No TV but...

silverwhistle

I'd like to invite aged Mum to stay for Christmas and much as she likes to read, at her age she appreciates her TV. Unfortunately I don't have one, and indeed have never owned a colour TV, so don't want to get one for a few days. As I also take great delight in sticking two fingers up to the licencing authorities I also don't want to use iplayer for live TV - unless I could get a week's licence!

What are my options for giving Mum as up-to-date telly as possible? We both have laptops, but I'm not really au fait with what is the best compromise technically and legally.

[Deleted User]

Just use the I players. They are free and most things are on in less than an hour after broadcast. No tvliscence required.

Ectophile

The main channels all have their own on-line services: BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD, Demand 5.

Just don't watch anything live if you want to stay legal.

Cornucopia

Use the laptops to access the on-demand players, as described above.

If you can borrow a TV, you could hook it up to a laptop using a suitable cable (usually an HDMI cable). Just don't attach the TV to an aerial, and de-tune it, and you'll be okay should the forces of TV apocalypse come calling.

I believe the shortest period for an actual TV licence is 3 months.

Obviously, you need reasonable BB to watch catch-up TV >3mbps, ideally. If it is too slow, you can use the download capability of iPlayer and 4OD to compensate.

silverwhistle

Thanks guys: I knew it wouldn't be long before Cornucopia et al came along. I didn't know what sort of delay there was on the programmes, so if I cheat by changing the clocks an hour..;) I presume "less than an hour" is not an exact figure though?

I've got decent BB (30mb) so I'll get to work on Mum's resistance. The aerial is currently in the front garden awaiting the totters after the stove installation guys kindly took it down for me...

Thanks again..

Ectophile

I'm not sure about the other channels, but the BBC doesn't seem to put programmes on iPlayer until after they have finished. So it's watch live (which needs a licence) or watch programmes that have finished.

Hooloovoo

Assuming your mother has a licence at her own home, then she can use your laptop to watch live broadcasts providing the laptop is running from its own internal battery and not plugged into the mains.