kapon said:

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Is a DVR even needed with streaming?
Isn't it all "on demand" anyway?

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I can't speak to many, but with something like Hulu, it is.

Now, I don't know how it works if you DVR a movie or show and hulu pulls it. Is it still there?

kapon said:

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Is a DVR even needed with streaming?
Isn't it all "on demand" anyway?

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For live sporting events, DVR is preferred. Also, for Vue, for a while I only had Fox and CBS locals, but could stream on demand ABC and NBC. I can fast forward through DVR'd shows, but am forced to watch commercials for the on demand content. Now I have all the local channels, and I can still choose to stream on demand and watch commercials (Vue says this is a better quality stream) or watch via DVR and fast forward.

For shows that are on HGTV, etc, my wife can go on the HGTV app and watch recently aired shows on demand, or we can stay within the Vue app and just pull the show up on DVR (and fast forward through commercials).

Anyone use Hulu Live TV with an OLED TV? I'm curious of picture quality? It seems the basic Hulu has bad picture quality, just curious if it's same with the Live subscription service.

If it has good streaming quality I think I'll end up going with it over Sling due to the channel offerings.

txaggie_08 said:

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Anyone use Hulu Live TV with an OLED TV? I'm curious of picture quality? It seems the basic Hulu has bad picture quality, just curious if it's same with the Live subscription service.

If it has good streaming quality I think I'll end up going with it over Sling due to the channel offerings.

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Hulu Live has good quality, but also depends on the source. I know the firetv stick doesn't have as good capability as the box.

txaggie_08 said:

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Anyone use Hulu Live TV with an OLED TV? I'm curious of picture quality? It seems the basic Hulu has bad picture quality, just curious if it's same with the Live subscription service.

If it has good streaming quality I think I'll end up going with it over Sling due to the channel offerings.

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The on demand stuff is as good as netflix or amazon prime.

As far as Live TV it is definitely much better now then it was a few months ago as they are bumping up more and more channels to 60fps. Those channels have excellent picture quality and no buffering on my end.

Although I think the ESPN channels are still 30fps. That will have to change before football season or I'm out.

Signed up for the PS Vue trial today. It is going to take some getting used to but if I get that and drop TV from my cable setup, I'll save approximately 65 a month. Since I have prime, I have many of the traditional TV shows we both like for free, so don't have to worry about them on whatever channel on vue. The issue is the DVR. We have a full DVR of shows we like to watch now and then and keep indefinitely. I guess I'm either going to have to adjust or get the roamio.

Now, the question: I currently have a fire stick on the main TV and a roku stick on a back room TV. Should I get Apple TV? What is the best "console" or whatever you call it (interface?)?

We have 2 Apple TV and 2 Roku. I like the Apple TVs on our main TVs but the roku 3s are good in a bedroom. I didn't like the roku stick at all. Seemed slow and buffered a lot. Put the 3 in its place and it works great.

The reason I like the Apple TV on our main TVs is our movie library is iTunes so it's just easy.

What channels do you and her want that requires higher packages? For me, I was with DTV, so my internet wasn't bundled. When I cancelled and went with Vue, I saved $90/mo. I lost Nickelodeon and the Astros/Rockets. I can live without them for ~$1100/yr.

91AggieLawyer said:

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Signed up for the PS Vue trial today. It is going to take some getting used to but if I get that and drop TV from my cable setup, I'll save approximately 65 a month. Since I have prime, I have many of the traditional TV shows we both like for free, so don't have to worry about them on whatever channel on vue. The issue is the DVR. We have a full DVR of shows we like to watch now and then and keep indefinitely. I guess I'm either going to have to adjust or get the roamio.

Now, the question: I currently have a fire stick on the main TV and a roku stick on a back room TV. Should I get Apple TV? What is the best "console" or whatever you call it (interface?)?

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With Vue and a Prime member, get the FireTV. I think Apple TV has a Prime Video app now, but unless you're fully into the Apple ecosystem or know you'll be mirroring an iPhone, I can't justify the price difference.

Just to clarify for 91AggieLawyer, you can use a Roku and have both Vue and Prime. i do and it works fine. And Amazon Video is just an app you download on to Roku similar to the Vue app.

I cut the cable a few months ago.

At home: We have 2 apple TVs with PSVue, Amazon Prime, Netflix

At my office: We have 3 Rokus

The Rokus work better imho for PSVue as far as the menus go.

The other challenge we have is using a Logitech remote with the apple TVs and PSVue. You can't skip 10 seconds at a time with the controller. It works in other apps like Amazon Prime, etc.

