PlayStation Vue!

From you Midpack, I was just wondering if your previously expressed views had changed now that you have had more experience using the service.
 
Jury is still out but it isn't looking good. DW doesn't like it at all and wants to pull the plug on it right now... but she dislikes change to begin with.

I'm on the fence but in the end I don't think the disadvantages compared to our Dish set up will be worth the ~$28/month of savings.

It hangs on us at least once a day. I'm not at all keen on the vertical guide vs the horizontal guide that I'm used to with Dish and Xfinity. The fact that when I launch PSV it takes me to some seemingly random channel of live TV vs the last channel I was tuned to is annoying. The limitations on rewinding while watching live TV are annoying compared to what I am used to.
 
pb4uski said:
Jury is still out but it isn't looking good. DW doesn't like it at all and wants to pull the plug on it right now... but she dislikes change to begin with.
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Similar situation here. I'm a current Dish customer paying around $135 per month. (Too much!) But after taking Vue for a test drive and thinking about all the other services / equipment I'd need to cut the cord, I'm kind of hesitant to fire Dish. We currently have 4 remotes - TV, sound bar, Roku, Dish. We never use the TV remote but just having the 3 other remotes doesn't make DW happy. I can't imagine the struggles if I went to a Vue, Tablo, etc setup.
 
Carpediem said:
Similar situation here. I'm a current Dish customer paying around $135 per month. (Too much!) But after taking Vue for a test drive and thinking about all the other services / equipment I'd need to cut the cord, I'm kind of hesitant to fire Dish. We currently have 4 remotes - TV, sound bar, Roku, Dish. We never use the TV remote but just having the 3 other remotes doesn't make DW happy. I can't imagine the struggles if I went to a Vue, Tablo, etc setup.
Click to expand...

I've posted this before but in case some didn't see it here it is again. The Sideclick remote solved multiple remotes for me. Others swear by the Logitech Harmony remotes. Those will give you more features but the Sideclick handles all my daily needs for tv viewing. Simple to program. I don't have a Tablo so not sure how that fits in. PS Vue has a DVR feature which is all I need.


 
See below.
pb4uski said:
From you Midpack, I was just wondering if your previously expressed views had changed now that you have had more experience using the service. While Dish Network is better integrated, it's not worth an additional $509/yr to us. And we've had the same out of date Dish equipment we started with. If we want new receivers, etc. it would cost us another $144/yr, so we'd be up to a $653/yr premium. I assume at some point they will quit supporting the old equipment and force us to new and the upcharge. So we will go with PS Vue (because DW would like to avoid change) unless Dish extends their deep 6-mo discount they gave us.

We're in a major metro area where PS Vue includes ABC, NBC, CBS & Fox live. If we were in an area without live major networks, we would not be so keen on PS Vue.

We trialed YouTube TV over the past few weeks, and cancelled today. A better UI, though still vertical (vs horizontal) guide, and performance was excellent. But they are missing way too many channels vs PS Vue so far - so YouTube TV doesn't make sense for us. When/if YouTube TV adds more popular channels, we'll switch - that's part of the beauty of streaming TV, there are no contracts so you can switch any time.

 Jury is still out but it isn't looking good. DW doesn't like it at all and wants to pull the plug on it right now... but she dislikes change to begin with. My DW doesn't like change either, but she agrees Dish is not worth $509/year.

I'm on the fence but in the end I don't think the disadvantages compared to our Dish set up will be worth the ~$28/month of savings. Our savings will be $42-$54/mo.

It hangs on us at least once a day. I'm not at all keen on the vertical guide vs the horizontal guide that I'm used to with Dish and Xfinity. The fact that when I launch PSV it takes me to some seemingly random channel of live TV vs the last channel I was tuned to is annoying. The limitations on rewinding while watching live TV are annoying compared to what I am used to. It hasn't hung up on us that often, we can live with it. We agree the traditional horizontal guide is preferable more familiar. Folks who have lived with Netflix, Hulu, etc. seem to expect the vertical guide, so we know we could get used to it. The irony is, on every platform except Roku, PS Vue does provide a horizontal guide - I don't get what's holding them back? And I agree the rewind/fast forward capability is inferior, but $509/yr and getting out from under the thumb of cable/satellite is worth it to us.
Click to expand...
 
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pb4uski said:
Jury is still out but it isn't looking good. DW doesn't like it at all and wants to pull the plug on it right now... but she dislikes change to begin with.

