Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by WaveProf »

Finally about ready to cut the cable cables (been talking about this forever).

Specifically, has anyone tried slingtv? What did you think of it?

Looks like I can get ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, CNN, and a few other channels for 20 bucks a month. Add the other ESPNs during Tulane football season for 5 bucks a month, and buy Top Chef from amazon for 30 bucks a season. Since I mostly only watch Tulane football, Top Chef, Anthony Bourdain, and occasionally a Simpsons or SNL, this all seems preferable to the 100 a month I'm currently spending on cable. Also looks like I could simply cancel SlingTV over summer when I'm not here to use it (saving even more). But have people been happy with the connection, service, etc?



Edit: Just realized you can't DVR on slingTV, so that nixes that, but most of what I just said also applies to Playstation Vue (which does have a cloud DVR). And for 35 bucks a month I can get the ESPNs, Bravo, CNN, and about 40 other channels
Last edited by WaveProf on Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sling TV

Post by WaveProf »

PS: Also considering DirectTV, but that won't save as much mula (but does allow me to stop short of going all in on internet tv). I know some people don't like that DirectTV goes out in bad weather, but we are right next to the Mississippi and the only 2 story house on the block, so we should get good reception......meanwhile as little as we watch, it shouldn't matter as much.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by MattK »

We switched to play station vue using a fire TV box. Did the free trial the week before Christmas and I turned in my cable boxes last Friday. Cox didn't even bother trying to offer anything to keep me. They still get my internet money though.

I opted for vue over sling because it included nbc sports. The channel guide on vue is hard to read.

We really haven't had any connection issues with the Internet. I had one soccer match pause because my router extender dropped the signal. Restarted that and I was fine.

My antenna was spotty for the first saints game I watched on it but pretty good yesterday.

So far what i miss most about cox is the clock on the cable boxes in both rooms that I had them in. Probably not worth the $100/month extra though.

As a bonus, no cbs sports yet, so I didn't watch any of that debacle yesterday.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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MattK wrote:We switched to play station vue using a fire TV box. Did the free trial the week before Christmas and I turned in my cable boxes last Friday. Cox didn't even bother trying to offer anything to keep me. They still get my internet money though.

I opted for vue over sling because it included nbc sports. The channel guide on vue is hard to read.

We really haven't had any connection issues with the Internet. I had one soccer match pause because my router extender dropped the signal. Restarted that and I was fine.

My antenna was spotty for the first saints game I watched on it but pretty good yesterday.

So far what i miss most about cox is the clock on the cable boxes in both rooms that I had them in. Probably not worth the $100/month extra though.

As a bonus, no cbs sports yet, so I didn't watch any of that debacle yesterday.
Thanks for the feedback Matt! (weird calling someone I know in real life by their first name on here, but I guess its appropriate since its also your handle lol).

We are buying a newer/better router/modem as I type, and planning to give Playstation Vue the old college try
“We will expect success in all endeavors and be prepared to assess and hold ourselves accountable when we aren't successful. Tulane is a top 40 academic institution and it should expect nothing less from its athletic department.” --Troy Dannen 11.5.16
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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my wife was hen pecking me this morning over the DirecTV bill and I pointed out that nobody offers the same capacity or capability DVR as DirecTV. You can record 6 shows at once... I have a years worth of HD shows stored on there and still have 25% more space. DirecTV has now matched Dish and will not change their pricing for two years with new contracts.. that doesn't help me for another 15 months... but when I'm off my current deal, they will be giving me some serious discounts to keep me.

Dish lies to people about their DVR capabilities... you can only record 6 shows at once as long as 4 of them are the major networks and only during prime time hours (it's their Hopper technology). Dish is now fooling people into thinking they can do a la cart... they show it really quickly, but you still have to buy the Dish 50 or whatever their base package is and then you can buy station groups a la cart. Not exactly the flexibility they insinuate they are giving you in the commercial (I love the ability to pause live TV and read the disclaimers... if everyone did that, they'd realize what scams T Mobile and Sprint are running when they say they are better than or as good as Verizon and AT&T.. the criteria for their comparison would enrage any self respecting statistician)

Edit... back to the hen pecking.. a astutely pointed out her TV watching patterns and illustrated how cord cutting for her won't work.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by WaveProf »

Thanks JM!
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by doncecco »

First of all, Top 3 evil entities on the planet today:

1. LSU
2. Atlanta Falcons
3. DirecTV

ISIS a distant 4th. I can get into details if you wish, but DirecTV will never see my money again, which sucks, because Sunday Ticket would save me a lot of money for 12 or so Sundays every fall.

