See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVR

WHY didn’t I think to check on moneysavingexpert?! Sheesh, what an idiot.

Will check out 1899.com – ta – as both our families in the UK are on Virgin for phone line too, those calls are free in evenings and weekends, it’s only Spain that costs us.

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1899.com cheapest for calls to landlines (free apart from small connection charge) and abroad (a couple of pence a minute) (not for calls to mobiles though).

BUT you will need to dial an access code that is quite long from a non-BT line (but this can be programmed in).

For more info on all this lot, moneysavingexpert.com will supply all your answers.

People who have only mobile numbers don’t get called by me. Not that I’m planning ot call you, but, I’m sure I’m not the only one who takes this stance.

If your connection is of fair bandwidth and contention you might consider VoIP, but thrash the Skype trial before you commit to anything there: most people find that VoIP over their home connection is fine most of the time but the contention can really kill it if everyone else has got the same idea.
I take it neither of you are receiving business calls at home? VoIP services make it much easier to take numbers with you should you move.
Although some VoIP call providers are very cheap, factor in the cost of getting reasonable hardware: you’ll probably want a network-attached hardware phone or an Analogue Telephone Adapter (and if the VoIP service advertises advanced features, be aware that some hardware may not support them all).

Once you’ve decided whether or not to use VoIP, most suppliers are much of a muchness. VoIP providers may vary in quality while fixed-line telecoms are normally pretty consistent (until you call abroad, but even then you find that most providers are using the same lines and suffering much the same problems).