Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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GreenieBacker
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

thanks prof/professora. Don't get me wrong, I love the Apple products I have, my only hesitation in going further down the Apple ecosystem is the investment I've made in Amazon's. I'm still in the "Afraid to make a full commitment" stage to any one ecosystem.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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GB-- 1) totally understood (and reasonable) 2) Amazon stuff has streamed well for us with our current setup. I'm not sure if waveprofessora streams that through apple tv or directly to the tv (she isn't here at moment) but it HAS worked. We have amazon prime mostly for shipping (not tv), but we do occasionally use it for children's programming (we don't like a lot of contemporary kids shows as much as the old ones, and amazon has old ones)
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GretnaGrn »

WaveProf wrote:We have a free trial of Hulu now and wavetot gets a lot of programing through that (we haven't used it much because we don't watch much tv, but it has a lot if we wanted it).
Amazon Prime also has lots of kids stuff, and is cheaper (and comes with the other Prime perks, if you shop on Amazon anyway).
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by WaveProf »

Gretna---yes, we have Prime too (for shipping purposes) and use it a lot. If we keep hulu it won't be "because" of kid programming. I was just mentioning it in the pros and cons. For now we are using hulu to supplement some adult shows, but mostly only because its a free month.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

Hulu drops the gauntlet!

Hulu launched its $40-per-month television streaming service in public beta Wednesday, offering subscribers more than 50 live TV channels as well as access to its streaming catalog

Hulu TV subscribers also can watch channels including CNN, ESPN, TNT, and TBS and store up to 50 hours of DVR content for free. Some analysts said Hulu TV could help cord-cutting providers reach critical mass. "Now you bring in convenience, maybe some cost savings and you bring in news and sports and you start to get to that new world that we've been talking about for years," said 7Park Data analyst Christopher Coby

Hulu's $40 Live TV service is basically basic cable for cord-cutters

http://www.popsci.com/heres-how-hulus-4 ... ompetition
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by MattK »

as mentioned in another thread, I signed up for the free trial for Hulu to watch the Navy game. Cox still sucks and my internet went out for most of the first half, which I still can't fix.

I kept Hulu on for the later games to see how it went. I found that it seemed to buffer a lot more than Vue has been. I'll play around with it some more before the free trial runs out, but for now I'm planning on sticking with Vue.

I had been having issues with Vue buffering/pausing too, but I picked up a power line adapter and once I got that set up it's been pretty good. I was fairly surprised the power line adapter works in my terribly wired house.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

still leaning toward Vue but I saw that they raised their price on the $35 package to almost $40.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by ml wave »

GreenieBacker wrote:still leaning toward Vue but I saw that they raised their price on the $35 package to almost $40.
Won't be long until cord cutting becomes more expensive than cord keeping...
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

ml, with all of the various streaming sites that now have proprietary content cutting the cord isn't the deal it used to be unless you only want a very limited tv content (say OTA channels and Netflix, or OTA channels and HBO, etc) and are content with that.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by PeteRasche »

If you define "cutting the cord" as dropping cable to get rid of that monthly bill, but then replace it with a streaming service providing the same channels for a monthly fee, one might argue you didn't cut the cord, you simply changed service providers.

The method through which you get the content may have changed from a TV signal stream to an internet stream, but you're still paying for TV.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

So Pete what did you do? You're a cord cutter. I also read somewhere someone lamenting the good old days when Netflix carried every movie out there. Unlike now when Studios like Disney are pulling out and creating their own streaming network.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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GreenieBacker wrote:So Pete what did you do? You're a cord cutter. I also read somewhere someone lamenting the good old days when Netflix carried every movie out there. Unlike now when Studios like Disney are pulling out and creating their own streaming network.
Antenna since 2008. Paid a one-time fee ($40) for a piece of software called PlayOn that streams all the online content of every cable channel which archives their shows (pretty much every basic cable channel) and allows you to record it when it's posted, and our TV setup (htpc) allows us to play those recordings. Since we don't watch any TV shows live anyway, we don't care if the show appears 2 days later. We don't watch any premium shows (can always borrow dvds from the library a year later if we wanted, our public library system is phenomenal and has a huge DVD library including getting every big release the day it comes out). I don't have time for Netflix or any other movie/show provider (frankly we don't watch much TV at all). And for sports, I used to bootleg but then just realized my elderly parents weren't using their cable password, so plugging that password into the ESPN3 plugin in PlayOn fixes that.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

Pete, that's where I'm getting tripped up. I want to cut the cord but the options I'm looking at (Vue, Hulu, etc) are merely a watered down version of cable (maybe 2/3 the cost I pay now but missing channels I occasionally like to watch) and to supplement these options add cost that begins to mimic cable.

You would have had the same issues, I think if not for your cost free work around with ESPN.

I'm thinking the true beneficiaries of cord cutting are those that can live just fine with an antenna and the OTA channels with maybe a Netflix or a Amazon Prime or an HBO (whatever its called) added in.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by PeteRasche »

You are correct, true cord cutting does not work for big sports fans who need access to all the sports channels, unless you want to trust in the (lack of) reliability of bootleg streaming. Those "cord cutters" who drop cable and only have Netflix and Hulu and such have to find another way to watch most sports.