My question is do any of the cut the cord options offer NFL Redzone? That is a must for me. I've gotten to enjoy it so much when not watching Saints, I will pay an extra $1000/yr to have it. If I could get that and all mainstream sports channels, then I will join the movement. My wife only watches Netflix or other web based programs and my kids maybe watch 2-3 common channels. I could do it as long as all major sports are readily available.
Last edited by doncecco on Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by WaveProf »

Doncecco---Funny post. I'll press you for more details about DirectTV if Playstation Vue doesn't work out, because DirectTV is/was our fallback option before your post. But for now we are on a free trial of Playstation Vue and ordering a power line adaptor to hopefully make our internet work better.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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doncecco wrote:First of all, Top 3 evil entities on the planet today:

1. LSU
2. Atlanta Falcons
3. DirecTV

ISIS a distant 4th. I can get into details if you wish, but DirecTV will never see my money again, whiych sucks, because Sunday Ticket would save me a lot of money for 12 or so Sundays every fall.

My question is do any of the cut the cord options offer NFL Redzone? That is a must for me. I've gotten to enjoy it so much when not watching Saints, I will pay an extra $1000/yr to have it. If I could get that and all mainstream sports channels, then I will join the movement. My wife only watches Netflix or other web based programs and my kids maybe watch 2-3 common channels. I could do it as long as all major sports are readily available.
For $35/month it includes all the ESPNs, FS1 and 2 (and seems to have the regional one as I had a Pelican game the other day, NBC Sports, BeIN sports. There are some regional college fox channels that are above the $35 package. Red zone is available for $40 for the season (there's an asterisk next to that, not sure why). The only holdout is cbs sports, which may be annoying come football season.

DVR I think only holds things for 28 days, but I don't see why I'd have a problem with that.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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WaveProf wrote:Doncecco---Funny post. I'll press you for more details about DirectTV if Playstation Vue doesn't work out, because DirectTV is/was our fallback option before your post. But for now we are on a free trial of Playstation Vue and ordering a power line adaptor to hopefully make our internet work better.
no matter what your TV choice is, stick to your plan of getting the Netgear Powerline.. my house is "wired" with them... both of my Vizios sucked balls over wifi... I'd get maybe 3 mbps, but mostly about 1.8 mbps... Amazon and Netflix would take forever to load and I would get so many error messages saying I had no connectivity... then I hard wired my smart TVs into Netgear Powerlines and the streaming on the TV is lightning fast. The computer I am currently typing on is attached to the network via a Powerline adapter and my wifi is from a Netgear Powerline adapter.

The best deal on them is via Amazon.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by doncecco »

Which one are you referring to, Mattk?
MattK wrote:
doncecco wrote:First of all, Top 3 evil entities on the planet today:

1. LSU
2. Atlanta Falcons
3. DirecTV

ISIS a distant 4th. I can get into details if you wish, but DirecTV will never see my money again, whiych sucks, because Sunday Ticket would save me a lot of money for 12 or so Sundays every fall.

My question is do any of the cut the cord options offer NFL Redzone? That is a must for me. I've gotten to enjoy it so much when not watching Saints, I will pay an extra $1000/yr to have it. If I could get that and all mainstream sports channels, then I will join the movement. My wife only watches Netflix or other web based programs and my kids maybe watch 2-3 common channels. I could do it as long as all major sports are readily available.
For $35/month it includes all the ESPNs, FS1 and 2 (and seems to have the regional one as I had a Pelican game the other day, NBC Sports, BeIN sports. There are some regional college fox channels that are above the $35 package. Red zone is available for $40 for the season (there's an asterisk next to that, not sure why). The only holdout is cbs sports, which may be annoying come football season.

