IceTV vs Free Solutions... Value???

philzgr8 · **25th January 2007, 02:03 PM**

OK well I've been using Ice for about 4 or 5 months now and I'm coming up to my 2nd 3 month subscription renewal. It occurs to me that there are still a number of people out there using free solutions and who seem at least to be quite happy so why should I continue to pay for IceTV. I know this question in one form or another has been done to death but I can't help being a little bit dissappointed by what I get. My initial decision was brought about by the attack on Bladerunner and its subsequent unavailability. In addition I was keen to support anyone who was going to fight for our rights against the forces of EPG evil at the commercial television stations.

What I am now left with is to appraise my decision and formulate my strategy for the future. The problem from my perspective with Ice is the very thing that they use as their argument in their battle with Nine. That is that they produce all of the content themselves. The main problem that I have found with that is that it introduces another level of data handling which opens it up further to error or inaccuracy and this has been demonstrated many times if you read the Ice forums. In truth it seems that even ABC data which is provided by the ABC themselves is no exception. Now when that happens with a free solution I am not pleased but I'll take it in my stride because I'm not paying but the truth is that it wasn't all that often that I found that problem with Bladerunner. Yes Ice provide technical support but then I haven't had cause to use technical support because I know that certain problems are actually MCE bugs. What's more I have had no end of technical support from these forums anyway. It is true to say that Ice appears to have had a good record when it comes to availability and that is a definite upside but is it enough to make me want to continue to subscribe to the service. My mind is open on the subject and it's not just about money. I would be very interested to hear the thoughts of other Ice subscribers and the users of other free solutions on the subject.

Over to you!

Percul8or · **25th January 2007, 02:57 PM**

My 2 cents

I gave up on the free EPG's as I couldn't be sure they were always there (long term and for regular updates) and if I had a problem, I wanted someone to beat up and get it fixed.

$99 a year is nothing plus if you refer someone else you get another year.

Bargain.

vbap · **25th January 2007, 03:12 PM**

Hi Phil,

Guide accuracy will always be an issue it seems in this country, regardless of how the data is obtained. Even if the networks turned around and said we're going to deliver a 14 day EPG as part of the broadcast, would you trust them to get it right???

I indirectly pay for my hardcopy guide (that comes in the sunday papers), but I don't complain to The Age when something is wrong. We (my household) have resigned ourselves to putting in hard paddings for all recordings, which I used to do anyway with the old VCR (start 10 minutes early finiosh 30 - 45 minutes late), so nothing has changed. [In fact, the one thing that has changed is that my Wife can now program recordings - she NEVER did that with the VCR...]

I'm quite satisifed with my ICE subscription, "MCE bugs" notwithstanding. Missed recordings have only ever been user error...
Admittedly, since subscribing to ICE, I've basically switched myself off from all the EPG threads, so not sure how well OzTivo, epgstream, etc are stacking up. At the moment, I don't have a reason to find out

Cheers,

jvesey · **25th January 2007, 03:25 PM**

I use both the FreeEPG (OZTvio Feed) on one machine and ICE on the other. I have no complaints with either. I like the humour in some of the program descriptions in the ICE guide. Overall it would be great if M$ provided one - but I don't see that anytime soon.

imf · **25th January 2007, 03:42 PM**

Phil,

My opinion - why pay for the same info you can get elsewhere for free?

I switched to the JRobbo guides after epg runner went off the air and haven't looked back since. Only drawback is the number of future days in the guide can drop down to 1 or 2 at times. For me a small inconvienence as I have mostly series recordings anyway, for others maybe more of an issue.

Cheers,
imf

impact · **25th January 2007, 04:06 PM**

A guide is critical to the operation of the media box... and while icetv seemed to have had some technical difficulties for a few days in the last week or so... I would be more concerned about other posts regarding free solutions not being updated as prescribed - running late because of away on holidays and that type of activity. Equally, why should I not have 7 or more days guide data when I look at it... and not worry about on Friday not seeing the next weeks guide data - because it has not been updated to show the next week.