I'm on the fence but in the end I don't think the disadvantages compared to our Dish set up will be worth the ~$28/month of savings.

It hangs on us at least once a day. I'm not at all keen on the vertical guide vs the horizontal guide that I'm used to with Dish and Xfinity. The fact that when I launch PSV it takes me to some seemingly random channel of live TV vs the last channel I was tuned to is annoying. The limitations on rewinding while watching live TV are annoying compared to what I am used to.
Click to expand...
So, the channel guide scrolls horizontally like Netflix or Amazon Prime? Is it text or icon based? Can you only see what is currently showing, or can you also see scheduled programming for a later time?
 
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MichaelB said:
So, the channel guide scrolls horizontally like Netflix or Amazon Prime? Is it text or icon based? Can you only see what is currently showing, or can you also see scheduled programming for a later time?
Click to expand...



I'm interested in this, also. I spent most of yesterday comparing SlingTV and PlayStation Vue.

I don't have a smart TV so I would be casting from the app on my tablet.
 
tinlizzy said:
I'm interested in this, also. I spent most of yesterday comparing SlingTV and PlayStation Vue.

I don't have a smart TV so I would be casting from the app on my tablet.
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I don't know Sling. But the PS Vue iPad app has the newer vertical and a horizontal (matrix) guide, like cable and satellite have offered for decades. You can designate favorite channels and they will appear first in the matrix, and all the other channels alphabetically after. I believe PS Vue offers the conventional matrix guide on every device except Roku :confused:
 
Murf2 said:
I tried PS Vue for a week on my TV with a Roku stick.
The programming is just what I need but the user interface with Roku sucks unless I'm missing something.
Does Vue have any menu available when using an actual PlayStation or some other device? I guess I'm old fashion but I like a menu and watching more like cable TV.
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Playstation Vue on Amazon Fire TV (box version, not stick version) is a really good experience. Very fast, super picture. We have box and stick versions. The box is really superior because of the more RAM and faster processor.
 
We cut the cord on 5/1/17, thanks to the encouragement of the threads here. I first heard of PlayStation Vue here and went to their website for more information. We were over at my son's house and were watching the basketball games and I noticed that it said PlayStation Vue on the screen. I thought that it was Comcast. Seeing it first hand and having DH see it first hand made all the difference.

Our Comcast Triple Play had crept up to $217.xx per month. We replaced the phone with Ooma (again I heard about it on this site) and had our phone number ported over and our bill is supposed to be $4.xx per month, signed up for PlayStation Vue and chose the cheapest package at $29.99 per month for now and Comcast ended up letting us have the Digital Blast internet at the promotional price of $59.99 per month for 12 months. We bought our Arris Surfboard Modem and the Ooma. We already had the Roku Ultra and the Apple Airport Extreme. We need to get another streaming device for the bedroom, but I am waiting for a short time. I would prefer to get the Apple TV, but I don't think that it has Amazon on it and we do have Amazon Prime. I could be wrong on this and need to read more. We thought about Fire TV, but the review I read said they tend to push their products and try to exclude others. Same thing can be said about Apple pushing Itunes Store. I will keep reading here on what others decide and like.

Anyway, I am so excited to reduce our bill and our reliance on Comcast. We really don't have much choice when it comes to internet.
 
Go the the Amazon Fire TV box (not the stick). Very fast, the UI on VUE is really good on Fire TV.

If you already are Amazon Prime subscribers, you can access the Prime Movie and TV show library.

We have Fire TV boxes on the primary TVs and sticks on the smaller TVs. The only downside of the stick is they are slower to load and move around in the UI.
 
Carpediem said:
Looks like we have another player to check out:

New Hulu Live TV Deal Gives Customers More Options | Fox Business
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So they've finally rolled theirs out, great. I looked at the free trial but they wouldn't even disclose their plan without all my personal info upfront. There are channels missing or coming later and live local majors only available in major metro areas, just like PSV and YTTV. And their early performance and UI reviews are just so-so, so I'll wait and see.
The streaming-video provider announced the beta launch of Hulu With Live TV, priced starting at $39.99 monthly for around 50 channels. The service includes ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC programming — with the availability of local TV stations varying by market — and cable nets including ESPN, CNN, Fox News, TBS, TNT and Disney Channel. Showtime is available for $9 extra.

