peaks and all Dr who!

jacobsyummymummy · 09/04/2013 15:54

not a tester btw.

BellaVida · 09/04/2013 15:57

Non Tester but avid TV fan here. I would pause, record or watch the following again. I know my kids would love some of the ones I watched.

Hong Kong Phooey
Mork and Mindy
The A Team
Knight Rider
Moonlighting
Battlestar Galactica- the original!

And more recently.......
Big Bang Theory- hilarious!

MyMillsBaby · 09/04/2013 15:57

I'd like to pause, rewind and watch again just about everything. My attention span isn't what it once was now I have a baby. I'm forever watching films with hubs and having to ask "wasn't he dead a minute ago?" x

WhitegoldWielder · 09/04/2013 15:59

Not a tester but have missed out on Broadchurch and would really like to see it.

As for past shows - Children of the Stones, to see if it's as scary as I remember and Cold Feet because I love Jimmy!

Sparklesandglitter · 09/04/2013 16:01

If I could rewind any program it would be 80's kids program's like rainbow, carebears etc so my dd can watch proper kids shows!

Bigspring · 09/04/2013 16:05

Non tester
Really enjoying broadchurch at moment
In the past loved a programme called Hex, would love to see that again!
Or waking the dead that was a great series

ChildOfThe1980s · 09/04/2013 16:21

I'm not a tester.

For modern TV, I would pause and rewind Dr Who and House.

For retro TV, I would love to see Mysterious cities of Gold and MacGuyver and Gummi Bears again.