DVR I think only holds things for 28 days, but I don't see why I'd have a problem with that.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by MattK »

Doncecco- play station vue
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GretnaGrn »

I have NEVER known anyone to have a good experience with DirecTV in the New Orleans area. The connectivity issues seem epidemic for it down here. Can't really speak to the others, although I'ld appreciate an update on how the Vue works out--really, the only reason we have cable (well, UVerse anyway) is the sports channels....
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Gretna---thanks, and I'll give the update when I have the test data. Both Matt (on this thread and in pm) and another real life friend (who has a tech job at Tulane) have positive things to say, including about sports (albeit the complaints about CBSSN which matters specifically for Tulane fans)
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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quick update: using Chromecast on the second tv isn't working out great with vue. sometimes it runs for hours on end with no issues and sometimes it doesn't make it through an episode before it freezes up. When it freezes up, i lose my white noise at night.

probably going to pick up a fire stick for that tv and move the chromecast back to the game room. was only trying with the chromecast since I already owned it.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Full disclosure, this is WaveProfesora.

Matt,

I've been looking at what devices to stream TV, especially Playstation VUE, the fire stick has really bad reviews. The "best" devices according to the Sony folks and the reading I've done are (in this order):

1. A playstation 3 or 4
2. An Apple TV 4 or a Amazon Fire TV (these two get switched around)

I have an Apple TV 3 that I use for Airplay and, mostly, really like it, but it won't let me download apps (only the 4 will). And Apple TV has no amazon App (we have Prime and use that content, especially the kids programming). Meanwhile, using AirPLay for that content has been really bad and slow (but I have not connected the PowerLink yet). HOWEVER, Apple TV has a CBS Sports App, which (I've only read a little bit on this) may solve the CBS Sports issue we Tulane fans have. The Amazon Fire TV does not have the App.

Personally, I'm annoyed that I have to buy any hardware, especially since I have an Apple TV and Amazon Prime. But, the name of the game these days is making you pick. We are, largely, Apple people, but I like my Amazon services. This non-compatibility issue may be improved as there are lots of folks like us and our numbers are growing. Meanwhile, this investment is hardware is still going to save us a fairly large amount of money over Cox.

I'll (not Prof--this is my thing) will update when we get everything hooked up and officially un-hook Cox to let you all know how it's going. Thanks very much for the help thus far!

Best and Roll Wave!
Wave Profesora
“We will expect success in all endeavors and be prepared to assess and hold ourselves accountable when we aren't successful. Tulane is a top 40 academic institution and it should expect nothing less from its athletic department.” --Troy Dannen 11.5.16
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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WaveProf wrote:Finally about ready to cut the cable cables (been talking about this forever).

Specifically, has anyone tried slingtv? What did you think of it?

Looks like I can get ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, CNN, and a few other channels for 20 bucks a month. Add the other ESPNs during Tulane football season for 5 bucks a month, and buy Top Chef from amazon for 30 bucks a season. Since I mostly only watch Tulane football, Top Chef, Anthony Bourdain, and occasionally a Simpsons or SNL, this all seems preferable to the 100 a month I'm currently spending on cable. Also looks like I could simply cancel SlingTV over summer when I'm not here to use it (saving even more). But have people been happy with the connection, service, etc?



Edit: Just realized you can't DVR on slingTV, so that nixes that, but most of what I just said also applies to Playstation Vue (which does have a cloud DVR). And for 35 bucks a month I can get the ESPNs, Bravo, CNN, and about 40 other channels
Here's the what we did from someone who has ad Sling and now DirectTVNow.

DitrecTVNow: $35 a month for two streams at once. ESPN, FS1, and TCM(important for the wife). When we got it about a month ago there was a deal that you get a new apple TV for free also. Not sure if that is still going on.

Sling: We subscribed to the ESPN option for 20$ and paid $5 extra for sports pack and $5 more for TCM movies channel pack. It was only one stream though. You can usually get a free Roku for singing up with Sling.

