Real life @MediaCityUK

BBC R&D staffer Andrew Bonney has written a long and useful post about living in a flat at MediacityUK for six months.  If you're close to signing a deal, it's a must read. Andrew's largely positive - so much so that he's signed up for another six months.

There've been teething troubles - he notes some difficulties with the postcode change; with Peel Security and access, and a missing router.  And he's sceptical that anyone could use the second, single, bedroom on a long-term basis.  On the plus side, there's a tick for location and view, for the Peel Media package that comes with the apartment (providing Freeview, phone access, and wifi ) and the fact that, because the site has a combined heat and power system, there's no need for an individual boiler.

On the down side, the main issue is, despite the brand name of MediaCityUK, the £20-a-month media package that is pumped down fibres to every flat.  There are no HD signals as yet, and no play-pause button, as with many other PVR/media packages. And though the flats have sockets marked FM and DAB, they're not connected to anything (apparently to stop proliferation of aerials, which is odd, given the neighbours).