UK Digibox: Classic or Dud

I did plug it into my telly. It was easy. My pictures come from Crystal Palace!

Last night I watched Winged Migration. Without even pressing the red button I got extra commentary from my mother-in-law.

I think it is true though, that you get what you pay for. Our remote control is unpleasant and feels as if it has come from a pound shop, and the menu screens could be nicer.

It is Digilogic. Remember the name!

It is confusing, as I am unsure whether my reception is good enough for it anyway. I had imagined that digital TV was a panacea.

Here is another question: is it better to have a DVD / VHS in one box, or as two separate items? More wires the second way.

Our "normal" reception is pretty bad (multi-Hansen effect), but the digibox works a treat (one Hansen, but speaking with greater clarity of vision and purpose than ever).

as for the DVD Video query, i'm of the opinion that it's almost always better to seperate items. if one bit get's buggered at least you're not losing 2 pieces of technology you need. also they are a bit gimmicky and tend to be impossible to fix.

xp

I've had an LG combined VHS/DVD thingy for 18 months, and I love it - and although it isn't mentioned in the instruction book, it lets you record from dvd to vhs if you want!

With analogue ghosting, you might have won 8-0.

"YES!

FREEVIEW covers your area for the postcode **** ***.

You should be able to use your existing rooftop aerial and wiring provided they are in good condition but you may need to get them checked to ensure good quality digital reception.

Your local electrical retailer should be able to arrange an aerial survey and aerial upgrade if you need one and advise you of any related charges."

I've been looking at some of the Hauppage ones but the write-ups on them are very varied.

Good info here:

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=119

Yesterday I pressed the red button hoping for all the goalmouth action, but all I got was a load of souped-up Ceefax reports.

PF, go on, take the plunge.

I am intrigued to see which way you go on Saturday afternoons, PJM - to BBCi's Score Interactive with Stubbsy or Sky Sports News with Stelling(sy). Or out, to the shops.

Incidentally, I think they must have those laptop gadgets. Or is that just my imagination getting the better of me?

I ask because I am having difficulty training my family to switch it off when they switch the telly off and I need to get just the right level of psycho dad-ness.

One piece of information that has been mentioned which is true is that there is little difference in power consumption etc between the on and standby modes of a Sky box. All standby does is switch off the video output, the box is otherwise completely functional.

Is a Sky box the same as a Freeview box, only with different channels?

But then I'm the sort of person who's convinced that all this talk of the oncoming "energy crisis" could be solved by everyone switching off their computers when they leave work at night.

(the tivo has real problems with grass, smoke, fire, tv static and especially water on lower qualities)

There's the Little People inside mine.

I switch my computer off at night and I have recently started going round switching off lights.

Do I really have to wait until March for a choice of two football matches?

grass, smoke, fire, tv static and especially water

I wish to make a poor quality joke out of this.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1573979,00.asp

Not the fridge.

I can't believe some people don't even turn their computers off.

I read years ago that modern computers have very low power consumption, so don't feel too guilty about leaving it on. Is that correct?

i fear that if i switch off my tv or vcr at the mains, they will forget all their presets. is that insane?

If that is not true, though, then I think Alba is being rather impatient. Surely you can switch it on and use it a minute later, and save power, rather than leave it on the whole time. But again, what do I know? When I try to put my computer on standby it basically shuts down - it returns to life frozen and unusable, and must be, I think, Reset.

Why a laptop computer is not using power, I don't know. But again - what do I know?

I have erased Community TV and Teachers TV and Bloomberg. Perhaps I am becoming reckless. I am tempted to erase the pop video channels too.

I think the VCR will forget the time if you switch it off at the plug.

i unplug it, it uses battery power while asleep.

Back in the days when I had an attention span.

ITV3 has been superceded in our affections by More4 and ITV4 (all yr ITC/RAI needs).

They're talking about debut hat-tricks on Sky Sports News. I bet they don't mention Tony Cottee OR if they mention Ian St John they neglect to point out that Everton beat Liverpool 4-3 in that match.

Hang on, I have email, they have email...

I have taken to watching National Geographic's rubbish list programmes (Top 10 "when bears fall out of trees onto trampolines", that sort of thing - seriously, the other night I watched a bear fall out of a tree onto a trampoline. It bounced off the trampoline and fell head first onto the ground. Then they followed it with some people who nearly drowned trying to rescue a cow off a cliff. Do you even get National Geographic on Digibox?

I still haven't watched anything on ITV4. Too many channels!

An old-fashioned valve amplifier would definitely last longer if it was kept switched on all the time - valves are really just a sophisticated sort of lightbulb, and valve failure nearly always occurs at switch-on.

Middling? Vehicle?

It's a terrific picture!

I'm now watching a Snow show on one of the normal channels about land ownership. Pam is getting quite angry.

(I shamefully have left my CD player, phono pre-amp, line-level pre-amp, and monoblocs switched on for weeks at a time. The CD player has a class A output stage so it's probably sucking power from the wall like nobody's business 24 hours a day. It's the only concession to audiophile lore I make thesedays. I accept I'm also killing the planet).