You have to use the Apple tv controller or the iPhone controller and then tap the top right of the touchpad.

If they fix that, we are golden.

NOT liking it so far. I know it takes time to get used to something but there are simple things that appear difficult to resolve. First, the only channels that come up on the guide are the favorites I've selected. I can't find that setting (if it exists) to change that and don't know how that got changed in the first place. It wasn't until I set them that I even had favorites and the guide still worked. Second, the DVR is confusing as hell. I'm not sure it doesn't tape ALL the series/shows instead of the time slot I requested.

So far, I'm not ready to commit to this. Picture is also not as good as cable, though that may be the fire stick rather than another interface.

91AggieLawyer said:

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NOT liking it so far. I know it takes time to get used to something but there are simple things that appear difficult to resolve. First, the only channels that come up on the guide are the favorites I've selected. I can't find that setting (if it exists) to change that and don't know how that got changed in the first place. It wasn't until I set them that I even had favorites and the guide still worked. Second, the DVR is confusing as hell. I'm not sure it doesn't tape ALL the series/shows instead of the time slot I requested.

So far, I'm not ready to commit to this. Picture is also not as good as cable, though that may be the fire stick rather than another interface.

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For PSVue? There's a quick guide where all of your favorites are when you go to the menu. If you scroll up to the top left, there's a guide icon that brings it up. It may be different on another device, but on FireTV, it comes up like a regular guide with cable/satellite. On FireTV, you can also hold down the button with the 3 horizontal lines for a couple of seconds and a quick guide comes up that allows you to switch to the previous channel watched, go to guide, settings, and something else I can't remember.

For the DVR, it doesn't record a time slot. It records the show, no matter what channel it comes on This is where I think many people get frustrated. It keeps them by Season:Episode for you to scroll through to find the one you want with a "New" icon next to the latest. It also shows at the bottom if it's unwatched or if you've watched it along with air date. If you're watching a series that's on several channels (say Chicago PD), it will ask you which channel's recording you'd like to watch it from when selecting the show, and if on demand is available, it will give you that option as well. It sucks for recording football games, but I can handle that for the money I'm saving.

Are the streaming services perfect? No, but they're not far off. IMO, people are used to the way cable/satellite work and expect it to work just like that, and it doesn't. Every service has it's quirks, but once you figure it out, you'll discover that it's actually better than traditional cable/satellite.

jay040 said:

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Just to clarify for 91AggieLawyer, you can use a Roku and have both Vue and Prime. i do and it works fine. And Amazon Video is just an app you download on to Roku similar to the Vue app.

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I know Prime Video is an app, but I think that's only a recent app available with Apple TV. When I switched last year, Prime Video wasn't available for it.

Quote:

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people are used to the way cable/satellite work and expect it to work just like that, and it doesn't.

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For me the DVR (cable) works not simply like I want it to work but also how I NEED it to work. We tape shows and want to keep them indefinitely. We also want to run through the commercials, which on demand mostly doesn't allow. I was hoping that I'd see enough value in the streaming service to let all that go, but as I said, I am NOT liking this at all. Never mind the guide issues, I'm fumbling around with 3 remotes where with cable I only needed one. I know my wife is not going to like any of this.

I will keep watching SOME, but I'm about 99% sure I'm going to end my trial early and just stay with cable. It isn't worth a $60 or so savings to have to conform to what I'm not liking. Streaming may get there eventually, but it isn't there now. I'll keep looking at it once a year or so.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking of the macro (if you will) economics of the whole thing. Everyone who streams is dependent upon good internet service. Maybe this will change but there are only so many good internet providers. If they can't make money providing only internet to a good number of people who are streaming, they'll stop providing. Then, where will streamers get there service -- not only for TV but for their home internet as well? My guess is that sooner or later, the internet prices will, when added to the 3rd party streaming service, be about the same as what I'm paying with cable now. Some on here have argued it already is as much for them.

If it works for you, by all means use it. But it isn't working for me. Not now anyway.

Quote:

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For me the DVR (cable) works not simply like I want it to work but also how I NEED it to work. We tape shows and want to keep them indefinitely. We also want to run through the commercials, which on demand mostly doesn't allow. I was hoping that I'd see enough value in the streaming service to let all that go, but as I said, I am NOT liking this at all. Never mind the guide issues, I'm fumbling around with 3 remotes where with cable I only needed one. I know my wife is not going to like any of this.

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Just curious, why do you want to keep a show indefinitely? At some point, you'll run out of space or need to replace equipment, thus you'll lose them anyway. If a show is "DVRd", you can FF through commercials, but yeah, you can't with on demand.

