[Propos]

1) Got a new TV last week. I'm just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on switching it off. I'm lying in bed at midnight and I press the red switch off button on my remote. This turns the screen black but the red light stays on (I guess this is technically standby). I don't really want to have to get up to switch the plug on the wall off. Does that even matter? Does that cost money having it on standby? Standby is much more convenient but I don't want to be wasting alot of money etc What do most people do?

2) Is there much point in a bluray player if I have USB connection with my Tv and I have a vga to vga connection? Is there any need for a bluray player therefore? I don't really know what a bluray player does!

[mfaxford]

Standby will use some power but not much. Maybe a few pounds per year. The same is likely to be true of anything else left plugged in (Phone charger, microwave, laptop charger, desktop computer).

Bluray player is good if you want to play blurays. They're like DVD's but much higher quality. It all depends on how much you watch films etc, what quality you want and how you get them.

[Thebigfudge85]

Your TV probably wont have the codec available to play HDTV content of USB, plus the average movie on BR is about 4-5 GB so do you really want to DL that all the time ?

Blu Rays aren't that expensive providing you dont get them on the day of release and you can get a cheap BR player, My advice is to buy a PS3, It has a decentish Blu ray attached as well as access to different streaming services that stream in HD

[didgeridoo12uk]

you can look up exactly how much your TV uses on standby, then calculate how much it's going to cost you / the environment.

in regards to blu-ray players I'd say its worth it, but don't get a cheap crappy one as it will be noticeable, so do some research. On the whole Panasonics are generally considered one of the best brands for blu-rays.

[Propos]

The standby usage is apparently 0.30 .... I'm guessing watts?

[mfaxford]

(Original post by Propos)
The standby usage is apparently 0.30 .... I'm guessing watts?

watts are the usual measure for such things (indicated by a W). If that's the power level used on standby then it's going to be just under 3 units of electricity per year (so probably less than 50p a year)

[Propos]

Thanks. Cool , so I can leave on standby 24/7 then! :-)