Related Articles
BBC
TalkTalk has launched a new, smaller YouView box with its latest TV, broadband and phone deal costing £7.50 per month.
Both BT and TalkTalk give away online-connected YouView set-top TV boxes with their broadband deals. The new TalkTalk Essentials deal comes with the second generation of YouView box, worth £149 instead of the larger original box’s hefty £300 price tag — the new box is smaller and cheaper because it doesn’t have any space to record stuff.
You can pause and rewind live TV, but not record. For that you need the original box, which comes with the more expensive Plus TV package.
The Essentials TV package includes YouView TV, unlimited broadband, and evening and weekend calls, for £7.50 a month — plus that pesky line rental, of course, taking the cost to £22.90.
TalkTalk reckons the deal is Britain’s lowest price for TV, broadband and calls in one, and claims savings of up to £190 over 18 months from BT’s equivalent package.
YouView is a set-top box on steroids, hooked up to the Internet so online TV channels and catch-up services are neatly included alongside your regular channels. To watch shows you missed, simply scroll back in time through the TV listings and watch shows from BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5 all right there on your telly. It’s like a TARDIS for your telly, except without the going forwards part — otherwise you could watch the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode before anyone else.
Now playing:
Watch this:
YouView hands-on
2:01
The deal is open to new and existing customers — if you already have TalkTalk’s Essentials broadband and home phone package you can add TV at no extra cost — and the price stays the same for everyone throughout the contract.
Are you impressed by YouView? Is the lack of recording a deal breaker? Leave us a comment or pause, rewind and record your thoughts on our Facebook page.
