TV problems - DH's attitude

Trisha. Laughing lots at the remote shaped like an iron comment?. Brilliant. We got a new smaller smart tv for me so he could watch car programmes on his huge tv in the lounge. He spent 2 hours trying to set it up and decided it was broken. I waited til he was out and got it set up in half an hour. He’s really miffed now though because my tv has lots more channels. Poor love ????

Trisha, I had an online chat with someone at AO about something else and took the opportunity to ask about your Philips set: Their answer:

NOW TV is only available on Samsungs, LGs and Android TVs - so this Philips 50PUS7085/12 does not have it. It typically comes predownloaded on LGs, on Samsung & Android TV you can download it through the app store.

In other words, if you were buying NOW services before you bought the TV, you chose the wrong TV brand. Smart TVs are wonderful pieces of kit but buying one can be a bit of a minefield because of this issue with licensing third party apps.

If you find you can’t tweak up the picture quality through Settings (as well as the sound which you said you’d done) it does sound frustrating to have bought a set which has features you can’t take advantage of because of this workaround.

See what you can achieve with a chat to Talk Talk (maybe a newer box as discussed in the link I posted earlier). Also have a chat with someone at NOW to see what they suggest. Amazon link to Smart Stick options here:

www.tinyurl.com/34m99w2n

That may be the best solution as a NOW Smart Stick will plug into an HDMI port leaving you free to watch your favourite programmes on the free-to air-channels at the best possible quality via the Smart remote's Source ->TV option. All you’d have to do then is tab from TV to HDMI 1, HDMI 2, HDMI 3 when you want to watch via another device.

I see from the set data on AO that yours has three HDMI ports so you could have one for the Smart Stick, one for the Talk Talk Box for recording and a third if you have a separate DVD player or other device. This configuration may mean you having to use different remotes for different devices but it’s a small inconvenience in exchange for optimum picture quality.

This is long, but as Fanny Cornforth said, some of us are very invested in this issue and I’d really like you to see you getting the hang of how all this could work, if that makes sense.

Streuth! I remember televisions with 405 lines and the marvel that was 625 lines with the advent of BBC2! We have come a long way!

I too want this to work for you and think in the light of the above you should get a stick. If Now do a stick, great, that seems to be the obvious solution.

Switching to HDMI when you need it is easy-peasy (my daughter has a fire stick and we have a roku - both are easy) and it means everything else can be HD.

Please come back and let us know how you get on!

Good luck!

Our son and DIL have a Now tv box if that helps, they are quite inexpensive.

If he wants sport, just suggest he gets Sky with Sky sport and pays for it. One controller as TV will go through the Sky box.

I've spoken to TalkTalk and we have the most up to date box, so updating that won't do anything to the picture quality. They weren't terribly helpful, to be honest. However, I've been investigating the Now stick and that seems to me to be the obvious work-around to the problem. Coincidentally, it's my DH's birthday at the end of this month, so guess what I'll be buying him?! If it all goes pear-shaped and doesn't work, I'll insist he buys a new TV for the living room and takes the old one to the spare bedroom to watch his b****y football! Watch this space.......

Aaaaaand......... I've ordered it!!!

Thank you so much to all those who have commented and helped me make up my mind. StatenIsland, I now know a million times more about Smart TVs and thingummy sticks than I did yesterday!

Please get your own TV. I did so, which sorted, who is going to watch what and when.

No, he is being ridiculously unreasonable and if you pay for now tv it comes up as an option on the sky menu so you can view everything on there , so he is wrong about that and unreasonable , Sky own NOW tv

Never mind new TVs & new zappers, tell him you want a new husband because this one's not working properly! For goodness sake, why are you paying for a tv he won't share properly?!!!

Lots of misandry on this thread, kind of disappointing.

Well... I suggest that you stop paying half the subscriptions as your selfish husband does not give you access to it. Spend the money on a TV for yourself in another room and leave this stupid oaf to his solitary football and sport watching.

