Advantages: Reasonable value for money
Disadvantages: Compulsory, and terrifying if you can't afford it !

...TV or not TV…? That is the question .Wether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows, of the tv licensing spies, for not having a licence...or just cough up and be done with it ! I received a reminder today informing me that my TV licence was due, which prompted me to puzzle the positive pros and cons of this seemingly antiquated licensing system, which is after all an unfair tax on the British public, The 2006/2007 colour TV licence costs £10.96 per month - about 36p per day for each household. It is free if you are over 75, half-price if you are registered blind. They must have worked out that half the enjoyment comes from the pictures and half the pleasure comes from the sound ? The annual cost (set by the Government) is currently £131.50. A black and white TV licence is £44. THERE IS NO RADIO LICENSE... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Access to an extra 30+ free TV Channels
Disadvantages: My receiver has gone wrong, likely to need digital aerial

...I have read a few excellent reviews on the Thompson DT1000 digital receiver which have covered the product in praise and glory. My experience has been slightly different, so I thought there may be some value in making my contribution. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREEVIEW SERVICE/ DIGITAL TV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You may already have access to digital TV or have seen adverts for it on your normal analogue service. For those not yet aware, Freeview is a digital TV service which gives you access, free of charge, to over 30 TV channels and radio stations. The most popular channels are BBC3, BBC4, ITV2 - extra football, CBBC - childrens channel for over 5s, CBeebies - childrens channel for under 5s.Other channels available include ones for auctions, travel, gardening, radio, history and cooking. The service offers teletext... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Cheap at only 45p
Disadvantages: contains spoilers

...Whats on tv is a weekly listing guide for television programmes. It is produced by the IPC media group, who make over 80 magazines, a number of TV listing guides (including What's on TV, the TV Times, and Soaplife), Women's magazines, (including Woman, Woman's Own and Woman's Weekly) Men's magazines (including Nuts and Loaded) Various Sports magazines (including SuperBike, Angler's Mail and Golf Monthly) through to the more specialist (European Boatbuilder and VolksWorld - The ultimate guide to the VW Beetle scene from around the world.) IPC itself is owned by Time inc, the publishing division of Time Warner. Now the the magazine itself. It contains 90 pages of information on TV programmes and the Actors, gossip, competitions, television listings and adverts and is published on Tuesdays and costs 45p. The cover usually has... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: packed full of gossip and a tv guide
Disadvantages: the price could be lower

...TV Quick There's so many TV guides to choose from now that picking one is hard. Although, I do go for the free one in the papers I always love going to my grans and reading the TV Quick. It's a great TV mag but also a good long read too. What is TV Quick? It's a TV magazine with a difference. It's got the normal TV guide that every TV mag has but then there's the extras like all the celeb gossip and interview with soap and tv celebs. The price 65p which is quite a lot for TV mag but it's not just a TV mag. It's a mini version of Heat so I think the price is quite reasonable. FRONT COVER There's the usual TV QUICK red and white logo. Normally on the front cover of the TV Quick, there's a soap star that's going to be in a main storyline that week. For example, Sally's sexy secret. Underneath the face of the soap star... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Picture quality, connectivity, appearance, value for money, HD ready
Disadvantages: Limited PIP options, missing information from instructions

...When I decided that I was going to have my bedroom renovated I made the decision to buy myself a flat screen TV. I wanted something that was not too expensive and at the same time had all the features that I wanted. I did not want a TV that was tacky to look at either. I searched around and found this TV just about to be released. I went for it and have not regretted it once. I have wall mounted the TV using a wall mount purchased from B&Q (a well known DIY chain) this cost me around £40 which was far cheaper than many of the alternatives I could find on the internet. The TV looks awesome on the wall; although the swivel stand that it comes with looks equally good if you did not want to wall mount the TV. The looks of the TV were a major consideration for me when buying this TV, but far from the only one. Functionality... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Very straightforward looking TV guide pages, interesting information on other TV programmes too.
Disadvantages: none that I can think of.

...I always tend to buy the same TV magazine being as there is too much choice these days and it all gets too confusing. I used to pick the one that had the best front cover and the covers are mainly the biggest soap story of the week. Now I just stick to TV Quick mainly because I am used to the layout. The first page is the contents and pick of the week which goes on for the next two pages and picks out the best of the that weeks television, then my favourite bit which is 3 pages of the soap zone, especially for people like me who are soap addicts this tells you all about what the soaps have in store for us over the next week It also includes a soap update just in case you missed one or two episodes, very useful. Then following this is an article about a TV documentary, then after an advertisement, is your weekly stars by Russell... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: extremely cheap, HDMI, excellent on DVD & Games, wall mount, lots of functions
Disadvantages: TV channels quality not as good as DVD/Game quality, low contrast ratio

...Bush Idlcd 32 TV 16 HD Price £360 Features are listed at foot of review text We bought this TV because our old 28 inch TV took up too much space. We wanted something that would look modern and wouldn't become the focal point of the living room. We love films and computer games and so we also wanted something that would make our movie nights more of an event. We didn't think we could afford an LCD TV but we went shopping around for one nonetheless with an extremely tight budget. We looked at a few and thought we had found one we liked (a Samsung - apologies I have forgotten the model) until my fiance saw this this fellow. It was modern, it could be wall mounted, and if it was on a stand it didn't take up much room at all. Compared to other TVs in our budget it had 2 stand-out bonuses - 2 Scart sockets and even more... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: *
Disadvantages: *

...I still live with my parents and this is the TV magazine that they buy. I don't see the point in buying another TV magazine just for me. I read this magazine more than I actually watch the television. Due to exams, drama, sign language and ciao I don't watch very much television. However, every now and then I do sit down and watch an episode of Eastenders or Coronation Street, with my mam. I don't need to watch every episode to know what is going on. Apart from the fact that usually nothing much is happening, I can read the TV quick to catch up. TV Quick come out weekly and costs 70p. We get it delivered from our local newsagents with our newspaper. We usually get it on the Tuesday, before the TV listings in the magazine starts. I say magazine because it is more than just a TV listing. To write this review I'm looking at a copy... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Turns off your brain
Disadvantages: Turns off your brain

...One question, when was the last time you really used your imagination? I ask this question because i firmly believe that television in general is destroying our ability for inventive and creative thought. No doubt you, the reader, have watched some television in some form today. How much of it can you honestly say made you think about something useful to you and how much was just a way of turning off your brain for half an hour or so while somebody else does the work for you. TV seems to be encouraging a