Any reason NOT to switch to FIOS TV ONE boxes?

Hi all,

Just wanted to put this out there. Leaving the $50 equipment upgrade fee aside, is there any reason why I would NOT want to switch over from Legacy Equipment (7232 DVRS, 7100 STBs) to the new TV One boxes?

From my understanding, this won't affect my bill at all (My package would remain exactly the same), and equipment rental charges are basically the same. So why would I NOT want to upgrade?

Appreciate any feedback, esp. from those who've made the switch!

Side/Related question -

(Note: I currently have Multi Room DVR on my existing package. I would want Premium Multi Room DVR on my TV One equipment.. I wonder if this will be an added fee, and if so - how much. Anyone know?).

Accepted answers

gs0b

The new boxes are smaller and use less power. The mini's are very small and silent. The main box has a quiet fan. They support 4K. Mini's can connect by coax, Ethernet or WiFi. The UI is faster. The remote is Bluetooth, which is handy if you don't have line of site to the box. Voice remote is okay, but not great. The new remote has fewer buttons, which some people like and some hate. Old remotes work just fine, too.

As other have pointed out, they don't have component video out; just HDMI and an adapter for composite. If you've a really old TV this might be an issue.

No clock, either.

Recordings do not transfer from the old DVR to the new DVR; this is true for any DVR change, even if you replace one due to failure. Some people use their DVR's for long term storage; for them any DVR change is very painful. I suggest DVRs not be used for long term storage to avoid this issue.

I switched a few months ago when I added another STB to my home. I stuck a mini to the back of a 40" TV with Velco; it works great! The Bluetooth remote is handy here as there is no line of sight to the back of the TV.

Before I switched, we did some binge watching of DVR programs since I knew we'd loose them.

There is also a feature to save your recording schedule and settings "to the cloud." They can then be restored when setting up the new box. I wish I had seen that before I took out the old box. It would have saved some time reloading the recording schedule.

I had the old "Multiroom DVR" with two tuners on the main box, 50 hours of storage, and no pause-live-TV on the other boxes. This service is still available with the FiOS ONE boxes for the same cost. For $5/mo more, you can get the premium DVR service that gives 200 hours of storage, up to six programs recording at once and pause-live-TV on the minis. There is no difference in equipment, just what you pay.

This should help you decide if the $50 upgrade fee is worth it. It was for me.

Enjoy.

All comments

clem21

Limited outputs, one HDMI, one Composite, one optical. No 480 pass through, no native video pass through, only dolby 5.1 audio out regardless of source (unless you choose LPCM stereo). No display clock or channel, limited help from tech support.

Winterstorm2005

First the set box do not display the time. They are cheap and the hdmi cord is super short. Had I know I would not have switched. The can’t find my DVr recordings. Just a disaster.

CRobGauth

Can always use existing HDMI cord.

Not sure what you mean they can't find DVR recordings.

Are you saying the ones from before you upgraded or once you have recorded on the new box, they can't be found?

topfinadv

if u upgrade ur existing recordings on the dvr are lost. They don't switch over.

gs0b

As other have pointed out, they don't have component video out; just HDMI and an adapter for composite. If you've a really old TV this might be an issue.

No clock, either.

Enjoy.

GeezingInVA2

The TV One box seems to have a much slower response to the new talking remote than the identical remote on one of the Mini boxes. Maybe the One has a slower cpu?

We're some of the folks who aren't thrilled with the new talking remotes versus the legacy 2-devices remotes. Specifically, we miss the one-button (*) on/off for closed captioning, and the one-button (#) for enlarging SD content to overscan to the top/side screen edges without shadowboxes.

For the closed captioning single-button deficiency on the new remote, you can talk to the new remote to ask for closed captioning to be turned on/off, but it takes a few seconds of "Processing..." before the One or the Mini reacts.

There's a "stretch" setting you can get to within a submenu, but that just eliminates the sides shadowbox with the corresponding distortion. Spent a long time with Support online, but there doesn't seem to be a workaround. You get the added benefits of the new talking remote and BlueTooth, or you can continue to use the old legacy 2-devices remote without BlueTooth (so you continue to need line-of-sight).

For the TV user that consumes old movies in SD (like those on TCM and other channels) and doesn't want to revert to smaller images with 4-sides shadowboxes, we've purchased a legacy 2-devices remote for the single-button (#) size function.

