Freeview

[ChristopherP]

Well im off to Uni in less than a month... so i bought a Freeview box... but not any ordinary set top box... a twin tuner box with an 80gb hard drive and EPG £99.99 inc VAT refurbished from eBuyer - made by Fusion, now owned by Beko.

Aparently the reliability figures are dodgy with quite a few going wrong but its by far the best for the money so i hope it works for about 3 years! Its essentially Sky+ for free. without the movie channels lol!

 

[chelseafc2005]

Sounds like a good buy lets just hope it doesnt break and holds out for the three years

 

[Adywebb]

Hope it lasts Chris - I see you can get Film4 free now on Freeview

 

[arbour]

Well im off to Uni in less than a month... so i bought a Freeview box... but not any ordinary set top box... a twin tuner box with an 80gb hard drive and EPG £99.99 inc VAT refurbished from eBuyer - made by Fusion, now owned by Beko.

Aparently the reliability figures are dodgy with quite a few going wrong but its by far the best for the money so i hope it works for about 3 years! Its essentially Sky+ for free. without the movie channels lol!

You may also need to get a TV licence as well
What Uni are you going to & what subject will you be studying?

 

[crazylegs]

Can you get the sports channels on that tuner then Chris...

 

[psd99]

You may also need to get a TV licence as well
What Uni are you going to & what subject will you be studying?

you definetly will need one!!!
but who ever gets one?

and I would not post where you are going either


p.s hope you enjoy uni
best time of your life for sure

 

[ChristopherP]

I am fully aware i need a license - and have the money in a seperate account ready to buy a year of viewing for £131.50 or whatever it is

Im studying BA(Hons)Public Service in Cambridge...

Have been finalising all the stuff - sorted out my student loan which is £7500 (give or take a couple of quid) per year *ouch* and have got my halls of residence sorted out - En Suite with Wireless Broadband Access

I also just ordered...

Samsung ML2010 Laser Printer
Lexar Jumpdrive 1Gb Sport Cap
Logitech X230 2.1 speaker system

Along with my Freeview box.

Thought they would all be handy.

Also am having a 20" LCD TV sourced for me so there is a small chance i might have one of those in my halls aswell. I have a cool cousin who knows people that deal in assets from companies that didnt make it.

Also i went and bought some sensible stuff in Wilkinsons on Wednesday - a crockery set, pint glasses, pans etc etc that kind of thing. Boring stuff.

 

[Anon_F]

Im studying BA(Hons)Public Service in Cambridge.

What at Cambridge University?

 

[ChristopherP]

Anglia Ruskin University - the campus is right in the middle of the city...a stones throw from most of the Cambridge university colleges...

 

[ChristopherP]

Ha - they just upped the price by £30

Dispatched so hopefully all arrive tomorrow

 

[Rush]

grab it

I`m not a Uni person but my wife is..she achieved a 2:1 in Business studies...and by all accounts if you visit m8`s they will gladly buy takeaways for everyone and buy drinks coz they think the grant lasts forever !!!

 

[ChristopherP]

I was thinking of putting £3000 of my £4500 maintenance loan into an ISA

Is this a good idea does anyone know? I think the interest rate is about 4% and the ISA pays 4.75%

Would it be a better idea to save it or spend it?

 

[muckshifter]

I think I need to go back to university.









* you don't need to pay back the 'loan' do you? *

 

[ChristopherP]

* you don't need to pay back the 'loan' do you? *

Err... yeah... hence the 3.2%ish interest rate they charge on top. I'll be about £25k in debt in 3 years time if all goes to plan. Just need to decide whether to save the money i dont spend or buy a new PC really

 

[floppybootstomp]

Mr Postill, you really are too sensible by far.

Dig out DVD's or VCR tapes of early 80's sitcom 'The Young Ones'

Take notes regarding student life and 'Scumbag University'

Adhere to notes.

Get wasted.

Enjoy like there's no tomorrow

And on a serious note, and even a political note, just after WW2 the labour Goverment done some stuff that allowed the kid from the Council Estate to go to University and gain a degree if he was bright enough. Prior to that, University degrees were the exclusive property of upper class twats.

