Virgin Media to offer 500GB TiVo box in May

Virgin Media TiVo - cheaper option
Virgin Media TiVo - cheaper option

Virgin Media has announced that a brand-new TiVo box is on its way - with a lower cost 500GB set top box arriving on the service in mid-May.

The current TiVo offering is a 1TB box, available only to customers on the XL TV package, but the 500GB box will be available to ALL Virgin Media customers and for a shade less than £50.

"Whilst the 1TB box is available exclusively to XL TV customers, the great news is that the 500GB box will be available to Virgin Media TV customers for just £49.95 and can be used with our L or M+ TV packs too, making it even easier for more telly fans to join the TV revolution that is Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo," a Virgin Media spokesperson told TechRadar.

1TB £150

Virgin Media has also announced that the 1TB box will be dropped to £149.95 to existing customers who pre-ordered or £199.95 for new customers with installation for no additional cost.

You might be wondering why a box that is apparently the same apart from double the storage costs three times as much - we certainly are, especially considering the price of HDDs.

The 500GB box will be available in around six weeks' time, and brings all the features of the 1TB box – including the three tuners and the built in modem.

TechRadar's Virgin Media TiVo review gave the 1TB box a four-star rating, praising its power and suggesting that it was a firmware upgrade and a polish away from being the best set-top box in the UK.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.