A good catch up service (BBC iPlayer)

Member Name: bravedude

Product:	BBC iPlayer
Date:	10/09/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast, great quailty, automatically resumes where you left off

Disadvantages: Time limit to watch shows

BBC iplayer is a catchup service provided by the BBC where you can watch BBC programs up to a week after broadcast. As well as being able to use it on a computer it can also be used on a number of mobiles phones and game consoles (Wii and PS3).

It is really easy to navigate as all the popular programs are on the homepage ready to be watched. You can also sort programs by tv channels which include: BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament, BBC HD and BBC ALBA. Radio stations are also available.

When watching programs it has the typical play/pause button, a restart button, share button, volume control, open in external window and a full screen feature. The full screen works great and the quality is still great even with this.

One thing I really like about iplayer is when you stop watching a program by either closing the browser or going onto another webpage, next time you go onto the same program it will automatically continue where you left off. This is really useful as you don't have to waste time finding the bit where you were on.

Since it is a 'catch up service' you can only watch programs that have been broadcast in the week. After that the program will expire and will no longer be available on iplayer until it is broadcasted again. This is probably the only major disadvantage of iplayer but it is understandable. If you do want more time then you can download programs which gives you 30 days to start watching it and once you have started another 7 to finish it off.

Overall BBC iplayer is a great way to watch programs from the BBC you missed. They are in great quality and stream very quickly. The fact that you can download is also good but they only last 30 days and this is a bit annoying but understandable.

Summary: Great way to watch the latest BBC shows.

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