Fast forward 40-odd years and Tony Blair, a supposedly 'Labour' Prime Minister, has turned back the clock and made everybody pay for further education.

Tony Blair makes Ted Heath look like a communist (there's one for all our older members )

Anyway, makes me blood boil, you shouldn't have to pay for an education over here, too many battles have been fought to guarantee that. And now a supposed socialist goverment has turned that on it's head.

Oops, sorry, I'm ranting, aren't I?

Kids, teenagers, students, are the future of this nation, makes me sick to see them penalised.

Ok, I'll shut up now

Anyway, Chris, if you can get by without using the loan, by all means invest it in an ISA account. Higher rates if you leave it alone for a year, lower rates if you want instant access. I'd go for instant access meself, just to provide an emergency backup, as it were.

And you'll love Cambridge, it really is a nice place, right up there with Bath, Oxford and York.

 

[ChristopherP]

I think that my degree should be free. Why should i have to pay to gain the qualifications i need to provide services to my country? Thats the way i see it... even if it was £1k a year instead of £3k for tuition it would be better...

Sainsburys pay me about £6 an hour and i do 12 hours a week at the moment, and it should be about that should my dual contract agreement go as planned... so thats £260 a month into my account with £20 going to buy shares of the company at November last years rate (again, if all goes to plan i could make a killing from these as the company has really pulled its socks up since JK took over)

I have applied for a Halifax Direct Access ISA which pays 4.75% and i can put £3k per tax year into that... but anything i put in there, i will try not to touch.

For emergencies, i have applied for a Sainsburys Visa - Martin Lewis at www.moneysavingexpert.com said this was the best card to get for purchases as it is 0% for 10 months. So if anything goes wrong with my car (MOT in january providing touch wood i dont stack it)

I figured i could bung it on the visa then not have to worry about paying interest - and save up to be able to pay the balance off by the time the bill is in at the end of 0% time.

Im also upgrading my current account to a HBOS (Halifax) Student Account - gives me a couple of grand interest free overdraft and reduced charges... so that seems alright.

Need to work out how much food is going to cost me per week - if its around £50 then thats pretty good. as thats covered by my part time job, parents paying my acommodation and a seperate £3k of the loan pays the tuition fees - leaving the rest for a plentiful supply of Smirnoff Ice/Wine/Cider/Shots and Clothes... maybe a new lens for my camera or a new computer...

We'll see.

 

[floppybootstomp]

We'll see.

Yep.

Be prepared to learn lessons.

Which ain't a bad thing.

Whatever you do, try and enjoy.

 

[Adywebb]

I think that my degree should be free. Why should i have to pay to gain the qualifications i need to provide services to my country? Thats the way i see it... even if it was £1k a year instead of £3k for tuition it would be better...

Some would argue that its your choice to go to university, and if by doing so you get a better job with more money as a result, perhaps you should pay.

Others would argue that by making students pay stops brighter kids from low income families ( I'm assuming they have to pay, or are they eligable for grants?) getting the chance of better qualifications and a better job, also we should encourage better education for everyone regardless so we can have higher skill levels to improve services and industry in the future for everyone.

I think it is wrong that students in England and Wales have to pay, and those in Scotland don't.

Regardless Chris - make sure you enjoy the experience, and remember it isn't all about work - learn about life as well

 

[TriplexDread]

Have fun m8. I nvr got the chance to go Uni, although looking back im not sure I would have been suited to it now anyway.

But best of luck not only while you there but for getting a job when you get out.

Dont mean to sound like pessimistic but many people dont!

Main thing is that you learn lots of things and meet lots of people and have fun

 

[psd99]

I was thinking of putting £3000 of my £4500 maintenance loan into an ISA

Is this a good idea does anyone know? I think the interest rate is about 4% and the ISA pays 4.75%

Would it be a better idea to save it or spend it?

best advice is to SAVE that money
get some interest of it

the hardest part will be not to spend it
but you will reap the rewards should you suceed!