living with regular tv..
@chicksdigscars (5483)
January 30, 2012 4:17am CST
My partner and I just recently got Virgin installed.
We haven’t had anything like cable, or Sky Tv or anything like that.. and all we had was what those in the UK will know, Freeview. It’s a digital box, either external or built into your tv, that allows you to pick up free extra channels, other than your tv’s standard 5, such as E4 etc. And this was all we had.
But our next door neighbour, who’s broadband we usually use, is moving out, and it was time to get our own broadband. So after extensive phone calls with Sky and Virgin, we came to the conclusion that Virgin was for us! Cheaper, and catering more efficiently to our needs!
And well now, I can’t live without it! How did I survive without being able to record, pause and rewind live tv?? How did I survive without every channel having a plus one so you could watch it an hour later? I’ve only had it a week and I’ve already use up 15% of my memory by recording every single programme under the sun that I’m not going to be home to watch.
It has made me wonder about those with regular tv.. whether they like what they have, cannot afford the more channel packages, or simply don’t want to change? Surely everyone these days has cable or digital?
What do you think of this?
2 people like this
8 responses
@kedves (728)
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30 Jan 12
well we used to have the biggest package on sky and found later we hardly watched anything .. i cancelled the sports channel but still see EVERY game live online FREE ..
as for missing programs .. so many places online to catch up and watch .. i hate waiting week after week so i download full series and watch it start to end :)
we all have our different ways it does not make one better it just makes it better for us :)
p.s. i dont include running soaps like EastEnders or corrie etc etc because it does not matter to miss one episode because its all the same..
but also your question of sky or virgin :) well for me its sky because i have an app on my mobile so if im out and forget to record something i can do it on my phone and it will send to my sky box and record it for me :) as far as i know you cant do that with virgin ;)
1 person likes this
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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30 Jan 12
ahaa!! you are wrong. you CAN do that with virgin. however i will admit it is only recently that this can be done.
i get what you are saying completely about being able to download and catch up online etc.. but i need broadband to do that.. and my broadband, AND tv only costs £36 a month, and as far as I am aware, it costs £13 a month for the broadband alone, so when all is said and done i'm not really out that much :)
sky is obscene though! for the exact same package with virgin, and i mean almost the exact same channels! sky wanted £64 a month off me, compared to virgins £36!
2 people like this
@kedves (728)
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30 Jan 12
ok well if its that much difference i will look into it and im happy virgin finally have app to operate their boxes :)
my broadband is aol and it keeps breaking down for at least ten minuets every day ... so I will definitely look into virgin but only if i can keep my unlimited downloads :)
@Orson_Kart (6757)
• United Kingdom
4 Feb 12
"50 something fast"
Sounds like you are describing me there, koperty3! 
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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3 Feb 12
ohhh you have virgin for your broadband at least :)
we have a large 42 inch HD TV that my mum and dad bought me for christmas, and it has built in freeview. and we have a freeview box in our bedroom that is a little crappy.
don't get me wrong our budget is tight to, but if we spend a lot of time in the house, we may as well have good tv :)
1 person likes this
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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3 Feb 12
wow.. so you don't watch the news or anything? or just sit down and watch a film?
1 person likes this
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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3 Feb 12
i usually have enough to keep me busy and the because i am generally so busy, thats the reason why i like to be able to record tv and have lots of variety etc when i am actually able to have a break lol! :)
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (6757)
• United Kingdom
4 Feb 12
Anything that gets you off a Sky subscription is great by me. I ditched them for Freesat a number of years ago and I haven't regretted it. About £250 initial cost to purchase box, and you have to be connected to the internet to get the additional services, but after that, there are no monthly payments to be made. All available 'free' channels are available and recordable, and all those in HD are at no extra cost (unlike Sky).
@Orson_Kart (6757)
• United Kingdom
7 Feb 12
Freesat is like Sky but for free. Uses the same dish, satellite etc, but without the cost. I am assuming that as it's free to UK users that you are included, but you never know. 
Check out this link for more details: http://www.freesat.co.uk/
Check out this link for more details: http://www.freesat.co.uk/@chicksdigscars (5483)
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7 Feb 12
virgin is the same.. all the channels i get, i get the hd version, with no extra charge :)
freesat? whats that?
1 person likes this
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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9 Feb 12
thanks. I asked a work friend about it also, and they explained to me what it was. I'm assuming it's different from "Freeview" though?
1 person likes this
@polaroidsredwine (509)
• United States
30 Jan 12
I'm too poor to afford anything other than just basic television, but I can safely say that although I do miss the time when I had a nice cable/digital package I don't miss it that much - with regular old television I don't have nearly as many things I have to absolutely watch so I don't really need to record anything. I liked having more variety of things to watch without as many times during the day where there's absolutely nothing on, but I don't watch too much tv anymore anyway.
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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31 Jan 12
well i can see where you are coming from, and to be honest, i dont watch a lot of television myself, but my main problem was missing things. i was coming home and missing say a soap, and then by the time it was repeated later i'd gone out again, or had too much to do etc.. so the fact i can record the tv and have lots of other time slots to watch it, really helps me out :)
1 person likes this
@GemmaR (8517)
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30 Jan 12
I think that regular television can be very bad for us, because it can take over our lives if we're not really careful about it. The thing is, once you start watching a series, you have to record all of the programmes in that series or you'll miss vital clues about the plot. I am away from home two days each week, and I can find that I am having to spend an entire day catching up with the television that I have recorded when I get home on a Thursday, therefore meaning that I hardly have any time to do work. But, at the same time, I really don't want to miss out on the programmes because I enjoy watching them on the nights that I'm at home.
@chicksdigscars (5483)
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30 Jan 12
i do get your point and i completely agree that it can be really bad for you.. but to be honest with you i'm not a huge tv watcher on a daily basis. i like to get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, and do everything i have to do, and would only watch a few select shows at night.. but a sunday is my lazy day where i literally do nothing but watch films lol! so it comes in handy for me that way!
but i completely agree about the getting addicted to a series lol!
1 person likes this
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
10 Feb 12
In the U.S. the cable monopoly just jack up the price, even with their basic package. That just outrageous, and we won't want that service anymore. About satellite, it just getting crazy with those contract to bound your freedom. I would advice people seeking something online or netflix subscription service. It will be much better than cable or Satellite TV.
