TV Poll: How Are You Hooked Up?

42″ Sony LCD, TiVo Series 3, Comcast.

One 28in LCD in the main room, a teeny very old tv in the bedroom, digital satellite service (NZ) and a DVR. Hubbie also watches downloads on his computer. (Not sure whether Kiwi television habits are useful, but there you are!)

Oops… bother. That should be 36in LCD. Sigh.

I’m overseas, so I procure some current US shows through illegal means, and watch them on my laptop. The rest of the TV and TV-on-DVD watching is done on a 29″ Panasonic CRT TV.

32″ SONY Bravia — DirecTV w/HD DVR at home and plain old 27″ TV w/basic cable at office. I’ve been trying to navigate joost lately on the computer.

At home 2 tv’s (don’t know size) 2 DVR, Direct TV
At college: Laptop

1 20″ old Toshiba TV in the bedroom with a built-in VHS recorder (which I use!)
1 36″ newish Philips TV in the living room with Tivo

small tv on my dresser in a college dorm room.
cable connection which includes one HBO channel,
use the laptop to watch what i miss online

27″ Widescreen HD TV in the bedroom. No other television in the house. It also serves as my computer monitor. Comcast cable with a DVR. I download some television shows and also watch a few (the office) on my iPod.

37″ HD TV, Time Warner HD DVR cable box, with the Time Warner HD package.

Plus: YouTube, iTunes and other streaming-video outlets, for episodes I’ve missed, or to see specific talked-about moments. Oh, and DVD box sets to get up to speed on serialized shows I missed when they first aired (e.g., “Alias”, “The Wire”).

Two TVs – 42″ Hitachi Ultravision Plasma, 24″ Samsung non-HD.

1 TiVo, which, because my building has satellite, frequently has problems recording because it fails to properly change the channel (anyone know a fix for this?)…plus, satellite means you can only tape one show – you can’t tape two, or watch one while taping another…I hate you TiVo/satellite.

My building has Dish Network, but if I move I’m going back to cable (see above). Huge selection of channels (we get all the movie channels imaginable), but only a few in HD (Discovery, HDNet, TNT, ESPN, HBO, Showtime, and the networks).

I do watch shows on my computer (if my Tivo fails to record), and via Blockbuster DVD rentals (which caught me up this past week on Friday Night Lights – my new obsession).

Compaq widescreen laptop for the majority of shows I watch with the misses.

PSP during my daily commute. Great for watching the NBC podcasts of Meet the Press and Nightly News, as well as the Daily Show, 1/2 hour comedies, and programs the misses doesn’t care for.

29″ JVC television — of the old school tube variety — sporting an even older school antenna on the roof. The ol’ VCR in the entertainment center has been made nearly obsolete by the Internets.

34″ Sony Vega (SD), ReplayTV, 23″ Apple Cinema Display (for HD content), Comcast as source of the programming. Also will watch the occasional show on the iPhone screen.

Medium-sized non-HD TV, Comcast cable with HBO, no DVR (but I watch a lot of stuff OnDemand), a Netflix account for DVDs, and a laptop that I hate watching TV on.

High Definition is very, very important to me and my family.

We have two TVs in regular use – a 28″ flatscreen in the living room, with a DVR, and a 20″ DVD combo in the bedroom, the main use of which is to play MASH dvds to fall asleep to. Our 28″ has HD capability, but I don’t think our basic cable subscription offers any HD channels. I rarely watch shows on my computer or iPod, but I do Netflix shows from premium channels (Big Love, Weeds) or shows that I missed the first few seasons of (House, Gilmore Girls) – I’m kind of compulsive about not watching the new seasons till I’ve caught up with the old ones.

My husband is all for upgrading to a plasma, but I’m holding him off till we buy a house. I could also see us upgrading our cable package at that point.

Comcast = provider. 3 TV’s: an LCD, a Plasma and a rear projection. Two Series 3 Tivos and a comcast provided DVR (which is horribly counter-intuitive and klutzy to use). All TVs = HD.

Would go back to DirecTV if they’d reestablish a relationship with Tivo.

Because Cable Cards aren’t 2-way capable, can’t do on demand, so we also subscribe to Netflix.

1 19” Orion TV that I’ve had since the 6th grade, which is about to die.

1 Standard VCR that I’ve had for years.

1 Standard DVD player.

My digital cable from Comcast that features regular programs along with HBO. It gives me faster Internet access, which I offered not to go wireless on. Plus for new users it was a cheaper deal.

Three TVs in the house: two conventional, one HD. Two VCRs (yeah, I know, get a DVR), but one isn’t set up right now (result of moving and such). Digital cable with some premium channels (for example, HBO but not Showtime) for all TVs.

Don’t own a video iPod, but I readily and enthusiastically watch TV on my laptop or the family desktop through network sites or, uh, other free streaming methods. Occasionally buy TV DVDs that I haven’t watched previously, but only very occasionally; watch these DVDs on my laptop.

A 32″ budget LCD HD set, premium cable w/ built-in DVR, and an old DVD/VCR combo. I never use the VCR and I’m itching to replace it with an up-scaling DVD player.

