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What if a YouView update bricks my box after warranty?
Lbear1
Member Posts: 741 ✭
What happens when a Youview update bricks my box after the warranty is up? Like many (well about a thousand), I got my box with a 1 year warranty from the first week in July 2012. So far the March update seems to have caused more problems in terms of sticking FF/Skip keys, the box freezing and having to be reset, failed recordings etc than I ever had before.
I am on my second box after the first was hit by both the "multiple boot" and the "reset and wipe all recordings" bugs at the same time and I suspected a faulty hard drive.
The updates have been known to mess up some boxes completely with the only response from Humax being to swap out. What happens if this happens to me or the 1000 odd with trial boxes and one year warranties after July 2013?
At the moment the Humax is "unfit for purpose" in that you cannot reliably record, cannot guarantee that you will not have to wait 20 minutes and/or reset the box when changing channels and any attempt to fast forward/skip forward or fast back/skip back can result in the function getting stuck forcing you to stop playback and resume after attempting to find your place.
So, will I actually get a fully functioning PVR by 2 July (2013 that is) or will Youview still be sending out bug fix updates that do not fix bugs, introduce more or brick boxes until Humax go bust with the cost of returns?
I am on my second box after the first was hit by both the "multiple boot" and the "reset and wipe all recordings" bugs at the same time and I suspected a faulty hard drive.
The updates have been known to mess up some boxes completely with the only response from Humax being to swap out. What happens if this happens to me or the 1000 odd with trial boxes and one year warranties after July 2013?
At the moment the Humax is "unfit for purpose" in that you cannot reliably record, cannot guarantee that you will not have to wait 20 minutes and/or reset the box when changing channels and any attempt to fast forward/skip forward or fast back/skip back can result in the function getting stuck forcing you to stop playback and resume after attempting to find your place.
So, will I actually get a fully functioning PVR by 2 July (2013 that is) or will Youview still be sending out bug fix updates that do not fix bugs, introduce more or brick boxes until Humax go bust with the cost of returns?
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Given that the 2000 or so trialists got their boxes for free and were then kindly given a 1 year warranty too, if the box fails after that period then given that we did not purchase it they could perfectly reasonably say that is that and no fix/replacement would be offered. If the box failure were as a result of an update they provided or a fundamental bug like the BFIS issue then one might still hope they would consider offering a replacement or some other compromise to replace the box given they are partially responsible.
If my box did fail soon after the 1 year warranty then if it was a hardware issue I would think carefully before buying a replacement and probably not do so if the hardware was apparently identical, although I would hope if there were weaknesses in the hardware those would be addressed by then either within the same model or with a minor variant model being released and the old model being phased out from purchase.
If my box failed soon after the 1 year warranty and the issue appeared to be more software related then I would also be considering whether I considered the platform to be well enough developed and robust at that point as well as feature rich enough to convince me it remained the best product for me available at that time at about that price.
Although my first box suffered a hardware failure I had very few problems with it up to that point (primarily the long double boot issue that was introduced and then fixed) and have had no significant problems with the replacement since that time. I do see some issues but they do not significantly affect me, e.g. very rarely I may get a slightly clipped recording on channel 5 (from which I rarely record), I do see a black screen for a few seconds sometimes when starting to play a recording or changing a channel, and I do occasionally suffer the stuck skipping problem too.
I very much hope though I will not experience a hardware failure with my replacement box and that the software continues to develop to become more robust and with a few more useful features such that I will be very happy continuing to use the box as my only PVR for the foreseeable future.
You automatically have a one year warranty on your New Humax product.
To upgrade to a 2 year warranty absolutely free, please register within 30 days of purchase of your new Humax product.
http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/regist...
EDIT: I started my post long before hitting 'POST' and didn't pick up that the OP's box is ex-trial.
But Humax/YouView might choose to keep the triallists involved, as the combined triallist experience to date must be a very useful resource for further clearance of bugs.
What however I am suggesting is that because these boxes are currently not capable of performing basic PVR functions reliably (and let's face it, they are unlikely to comply with the base YouView specifications by July), there is a moral responsibility on YouView to remedy the position if a post July update bricks a Humax box or one from Huawei for that matter.
Passing over ownership by YouView was, after all, a calculated move to get a knowledgeable group of people into advocating for it and to help person support forums (making it even more obvious by your award). I hardly think they would want a (larger?) group of dissatisfied owners of "Norwegian Blue" boxes disseminating their experiences.
The trial invitation didn't promise the ability to keep the box, the offer to keep it was made at the end, the 1 year warranty offered shortly after.
At no stage were you obliged to apply for the trial, keep the box or use it once it was given to you. When the warranty you accepted expires you'll be in the same position as anyone else with an out of warranty product.
