poohbear 1,360 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Can anybody help? I'm with Virgin B/Band TV etc.When I turn the TV on it can take a minute or more before the picture will appear. It reminds me of the old black and white days when you had to wait for valves to warm up. It's not a new set...a few years old now. Will it be the set or could it be the Virgin box? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 No idea, but modern flatscreens have to boot up, much like computers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Is Virgin spending too much time and energy sending us all the advertising material so causing them to slow down?! We have no problem with Freeview! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,181 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 My virgin box takes about 50/60 seconds to boot up, annoying if you want to watch sumat like now. Got a freeview+ HD box & that's the flipping same, grr. The 10 years old normal freeview box upstairs boots up straight away.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 I get fed up with Virgin sending large envelopes full of advertising material. I don't even open them, they go straight into the bin. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,510 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 I have a dreadful feeling that we'll have to subscribe to Virgin Media (as much as I like and admire Richard Branson). We've been with SKY since it first began because my husband loves his TV Sport. When we moved to Nottingham 11 years ago we thought we'd give Virgin a try as the house was wired up for it. We had such a nasty engineer turn up to get us up and running, I could have smacked him! We weren't happy with any of the Customer Service so after the compulsory 12 month contract we went back to SKY. The only problem occurs in the summer ...... the street trees around here are massive, like hundreds of feet high. They interfere with our TV reception something rotten. We now have the highest satellite dish in the World ...... in fact the SKY engineer has told us we can't have a longer pole than what we've got ........ but the trees keep growing! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MelissaJKelly 2,121 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 We're on Virgin too, I'd say upon holding the power button it takes around 20 seconds or so too boot up and get running. Doesn't really bother me though as there's never any rush with programmes now being recorded etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Lizzie, maybe you need a larger dish, the only problem is that you're with a satellite provider. I've got a big ugly dish outside that one day I'll clean up, and set up to receive all the free satellite feeds on a receiver we have here that I used to pirate Dishnetwork with. There are tons of "feeds" that can be picked up with a good receiver and large dish. Satellite internet service is way too expensive for me over here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,510 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Ayupmeducks, I doubt a bigger dish would be of benefit in this neighbourhood with the height of the trees that are in the way. I have written to Herr Collins and the City Council a couple of times over the years to suggest they cut at least 50 ft off the trees just so we can get some sunshine in the houses, I didn't mention our problem with TV reception when the trees are in leaf because I've been told that satellite dishes are not allowed in a conservation area! Twice I've had letters back from the council explaining that it's no longer the Council's policy to pollard the trees. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,090 Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Lizzie, Talk to our mutual friend if you want to go to Virgin about getting a "mates rates" deal through her daughter. Hubby can still have his Sky Sports - and might even enjoy BT Sport as well! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkazana 1,736 Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 I know what you mean about the Sky reception, Lizzie. John has invested in a super duper dish in a box for use with the caravan and though it is better than the normal dish, on windy days the reception is rubbish and now the trees are in full leaf it's impossible. We have the dish on top of a garage and still it's not high enough to get a good angle to clear the trees. Fortunately the warden has a dish on a pole which is just sited to point between the trees so we have stretched our cable to that, but even then the picture pixilates on windy days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Maybe BT Infinity would suit you Lizzie. You could enquire. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Satellite dishes are so "Last Week" ! Ditched Sky years ago for the same reasons Lizzie mentions, been on Virgin ever since with absolutely no problems, even getting broadband speeds consistently over 100mbs ! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Well tonight it took 4 minutes for the picture to appear...so something aint right...I'll contact Virgin. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTramp 139 Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 TV help. ! OH TV HELP. I thought you meant you know tv help with tights and stuff , can't help with televisions , sorry, or Virgin stuff, sorry, got a, no, lets let it drop. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham 63 Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 We have recently had a new Virgin TiVo box and yes it can take a while. If the TV has not been used for a while (eg overnight) it has to " Wake up" and that can take about 40 secs. If it has been used within a few hours it takes 10 to 20 secs. Its never instant. It will turn itself off if its been in use for about 4 hours but an on screen notification is given. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
susyshoes 69 Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 We've had Virgin for 4 years now and not had a problem with it. It doesn't turn itself off ( although we had a new TV in January , an ' LG ' one and that turns itself off after it's been on about 5 hours) but the Virgin TiVo box stays on all the time. Think it may be your TV. Ours comes on immediately even if it's not been on for a day or so Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,181 Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Our virgin box comes on straight away if we leave it plugged in, if we unplug it over night then it takes a while to boot up next time it's plugged in.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 We always leave our virgin box & T.V. on standby takes about 15 seconds to get a picture. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AntW1956 8 Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 I've recently switched from Virgin to Sky. My observations on the 2 services are: Sky delivers more channels and the HD quality is far superior to Virgin. The Virgin Tivo box is far superior to the Sky HD plus box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crankypig 457 Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 Can anybody help? I'm with Virgin B/Band TV etc.When I turn the TV on it can take a minute or more before the picture will appear. It reminds me of the old black and white days when you had to wait for valves to warm up. It's not a new set...a few years old now. Will it be the set or could it be the Virgin box? Poohbear,mine is just the same,I just think its the way things are now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 Modern TV's have to "boot up" they have a CPU and RAM much like a computer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted August 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 The fault was with the TV...I believe the expression is F****d Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 Usually with modern flat screen TV's, it's usually one of two things, "dry" or cracked solder joints, yes, this is a common fault!! Or two, the electrolytic Capacitors in the power supply board fail. The caps failing is the most common problem, if you have done any soldering, it's an easy problem to rectify. Caps are readily available, I'd suggest the next temperature rating higher than what is marked on the caps. There is another option to changing the caps yourself if you don't feel competant, find a UK company who specialize in refurbishing TV boards, you send your old one in, they check it, and send you a refurbished board, cheaper than replacing the board with a new unit, and cheaper than a TV tech working on the TV. There are "how to" videos on Youtube, use the TV's make and model number to locate the videos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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