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Consuming Entertainment Content ... - Finchie (7th Mar 2007 - 23:01:02) Finally decided to get rid of the old Black & White TV and now the VHS recorder has packed up and the kids are at an age that they want to listen to something than Sinatra on the gramophone...We are being forced to go digital ... I think I have just about got MP3 players cracked and am now ready to look at TV ... Alex Cameron - where are you !!! coz I think I'm going to need your help. I've boned up on the pages you posted re:freeview and ariels - very useful. The kids want to watch other stuff now, so need 2 TV options in the house.. Before buying an HD ready TV I thought I'd do some research. Just about got the difference between plasma & LCD but now very confused as to what I should plug into it... -Freeview would be ideal, but tried a mates set-top-box and had a 'mare - we are surrounded by trees. -We have always had terrestrial problems, so have always had sky (and nothing terrestrial - not even analog). Don't want to fork out for an extra sky box/room option so looked at a few things ... - Freesat looks interesting - £150 install - effectively Freeview through satellite dish rather than ariel - BT Vision also attractive - £90 install (for existing BT Broadband Users) BUT This needs a Freeview box to do anything useful like record programs. Not sure if it works with Freesat. - Also considered getting a new PC running Microsoft Vista as this looks very media aware and could be that "media server" where all the family stores their music collections. I guess adding WinTV card or such like could allow TV Viewing but not sure on quality for a large flat screen - or HD compatibility for that matter. Again I assume I need to plug Freeview/Freesat into the WinTV card ? Also defeats the object of saving £120 per year on a Sky Extra Room subscription (perhaps I shouldn't be so tight!). Also I am guessing to sort out the Arial to a Wideband High Gain Rooftop Arial (see I did read the articles Alex) will cost more than £120 anyway. Was all getting to grips with the above when talking to a Microsoft chappie today and he said he would use an Xbox connected to broadband - now I am really confused ! All views/advice/opinions much appreciated... Cheers, Finchie

Re: Consuming Entertainment Content ... - Alex Cameron (14th Mar 2007 - 00:18:39) Finchie i'm here to answer your call. This is what i do every single day of the year - my company website is www.digitaltx.tv. It all depends on what you want to do - each TV will need a set-top box regardless. HD - be careful of this as its a gimmick. There are a few different types of HD resolution so all may not be as it seems. The only HD services available at the moment are on Sky and Virgin and they have huge subscription costs attached. There will be HD DVDs on the way soon but don't worry too much. Freeview means you will need a higher antenna and ultra high gain aerial if you've had problems. The Freeview signal is weaker than the analog one but in 6 years you will have to have some form of digital set-top box. BT Vision is just Freeview with a broadband cable in the back to download movies from the internet. With Sky Freesat, you'll always need a Sky viewing card because Channel 4 and 5 are scrambled. The BBC are bringing out their own Freesat service this year. Sky use it to upsell their other services so expect a lot of calls. There's not much on there that you can't get on Freeview. Forget the Windows Media Center idea as its a total, utter nightmare. You can download TV onto a PC somewhere in the house and stream it to a TV if you need to. Personally speaking, i'd get the UWB [ultra wide band] high gain Freeview aerial put in, then run a cable down into the center of the house. Once its there, use a splitter adaptor from an electronics shop (£5 or so) to split the wire into 3 signals into the different rooms. Then i'd buy 3 Freeview PVR set-top boxes from Currys or eBay - PVR is the Sky+ "pause live TV" [equivalent] thing with a hard drive in it. I'd recommend Netgem's "iPlayer" box. You can stream video from a PC to the set-top box on a lot of them. Put a set-top box in each room, and eh voila. Everyone has their own Freeview service thats personal to them. Another interesting thing you can do is to buy a set of powerline broadband adaptors (PLC/HomePlug). These turn your AC electric cables in the house into network/Ethernet wires than can carry an internet signal. It means you can get an internet connection wherever there is an AC plug socket and there are no ugly wires. Does that help?

Re: Consuming Entertainment Content ... - Finchie (14th Mar 2007 - 22:53:37) Help ! This is gold-dust. Alex, I owe you a few beers. Will be in touch. Cheers, Finchie

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