Tassie Devil Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 About all we look at direct is the local commercial station news and that is only because it is at mealtime. It gives us the local "exciting" events but is pretty short on overseas news. EVERYTHING else is recorded to HDD, even the SBS news. This means we can skip through items of little interest (or in the case of the SBS news & 7.30 report, items we already know about and do not want more detail), we can see 60 minutes in half that time (a program sometimes aimed at those with a mental age of 8 so the same thing is repeated ad nauseum), we can quickly abandon & delete movies that do not appeal after 15 minutes or so, and skip though the commercials now dominating all stations, even the ABC. With some programs we are keenly interested in we deliberately wait until about half is recorded and then do a catch up, missing the junk along the way. Bottom line is that evenings we are home or are not entertaining, we have plenty to keep us amused for 4 or so hours so rarely have to turn to DVDs or BDs. Maybe this behaviour is extreme? What about you? John
swordfish805 Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 Pretty much the same in our house. We have an iQ and two beyonwizes. The kids use the iQ to record their fave Cartoon Network shows which they watch in the morning before school. The wife uses it to record Eastenders. The wizzes are used for FTA recording. We are usually a day or two behind on FTA shows and never watch ads. It struck me at Christmas time when all the relos descended on us. Somebody mentioned a particular tv ad and the wife and I had no idea what they were talking about. I then realised about half the family was in the same boat - they were the ones who owned PVRs and never see advertisements. I actually miss knowing about the latest ad fads and new products, sales, promotions etc. I'd probably watch ads if there weren't so many of them - but the Australian TV networks shoehorn mind numbing slabs of commercials into their shows and they don't pay me enough to act as the dumb receptacle for this.
pgdownload Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 (edited) Maybe this behaviour is extreme? What about you?Sounds like standard effective PVR usage. Generally I just set timers to cover anything I might like. Then when I actually sit down to watch TV is pretty much whenever I want. If the show hasn't been running long enough to skip the ads then we leave it a bit and watch some other show we pre-recorded.Although to be honest, increasingly almost everything is set to automatically download instead of record. PQ is always HD and ads are a non issue. Regards Peter Gillespie Edited April 8, 2011 by pgdownload
miata Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 (edited) Same here, I've been doing it for twenty years. I used to have 5 VCRs and record everything, I now use the Toppy and the iQ2. I watch nothing live at all. The closest I get to live is watching F1, MotoGP or V8 Supercars starting about 40 minutes after the beginning of the event. By the end of the race I've almost caught up with the live broadcast but I've had the luxury of flicking through the ads. Everything else is watched when I feel like watching it. I also never use the TV tuner, everything is via one or the other PVR and the amp. Edited April 8, 2011 by miata
prl Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 We used to view much of the stuff we watch on ABC live, but now we record pretty much everything, even if we happen to watch it at around the time it's showing live. Everything else is watched from recordings.
Puss in Books Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 Record and watch later used to be our approach as well. However, I find it a chore to keep on top of station schedules, the continual inaccuracies of EPGs and the resultant missed endings. So we watch FTA less and less, whether it is live or recorded. Relying more and more on alternative sources of content now. For example, I deliberately skipped Ch7's screening of The Pacific last year and waited for it to be available on BD (via BigPond rentals). Better PQ, better SQ, no distruptions, no missed endings, no adds...happiness.