But I'd be curious about whatever else you watch; have you ever looked up the network's website to see if they archive episodes? What most networks make available on their websites is more than they offer on Hulu or such for free. If the shows are on the website, and you don't care about watching them real-time (as they air), PlayOn would work for you. You can set up favorites which download automatically when a new episode is posted. You can then watch them on a mobile device, cast that to a TV, or install their app on a TV box like a Roku.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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I had the cable package that was required to have NBC Sports. Don't remember which one that was on Cox, but it was not the cheapest one. On top of that, they charged monthy for 2 boxes, and extra for 1 one of the boxes to have DVR. Once the introductory bundle wore off, my Cox bill doubled in the span of 6 months. I called and talked to them and got it back to reasonable, but still more expensive than original for another year, then went through that process again and they really didn't lower it at all.

When I turned in my boxes and took the cable service off of my bill, it lowered by $140/month. I could probably go back to Cox at some point soon and try to get a bundle that is more competitive, but then in a year or 2 I'd be arguing with them again. Also, I don't like them.

But I would agree with Pete that I haven't really cut the cord in any way. I merely found a $100/month way cheaper to watch 98% of the stuff I want.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

Pete, PlayOn has raised its prices since you looked at them. They're now $70 fr the lifetime fee, still its an option worth looking into.........

Matt you're on Vue with no other add-ons?
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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GreenieBacker wrote:Pete, PlayOn has raised its prices since you looked at them. They're now $70 fr the lifetime fee, still its an option worth looking into.........

Matt you're on Vue with no other add-ons?
We had CBS All Access in addition for about 8 dollars a month for a couple months even though I'm sure there was a way around that. But Wwl is on Vue now, so no need for that.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by PeteRasche »

GreenieBacker wrote:Pete, PlayOn has raised its prices since you looked at them. They're now $70 fr the lifetime fee, still its an option worth looking into.........
They have frequent sales. :mrgreen: But even at $70, that's less than almost everyone pays for a single month of cable.

The other caveat is you need a PC running 24/7 as your server. Many people have this already (don't turn off their main home PC so effectively nothing changes) but it does have minimum speed and memory requirements which might exceed the machine that folks use for email and web surfing. Just something to keep in mind. You can get a used desktop off Amazon or eBay with more than the necessary specs for less than $300 and add several TB of storage for less than $100. Sounds like a big investment but think of it as "a couple months cable bill", the payback period is easily less than 6 months. The other cool thing is it has a "my media" section where you can access any ripped DVDs, photos, etc., of your own through their interface (some TV boxes have that built in as well, but if yours doesn't, PlayOn adds that access). In other words, use some freeware to rip your DVDs onto your hard drive and then they are all accessible from anywhere, and you don't need a disc player at a TV anymore.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by GreenieBacker »

Pete, it seems like, to get full value from PlayOn, you need a PC to act as a server where you can store recorded shows. What I can't figure out is whether they can be stored on an attached storage device or if it has to be on your computer's hard drive. Also, they can show something that appeared on say, Amazon Prime, without the need to be an Amazon Prime member (I understand that the show will appear days after it appeared on Prime)?

and then, after its stored you use a streaming device like Roku or Fire TV to see it on your TV?

I guess I don't fully understand how PlayOn works.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by PeteRasche »

Yes, it needs a PC (see my post above yours :mrgreen:).
But you can definitely use attached storage (USB or network), you choose the drives/folders where it saves. All my storage is external.
Otherwise, it sounds like you understand... It's easier than you'd think.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

Post by MattK »

as of today (or at least I just noticed today) CBS Sports is on Vue.

Memphis game solved.
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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Matt, which package are you on? Any regrets going with Vue?
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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GreenieBacker wrote:Matt, which package are you on? Any regrets going with Vue?
I did the Core plan.

Initially we had lagging/buffering problems because my TV is too far from the router. I picked up a wifi extender, but was losing too much speed through that and was still having buffering issues. Then I picked up a Powerline adapter and since we did that I've had almost no issues with buffering or pausing. I was fairly surprised that the Powerline adapter worked in my house, as the electrical wiring is a bit sketchy (really old cloth insulated wiring upstairs spliced to current wiring above flood level downstairs).

Now that it has picked up WWL and WDSU (which makes recording shows on them easier) plus CBS Sports, I'm much happier with it. Prior to that I had a separate CBS All Access subscription to be able to watch the few CBS shows we wanted.

Oh, the guide is poorly done and difficult to read. I really don't get why they haven't worked on that yet. DVR erases shows 28 days after they air (really not a problem, but sometimes annoying).
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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https://www.dallasnews.com/business/tec ... ming-after

Uh oh! Watch out!
Basically a scary headline and a lot of bluster from cable execs. We're losing customers to password sharing! We need to stop it! (But we don't want to make the login process too hard or we'll lose more customers)
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Re: Sling TV / Playstion Vue

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MattK wrote:
GreenieBacker wrote:Matt, which package are you on? Any regrets going with Vue?
Initially we had lagging/buffering problems because my TV is too far from the router. I picked up a wifi extender, but was losing too much speed through that and was still having buffering issues. Then I picked up a Powerline adapter and since we did that I've had almost no issues with buffering or pausing. I was fairly surprised that the Powerline adapter worked in my house, as the electrical wiring is a bit sketchy (really old cloth insulated wiring upstairs spliced to current wiring above flood level downstairs).
The powerline adapters work best in old houses. They have problems working through GCFI and outlets and surge protectors. FYI
gerryb323 wrote:https://www.dallasnews.com/business/tec ... ming-after

Uh oh! Watch out!
Basically a scary headline and a lot of bluster from cable execs. We're losing customers to password sharing! We need to stop it! (But we don't want to make the login process too hard or we'll lose more customers)
The sharing of logins will do nothing but cause the piece of the product to go up, thus punishing the person who actually buys the product. Just liking sharing a "bottomless" meal or a buffet.
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