Catch-up with iPlayer (BBC iPlayer)

Member Name: hollyunsightly

Product:	BBC iPlayer
Date:	27/11/08 (290 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: watch television whenever you want to, pause a scene, rewind, even download it!

Disadvantages: some programmes aren't available, or are only available for a week or so

I don't know about you, but whenever I see an advert for a programme I'd like to watch I always try and remember the date that it will be on - and almost always forget! Life is so hectic these days that it's easy to forget which day, which channel and what time the best tv programmes are on - and with the abundance of different channels, when you do get the chance to sit down, the choice is often overwhelming and it's difficult to decide what to watch!

This is where the BBC have - brilliantly - stepped in. Their iPlayer catch-up service aims to broadcast a majority of BBC programmes online, allowing viewers to watch anything that they might have missed, free of charge, for usually seven days. It also gives users the option of downloading the programmes, where they can be played in higher quality and kept for longer.

The home page for iPlayer looks very clean, very 'new', and is easy to navigate. It shows a scrollable list of the most popular tv and radio programmes at the top, and below this there is a list of the prime-time tv programmes from the previous day, as well as a list of the last programmes that you viewed. On a separate page, it's also possible to search for any programme by genre or channel - very useful for discovering new things!

When it comes to actually watching a programme, iPlayer is once again excellent. There is a expandable box that shows the length of the programme, the date it was originally aired, the date it will be removed from iPlayer, as well as a programme synopsis and sometimes a short cast list as well. Below the programme it will show any related programmes or other episodes that are also available to view.

I have generally found that the loading speed is excellent - when I'm watching things on YouTube, I often find myself waiting for things to 'buffer', whereas on iPlayer everything plays smoothly after just a couple of seconds or less. However, if I have more than three or so applications running, iPlayer does slow down and has to buffer. Overall, I'd say iPlayer is one of my most visited websites, and is absolutely fantastic - I actually prefer watching programmes on my laptop than on the television now!

Summary: excellent work from the bbc!

Reliability:
Ease of use:
Installation:
Noise:
Speed:
Variety of features: