Catchup on Recent BBC Programmes (BBC iPlayer)

Member Name: SmilingBuddha

Product:	BBC iPlayer
Date:	03/07/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No downloads, Good quality video, Easy interface

Disadvantages: Service varies according to speed of internet connection, Not all shows available,

BBC iPlayer is a free service that allows users to watch recent BBC programmes on demand. As it is a website there is no installation required, you simply access the site and watch the content streamed to your web browser. There are no downloads required but if you want to, you can do so by installing BBC iPlayer Desktop.

The layout is very simple. The frontpage displays the top ten most popular programmes as well as TV and radio highlights. If you can't find what you're looking for there then you can do a quick search using the search bar standing out at the top of the page. You can also browse shows by TV channel, radio station or category. I personally find, the dark theme quite nice to look at but I think I'll tire of it eventually.

The programmes stay on for about a week or so after they have been broadcast before they are removed. I find this is usually more than enough time to watch them, except maybe when I come back from holidays.

The embedded player is of a reasonable enough size and the video is of good quality for a streaming video. You can put it in full screen mode but this diminishes the quality significantly, so I never bother.

On my web connection, the shows generally load very fast and I can often just hit the play button for the show to play from start to finish without interruption.

The site is always up. I have never come on and found it down for maintenance or down for any other reason.

On the downside, they do not include every programme they have broadcast. That said, the vast majority of programmes are included and it shouldn't really be an issue.

Some shows can also take a long while to appear on the site. I was once a little frustrated as after The Apprentice had finished it had taken a couple of hours for it to appear on iPlayer. Since this was one of their hit programmes I thought it would have arrived sooner.

In summary, this is a very useful service and it's free. Great stuff.

Summary: A free service to watch BBC programmes on your computer.

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