Two TVs. The main one is a 46″ DLP HDTV in the living room. It’s fed by a cable box with a dual-tuner HD DVR. I get the premium cable package which gives me more than 300 channels, of which I might have actually watched 35-40. I get 19 HD channels, though they offer differing amounts of actual HD content (I still haven’t seen a single HD program on A&E).

The second TV is an old 27″ standard in the bedroom. It’s rarely used.

I regularly watch TV/video on my computer. Mostly it’s TV programs I’ve downloaded via one file sharing network or another. Usually it’s programs not available in my area, HD recordings of programs I didn’t receive an HD feed for, or programs that didn’t make the cut when prioritizing the tivo.

I have watched video via internet video sites like YouTube. And I have watched video programs created specifically for the internet (Tiki Bar TV and dlTV come to mind). I generally do not watch TV programs via these sites because the video quality is too low.

I own a Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) and I have used it to watch TV, mostly on plane flights.

I also own an Xbox 360 and have used it to watch TV programs purchased via the Xbox Live Marketplace. I really like the way this has been set up and would prefer purchasing programs ala carte in this fashion instead of the current cable model if not for the following:
* Currently not enough content providers.
* Not enough HD content. Even some programs that were originally broadcast in HD are only avaiable on Live in standard definition. Some people might argue that the HD content is limited to 720p, but my HDTV is only capable of this anyways.

47″ lcd with hd dvr in living room
tv on dvd with 1080p dvd upconvert

64, retired on social security. Time-Warner service area. No off-the-air and can’t afford cable. Get news via Verizon DSL. Eyes are going so I watch DVDs on my eight-year-old Mac, the ten year old 36″ RCA sits idle. Essentially TV was part of my youth.
My birth certificate says I’m an American by birth, but with no heath insurance, no media access, and failing eyesight (coneal problems), I actually live in some fourth world country.

Television: A “lowly” 1080i 30″ tube, while I wait for the Plasma/LCD/SED wars to come to an end.

Signal: Rabbit ears – for over-the-air high def signals.Reception rarely drops in my neighborhood (however, there are few high-rise buildings in the area, which helps enormously). Fun fact: OTA HD signals are generally higher quality than cable, as cable often transmits at a lower res and then upsamples.
For backup/cable I have a standard def coaxial cable (via your Time/Warner corporate overlords). No HD on the cable, as my preferred cable stations (FX, Adult Swim(Cartoon Network), and AMC if I ever get around to catching up on your Mad Men) are all still standard-def only.

DVR: None* – I am still putting together a new computer and seeing if I can get away with using Windows Media Center to record my shows (the Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Vista come with Media Center bundled). If my computer usage interferes with my recording, I will bite the bullet and buy a HD Tivo.

I have a standard def 40″ widescreen TV in the living room with Tivo and very basic cable. We also have a HD projector in the basement that produces a 100″ image. We just receive HD signals over the air, no cable or Tivo. Just watched The War in HD last night.

6 year old 27″ regular TV. Regular cable (included in my rent) from Time Warner and a series 3 Tivo that always records programs at “best quality” since anything lower drops out of sync with voice/picture.

I tend to download most shows and keep them for posterity (which is how I procure screen shots when I post about TV shows on my blog) and actually watch quite a bit on my computer screen which is a 23″ widescreen Dell monitor.

Chaddog, I’ve got some solutions for you concerning your satellite problem. Or, we could just talk about how great FNL is. Email me and we’ll talk, jmdickinson [at] gmail [dot] com

2 TVs. Small one in kitchen. 30 inch LCD in study. 1 Vhs recorder. 1 combination DVD and VHS recorder. Comcast digital service. Tape most of my programs and watch next day.

3 TVs. 32 in tube in family room. FiOS. HBO. Dual-tuner FiOS DVR. 27-in tube in bedroom. 32-in tube in basement (currently unused).

I have one old TV I found in the garbage hooked up to basic (or “family package”?) Cablevision, and a healthy knowledge of Bit Torrent downloading. If I’m going on a bus trip or somesuch, I will pay for TV from iTunes to watch on my iPod.

30-something-inch Sony hd with digital cable in living room, almost always tuned to PBS/Sprout, specifically Caillou, who’s just a kid who’s four.
30-something-inch Phillips in bedroom, almost always tuned to Disney Channel’s High School Musical by petulant other kid who hates Caillou.
Small Toshiba with built-in DVD in home office on which mom watches netflixed DVDs of any popular tv series she misses the first time around, which is all of them.
Mom’s family’s 1954(?) Hoffman Easy-Vision in blonde wood console in dining room…doesn’t work but still makes us smile, especially the toe-holes in the speaker fabric.

A 32 inch LCD HDTV with Comcast HD digital cable DVR. A 32 and 14 inch with regular basic cable in the bedroom and office respectively. If I miss a show due to it not recording I’ll try to stream it from the network website and if it’s not available I’ll get it on iTunes.