3 remotes? There are solutions out there where you'll only need 1 remote. With a month or so of savings, you'll cover the cost of the remote.

Quote:

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I've also been doing a lot of thinking of the macro (if you will) economics of the whole thing. Everyone who streams is dependent upon good internet service. Maybe this will change but there are only so many good internet providers. If they can't make money providing only internet to a good number of people who are streaming, they'll stop providing. Then, where will streamers get there service -- not only for TV but for their home internet as well? My guess is that sooner or later, the internet prices will, when added to the 3rd party streaming service, be about the same as what I'm paying with cable now. Some on here have argued it already is as much for them.

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I think about this differently. As more people move away from traditional cable to streaming, the market will provide a good ISP that won't require a cable subscription. I pay more for internet than I do for my streaming service, but since I came from DTV, I didn't have a bundle package anyway. Actually, when I went to make sure I had sufficient internet service, I doubled my speed (no data caps) and saved $10/mo, so the switch from DTV to streaming saved me $100/mo. I can take a little inconvenience for $1200/yr.

**edit to add** I don't want you to think I'm questioning your choice because I'm really curious why you want to keep a recorded show forever. The only thing I can think of is maybe something from HBO or one of the other premium channels.

91AggieLawyer said:

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Quote:

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people are used to the way cable/satellite work and expect it to work just like that, and it doesn't.

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For me the DVR (cable) works not simply like I want it to work but also how I NEED it to work. We tape shows and want to keep them indefinitely. We also want to run through the commercials, which on demand mostly doesn't allow. I was hoping that I'd see enough value in the streaming service to let all that go, but as I said, I am NOT liking this at all. Never mind the guide issues, I'm fumbling around with 3 remotes where with cable I only needed one. I know my wife is not going to like any of this.

I will keep watching SOME, but I'm about 99% sure I'm going to end my trial early and just stay with cable. It isn't worth a $60 or so savings to have to conform to what I'm not liking. Streaming may get there eventually, but it isn't there now. I'll keep looking at it once a year or so.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking of the macro (if you will) economics of the whole thing. Everyone who streams is dependent upon good internet service. Maybe this will change but there are only so many good internet providers. If they can't make money providing only internet to a good number of people who are streaming, they'll stop providing. Then, where will streamers get there service -- not only for TV but for their home internet as well? My guess is that sooner or later, the internet prices will, when added to the 3rd party streaming service, be about the same as what I'm paying with cable now. Some on here have argued it already is as much for them.

If it works for you, by all means use it. But it isn't working for me. Not now anyway.

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The "traditional" DVR offered by the cable and satellite companies is the only competitive advantage they retain. Picture quality could be argued, but it's pretty similar IMO.

It's been an adjustment for me not having that DVR, and there are times I wish I could record a sporting event and start it an hour late to skip commercials. If one of the streaming services builds out enough infrastructure to rival a standard DVR they will have a major advantage.

PS Vue lost all Sinclair owned ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. This means I no longer have Fox and NBC locals. I've read that come NFL season I'll be able to watch games on the Fox Sports app, but this is still annoying.

YouTube TV has the locals but not HGTV or Food Network, which are mandatory for my wife. Sling doesn't have all my locals and no DVR.

Does DirecTV Now have DVR for everyone yet, or is it still in beta?

91AggieLawyer said:

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Quote:

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people are used to the way cable/satellite work and expect it to work just like that, and it doesn't.

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For me the DVR (cable) works not simply like I want it to work but also how I NEED it to work. We tape shows and want to keep them indefinitely. We also want to run through the commercials, which on demand mostly doesn't allow. I was hoping that I'd see enough value in the streaming service to let all that go, but as I said, I am NOT liking this at all. Never mind the guide issues, I'm fumbling around with 3 remotes where with cable I only needed one. I know my wife is not going to like any of this.

I will keep watching SOME, but I'm about 99% sure I'm going to end my trial early and just stay with cable. It isn't worth a $60 or so savings to have to conform to what I'm not liking. Streaming may get there eventually, but it isn't there now. I'll keep looking at it once a year or so.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking of the macro (if you will) economics of the whole thing. Everyone who streams is dependent upon good internet service. Maybe this will change but there are only so many good internet providers. If they can't make money providing only internet to a good number of people who are streaming, they'll stop providing. Then, where will streamers get there service -- not only for TV but for their home internet as well? My guess is that sooner or later, the internet prices will, when added to the 3rd party streaming service, be about the same as what I'm paying with cable now. Some on here have argued it already is as much for them.