Hulu, which broke the news at its upfront presentation Wednesday in New York City, also announced a new agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive to add networks including HGTV, Travel Channel and Food Network to both Hulu’s new live service and existing premium streaming offering. Under the pact, Hulu now offers full seasons of Scripps Networks series in the VOD service.

Missing from Hulu’s live TV menu: HBO, AMC Networks, Viacom’s Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and other nets, Starz, and Discovery Communications channels. The company said additional premium network add-ons will become available soon.

Another catch: While local TV stations will be available in the service across the U.S., Hulu won’t offer all four major networks everywhere. Local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC broadcast nets are available in L.A., New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago. In other markets, Hulu With Live TV will have holes in the lineup; the company says it’s working to cut deals with station groups and will add more local channels over time.
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I also cut the cord today with PS Vue (and Netflix and Amazon Prime). Per discussions here, I took my cable hardware to the Xfinity store and made the changes - no problem and no upselling.
 
Ugh! I just got an email that PS Vue is raising the price of their cheapest plan by $10, effective today for new subscribers and in 3 months for existing accounts.

Oh well, at least there is competition in streaming unlike most cable in most locations.
 
Same price increase here. They seem to have dropped the price difference packages for those that do not have all the "Live" networks.

Our market only has CBS. The others are on demand.

I might look at DirecTV Now, but I still think Playstation Vue on Amazon Fire TV is a great experience.

Maybe the prices will flip and traditional cable will be a better deal some day. Who knows.
 
USGrant1962 said:
Ugh! I just got an email that PS Vue is raising the price of their cheapest plan by $10, effective today for new subscribers and in 3 months for existing accounts.

Oh well, at least there is competition in streaming unlike most cable in most locations.
Click to expand...

Wow, that didn't take long, did it? Seems like these things require constant attention if you want to optimize/customize to the fullest extent
 
I didn't get an email, but reviewing their website looks like mine will go up $10 to get the same channels I currently have. I may just go back to the Sling $20/mo package. Will miss out on a couple of channels I like, but still plenty to watch in addition to Netflix and Amazon I have.
 
This affects people using their "slim" offering, which was $10 per month less expensive but didn't include current programming from the major broadcast channels. Are slim package users now getting access to the same broadcast channels, or is this pure price increase?
 
The website is still showing $39.99/mo for the Core package with ABC, NBC, CBS & Fox plus all the others for my location near Chicago, same as it was 6 months ago. But maybe that'll change here too eventually? The Access Package is $44.99/mo, but it was/is not the base package for my location (yet?), it offers a few more channels. I expect to resubscribe to PSV in August when/if our big Dish Network discount expires.
 
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Old thread, I know. But I thought I'd share our experience so far with Playstation Vue.

We mainly watch Netflix, Prime, and the major networks. OTA is not an option for us. Way too far, plus a challenging topography in the immediate area. We had been getting the broadcast networks via FiOS, along with our 50/50 internet service. Through some quirk in Verizon's pricing, it was actually cheaper to get internet plus the broadcast TV tier (with a double-play discount), vs internet alone. So that's what we've done last 5 years.

But Frontier just raised the price significantly and would not negotiate. Plus the system I used for DVR and EPG functionality, while totally free, was somewhat cumbersome. It utilized an HDHomeRun tuner, a PC running WMC, and Kodi on the Fire TV boxes. So I went searching for alternatives.

After a lot of reading and a few free trials, we went with the Playstation Vue "Access" package for $39.99/mo. It's a bit more than I wanted to pay. But in addition to broadcast, we get about 50 of the most popular cable channels that we haven't had in 5 years. Also, it's the only streaming service that offers all of our local networks. None of them offer PBS, but we use the PBS app on Fire TV, which works fine. We do miss a few of the syndicated shows that aired on our local PBS affiliate, but we've found them on YouTube.

We still don't watch much of anything live, except occasional news, sports, and a few network programs. But we really like the cloud DVR for our favorite shows and the extensive on-demand offering. The PSV interface on Fire TV is very easy to figure out and looks quite good. The horizontal-scrolling guide does take some getting used to. And the on-demand content does not allow FF thru ads, although you can FF through recorded content.

I also like this physical set-up better, with no hardware at all other than our existing Fire TV boxes. They just released an update which tightens the integration with the Fire TV platform. For example, when you do a voice search using the remote, it now shows PSV on-demand content. You can also use the voice remote within PSV to change channels, fast-forward, etc. I hope they continue to tighten up the integration. For example, I'd like to see a category row on the Fire TV home page with recently-recorded PSV shows, or newly-available on-demand content, similar to Netflix integration.