Unfortunately in Australia, the guide does change during the week, with new programming changes... gee if the download only gets updated once a week - you miss out on those changes....

Not one solution is perfect - they all have benefits and disadvantages... Each to choose their own....

pssturges · **25th January 2007, 05:04 PM**

Phil,

I have never used Ice TV so I can't comment on that. I had been swapping and changing my guide solution very regularly, depending on which one worked at the time. About 5 months ago I started using JRobbo's data with bladerunner and it has worked flawlessly since.

I used be to contantly worried about when my guide was going to break next. Now, I hardly even give it a thought. Sure, the data is only down to a few days or so occasionally, but it always catches up.

Phil

ancall · **25th January 2007, 07:30 PM**

Hi Phil,
I have used IceTV since beta and I am happy to pay for it. It works for me and is about as accurate as any other source now or past. I like the idea of an independent and (hopefully) legal solution. Those who developed Bladerunner etc. have done a great job but ultimately they depend on nine etc. to provide the service and the FTA's are not averse to trying to frustrate the effort (to be fair, not so much lately).
On the other hand I am disappointed that we can't seem to get complete guides for anything but the FTA SD Channels. What about radio, HD, extra channels?
I will continue to pay the $99/year for the electronic TV magazine as long as IceTV continues to deliver a quality product. However, I do expect them to develop and augment the product.
Regards
ancall

GlenR · **25th January 2007, 11:15 PM**

I'm happy with Ice. Yep, free is good but you do get what you pay for. Lately Ice has just chugged away without issue. I reset the MCE services daily after downlosd to prevent database errors and it just keeps on keeping on.

My only issue is when the stations don't stick to their schedule.

After all the hassles with the free solutions, I'm more than happy to pay a little each week for a reliable service. I'd die without a good EPG - or my wife would kill me.

cooper05 · **26th January 2007, 09:11 AM**

Ive been using OZtivo with Blade runner for months now and it hasnt missed a beat.
It downloads the guide 4-5 days ahead automatically and only doesnt happen if the PC off. Why pay when you can have it for free.

Cooper

ozbear · **28th January 2007, 07:18 AM**

If one just wants to watch TV, use ICE.

If one wants to continually have trouble and find the need to post to this and other fora asking if "anyone else having this problem", or similar ilk, then by all means go for a free solution (where "free" means ones time costs nothing).

Pretty simple decision, and not worth revisiting unless one is just trying to stir the pot.

Oz

bignormy · **28th January 2007, 08:18 AM**

Personally I regret ever subscribing to ICE. A total waste of money. The times and programs are always incorrect. Most times if I set a prog to copy, it misses the start or end even if I set it to go over. I've had series magically start to appear as recorded. Some things record - some things not.

AND THE GUIDE DATA NOT AVAILABLE.............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

AND THE CHANNELS DISAPPEARING..................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

It's definately Ice updates that cause this as I can make it happen by manually updating data. Happened again on Friday night and then Saturday morning again. Reboots don't work - MCE reset tool : rescan channels is the only thing that works.

I've done five complete format and reloads - still get the issue. I did a reload and didn't install the guide and had zero channel problems. I ended up just buying the Sunday TV guide and setting up manual recording times - much more reliable.

ozbear · **28th January 2007, 09:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bignormy

Personally I regret ever subscribing to ICE. A total waste of money. The times and programs are always incorrect. Most times if I set a prog to copy, it misses the start or end even if I set it to go over. I've had series magically start to appear as recorded. Some things record - some things not.

Times and programs always incorrect? That's a bold-faced lie (as well as being libelous).
The majority of Ice users have no problems at all, aside from stations changing their schedule, which isn't Ice's issue. Your paper guide will have exactly the same problem.

You have sufficiently littered these fora with the many problems you have faced in various aspects of getting MCE working. I suggest you give up trying to do it yourself and find someone to put one togethr that knows what they are doing.

Oz