So far DirectTVnow has a better lineup. Sling has better on demand options. Sling currently has fewer bugs or disconnects, but attribute that to the newness of the software. Not that this applies to you, but Directtvnow includes Fox news and fox business.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by WaveProf »

Thanks Poseidon!
“We will expect success in all endeavors and be prepared to assess and hold ourselves accountable when we aren't successful. Tulane is a top 40 academic institution and it should expect nothing less from its athletic department.” --Troy Dannen 11.5.16
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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https://directvnow.com/appletv#slide1 the link for the free apple tv may still work.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Poseidon wrote:https://directvnow.com/appletv#slide1 the link for the free apple tv may still work.
Starting to think this may be the answer*. Thanks so much!


*and if it isn't, we can cancel after the three month commitment (just in time for summer when we won't be here anyway), and we'll have a free apple tv 4 for our efforts, which will help with Playstation Vue in the Fall. win/win
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GretnaGrn »

WaveProf wrote:Full disclosure, this is WaveProfesora.

Matt,

I've been looking at what devices to stream TV, especially Playstation VUE, the fire stick has really bad reviews. The "best" devices according to the Sony folks and the reading I've done are (in this order):

1. A playstation 3 or 4
2. An Apple TV 4 or a Amazon Fire TV (these two get switched around)

I have an Apple TV 3 that I use for Airplay and, mostly, really like it, but it won't let me download apps (only the 4 will). And Apple TV has no amazon App (we have Prime and use that content, especially the kids programming). Meanwhile, using AirPLay for that content has been really bad and slow (but I have not connected the PowerLink yet). HOWEVER, Apple TV has a CBS Sports App, which (I've only read a little bit on this) may solve the CBS Sports issue we Tulane fans have. The Amazon Fire TV does not have the App.

Personally, I'm annoyed that I have to buy any hardware, especially since I have an Apple TV and Amazon Prime. But, the name of the game these days is making you pick. We are, largely, Apple people, but I like my Amazon services. This non-compatibility issue may be improved as there are lots of folks like us and our numbers are growing. Meanwhile, this investment is hardware is still going to save us a fairly large amount of money over Cox.

I'll (not Prof--this is my thing) will update when we get everything hooked up and officially un-hook Cox to let you all know how it's going. Thanks very much for the help thus far!

Best and Roll Wave!
Wave Profesora
We actually have two fire sticks that we use pretty extensively to access Amazon prime programming. We've never had a problem with them at all, although we also never use them for live TV.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

Man, I'm so glad I stumbled into this Topic! :-D

I'm one of those seriously contemplating dumping Cox (Cable TV) and had pretty much settled on Playstation Vue. Which to me seems most like cable so making the transition wouldn't be as difficult. Also looking at their $35 package it pretty much includes every channel I tend to watch now. Combine Vue with Amazon's Fire Stick and I should be good to go. So please continue sharing your experiences its been very illuminating.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Update here: We are on a week long trial of Playstation Vue and really like it. But we think we might (at the end of the week) do the 3 month commitment to the DirectTVNow (not the real DirecTV, the online one that is like Playstation Vue that Poseidon mentions above). SInce it comes with a free apple tv 4 (we have a 3 and need a 4 to use it with Playstation Vue), we figure 3 month for 105 dollars is worth it. If we don't like it, we can switch back to Playstation Vue in May. Meanwhile, the tv line-up seems (at first glance) comparable to Playstation Vue. Still need to read up more on its cloud DVR to make sure it is somewhat comparable to Playstation Vue.

We plan to call Cox and officially cut the cord once we have our permanant, working one of these set up
“We will expect success in all endeavors and be prepared to assess and hold ourselves accountable when we aren't successful. Tulane is a top 40 academic institution and it should expect nothing less from its athletic department.” --Troy Dannen 11.5.16
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Poseidon...... Does DirectTVNow have a cloud DVR, and if so, are you happy with it? If not, are most shows "OnDemand" for a little while? If I lose the ability to watch sports on DVR (I typically start Tulane games 1-2 hours late to skip commercials and halftime) I'll survive. But for the few serial shows I watch (mostly Top Chef and Anthony Bourdain), I don't want to have to watch them live.
“We will expect success in all endeavors and be prepared to assess and hold ourselves accountable when we aren't successful. Tulane is a top 40 academic institution and it should expect nothing less from its athletic department.” --Troy Dannen 11.5.16
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

Two questions I have
1. Are local channels part of both DirectTV and Vue?
2. How do you get the service on multiple TV's?
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