Making the unmissable, unmissable? (BBC iPlayer)

Member Name: x-cupcake-x

Product:	BBC iPlayer
Date:	07/09/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, programmes get added fairly quickly

Disadvantages: Programmes only availble for 7 days

I really like the idea of BBC Iplayer but having a pretty rubbish laptop and Sky+, I'd never really used it that much.
The last time I used it was when sky+ failed on a recording of Ashes to Ashes, so we decided to use Iplayer to catch up. Due to said rubbish laptop we couldn't download it and had to watch it as it streamed. It didn't take too long to buffer and soon enough was ready to watch. It was really handy but watching a TV show on my laptop screen just wasn't as good for me as watching it on a full size telly, especially as two of us were trying to watch with it balanced on my lap.
Roll forward a few months and on Friday a few people were talking about the previous night's episode of Mock the Week. Ah I missed that one I told them, we'd somehow managed to set 3 programmes to record at the same time, and missed the little warning sky give you. So I'd missed it completely. I asked someone in the office when it was repeated, my boss told me to watch it on Iplayer, which was a good idea but I explained it's a bit of a pain in the bum and would wait until it got repeated. Then one of my colleagues piped up that there had just been an update on the PS3 meaning you can now use Iplayer on it. He was my hero for the day.
So on Saturday morning I turned on the PS3 and did the update on it. There is now a handy TV icon on the main menu where I can go directly to Iplayer.
It's not set out in the exact same way as the website but is still really simple to use.

On the home page you can pick the most popular programmes of the week, if your programme is not listed there you can pick by channel and day. The menu appears on the left with the various shows on the right. There is also an option to search alphabetically by channel too.
You can also choose from the BBC network and national radio stations.


You can download programmes and watch them later, these I believe are only available for seven days after you have downloaded them. I cannot see that you can download them using the PS3 version.

When watching a show which has adult humour or content you have to declare that you are old enough to watch it, but all this involves is ticking a box. On the website version you can set a parental guidance lock requiring a password to access these programmes.

When watching a show you can watch it in full screen or a smaller screen, you don't seem to lose too much quality watching it on the full screen even on a computer. Watching the show is pretty much the same as having had it recorded on Sky+, you can pause it, rewind or fast forward to different parts of the show.

Another good little feature is that you can switch between the programmes you are watching and go back to the same place you were at when you stopped watching it.

The programmes seem to be added quite quickly for you to watch, so you shouldn't have to wait too long to see something once you realise you have missed it.

The programmes are available to watch for seven days and it tells you how long you have left to watch it.

It is also available on some mobile phones.

This is a really good application from the BBC but it would be nice to see some of the older programmes available too like other channels have. There are some shows from my childhood I would love the opportunity to watch again.

Summary: Great if you've missed something you really want to see

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