Duplicate technology round the house

[gbb]

How long before half the audio / tv equipment becomes old technology ?

Looking in my house, ive got a Sony stereo /cd music system, cost several hundred quid.
DVD player recorder..i can play cds on it, so ive already duplicated part of the Sony.stereo system.
There are raio/cd player in most rooms upstairs, some have sd card slots so the cd section hardly ever gets used anymore.
New plasma tv has internet on it, sd card reader and Freesat, duplicating other equipment again.
Now i'm wondering when i get it all set up, is there any point in having a Virgin Media package
Now her indoors has an Ipod, and with the addition of a decent speaker dock, ive just realised it will render a good proportion of our existing equipment uneccessary

It makes me realise you have to think long and hard about what you're buying. There's probably £1000 worth of equipment in my house that doesnt get proper regular use .

I guess the trouble is, we're (well i am) always adding to equipment ad hoc, rather than integrating a whole houses audio / tv equipment. Stuff gets duplicated so quick...or am i just impulse buying

 

[Garz]

Highlighted on that telly program where the family 'upgrade' stuff as technology got better through the 80's. They ended up with racks of older tech in the garage, one of the by-products of technology and todays throw away society.

If you feel bad then ship it to third world charities that can use it!

 

[marinyork]

Highlighted on that telly program where the family 'upgrade' stuff as technology got better through the 80's. They ended up with racks of older tech in the garage, one of the by-products of technology and todays throw away society.

If you feel bad then ship it to third world charities that can use it!

What particular programme this sounds interesting?

 

[Garz]

This was it my.

 

[marinyork]

Oh yeah d'oh, I remember people raving about them but didn't get round to seeing them all.

 

[gavintc]

The ipod we used to generate music for parties has already been superseded by linking the computer directly to the hi fi and then simply use itunes to make playlists.

But our utility room has a fair amount of redundant kit.

 

[marinyork]

Now i'm wondering when i get it all set up, is there any point in having a Virgin Media package.

Audio wise or picture wise? If you get a tv package I wouldn't say it was worth getting less than XL tv and a v+ box.

HD wise you'll get
BBC HD
C4 HD
Living HD
FX HD
Nat Geo HD
MTVN HD
ESPN HD

which until recently looked a fairly poor bag compared to what freesat HD was going to get. Now it doesn't look so bad as ITV,channel four's bouquet and five are all arsing around so it may be quite a bit better in the short to medium term.

I guess the trouble is, we're (well i am) always adding to equipment ad hoc, rather than integrating a whole houses audio / tv equipment. Stuff gets duplicated so quick...or am i just impulse buying

Maybe .

 

[HelenD123]

I'm still using a Sony double cassette player which must be at least 20 years old. I don't often play cassettes but the radio has a much better reception than my new DAB one and gets used everyday. I'm still using my original CD player, receiver and speakers downstairs and have hooked it up to the TV and freeview box/recorder. I just can't justify upgrading to the newest technology all the time. My ears don't appreciate better quality equipment and there's the environmental impact to think about.

 

[Milo]

I have an amplifier made in the 60s. A set of speakers made in the 80s. Cd player is the only newish thing.

 

[Downward]

10 DVD players or gadgets which can be used to watch DVD's inclduing 2 x HD DVD players and 1 x BLu Ray

 

[beanzontoast]

It's very easy to buy gadgets on the basis that they have one feature you don't already have, and overlook the fact that they duplicate existing equipment. Our failing when we replaced our sound system a few years back was going for one with DAB radio, thinking it was 'different' and 'the future', only to find it a pretty dire experience. Consequently, the good old analogue radios around the house still get far more use, as does internet radio.

Also, I wish I'd gone for a system that had more input options, as this is another way you can add a bit of future-proofing to a system. We can't easily feed mp3 into the current setup at all, which is a big drawback to me. It will be getting replaced this year.

 

[Milo]

Does it not have an aux output?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Very little of our stuff is duplicated. We have a reasonable quality stereo - valve amp, Cura speakers, record deck and a CD player - which the ipod plugs into. I do have an ipod dock which I used to use as an alarm clock, but it hasn't been plugged in since we moved house. I suppose we do have a laptop which duplicates the home computer, but we were given it and use it more as a backup. Oh, I suppose I do have ten guitars and six bicycles.

 

[gbb]

Very little of our stuff is duplicated. We have a reasonable quality stereo - valve amp, Cura speakers, record deck and a CD player - which the ipod plugs into. I do have an ipod dock which I used to use as an alarm clock, but it hasn't been plugged in since we moved house. I suppose we do have a laptop which duplicates the home computer, but we were given it and use it more as a backup. Oh, I suppose I do have ten guitars and six bicycles.[/QUOTE]

Nowt wrong with that , they're hobbies / pastimes etc. TV and Hi Fi is just something you have to have.

Just connected the Freesat side, now ive got innumerable duplicate channels again
A few new ones worth a look, and a lot of them definately not.

And radio channels on a TV ?...why ? Why would i use 2 or 300 watts to listen to a radio station when i can do the same with a maybe 10 watt radio .

 

[Fab Foodie]

I have a Thorens/SME turntable, Audiolab 800A and Rogers Studio 1a's from late 70s/early 80s supplimented with an Arcam CD player and Denon Tuner.

The TV audio output runs through this as well. The TV is 80s Trinitron, we've a Freeview box, DVD, and Wii plugged in... I want to be able to run the computer through the TV and plug the ipod into this as well... I'm short of inputs! But other than that it all works well together and is great sounding for movies and games.

We've a couple new Pure DAB's one in the Kitchen and one in the bedroom, a home computer and 3 laptops (plus a mothballed desktop). Everyone except me has ipods and 2 of the kids have docking stations, the others plug into the DAB's if required.

I have a defunct Nakamichi cassette deck, a 30 year old ghetto blaster that was my 18th birthday pressie with a turntable input that all functions well but is currently unused. I have an ancient reel to reel and a 78 playing turntable plus some discs.

Mmm, quite a lot of kit, but as I'm not an early mover/adopter with this stuff, most of it still has a lot of utility and is hard-pressed into working 'till it dies!