TV for Mum

[securespark]

My Mum loves her TV.

Her TV is a 2014 Panasonic, which to her is brand new.

She would resist upgrading, so I'm wondering if family could club together and buy her a present.

She has no Freeview Play and no recording facilities.

I don't know if availability of catch-up TV has changed on up to date TVs.

When I bought ours, not all brands offered access to all channels' catch-up services.

As for recording stuff, what is the best option? An external HDD attached to a USB port?

What would you buy?

 

[crystal ball]

Is she tech savvy, my MIL was adept at using PVR, then lost the plot had to remove the PVR and revert to just a telly

 

[securespark]

Once she gets to grips with something she's fine. It just takes a few phonecalls to get to that point.

 

[Captain Nemesis]

Is she tech savvy

 

[securespark]

Any advice about upgrading her TV system?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I know Lucid hates LG sets, because of the LED backlight failures, but I have three of them here and quite like the WebOS operating system. It includes all of the catchup services, Prime and Netflix, with the options to record from the live programs or future scheduled program, pause/rewind live, if you fit a USB HDD. What you cannot do on one set - is watch one channel whilst recording another, but you can record any live channel if you are watching a recording.

 

[sxturbo]

The lg's imo are quite possibly the easiest TV to operate.

Mine has a function to record I just have to plug in a usb hard drive, seems to work ok, however you can't record 1 channel and watch another as typically tVs only have a single tuner.

However she can record something while she is out, taking a nap or something, or can watch something from a catch-up service.

LG also have the best range of apps on TVs,

You can also pause and rewind live TV.

That being said, maybe just a Humax DVR will suit your mum, they now have apps etc built in and helps bring her upto date

Edit: Harry beat me to it

 

[Ihavenojob]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Brigade77]

I'm in pretty much the same boat but with several of 'em.

Just buy a quality picture TV of your choice but make sure it has at least 2x HDMI & 1x USB connector.

I fit all of 'em with a firestick which has a few extra apps on. I find it far easier to school them in operating the firestick than confusing the issue. Don't expect them to ever be able to download apps or even appreciate what an app is, they just need to be able to navigate thru a firestick.

If they have a special interest I tend to download things onto memory sticks which I then school them in swapping over to & playing their selection.

Smart TV's are not so smart that they're easy to operate for the terminally bewildered . . . .

 

[securespark]

Bit of an update.

Spoke to her tonight. It seems she does not want to upgrade. Also she would like to record stuff, if possible at the same time as watching something else.

I may be able to sway her into buying a new TV if it can have all these features in one unit (less confusing for her).

 

[Bodd]

If its fixed don't break it.

 

[securespark]

Dunno what you mean.

It isn't broken or fixed. But it doesn't do what she wants, so needs upgrading.

Did some investigating and decided on a YouView plus box.

Looked around and there were none. Turns out they're not being sold retail anymore.......

 

[Justin Passing]

My mother now has a smart LG.

Surprisingly she can barely watch it. Can't manage iPlayer.

 

[sxturbo]

Just get a set top box with recording ability and smart function.

Leave the TV in hdmi 1 mode and have the set top box remote controlling the volume and on and off of the telly to make it simple.

This is all you need https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/humax...R5M6mJam9RXnDR9Nl2HhMXzsYnX0Om0RoChjIQAvD_BwE

Freeview play is very similar to youview which is probably why you don't buy them retail anymore.

 

[Mottie]

My Mum loves her TV.

Her TV is a 2014 Panasonic, which to her is brand new.

She would resist upgrading, so I'm wondering if family could club together and buy her a present.

She has no Freeview Play and no recording facilities.

I don't know if availability of catch-up TV has changed on up to date TVs.

When I bought ours, not all brands offered access to all channels' catch-up services.

As for recording stuff, what is the best option? An external HDD attached to a USB port?

What would you buy?

May be a silly question but as your mum doesn’t have catchup of any kind, does she have internet access? She'll need that for catchup TV or any plug-in sticks or boxes.