I stopped subscribing to Astro a few months ago, as a protest to their constant price increases and unfair business policies towards customers.
Generally, they find ways to charge you more constantly, justifying it by manipulating channel packages so you end up 'forced' to take on more channels with each upgrade, and of course also paying more as a consequence.
These constant 'upgrading' of their services is forced upon all subscribers, by the grouping of certain channels together (chinese channels, sports channels...etc, etc.). Popular channels are priced higher and are sometimes split in different packages so you would have to sign up for a whole new package even if you're interested in just one particular channel.
Do you also realize that Astro charges you RM10 for each downgrade and there are no charges for upgrades? Also, you will be charged a fee if you cancel your subscription but there will be no charges if you reconnect. All means to 'motivate' you to put more money into their pocket and punish you for giving them less business.
I've read a nice article on to how to protest against their unfair practice.
If you can't bear the thought of living without Astro, the article suggest that you downgrade and cancel one or two less watched package as a protest to Astro.
I think we as consumers should exert our power to punish unfair treatments by big corporations. I mean, if we can do it to the gorv, by voting them out in the election when they're not treating us well, we can also do it to Astro.
I've another option for those who have broadband internet access (which I presume all readers of this this post would have).
How to watch the latest movies and tv series on your LCD TV for free.
My system comprises of the following:
1) LCD TV (or a digital to analogue converter/adapter for your normal TV which costs around RM200).
2) Broadband internet access (necessary for streaming sites).
3) VGA cable (or whatever kind of cable you need for connecting your PC to your LCD TV, eg. DVI to HDMI cable....etc).
4) A PC (my PC is too far away from my TV and somehow the 10 meters VGA cable I bought is not working, some told me the cable is too long for the data transfer, I can't confirm it, but be cautious with this option of connecting your TV-PC with a long cable), but preferably a laptop so you can easily connect it to the TV.
5) Wireless router (Make it easier still for internet access anywhere in the house).
6) Audio cable (audio signals can be connected to your TV through the red-white audio jacks or to your amplifier/reciever.
Here's what you do:
Connect your laptop with wireless internet access to your LCD TV using VGA cable and audio cable. Enter streaming movies website like www.tom365.com to instantly watch the latest movies (English and Chinese) and also TV series (Korean, Hong Kong, Japanese, English...practically all lah!).
THAT’S IT! You’re watching free TV!
Forget pay-per-view on Astro, there are latest series currently airing in Hong Kong at these sites!
There are lots of other streaming sites available, but you've to do some homework and search for it yourself. I can't do everything for you lah, ok. However, if you need my service or consultation to setup for you, you can contact me but I will charge you an appropriate amount ;)
And you know what the best part is? You can stop paying Astro's monthly fees (what I thought you is FREE) so you can buy more shoes, handbags (for ladies) and maybe use that money to subscribe to a porn channel on the internet instead (for guys, not that I do.. ;P).
The Quality?
The quality of the videos in these streaming sites is a lot like your normal TV. Some shows even looks better than your normal TV. The speed of your internet connection (which depends on which area you live in) would also be a factor. I have no problems watching a whole movie, episode from start to finish at normal speed 80% of the time. Our broadband service being yet another monopoly issue which we should be doing something about.
Sorry for the noises of baby crying, not part of the movie, it's my nephew ;P
Why should we do it?
The most important message I'm trying to get across for doing all this: Let's take back power as a consumer and refuse to be bullied by a big corporation who has a monopoly.
The news at 8pm reported that the federal gorv is canceling all mega projects planned for Penang.
Hmm...wise move. All these future projects that's supposedly for the development of Penang is awarded to BN cronies and will sooner or later be either scraped or be awarded to new developers based on an honest tender system by Penang CM Lim Guan Eng anyway.
So, since they are going to lose these opportunities to suck more money from the poor and make themselves rich anyway, may as well use this opportunity to punish the people of Penang for voting the opposition, right?
So clever, don't you think?
Now, I have no idea who the guy was who made the announcement, but what he said was along the line of 'We (BN) wanted to develope the Penang state, but obviously the Penang people did not want developement, so we cancelled all the mega projects planned for Penang'....
Wow.....Is that clear, or is that CLEAR?
This guy is certainly not one who beat around the bush and says it as it is. It practically says:
''We (BN) are big bullies, if you don't vote for us, that means you don't want developement and we will make sure you suffer for the next 4 years so in the next election, you'd be forced to vote for us again.' (Bullying at it's best. Threatening is the most awesome arsenal of bullies. Your kids should learn this from our beloved BN leaders so that they can also excel at being bullies at school!)
How I wish the next election is tomorrow so we can get rid of ALL these idiots once and for all. Don't you realize already? WE (the people) ARE THE BOSS! We pay your salaries! You still don't know why you lost, do you? You still think by threatening us, we'll turn into little submissive mice and take all kinds of crap you constantly throw at us?
Haiz.....You make me angry, and angry makes me old.
It might just be me, but if you've also watched the news on NTV7 at 8pm, did you saw the facial expressions of the newscaster when she was reading the news about this. Especially when she's reading the part right after they air the clip of the BN guy's announcement, that says according to the federal gorv, this decision is not a punishment for not voting BN. I saw a hint of a sly smile on her face. Serious! I think she sense the idiotic sarcasm as well. So funny.
Did you know this? I didn't until today. Apparently Toshiba has announced the death of it's HD DVD format by pulling out of the HD DVD business last month.
That means in the war of the next generation high-definition video format, Sony's BluRay has claimed victory, and will be the ONLY High Definition DVD format for the near future, until someone come up with Higher Definition (H-er DVD ;P) format, that is.
It also means early adopters who tripped over themselves to grab a HD DVD player a year ago are now cursing like there's no tomorrow. Whatever precious HD DVD collections they own are now probably more valuable (as collectibles) since there will be no more new HD DVD movie releases!
Oh ,by the way, if you've just purchased a HD DVD player yesterday, you'll feel like kicking yourself in the nuts. My advice is ask someone to do it for you, especially one of your friends on the opposite camp who supported Blu-Ray right from the beginning. They'll do a better job ;P
This came about after Toshiba (the creator of the format) lost support from major players in the war. Namely, Samsung (DVD player maker) and Time Warner (Movie studio).
On the other hand, the Blu-Ray backers will be so happy they'll be singing even when they're in the loo. All new HD movies will be in Blu-Ray!!
This is an extremely good news for those who're torn between the 2 formats and are thinking of either buying both or buying a hybrid player (Damn expensive, k)....like ME!! So happy!
Now I can buy a PS3 and use it for all future HD movies!! (btw, PS3 is the cheapest Blu-Ray player available currently.)
That's the thing about being the early adopters, risk-takers, who're always ahead of the pack. It's a big risk. But the thrill of innovations are just too much to resist for some people sometimes. And a lot of new technologies require the service of early adopters in testing out the market and spreading the technology to the masses (go read some business textbooks or something to understand more).
As for laggards such as us, we can enjoy cheaper products (by the time we buy, market competition would have made these products significantly cheaper), and more peace of mind that what we buy would be stable products (tested and a safer choice). Whatever it is, we wins!
Two year of battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray: a retrospective
