Sony has been reducing the price on it as well. I’m in the process of dropping our cable TV sub, and seriously considered using Vue to pick up channels we’d be missing. The Hallmark Channel is non-negotiable in our household though, and Vue doesn’t have it, so we’re going with Sling TV.
PS Vue seems like the only service which actually understands what cord cutters want - full control over how and went to watch what customers want.
Sling TV’s feature set is awful. No DVR, few On Demand selections, and some channels don’t even let you pause live streams while others do. I can’t imagine that most people would want that service when it doesn’t match the DVR they’ve probably had for over a decade. No matter how cheap it is.
PS Vue instead has a universal cloud DVR that works for everything. But they barely advertise that fact, it’s weird.
From what I’ve heard, some channels/shows can’t be saved to their DVR, and the recordings expire after a month. Also the on-demand stuff has commercials which you cannot skip through, and trick play (pause for 20 min then speed through commercials) isn’t allowed. So, still not matching a cable subscription and physical STB DVR in your living room.
So let me reiterate: PS Vue is a decent service when it works, but when it doesn’t work, forget it.
I finally get around to trying to contact support about the “detected a change in your network connection or location” error. The web support literally doesn’t work, and I tried calling the phone number and it turns out they’re only available M-F during business hours.
To restate the problem: if your IP address changes for any reason, PS Vue thinks you’re trying to cheat the system and locks out access to the service on mobile devices even though you’re correctly trying to access from your home network. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s a pain in the ass that they handle this so poorly.
DirecTV will be announcing its $35/month cord cutter streaming package soon.
No word if it will have the kinds of limitations that make Sling such a terrible solution.
I’ve cut, no streamer. Part of it was a family decision with two young kids to stop watching so much TV. But Netflix and Shomi (soon to switch to Crave when shomi ends) still provides an absurd amount of content. Key thing is, accepting that some shows I just won’t watch because they’re not available to stream or too pricey to buy.
Only thing I personally miss is baseball, will probably get the mlb online app next year despite the high price. My wife misses Game of Thrones (haven’t seen the latest season yet, will probably buy it). We don’t watch aot of the good shows currently on and that’s ok. Kids probably watch a couple hours of TV a week, generally it doesn’t even occur to them to ask for it as we are busy with active play all the time. Now winter is coming though so we will probably want a bit more :).
Edit: sorry for the poor grammar, phone post and supervising playtime.
More info here:
This is the first I’ve heard that some channels and shows are excluded from the DVR, but I haven’t dug that thoroughly…would love to learn more.
Them expiring in a month isn’t a huge deal for me personally though. I can see why it would be a dealbreaker for others.
The problem with these… i will not pay for sports. I just won’t. I am done paying for expensive channels I don’t use. 35 is a lot more than 8, and it support this silly system where channels can sue others for not bundling their expensive content.
Based on this thread, I made the plunge and cut most of the cord. I’ve had Cox Cable since I moved to Kansas in 2001, and I hate them. It peaked last year when I was with limited service due to their errors for 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, I live far enough away from TV signals that I can’t get most over-the-air channels. (I live in an apartment, so an outdoor antenna isn’t a viable option.)
What sold me on the deal, though, was looking at Hulu again. I’d tried Hulu a few years ago and liked it, but not enough to make the plunge. I realized this time, though, that most of the shows I watch on TV are on Hulu. When combining that was PlayStation Vue, I have more than enough channels, and I’m mostly rid of Cox. I say mostly because I still have cable internet through them.
Why do I hate Cox? Well, cost is one thing. When I first got Cox in 2001 my cable and Internet bill was about $100 a month. That included two digital cable tiers, and, for the first 6 months or year or something, the three main premium cablers (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax). Today, I pay $180 a month for one digital cable tier and no premiums. So lousy service and insane prices.
Like lots of others, I don’t watch most of my cable channels. The random upper-number channels I did watch went away over the years because I was the only one watching them, apparently. Unlike lots of others, I don’t watch much sports. I don’t care about live sports most of the time. In fact, while I have PS Vue right now, I don’t know if I’ll keep it long term. (The good news is that–for now at least–I’m able to stream three stations from back home in Minnesota here in Kansas which is worth the cost for now.)
