We've had Sky+ HD for years and last weekend my dad decided to switch it off. We now have Netflix, the American Netflix (hacked), and Hulu, which all stream through Apple TVs throughout my house, as well as Freeview. I can also use the UK and USA Netflix on my laptop in my student house, which I can connect to my bedroom or living room TV.My dad and sister both have their tablets connected to it and everyone in the family has the Netflix app. Also, in less than 24 hours time Analogue TV as we know it will be no more, so all of my TVs at home now have Freeview Recorder boxes too. There's no need any more for Sky, since we were paying an obscene amount of money to use it and rarely got full use from it. At least with Netflix we can find all of the box sets we want and thousands of movies which is great.
The second change I've made is moving to the giffgaff network. I've been with O2 and Virgin (for the last two years) ever since my first ever phone 10 years ago, and giffgaff is by far the best yet. Giffgaff uses the O2 network which means you can get the same great coverage O2 provides for Northern Ireland but at a fraction of the price. My current contract is £10/month for unlimited texts, 250 minutes and 1gb data which is more than enough for me, and since it's limited data I can tether it to my laptop when I'm out and about, it's fantastic. For anyone who doesn't know much about giffgaff, the reason it's so cheap is because it's "Run by their customers". Basically, when you take out a contract with O2 they set your phone up for you to use, but with giffgaff you configure your own settings, and troubleshoot everything yourself. The fantastic thing is that this is ridiculously easy because there are forums you can use to set your phone up and all of the information is there for you. I'd recommend it to anyone, I haven't had a single problem so far!
Below: My iPhone using giffgaff uses the O2 network
My dad also recently bought a new Wi-Drive to take with him when he's out and about and on holiday. This is really cool because it's a 64gb wireless hard drive which has it's own network and allows 3 users to connect at one time. So, for talk sake, say you're sitting in the airport waiting for a flight with 2 friends. Theoretically all 3 of you can connect at once, by selecting the network from your device. All 3 of you could be watching different movies whilst all on the one device. The cool thing is that you can all *still* keep connected to the airport's Wi-Fi too, because the device passes with signal through. Unbelievable.
Below: the Wi-Drive
The final thing I want to write about is my sister's new tablet. I've never been very fond of android tablets but after playing about with her's, I've decided I want one myself. I've been pining for an iPad for ages but realistically, I can't afford one. I'd really like a Nexus or something similar to my sister's tablet. It would be great for lectures and general surfing, because I like to browse the internet while I'm out and about and since I can tether my iPhone investing in a new tablet would be awesome! The strange thing for me is that I'm only finding a want/need for a tablet now.... I've always thought that it would be a waste of money for me but the more I think about it, the more I have to have one!
No doubt I'll think of more things I want to write about soon, and if I do I'll just update this blog!
Thank you for reading!
p.s. R.I.P. Analogue TV! It was a good few years!
No comments:
Post a Comment