Of course, none of our needs may affect you, so as always, your mileage may vary. Cheers!

ML110

We just switched to the new equipment this week and hooked it all up but we’re definitely missing the time display. Why In the world would they take away such a simple feature and seems most people are not happy with the time not displaying and yes was pretty mad when all my DVR’d shows were erased. The settings were still in place for future recordings but all the existing ones GONE! I’m sure they’re aware that this happens and didn’t even cross my mind to ask, since it was an upgrade! The company should be warning people when they sign up that all your existing shows will be deleted. My guess is that there probably have already been so many complaint calls surrounding this! Just frustrating! Other than that, no other complaints from me, thus far!

Village_Idiot1

If you were the designer, where would you put the clock? The new boxes are too small for a meaningful display.

MeanMachine31

Agree, they don't tell you anything that's important to the viewer. We say all the time, we hate the new boxes not having time display & having only the HDMI. Sucks. I wish we had kept the old ones, see no difference.

dw202010

If anyone is concerned about the quality of closed captions, then it is not that great. Hard to read when it uses italic type, frequent messed up characters and words. I am surprised that they didn't do quality check before making it available to customers. Even worse, they never bother to improve it over a year. I was expecting them to watch, review and improve everything for paying subscribers. 😞

LarryRup

Here's one. Verizon is dropping my non expiring $4. set top box discount, on top of the one time $50. fee, in order to correct the terrible lag introduced by their recent change to menus. Maybe Verizon is causing the coin shortage by nickle and diming their customers.

duanesutter

I currently have a multi room DVR & 2 HD boxes. I’m a little confused because when I go through the steps for a FIOS One upgrade, it will start billing me for 3 boxes, but only includes a return box for 2. Do I keep the DVR and incorporate it somehow? Also it says they work on WiFi, but how much bandwidth is that going to eat up? If one of the 3 boxes replaces the DVR, how much storage does it have (Verizon chat didn’t answer these questions earlier today). Thanks.

clem21

@duanesutter wrote:
I currently have a multi room DVR & 2 HD boxes. I’m a little confused because when I go through the steps for a FIOS One upgrade, it will start billing me for 3 boxes, but only includes a return box for 2. Do I keep the DVR and incorporate it somehow? Also it says they work on WiFi, but how much bandwidth is that going to eat up? If one of the 3 boxes replaces the DVR, how much storage does it have (Verizon chat didn’t answer these questions earlier today). Thanks.

So you currently have 3 older boxes, one a DVR and the other two standard HD boxes. You would still need 3 boxes, a Fios one VMS4100 DVR, and two Fios One IPC4100 minis. The Main box needs a coax connection, the minis can do coax, wifi , or ethernet. Wired is best for the mini, many people have issues with them using wifi. Offhand, I don't know how much storage you get, but you could check the specs on the website.

gs0b

The amount of available storage on FiOS ONE main depends on the subscribed DVR service. The hardware is the same, they just enable more if you pay more. The ordering page provide the details.

I can't login now to see them, however I recall they have three tiers of service. Something like "DVR," "Multi-room DVR," and "Enhanced DVR." I think the multi-room has 50 HD hours and the Enhanced has 100. It can go to 200 with two main boxes.

Bionic

Your existing recordings were not deleted. They are stored on the old DVR, which you replaced. No different from getting a new computer - all of your files are still on the old one. The only difference here is that unfortunately there is no way to copy the recordings over to the new DVR.

kmm126

Let's see: no clock, channel line up screen is hard on the eyes with little spacing between the choices, (not user friendly)no colors to differentiate between movie, sport channels etc. so you can't fly past the ones that you don't want to watch, do not see the old option button on the remote to get additional info about the movie/channel you are watching, remote is small (I have to get up to put on my glasses to see what button I am pushing (yes, old lady here), voice commands don't always work. Oh yes, was somewhat of a nightmare to order on line in the first place with chat person... 40 minutes with the first one who cut me off before I had to explain what I wanted about 3 times, not resolving my billing issues and a new chat person came on for 15 minutes then they cut me off. Between my Verizon home bill and my wireless bill, Verizon is getting over $500/month from me. Such wonderful service and bargains!!! NOT! Just wanted user friendly boxes to go with my new OLED 4k TV not make life difficult. End of rant. Your welcome.