20-something-inch HDTV with Comcast digital cable and Comcast’s DVR. I have HBO and Showtime but only occasionally watch On Demand. I have watched shows on my computer and occasionally on my iPod, though the latter is still more of a novelty than a regular habit. I watch a fair number of shows through online streaming on ABC.com and NBC.com (and other network sites on occasion, though those two seem to have the most shows I like and the easiest/most flexible interfaces)

I used to have digital cable with all the bells and whistles but I needed to scale back so:

1 (and only 1) regular 21″ tube TV that I only use when I watch DVDs (in just a DVD player…no DVR). I watch my favorite shows on the web by a combination of a specific channel’s website, iTunes, and other sites. For sports events, a group of us will head down to the local sports bar and take up a few tables (much more fun then sitting in someone’s house in my opinion). After successfully using the internet for shows last season (never missed one episode of what I wanted to see) I don’t think I will ever get cable again.

3 TVs with DirecTV. 29″ CRT in the living room that I’ve had for almost 8 years now hooked up to a DirecTV TiVo box that I hope never dies because the DTV-DVRs are terrible. 19″ CRT with normal DTV box in the bedroom for sporting-events-while-falling asleep (mostly NFL and NHL). 19″ CRT with normal DTV box in the basement in front of the weight set and the elliptical trainer…

DirecTV Choice Plus channel package with local channels, NFL Sunday Ticket, NHL Center Ice, and no premium packages.

It will probably be a long time before I get HD since needs of raising my kids > need for HD.

Don’t have video iPod and don’t watch TV over the Interwebs.

Sony WEGA 36″(?) TV that weighs about 3 metric tons – the DVR is attached to it. An old small traditional TV in the bedroom, no box. Comcast Silver cable package in central OR.

I’ve downloaded a few episodes of missed shows that I HAD HAD HAD to see (Battlestar Galactica!) from iTunes, but otherwise I just watch TV on my TV.

52″ LCD Projection HDTV. Time Warner Cable digital package with HD & DVR, including all of the premium movie channels.

I’ve watched a few streaming episodes of first-run TV from the network websites, but only when forced to as a result of cable or DVR problems.

I also have an accompanying DVD player with Netflix subscription (watched a few streaming movies online through Netflix, particularly documentaries), and an old VCR that makes odd noises when I turn it on…about once every 6-8 months.

42″ Panasonic plasma. Prefer to watch shows in HD. We pretty much DVR anything we’re planning to watch. Have watched TV on the web, but not often. Have never watched TV on my ipod.

Home – 60″ plasma with Comcast hi-def and DVR. 42″ LCD with hi-def and Comcast DVR in bedroom. Two mothballed Tivos that I miss dearly but they don’t have hi-def compatibility.

Hi-def has changed my viewing habits. Watch more sports and network stuff, more HBO. Now that we get Food TV in hi=def, I watch more of that too.

Work – in the biz so desktop TV and Tivo.

1 TV for the household (2 people total). Large screen, not sure of the size but it’s a testosterone style purchase. We always prefer to watch in HD. Hope to one day add a TV to the bedroom.

Tivo through Direct TV, standard package of endless cable channels + HBO and Showtime. We can record two channels at once (thankfully). We tend to only watch pre-recorded shows on Tivo. I no longer enjoy Live TV.

the entire reason we got Showtime was to watch Weeds. Californication and the Tudors were a delightful bonus.

46″ Samsung HDTV in living room, hooked up to 2 DVRs. One is an HD DVR capable of recording 35 hours of HDTV off two channels simultaneously, the other an older 100 hour, non HD recorder.

The DVRs also feed a smaller 16 X 9 SDTV in the kitchen, so my wife can keep up (or watch Food Network or something) while in there.

Then we have another 100 hour, non-HD dvr that feeds our bedroom TV and my office TV, both older 3 X 4, 27″ standard TVs.

All the feeds come from Dish Network.

Interestingly, our bedroom TV died last week, and we discovered these things laying around the bedroom called books that we’ve been sort of getting into. We’ve even toyed with the thought of not having a bedroom TV! Nah. Never happen.

42″ tv in living room, directv HD dvr, no premium movie channels (alas no HBO or Showtime)

I would have responded sooner, but I spent yesterday hooking up a 50-inch HD plasma (1080p) with 7.1 surround sound. My beloved Tivo isn’t high-def, so it was sent down to the minors and is now telling our 25-inch analog tube set what to do in the bedroom. A Time Warner DVR is running the big show, with a crummy interface that makes me love Tivo even more.

Small TV/VCR in bedroom. 25-inch or so regular set in living room. DirecTV with all the premium channels on both. 100-hr DVR on living room set. No HD–I think it’s more of a guy thing.

*sigh* Well, first the good news: I/we have satellite tv – the kind with no Showtime but all the HBOs, no On Demand. Now the embarrasing part: no tivo, 2 VCR’s (heavily used), 2 old-school, tube TV’s (@ 19″ apiece), 2 DVD players. No ipod. Only recently got a broadband connection, so experimenting with watching shows online (mixed results). I’m probably so statistically insignificant that there’s no point in replying to this survey but, oh well.