I also had TiVo. And, let me tell you, when I first got TiVo, I loved it. But I’ve been really unhappy with it lately (lineup issues). I had a hard time justifying $15 a month for its convenience. That $15 is being spent on Hulu with (nearly) no commercials for $11 (or $12 whatever it is) a month. I’ve already had Netflix.
I also can pick up 2 local channels with an indoor antenna. One of them happens to air 24/7 weather on a secondary digital signal, so I can check it out when the tornadoes start to come.
Cancelling? I was prepared for the worst when cancelling with Cox. It wasn’t THAT bad, probably because I was keeping internet. I was talked into having their streaming locals package because it made my internet-only bill less than it was.
However, TiVo when I called to cancel was incredibly condescending and snotty. If I were to go back to cable, I’d get a cable company DVR rather than TiVo based on that experience.
I’m paying under $80 which is too much, but better than it was. I figure I’m saving $115 a month on Cox and TiVo, and paying just under $50 a month for Hulu and Vue, so my net savings are $65 a month from what they were. Plus, I’m giving Cox less of my money.
I’m only a week or so into it, but there’s not a lot I miss. I love TV, but I would just have it on in the background a lot. I am hoping for more reading, more gaming, and more intent viewing.
Still just a rumor I think but the $35 is only if your also a AT&T wireless subscriber.
Yeah, could be one of those sneaky deals like the DSL they sell around here which is $20 a month, but only if you’re paying for a landline phone service, too (which no one wants).
Also, it remains to be seen what to can do with those channels. I don’t care if it’s 200 channels if I can’t DVR them.
Plex Pass Lifetime subscription is for sale for $119 today instead of $150. I think I’ll pass and wait for a drop to $75. Sometimes they offer those sales to old subscribers. It’s tempting at $119 though. The one feature I want from Plex Pass right now is the DVR feature. From screenshots it actually looks a lot nicer than Windows Media Player’s DVR features.
But I’m not sure if it will work with my older HDHomerun. I have the 2013 version I believe, though for some reason my Amazon account no longer has any record of me buying the device from them, even though they used to. Maybe this has something to do with split Amazon accounts that was mentioned in another thread?
Anyway, so likely my older HDHomerun won’t work with Plex Pass’ DVR features anyway, since it’s not listed as officially supported on their FAQ page.
I really hope one day the Xbox One gets DVR features. Then I won’t have to mess with any of this. Their Live TV guide and everything is already so nice.
The HDHomeRun App on Windows 10 and Xbox One sucks in comparison.
Rock8man, I just signed up… Not that I even really need the features, but to support them because awesome product! (And I’ve never subbed before so I’d probably not qualify for a bigger discount later.)
Anyway, I have an older HDHomeRun that I had to find a well-hidden firmware upgrade in the Silicon Dust forums to upgrade, but once I did, it works with the Silicon Dust tuner software. So given that, it should work with the Plex/HDHomeRun DVR features as they’re using the same code. I’ll give it a shot and let you know.
Actually, @Editer, you were the one that convinced me to buy that older HDHomeRun back in the day, so I bet I have the same one.
So yeah, I’d be very curious.
I also had to do that well-hidden firmware upgrade recently so that the older HDHomeRun would work with the new Win10/XboxOne HD HomeRun App.
Just started a trial of PlayStation Vue. They are having a $10 per month discount right now so the full package is $65 per month.
So far my impressions are that it works great. The fact you can select your favorite shows and then, if available on demand on any of the networks independent apps, you can access them immediately. Great interface. I think I will probably cancel my cable now and save $50 per month.
Only downside I can think of is that audio is only on stereo for now.
Can you skip commercials with PS Vue? You can’t skip commercials with SlingTV or DirecTV Now.
For “on demand” programs? I’ll let you know tonight when I try it out again. I think the answer is no though. You can pause live TV up to 30 minutes.
AT&T stores have a deal where you pre-pay for 3 months of DirecTV Now ($35/month, so $105) and get a free AppleTV (worth $150).
If you need an AppleTV this is obviously a stupendous deal. Apple’s new “TV” app is pretty promising, although as it doesn’t include Netflix, Hulu, Time-Warner Cable, or Comcast it isn’t fully-baked yet.