Sunday 30 August 2009

Choosing Your Online TV Service Wisely - Free Or Paid?

By Joanne Keith

Being able to watch online TV is surely one of the most appealing ideas to internet users. If you do a search online, you are likely to find various service providers in this line. Some offer it for free, and others charge a fee. There is nothing wrong with wanting to watch TV online for free, but you need to be aware of the difference usually between a free and a paid service, so that you can make a more informed purchase decision.

1. The Quality of TV Channels

Literally, you will not be able to access quality channels with any of the free TV services. Although some services claim to supply you with over 1000 channels, but only a small number of them actually work. With some sites, you can only view the programs in a small screen without being able to enlarge it to a visually-pleasant size.

You will have much more channel choices with a paid service. The one I am currently using let me watch more than 5000 channels and many of them are of really awesome quality. So, if you are lucky, you can spot on a really good service that only cost you a small one time fee, and you will find the price really holds value in the long run.

2. The Quantity of The Channels

As mentioned, most of the free services offer over 1000 channels, which is practically close to nothing as nearly all of them are junks.

Most paid online TV services will allow you to enjoy as many as 5000 channels, but not all of them are of the same quality. With the service which I am currently using, I have eventually come down to about 20 channels which I watch regularly. Considering that I only paid a small one-time fee for this service, I do believe I have got the worth of my money.

3. Reliability Of The Software Being Installed

Whether you opt for a free or paid service in the end, you need to install a software on to your computer to view the TV programs. With a free service, you really do not have much to say about the type of software you need to install.

You tend to have more trust on software provided by paid service, as almost all of them are free from spyware and adware and are backed up with customer support. One of the services I ran into also offers anti-spyware software as a bonus, which is quite assuring.

4. Customer Service and Technical Support

Almost none of the free service will afford to provide customer services of any kind. Even with the paid ones, not all of them offer high-quality after-sale support. To spot a good service, you can simply send then an email with a pre-sale question, and the good ones usually respond quickly and clearly.

5. A Strong Guarantee

With the paid services, many of them provide full satisfaction guarantee but not all will honor it. This why you should only purchase from a reputable company which processes order through secure online money processors.

I hope the above tips will give you a better understanding towards both free and paid services that allow you to watch online TV.

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