I would be furious with him.. get a tele for another room where you can watch what you like when you like. Or move him to another room with another tv.

I do that, but yesterday as I sat to watch TV I thought about my parents and how it complicated it would be for them.

You can get a really good Smart TV from Sainsbury's or similar for under £250. Buy one for YOU, take control of this situation, it's really unfair and it will eat away at you.
Set up a little woman cave in another room, get a school-age child (!) to set it all up for you, and enjoy all your own favourite programmes, even on catch up, and let the other half do his thing. It's easily solved, oh and when you've bought your fab little TV, stop paying any money out on subs for his. Please do this, soon as possible while you feel motivated, don't just think about it, what is the worst that can happen.

Your husband is being, in my view extremely unreasonable....enough said !

My DH watches sport too, we have a Sky Sport subscription but he hardly ever watches it, seems a waste of money but we can't cancel until the year is up.
I actually got the Sky subscription which can operate TVs in different rooms which solves our problems We have a small TV in another room and can watch recordings from the main box there too.
As regards HD, I really don't notice much difference and HD recordings use up a lot more space on the box.
DH refuses to use technology if he can avoid it but has got surprisingly hooked on YouTube on our smart TV. Je actually prefers it to regular programming as he can watch videos on virtually any topic at all.

I got new bigger tv about a year ago and my son set it all up.and then he bought himself a bigger one a bit after that to watch tv & now tv & netflix all through his xbox.All work fine. I don't watch now tv, but he does, he tells me i could though if i want to.My tv works with both my tv remote, AND my sky remote just fine, and i only have the old sky+ box.A lot of buttons are preloaded on the tv remotes these days.(most annoying if you lean on it accidentally) my son uses a remote especially for the xbox for most of his (purchased separately, bit more expensive) If your Dh has trouble getting a channel he buys extra from sky maybe he should ring them for help first? If no joy ring a local satellite tv installer, who should be able to help.unless sky send one FOR FREE- but check, as theirs are dearer than local satellite guy.If none of that helps, make your hubby be the one buying another tv- why should you.?

Yes stop paying for half the subscriptions that are just his! If he wants those, let him pay for them.

Im lucky in that neither of my sons(18&22) like sport! But if they were, im sure they'd pay for it between them if they wanted it.

Whatever the technicalities your husband is, of course, being unreasonable. Is this a one off or should you stand back and consider if this is a trend, that needs addressing? Sounds rather controlling to me.

My hubby totally dominates what is on the tv and drives me insane. We have two TVs - sky is on both and one of the TVs which is newer and has all the smart functions we can also access Now Tv, Netflix etc. This does involve the use of a second controller in that room but it’s only the press of a button....whilst I prefer to sit together in the evening there are days when we sit in separate rooms - better than missing everything you love on tv. Also sometimes I put headphones on, sit in the same room but watch something on my IPAd. I does make me mad occasionally as I will always let him have his choice on tv but it doesn’t work the other way round and I find if I have a soap on for half an hour he moans all the way through it and spoils the whole thing! Selfish behaviour really but at the end of the day it’s just tv.

I think I must be very old fashioned but I don’t understand all the this ‘his money’ and ‘my money.’
However, in any case, your husband’s being very unreasonable.

Polarbear2

I’m thinking he’s possibly a typical male who doesn’t really understand the way the new tv/remote works so is using the old one to cover his lack of knowledge. My OH reckons to be good at tech but is actually really rubbish. He doesn’t read instructions properly. Am sure there are other reasons and no you’re not being unreasonable- but the fragile male ego could be a factor.

I love this… ‘reckons to be good at tech but is actually rubbish’! Sounds VERY familiar! ???

Similar thing here. My husband ordered a massive TV without talking to me - but we have 2 remotes. One for the tv itself + sky came at my husband request + we were given a new smaller different sky remote.As bigger old one didn't connect..