On the go with your favourite shows – words Alexa Wang
Television has become the cornerstone of human entertainment. Shows, movies, music, and a lot more can be found on these machines, and it is very hard to find a modern home which doesn’t have one lying around.
Some people spend most of their time with this device, while others will be more selective with what they watch, but it is hard to live without your TV whichever side you’re on. One of the biggest challenges which comes with this is having access to everything you’re interested in. There are countless TV platforms out there, and this makes it hard to make sure that you’re signed up to the right ones to get the content you want.
The Hardwear
Before you can start to delve into signing up to platforms and getting yourself started with this work, you will need some TV hardware which is capable of receiving content over the internet, rather than through regular broadcasts. There are a range of different tools which can be used for this, and you can find some examples of the most popular below.
- Smart TVs: Over the last few years, computers have gotten small enough to live inside a television. Coming in the form of products known as smart TVs, this concept has taken the world by storm, and most of the modern examples you find on the market have these features. Some are better than others, but most of them will give you access to services like YouTube and Netflix, giving you a good place to start in your quest for content. It’s always a good idea to check which apps will be available before you decide to buy.
- Dongles: When you don’t have access to a smart TV, it can be a little trickier to get your hands on the shows and movies you want to see, but this doesn’t mean that it is impossible. There are loads of products out there which can replace this functionality on your TV, with options like Google Chromecasts and Roku boxes being the most popular. These have all of the features of a smart TV, with the benefit of being both cheaper and easier to upgrade in the future.
Research
Once you have a device which can stream the content you want to see, it will be time to start figuring out the services you’re going to need. It doesn’t make sense to pay for something like Netflix if it doesn’t have any shows you’d like to see on it. For some shows, a TV guide will be all you need to find the titles you want to see. In other cases, though, you may need to go a little deeper. There are several sites around the web which list TV shows and movies based on the platforms which they can be found on. Most are on subscription services, though some will have to be bought or rented individually.
Making It As Cheap As Possible
Having a pile of monthly subscriptions is never cheap, and this makes it crucial that you work hard to make it more cost-effective. Sites like Netflix give out free trials which can be refreshed every month with a new account. While this isn’t exactly honest, exploiting something like this isn’t uncommon, and can be a great way to keep up to date with content when you don’t want to watch it all the time. Alongside this, a lot of subscription services will give you a discount if you cancel your payments to them. This isn’t something they all do, but is worth a try when you want to make your TV experience more affordable.
Along with going down the route of cancelling subscriptions or renewing trials, you could also think about sharing accounts with other people. Services like Netflix are designed to be used by more than one person at once, and they even offer different account tiers to make it easier to add everyone you want to your plan. This will make the monthly payments a lot easier to cope with, especially if you have a lot of people who will be happy to pitch in. It doesn’t make sense to have more than one account for each service in your household.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of keeping up with all of the TV shows you love. A lot of people throw their heart and soul into the content they enjoy, and this makes it horrible when you can’t figure out how to watch it.
