UKC

Please help a bit of a home electronics dunce...

http://ow.ly/Ftenw

Is this the sort of thing I need? Chose Samsung as very happy with existing Samsung TV.

We have an ancient DVD player on its last legs [whisper it: we even have a VHS player as well!]

At the same time I don't really want to expand our DVD collection and would prefer to move to downloading films as much as possible from now on. I want something to record TV programmes (would be quite helpful to do this when one of the family is watching something else, I believe this is possible?). We only have one tv and no intention to buy more.

I assume the wifi connectivity will allow me to play anything from my MacBook?

But what is the best way to download films? Couple of friends recommend netflix but I don't really want to subscribe to a service as I can go months without watching a film as I simply don't find time. On the other hand it would be nice to download films for the kids on demand rather than going to the shops. In terms of storing films however the aforementioned Mac isn't ideal as it's our only computer and I sometimes take it away with me for work.

Finally, don't want to sign up to SKY/BT/Virgin or similar. Don't watch mainstream sport, not bothered about seeing the very latest films (sadly don't even get to the cinema any more so happy to wait to see things), already think that 99% of freeview is garbage.

Luddite, see!

So in short:
don't mind buying 1 or 2 pieces of tech
want to download (and store) films on demand
prefer wireless and minimal cables
have the usual broadband (but might have to upgrade to fibre soon as its painfully slow)

Thanks!

In reply to Stig:

I'm a PC fan, so I can't comment on any Mac alternatives, sorry.

I have a PC with a TV Card, a couple of big hard drives 2gb and a cable broadband provider and this meets all my requirements.

I have a TV Ariel plugged into my computer allowing me to watch live TV, pause live TV, record up to two shows at once. Programme it to record one show or an entire serese. My computer is then plugged into my TV with a HDMI cable. I can then watch TV from the comfort of my sofa and control all this with my phone or tablet.

As for DVD's, I have not touched one for years, yet I watch hundreds of movies of DVD quality. It all depends if you want to purchase downloads or aquire them from websites such as the Pirate Bay. This is where you need the big hard drives, so that you can save your movies.

Rather than buying a DVD player, I suggest you get a PC or Mac and a TV card instead as this has virtually unlimited abilities for viewing options.

In reply to Stig:
Interesting point. Seeing as the "opp shops" (charity shops UK) are now filling with second hand DVD disks, it's obvious that many are abandoning hard copy for download, a natural progression.

When to abandon hard copy is the crux. Pointless here in Aus at the moment as there are no download service worth the money, and Aussie TV is utter rubbish. I live on a diet of DVDs of UK TV shows purchased second hand off Amazon UK.

We've also got into chromecast, and there's a lot of good UK stuff on youtube which is worthy of a watch, but quality varies from acceptable to complete blur.

We tried a IP mask service but couldn't get it working on our TV to watch BBC shows.