Virgin/Lovefilm/AmazonPrime/NowTV/Netflix ???

Gwen456

I am so confused to the point I don’t even know where to post this, so please advise if its in the wrong place !!
At the mo we pay for Virgin (inc 2 Tivo boxes) £74.99 per month – Talk weekends, TV Size XL, 1 additional V Box, Tivo monthly fee, Broadband L (up to 30mb), loyalty discount(ends in july), tel rental.. We did have the films, but found we had seen them, so removed it. We did have Sky, but the broadband didn’t work with my husbands work & he needs to work from home as well as at the office. We love the Tivo boxes, one for the kids, one for us ..
We got Netflix so that the kids could watch tv/films on their ipods/hudls etc & we wanted to watch Breaking Bad.. we were paying £5.99 a month, but virgin gave us it for free for 6 months. We can also use it through the telly which is great.
However the films are really out of date compared to virgin on demand & Love Film.. So we got Love Film too, this is great, but we are paying £7.28 by post & Prime instant Video £5.99 this is now how it shows on our bank statement as its been taken over by Amazon Prime.. This means we can have as many DVD’s at home as we like, but only 3 dvd’s in one go.. This works very well when there are actually films we want to see.. We have young kids so don’t get chance to go out as a couple, so its nice to watch a film together, theres not much on the telly that are ‘joint’ programmes. We also don’t like paying £4.99 for a virgin film on demand if its rubbish, whereas lovefilm, it doesn’t matter so much as you may have a back up film, if you start watching one & its rubbish.. The film trailers can be quite enticing..
We also have just got NOW TV … as I have been sooo frustrated at Virgin not having Sky Atlantic.. This Now box is fab & I’m v impressed, although catch up doesn’t go as far back as I would like & of course its only available for a limited amount of time. This is £5.99 per month.
So all of these things have things about it we like.. However it does seem a bit of a Overkill.. but all 4 people in our house have different tastes & requirements.. Is there anyway of trimming it down ?
Also I order quite a lot of things through Amazon & its constantly asking me if I would like to Join Amazon prime … this is a cost I think of £79 per year, but I would get Amazon film free ??? Is this worth doing ? how does it compare to everything else ? they are also enticing me with ‘black sails’ is it any good & is it only available on Amazon Prime ?
Also I like to ‘play/work’ on my laptop whilst having the TV on in the background ‘multiskilling’ which is why I like NOW TV that goes through your telly, sorry to be thick, but can I stream Lovefilm/amazonprime/ through my telly and if so how ? it says I can watch films instantly, but through my laptop, don’t want to do that 
Many apols for a very long post… but all help appreciated 

flubberyzing

That's an insane amount of money!
Firstly, you don't need 2 Tivo boxes. There's absolutely no reason why you can't all share 1. Frankly, you don't really need 1... That's what free catch-up online is for.
As for all your lovefilm/Netflix/Now accounts. I think you should choose 1, and stick to it. Decide as a family which you'd prefer.


You can't stream things through your telly without an xbox connected to xbox live, which, last time I checked, was £40 a year. Some of those things will stream through a playstation 4 I think, but not sure which, or if you have to pay for that as well. I'm sure NOW TV can go through a playstation...
The only thing free via xbox is BBC iPlayer.

Imdaewen

Lovefilm is now Amazon Instant Video.

You can stream instantly on your Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 (Gold Required), Wii, Wii U; on hundreds of TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray players from LG, Sony and Samsung; and - of course - on the Web via your PC, laptop or Mac.

Not all TVs will have the App available to do Amazon Instant Video, you will need to check with your TV. Panasonics do not .

If you subscribe to Amazon Prime at £79 per year or Video ONLY at £4.99 per month then you are able to stream anything with the Prime banner at no extra cost.

However, Amazon Instant Video is a service where you can purchase content and therefore it is advisable to turn on the PIN feature to avoid accidental purchase. You can also set up the PIN for age restricted viewing.

You might want to visit the Amazon website and sort out your ex-lovefilm membership, that is if it needs adjusting.


You also mention that you originally purchased a streaming service for the children to enjoy 'on-the-go'. Tesco offer a free service called Clubcard TV which is available on a PC or through the Hudl.

And Blinkbox is proud to be a part of Tesco, which also means you can collect Clubcard points for every £1 you spend

Blinkbox appears to be expensive for TV. Movies, probably about the same price as anyone else. But if it is the same price and you get Clubcard points then it makes sense to use them.

Perhaps you should see if the viewing available on ClubcardTV is suitable to your childrens tastes, if it is, it may work out cheaper to leave them with that when they are not in the living room with you.

An alternative is to buy from CEX/Ebay/Car boot/Charity Shops and then trade the discs in when you are finished with them to CEX for store credit or on ebay. You can check stock of your local CEX online if you do not feel like purchasing online.