If it works for you, by all means use it. But it isn't working for me. Not now anyway.

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As I'm seeing more and more posts like this, I'm so glad I truly "cut cable" rather than just switched to another paid streaming service. If you are in an area where you can get the local affiliates with an antenna, a DVR that can record off the air will do exactly what you're describing. I have a channelmaster DVR that provides a free guide for lifetime (one up on Tivo), and provides a similar interface to a cable DVR. What's more, I can use my own hard drives, so in the unlikely event I fill up the 1 TB HDD I have on there now, I could trade it out for a different one.

I live in Lewisville, and a $5 antenna in my attic picks up all I care to watch.

Ark03 said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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Quote:

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people are used to the way cable/satellite work and expect it to work just like that, and it doesn't.

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For me the DVR (cable) works not simply like I want it to work but also how I NEED it to work. We tape shows and want to keep them indefinitely. We also want to run through the commercials, which on demand mostly doesn't allow. I was hoping that I'd see enough value in the streaming service to let all that go, but as I said, I am NOT liking this at all. Never mind the guide issues, I'm fumbling around with 3 remotes where with cable I only needed one. I know my wife is not going to like any of this.

I will keep watching SOME, but I'm about 99% sure I'm going to end my trial early and just stay with cable. It isn't worth a $60 or so savings to have to conform to what I'm not liking. Streaming may get there eventually, but it isn't there now. I'll keep looking at it once a year or so.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking of the macro (if you will) economics of the whole thing. Everyone who streams is dependent upon good internet service. Maybe this will change but there are only so many good internet providers. If they can't make money providing only internet to a good number of people who are streaming, they'll stop providing. Then, where will streamers get there service -- not only for TV but for their home internet as well? My guess is that sooner or later, the internet prices will, when added to the 3rd party streaming service, be about the same as what I'm paying with cable now. Some on here have argued it already is as much for them.

If it works for you, by all means use it. But it isn't working for me. Not now anyway.

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As I'm seeing more and more posts like this, I'm so glad I truly "cut cable" rather than just switched to another paid streaming service. If you are in an area where you can get the local affiliates with an antenna, a DVR that can record off the air will do exactly what you're describing. I have a channelmaster DVR that provides a free guide for lifetime (one up on Tivo), and provides a similar interface to a cable DVR. What's more, I can use my own hard drives, so in the unlikely event I fill up the 1 TB HDD I have on there now, I could trade it out for a different one.

I live in Lewisville, and a $5 antenna in my attic picks up all I care to watch.

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That capability (though I use Plex and a HDHR rather than a dedicated DVR device) and PlayOn for the items not over broadcast works like a champ for me.

PlayStation Vue appears to kiss Sinclair goodbye: 'We were unable to come to terms'

Sinclair Comments On Why They Pulled Their Channels From PlayStation Vue

Sinclair removes its TV stations from Playstation Vue

Quote:

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"We regret Sony was not willing to meet certain requirements for carrying our stations," Barry Faber, Sinclair's executive vice president for network relations and distribution, said in an announcement earlier this week. "That [network] content represents just a fraction of the programming Sinclair's stations provide and does not include any of our award-winning news or popular syndicated programming," Sinclair said in its announcement.

Faber urged Sony subscribers to consider other video distributor options, including Sony competitor YouTube TV.

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Doesn't sound like Vue will be getting Sinclair locals back any time soon.

Connecting my attena with AirTV/sling is pretty cool since it incorporates the local channels on the sling guide. However, my tv isn't near a window but my attena needs to be by a window. Is there a good workaround on this so I can keep the AirTV and attena away from my tv without a long coaxial cable?

PlayStation Vue Plans to Launch a National FOX Feed to Replace Lost Locals

Quote:

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Last week PlayStation Vue lost access to Sinclair owned ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC locals. Now Sony has announced plans to launch a live Fox freed in markets where they no longer have a local Fox affiliate.

This new national Fox feed will offer prime-time programming from Fox broadcast network and additional content from Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1, and Fox Soccer Plus. What you won't get is all the local programming your local station offers. No local news, talk shows, etc will be apart of this fox feed.

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From another site:

This is only for Fox network programming. That's sports plus weekdays/Saturday 8-10pm and Sunday 7-10pm.

Directv now has a first 3 months for $10 deal going on right now. No app for samsung smart tvs yet, so I'd need to get a roku, chromecast or fire tv stick, etc. Anyone recommend either/or with directv now?

