Tag: freeview hd

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Going HD

Though I do like HD pictures it has taken me some time to go HD.

In the early days there was the “battle” between HD-DVD and Blu Ray and though in the early days it looked like HD-DVD would win, my preference was for Blu Ray, so I decided to wait and as well all know now, Blu Ray won. Though with the availability of HD content via services such as iTunes, maybe physical media won’t be here much longer… well it might be in my house as my broadband connection is not the fastest in the world!

So without any kind of HD player, why should I bother buying an HD TV so I didn’t…

Then along came Sky HD… this meant that I could watch HD TV if I wanted to… however I didn’t fancy paying large amounts of money every month to Sky for the odd HD programme.

Freesat promised HD without the monthly contract, but I would still need a dish on the side of the house and to be honest they are very ugly  and I didn’t see much on Freesat that I couldn’t see on Freeview that I would want to watch. Too much work really to go HD via Freesat.

This week sees me getting a Sony Bravia HD 1080p TV.

So why have I gone HD?

Well Freeview HD has been switched on in my area. Yes it is only three HD channels, but they should be picked up by my aerial, so no dish.

Combine that with the Blu Ray player I got for Christmas to replace my aging DVD player, I am almost ready to watch HD.

I will probably (finally) get an Apple TV too, so that I can watch content from my iTunes collection on the new TV.

All I need now is for Elgato to releaves a Freeview HD adapter.

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Apple rumored to be readying Mac mini with HDMI

Engadget reports that Apple may be ready to launch a new Mac mini with HDMI.

A Mac mini with HDMI. Makes sense, right? Well, it hasn’t to Apple so far, but it looks like it just might be ready to change its tune. That’s according to AppleInsider, at least, which has it from “two people familiar with the matter” that prototypes of a Mac mini with an HDMI port have been seen making the rounds in the usual inner circles.

Back in March 2008 (two years ago) there were rumours that Apple were going to kill the Mac mini. Back then I said:

I do like the Mac mini, it works well as a little Mac for testing and trying things out as well as introducing people to the Mac. I also have used it in the past as a server for various web services and for limited use it works really well – probably would not be too happy if it was a production server.

I did try it as a TV computer, in other words connected to my TV, but I never really used it, in the main as it was an old G4 PPC model and was rather slow for recording and capturing video from an EyeTV USB device. The newer Intel models have the advantage of remote control and faster processors and graphics better suited to video.

I am looking to get a new TV when the Freeview HD models become more widely available. At the time I did consider getting an Apple TV over putting a Mac mini under the TV; as the Apple TV did have HDMI and as well as buying HD TV shows from the UK iTunes Store, you could rent HD movies for use ONLY on the Apple TV. If there is a new Mac mini with HDMI and you can rent HD movies on the new Mac mini then I may get one over an Apple TV.

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Freeview HD

Was thinking of buying a new HD TV in the near future and after a little searching this evening I was reminded that I should really be getting an HD TV with an intergrated Freeview HD Tuner in it, not just one with Freeview.

We don’t get Freeview HD until April, but I don’t really want to get another box and another remote just to watch what will be a couple of a channels, I’d rather slightly future proof and have it built in.

Next question is LCD or Plasma?