Why should your participation in the trial entitle you to more? After how many years or decades do you think that entitlement ends?
Like several others I have learned not to rely on the T1000 to record or retain for viewing an important programme and I have no hesitation in not recommending people buy one until the boxes function as could reasonably be expected. Certainly I will not be buying another Humax until a lot of faults and bugs are fixed. I personally consider the T1000 another (along with the Foxsat HD) to be one of Humax's comparatively rare "lemons" and that the problems are mostly down to having to work within the restrictions placed by YouView in refusing to allow machine-specific features as allowed for in the base specs (yes I have read the document several times in detail!).
The T1000 was not and in my view is not ready for market and neither should carry the "YouView" logo as they do not meet the basic spec yet. Very little account was taken of machine problems and functionality suggestions during the trial which mostly concerned how the box was to be marketed. Lord Candyman wanted to drag Project Canvas to market ASAP and then bailed.
It is also notable that apart from Huawei, none of the original "device partners" have marketed a box. Pace, Technicolor and Cisco have all pulled out (maybe Pace learned the lesson of having other people involved in their boxes' firmware with their ill fated Phillips FVHD boxes). Manhattan and Vestel have gone VERY quiet about when or if they will attempt to market a YouView box.
A weekly careful cold reset cleared up most of the delays and freezing. Now the thing is taking 20 minutes to change channels at times and fast/skip forward is freezing so often that it is easier and quicker to sit through adverts or watch catchup rather than recordings. I think I am an average three warm resets a day at the moment.
I am actually starting to wonder whether the YV interface has become "bloatware" and the memory available as per base spec is inadequate for it.
Why? You'll have lost nothing. You didn't pay for the box, you just said that you don't rely on it for important programmes and you actively seek to dissuade people from buying one.
So what loss would you actually suffer if the box stopped working?
Why are you persisting with a box you have so low an opinion of? Is it really just so you can have a tantrum if an update bricks it in a couple of months?
It was a trial you signed up to, not conscription. If you don't like the box, stop using it and move on with a box you do like.
Just FYI, any Humax product gets a free 2 year warranty if you register it with them within 30 days of purchase.
Might save you a few £ on an extended warranty in future.
That way, you avoid the possible damage you're worrying about. But you also miss out on possible improvements, and your box could still fail at some point.
And seriously, does anyone think that YouView gave away 2,000+ boxes out of the goodness of their hearts? I was told by them that I would receive the box as long as I finished the complete run of surveys. That sounds like a contract to me.
Nevertheless, I really don't expect YouView to release auto-downloaded firmware which will brick the box in future. That would be crazy.
So.... for getting a free Freeview HD IPTV box, the OP's time has been taken up. Oh dear.
And yet if the above did happen (bricked), there would be no monetary loss to the OP. Only the time spent on the trial. Which resulted in the OP getting a free HD box that may or may not give up the ghost in the future.
I actually laughed when I read this thread. The term cake and eat comes to mind.
And sorry if thats harsh. But its true.
That way, you avoid the possible damage you're worrying about. But you also miss out on possible improvements, and your box could still fail at some point.That would mean leaving the box permanently disconnected. It is not like OTA updates, they are *always* "out".
So.... for getting a free Freeview HD IPTV box, the OP's time has been taken up. Oh dear.
And yet if the above did happen (bricked), there would be no monetary loss to the OP. Only the time spent on the trial. Which resulted in the OP getting a free HD box that may or may not give up the ghost in the future.
I actually laughed when I read this thread. The term cake and eat comes to mind.
And sorry if thats harsh. But its true.Quite.
That way, you avoid the possible damage you're worrying about. But you also miss out on possible improvements, and your box could still fail at some point.Would it? I thought it would only be "pushed" to the box overnight. Guess I was mistaken.
Although it still seems to me that by continuing to use the connected box, knowing that updates may be received, the OP is consenting to accept the update.
Man doesn't pay for box, man doesn't like box, man persists in using box, man wants lifetime guarantee for box or implies highly critical public campaign.
Just stop using the box and find another you do like.
If your free box is no longer fit for purpose then simply stop using it. You haven't lost anything by doing so.
And if you don't actually like the box, doubly so.
I actually really liked the box and was enthusiastically promoting it to others - until the first one wiped some particularly important recordings I had been saving for reference in writing an article.
I have also tolerated the idiosyncrasies of the box since the New Year when I got the replacement as these were not too significant - until the last firmware update, which is what prompted my question.
Come back to me when after your box has bricked or wiped your recordings. Hope you have taken two copies, one physical the other electronic, of your receipt or, if you are a triallist, the email from the delivery company notifying you of the delivery date.