swordfish805 Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 I find it a chore to keep on top of station schedules, the continual inaccuracies of EPGs and the resultant missed endings. you need icetv
Tassie Devil Posted April 8, 2011 Author Posted April 8, 2011 Same here, I've been doing it for twenty years. I used to have 5 VCRs and record everything, I now use the Toppy and the iQ2. I watch nothing live at all. The closest I get to live is watching F1, MotoGP or V8 Supercars starting about 40 minutes after the beginning of the event. By the end of the race I've almost caught up with the live broadcast but I've had the luxury of flicking through the ads. Everything else is watched when I feel like watching it. I also never use the TV tuner, everything is via one or the other PVR and the amp. Wow, a kindred soul. We only ever got to 4 VCRs!!!! But it was a PIA withem all responding to the same remote codes. John
Tassie Devil Posted April 8, 2011 Author Posted April 8, 2011 Record and watch later used to be our approach as well. However, I find it a chore to keep on top of station schedules, the continual inaccuracies of EPGs and the resultant missed endings. So we watch FTA less and less, whether it is live or recorded. Relying more and more on alternative sources of content now. For example, I deliberately skipped Ch7's screening of The Pacific last year and waited for it to be available on BD (via BigPond rentals). Better PQ, better SQ, no distruptions, no missed endings, no adds...happiness. Yes the lack of adherence to scheduling is a real pain. The ABC particularly annoys me doing that. With the Toppy I manually set each timer and laboriously label it, allowing for an extra 30 mins with movies. Not as much trouble as it sounds because most of what is set is repeated so the one setting goes on ad infinitum. BUT, it requires at least 2 PVRs with dual tuners because allowing extra time can cause timer conflicts. I am using EPG with a second recorder which is dedicated to ABC & SBS only (via satellite) and it works reasonably well with them with ABC the worst offender as mentioned before. SBS is usually fine. John
Wing Nut Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 With some programs we are keenly interested in we deliberately wait until about half is recorded and then do a catch up, missing the junk along the way ... Maybe this behaviour is extreme? What about you? Not for us - it all pretty much describes our viewing habits too with a couple of Toppies - his and hers With 'my' 2400 Toppy under the main TV, Mrs Wing Nut seems to flick on the plasma's tuner rather than use the 2400 - I guess my recordings predominate that PVR and she's not into the slightly timeshifted ad-less nearly-live TV habit I use for motor racing and some movies. The opposite happens at the other end of the house where 'her' Toppy (8+ yo 5000) is full of her stuff and live TV (Samsung LCD) is never watched - not sure she realises there is such an option Harmony remotes orchestrate the setups. Big screen TVs, PVRs and no brainer remotes - best things since VCRs and colour TV
miata Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 Wow, a kindred soul. We only ever got to 4 VCRs!!!! But it was a PIA withem all responding to the same remote codes.John I had five different makes of VCR to get away from the remote problem. Things are a lot easier now. I use the EPG to set timers now and manually add a few minutes to the end of any program that might run over, i.e. any program on a commercial channel, plus an hour on things like F1 in case of rain delays.
Puss in Books Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 you need icetv I had icetv on my PC, but I did not find them reliable nor any more accurate than the standard EPG. The biggest problem was the download of the ice EPG was unreliable and needed constant monitoring. Their only advantage seemed to be a more detailed synopsis for some programs, but I have no need for that. Once I upgraded to W7 I let my sub lapse and now record shows using the OTA EPG, which seems just as good if not better than icetv. W7MC is pretty decent, and I am using it to record the Big Bang Theory which my wife has taken a belated liking to. Since the program screens on 2 channels and airs several times a week, the W7MC series record has come in handy and serves us well, except where the guide has been grossly inaccurate. One day I might just build myself a DIY PVR based on windows. Maybe on Windows 8. Perhaps icetv is better on a dedicated PVR like a Toppy or BWiz, but I don't want to engage in an arms race against the TV stations. If they want to make it hard to watch a program, I am more than happy to look elsewhere for my entertainment. Yes the lack of adherence to scheduling is a real pain. The ABC particularly annoys me doing that. Ironically I find the ABC the least offensive when it comes to scheduling, but that means we watch the ABC mostly live.
ianc Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 I watch the local weather forecast live and sometimes ABC news. Sometimes I timeshift the news which is good to avoid the bits I am not interested in like sports. Other than that it is all downloads of overseas programs copied onto a DVD and played on my DVD recorder. I will probably get a set top box cum media player cum PVR at some point but currently the DVD player does me fine. I never watch ads and never even bother looking at the local TV schedules.