Oops dp

superunknown said:

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Directv now has a first 3 months for $10 deal going on right now. No app for samsung smart tvs yet, so I'd need to get a roku, chromecast or fire tv stick, etc. Anyone recommend either/or with directv now?

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I have a roku box, roku stick, fire box, and Apple TV. I much prefer the Fire box (and it is a much faster/better streamer than the stick)

superunknown said:

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Directv now has a first 3 months for $10 deal going on right now. No app for samsung smart tvs yet, so I'd need to get a roku, chromecast or fire tv stick, etc. Anyone recommend either/or with directv now?

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They also have a deal where if you prepay three months of DirecTV Now you can get a free Apple TV 4K. Normally this device is $179, but the three months of service is as low as $105 ($35/month * 3), which means the device is almost $75 less and you get the three months of service.

nwspmp said:

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superunknown said:

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Directv now has a first 3 months for $10 deal going on right now. No app for samsung smart tvs yet, so I'd need to get a roku, chromecast or fire tv stick, etc. Anyone recommend either/or with directv now?

---

They also have a deal where if you prepay three months of DirecTV Now you can get a free Apple TV 4K. Normally this device is $179, but the three months of service is as low as $105 ($35/month * 3), which means the device is almost $75 less and you get the three months of service.

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This is what I did. If that deal is still going, it is a no brainer. I think my apple tv came in a week to a week and and a half.

I wound up buying a roku express+ for $30 on amazon. I don't have anything from Appleworld and I've been reasonably pleased with the roku stick i have on another tv so i figured id try it out. I just didnt know if any particular dongle worked better with directv now.

Quote:

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Just curious, why do you want to keep a show indefinitely?

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We keep a stack of our favorite show episodes and go back and watch them from time to time. I guess we could get the DVD -- and have on many shows but without a media server, that is a bit of an inconveinence now. However, I think the whole process has sparked me to build a media server and just bypass all this streaming stuff and possibly cable at a later date. Most of what we watch is classic TV with only a few movies (I been to the cinema 3 times in about 20 years) and a lot of it (i.e. WKRP/Cincy; Night Court; and a few others) aren't in syndication much. Obviously, on demand isn't an option except for the various NCIS shows that my wife watches (and I hate).

I gave streaming a try. It isn't ready -- at least not for me. I haven't watched it since I posted last and I will stop the free trial this weekend. I'll still use Amazon Prime, though.

Quote:

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As more people move away from traditional cable to streaming, the market will provide a good ISP that won't require a cable subscription.

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Are there any such companies doing this now? If not, what makes you think they'll be here in the future? I thnk the cable companies are going about things wrong -- they SHOULD be lowering prices and snuffing out the streaming services -- making it not worth the effort. At some point this WILL happen.

Tabasco said:

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nwspmp said:

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superunknown said:

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Directv now has a first 3 months for $10 deal going on right now. No app for samsung smart tvs yet, so I'd need to get a roku, chromecast or fire tv stick, etc. Anyone recommend either/or with directv now?

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They also have a deal where if you prepay three months of DirecTV Now you can get a free Apple TV 4K. Normally this device is $179, but the three months of service is as low as $105 ($35/month * 3), which means the device is almost $75 less and you get the three months of service.

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This is what I did. If that deal is still going, it is a no brainer. I think my apple tv came in a week to a week and and a half.

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I'm not sure if they still do it, but another option is signing up and getting the Apple TV at an at&t store. That's what I did a year ago and it was very quick and easy.

Can you cancel after 3 months and just keep the Apple TV?

DeBoss said:

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Can you cancel after 3 months and just keep the Apple TV?

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yes

tamu05ag said:

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Connecting my attena with AirTV/sling is pretty cool since it incorporates the local channels on the sling guide. However, my tv isn't near a window but my attena needs to be by a window. Is there a good workaround on this so I can keep the AirTV and attena away from my tv without a long coaxial cable?

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HDHomerun will put your attennae feed into your network. I'm not sure if it can be picked up on the slingapp or not, I use Plex and it works well.

jay040 said:

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PS Vue lost all Sinclair owned ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. This means I no longer have Fox and NBC locals. I've read that come NFL season I'll be able to watch games on the Fox Sports app, but this is still annoying.

YouTube TV has the locals but not HGTV or Food Network, which are mandatory for my wife. Sling doesn't have all my locals and no DVR.

Does DirecTV Now have DVR for everyone yet, or is it still in beta?

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I supplement YouTube TV with Philo ($16/month) to get networks like HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, History Channel, etc.

https://www.philo.com/