Honest now ...

[Rich A]

Am I going to be the only one to freely admit that I record far too much video and don't "really" have the time to watch it all?

Seriously .. Just my "must watch" list has grown to the point where I now developing couch potato mentality.

There are so many halfway decent shows out there. And my interests run far and wide.

Most recently I've been hooked on Saving Grace, In Plain Site, Axe Men, Ice Road Truckers and others. Old favorites like NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, Numbers, are also must watch. Upon checking my recording que I find it has grown to over 50 shows. And I'm sure many of you record more than that.

I have a very busy life .. Lots of grandchildren, and many community service things. And right now, I'm having trouble finding the time to watch all my shows.

So I'm curious. How many regularly recorded weekly shows do you guys actually watch? I'm not talking about households with multiple viewers which could result in a LOT of recording for kids and grownups. I'm more interested in just what YOU as an individual actually get to watch each week.

One thing I have come to enjoy that many of you don't know about is the ability to step frame by frame to examine something. Case in point. At the end of Two and a Half Men there is a text filled white screen that is only one or two frames long. It just flashes by and I"ll bet a lot of us never stopped to read it. I have .. and it can be quite funny. Certainly worth the 'pause".

[Eric3a]

Yes: I record way too much. But paying outdoors remain a priority so that's the main reason shows pile up.
I usually tend to catch up on my shows on business trips when I can watch all my videos on long flights and in hotels at night. I often don't even switch the TV on in my hotel room.

For me rather than frame by frame (which I'd enjoy with the few sprt event i may watch) I like the jump 30 seconds forward option. I odn't need to listen to some artist selling his/her latest song on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for example, but will watch an author selling his book.
Being able to watch an normally hour long show in 43 minutes at most, but often 30 minutes is one of the great advantages of BTV.
Eric

[gambitpvr]

I watch most of the shows I record within a week of recording them.

However, I have at least 4 shows that I've recorded this season but haven't actually watched yet. Most of my shows are ending (or ended) for the season so, I plan to catch up on these unwatched shows soon.

[myktek]

i record WAAAAY too much, I end up just deleting series that I don't like and archive the ones I do... just slapped another 500gb hard drive in this weekend...

debating if I might build a WHS or buy one of the HP ones or get a Drobo.

leaning towards WHS as gigabit > usb/1394 or $200 more for the Network module.

[mayhem70]

I freely admit I watch way too much, and I record even more than that. I have a lot of shows I watch once a week..but most of the new shows I often wait a season or even two before I'll commit to watching them. Sporting events I normally watch live unless I happen to be travelling.

If I have to take the bus into campus, then I normally watch a show up and a show back on my phone. If I'm traveling, I placeshift to my laptop. Granted I don't have family things that cut into watching time, but I find that on weekends is when I have the most time to watch. I guess I would put that number around 25 hours per week depending on the time of the year and what type of schedule I have.

[Rich A]

Very interesting. I too have a couple of series that I've been storing. Lost is one of them. I suppose during Summer re-run times I'll get caught up.

I noticed one interesting thing the other week. Some of those raunchy Fox cartoon shows crack me up sometimes. And sometimes I just go "Ugh".

But I noticed a clever ploy being used to get people to tolerate the commercials. Family Guy is now interjecting a short skit (featuring "Stewie") usually bantering with some celebrity type in the middle of the commercial break. At times it can be quite funny. I find myself fast forwarding through the commercials now instead of using the smartchapter skip, just so I can catch it. Those type shows, like Family Guy, American Dad and the forever running "Simpsons" sometimes turns many folks off. Seth Mcfarland (sp?) has a very odd-ball and raunchy sense of humor. But I'm embarrassed somewhat to admit that I enjoy them. And now they have me hooked on those intra-commercial "Stewie" segments. Just MORE crap I "must watch".

[mayhem70]

Well there is only one more season left for Lost, so you might want to wait until they finally show....if you wanted to sit and follow the insanity that is Lost.

I go through periods of downtimes between contracts so I often have time to start catching up with shows I do that with. I honestly believe had I started watching Ugly Betty weekly, I wouldn't have grown to like it. Of course like you, I never really got Family Guy. I recorded them all, tried to watch a couple and then get to your conclusion that it's kinda funny...but yet just a bit too odd for my own liking. My friends think I'm insane, but they don't complain that I have all the episodes if they wanted to watch last weeks.

[Fickey]

I'll take the 5th on how much I record & watch.

One thing that helps blast through recordings is "fast play", which I use The Kmplayer for. I routinely watch newscasts & documentaries at 150-175% normal speed. Pitch adjustment keeps the audio from sounding like chipmunks. A few other players offer similar ability, but I've found none as good as The Kmplayer.

[Bigbird999]

One thing that helps blast through recordings is "fast play", which I use The Kmplayer for. I routinely watch newscasts & documentaries at 150-175% normal speed. Pitch adjustment keeps the audio from sounding like chipmunks.

21st century speed reading!

When I speed read the old fashioned way I hear Alvin.

BB

[myktek]

YouTube - Alvin and the Chipmunks Intro 2

=)

[SideShowCecil]

Since I work seasonally I don’t have much time for TV in the fall and winter. I record everything I want to see and watch it in the spring and summer. There may be two or three shows that I’ll watch weekly through the winter.

But sure, I usually end up with far more hours of recorded programs than I’ll have time to watch through the summer. And with our son getting older and busier and our summer social calendar filling up fast my available time for TV viewing is diminishing quickly. I just prioritize my viewing list. What I haven’t watched by the fall gets deleted to make room for the new season. I used to archive stuff on DVD figuring I would get around to watching it later. But now I have a big pile of unwatched DVDs so I just delete stuff.

[Rich A]

Ah an honest guy that SSC. I wonder which one of us has a bigger pile of unwatched DVDs?

I've been a NetFlix subscriber for some time. And I can't tell you how many times I've had to "archive" a DVD for later viewing just because I don't have the time to actually watch it when I received it. And I'm on the cheapest plan too .. one at a time.

Funny story .. I've been using the streaming option every once in a while to watch a movie on Netflix. (usually in the summer when/if I get caught up) A while back I got the usual Netflix email notification that the movie "88 Minutes" was due to be delivered that Tuesday. Only I had already watched that movie via their streaming service and forgot to remove it from my Que.

So Tuesday I was at my mail box as the mail man drove up to deliver the mail. He handed me my stack of mail and said, "Looks like you got another movie to watch". So I told him to hang on a moment as I had something to send back. I opened up the Netflix mailer, then took the disc and held it to my forehead. A couple seconds later I put it back in the pre-paid mailer, sealed it and handed back to him.

He looked at me with a confused look on his face. I told him that I've developed a unique ability to veiw DVDs by osmosis. So I can can "read" the whole DVD that way in the few seconds. Great time saver!

He laughed and said, "That's a good one ..."

I said, "I'm not kidding."

And he drove into the sunset, with my Netflix DVD in the truck and the same confused look on his face.

[SnakeDoctor]

Classic!