diesel Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 How Do You Use Your Digital Recorder?, Record all; Record some; Occasional recording
GregA1503560021 Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 We do the same. Everything is series-tagged and adds 5-15 mins. I shuffle some recordings if there are 3 things on that are all wanted (usually getting lucky, there's a repeat on one of them, so I try to re-prioritise the series tag list to get the same result). The things I'd like to see in PVRs include 1) PVR should default back to the PVR menu, or a screen saver and music - not back to Live TV 2) start and end times need to be fixed. Perhaps we need a twitter-like solution. 3) I'd like an EPG that just lists anything that wasn't on last week in 3 sections: movies, sport, and new tv shows. 4) Can any PVRs create a pseudo channel of my low rating series links, so I can put that on in the background? 5) My Fetch PVR has 3 tuners, I'd like them all available to record but one is dedicated to live TV. 6) My Fetch PVR has on-demand preloaded content - good quality, no ads, but should be in the same area as the regular PVR recordings.
smeg888 Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 We've got a Beyonwiz, IQ2, MacMini with twin tuners and Windows PC with twin tuners, all connect to one TV. Not surprisingly we never watch live TV. EVen footy and cricket we watch delayed and then chase play to skip the ads and half time in footy. Always laugh when people at work say "did you see that ad last night?". We never see an ad.
cazlar Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I watch nearly everything on delay or recorded. Depending on where the race is, I may watch the F1 race live (this last one I started watching live - then the ads came on so I watched something else while building a buffer before switching back, so that I finished the race live too). I also generally watch Q&A live so that the twitter stream makes sense. Other than that, all recorded. If it is a show I really care about, I have probably already downloaded it anyway before waiting for FTA.
pgdownload Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 5) My Fetch PVR has 3 tuners, I'd like them all available to record but one is dedicated to live TV.I suspect you'll find it only has 2 tuners. Can you record channel 7 and channel 9 and watch channel 10 live?Regards Peter Gillespie
prl Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I suspect you'll find it only has 2 tuners. Can you record channel 7 and channel 9 and watch channel 10 live?Regards Peter Gillespie According to the Gadget Guy, it has three tuners: http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/iinet-fetch-tv...s-154936-1.html I looked in vain on the iiNet and FetchTV web sites for any information as "technical" as this.
pgdownload Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Funny, AdBlockPlus decided the entire Gadget Guy website was an ad and blocked everything Here's the CNet review. I expect there's some confusion over a 'tuner' and the IPTV channel which is not FTA. Looks like its a dual tuner though. Regards Peter Gillespie
Baird Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I watch nearly everything on delay or recorded. Depending on where the race is, I may watch the F1 race live (this last one I started watching live - then the ads came on so I watched something else while building a buffer before switching back, so that I finished the race live too). I also generally watch Q&A live so that the twitter stream makes sense.Other than that, all recorded. If it is a show I really care about, I have probably already downloaded it anyway before waiting for FTA. I would agree with you cazlar as far as nearly everything recorded, just some delayed. Though not an F1 fan, I do watch AFL sometimes on delay. The bit I seem to be misunderstanding is "I generally watch Q&A live so that the twitter stream makes sense". I thought the twitter stream was recorded & came through at the same speed as Q&A itself. Have I made a schoolboy error here? Yes downloading is often preferable to waiting up to 2 years for some shows to come to FTA.
pgdownload Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I thought the twitter stream was recorded & came through at the same speed as Q&A itself. Have I made a schoolboy error here?I wondered about that too until I realises the on screen twitter stream is probably 1% of the total. You'd want to watch the full stream (via PC? Phone?) live. Regards Peter Gillespie
davep Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 We have scheduled recordings, but if we're home we'll just watch the shows as per normal. It is handy having pause/time shift when you get phone calls, or extended calls of nature. I like being able to stream content off the PC (Beyonwiz DP Lite i), its made my loungeroom very simple & neat looking with just the BW and BR player.
Baird Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I wondered about that too until I realises the on screen twitter stream is probably 1% of the total. You'd want to watch the full stream (via PC? Phone?) live. Regards Peter Gillespie Thank you for enlightening me Peter. So one would have to watch the TV & the computer or phone. Gosh the on screen twitter runs at such a pace as it is, how could one follow what the panelists are saying?
prl Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I wondered about that too until I realises the on screen twitter stream is probably 1% of the total. You'd want to watch the full stream (via PC? Phone?) live. ... I'd have thought that the twitter feed (and perhaps the program, too) would at least be on a short delay, like "live" talkback radio is.
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