Anyway, after about 2 weeks, DW and I are very pleased. Picture quality is quite good, although I think it is 720p with no surround sound. Performance is very fast and reliable. We've noticed buffering a couple times, but nothing major. If it repeats, I restart the app, which seems to solve the problem. Unlimited cloud DVR is amazing. Interface is very user-friendly and integration is improving. It's definitely one of the pricier options out there, but the "Access" channel line-up fits us well and they provide all the locals, which nobody else does at the moment.
 
Thanks for the reminder...checked it out and voice works with our Fire Box and the 3 Sticks we have. Great convenience. We find the grid guide to be a PIA to use. Only thing it won't do is change inputs on the tv from antenna to hdmi , but that's a small thing right now.

Cobra9777 said:
Old thread, I know. But I thought I'd share our experience so far with Playstation Vue.

We mainly watch Netflix, Prime, and the major networks. OTA is not an option for us. Way too far, plus a challenging topography in the immediate area. We had been getting the broadcast networks via FiOS, along with our 50/50 internet service. Through some quirk in Verizon's pricing, it was actually cheaper to get internet plus the broadcast TV tier (with a double-play discount), vs internet alone. So that's what we've done last 5 years.

But Frontier just raised the price significantly and would not negotiate. Plus the system I used for DVR and EPG functionality, while totally free, was somewhat cumbersome. It utilized an HDHomeRun tuner, a PC running WMC, and Kodi on the Fire TV boxes. So I went searching for alternatives.

After a lot of reading and a few free trials, we went with the Playstation Vue "Access" package for $39.99/mo. It's a bit more than I wanted to pay. But in addition to broadcast, we get about 50 of the most popular cable channels that we haven't had in 5 years. Also, it's the only streaming service that offers all of our local networks. None of them offer PBS, but we use the PBS app on Fire TV, which works fine. We do miss a few of the syndicated shows that aired on our local PBS affiliate, but we've found them on YouTube.

We still don't watch much of anything live, except occasional news, sports, and a few network programs. But we really like the cloud DVR for our favorite shows and the extensive on-demand offering. The PSV interface on Fire TV is very easy to figure out and looks quite good. The horizontal-scrolling guide does take some getting used to. And the on-demand content does not allow FF thru ads, although you can FF through recorded content.

I also like this physical set-up better, with no hardware at all other than our existing Fire TV boxes. They just released an update which tightens the integration with the Fire TV platform. For example, when you do a voice search using the remote, it now shows PSV on-demand content. You can also use the voice remote within PSV to change channels, fast-forward, etc. I hope they continue to tighten up the integration. For example, I'd like to see a category row on the Fire TV home page with recently-recorded PSV shows, or newly-available on-demand content, similar to Netflix integration.

Anyway, after about 2 weeks, DW and I are very pleased. Picture quality is quite good, although I think it is 720p with no surround sound. Performance is very fast and reliable. We've noticed buffering a couple times, but nothing major. If it repeats, I restart the app, which seems to solve the problem. Unlimited cloud DVR is amazing. Interface is very user-friendly and integration is improving. It's definitely one of the pricier options out there, but the "Access" channel line-up fits us well and they provide all the locals, which nobody else does at the moment.
Click to expand...
 
I had PS Vue for about 3 months last year after I dumped DirectTV. I also have Netflix. The streaming quality on Netflix is superb, even when streaming 4K video. I have a 100 Mbit/sec connection in both my homes. I found PS Vue to be very unstable with frequent lock-ups and video interruptions. I never experienced that with Netflix streaming even when streaming 4K. PS Vue was locked to one IP address also. It cost me $40 per month including some local channels for PS Vue. Many channels were removed from my package due to disputes Sony was having with content providers. I got frustrated with PS Vue and moved onto Sling Blue at $24.95 a month where I could not be happier. It's much more stable and can be used on my phone, tablet, PC, and second home for one low price. The cheapest option for cord cutters is to get local channels OTA in HD and use a service like Pluto TV which gives you 100's of channel including a 4K broadcast channel for free. To my surprise, Pluto TV is much more stable than PS Vue ever was and the quality of the video is vastly superior. The quality of the 4k channel is stunning. The user interface is much better than Sling or PS Vue. I use a 4K Roku premiere plus box to access the channel apps. These are the channels I subscribe to and their costs:

Sling Blue $24.95 per month (50 channels)
NetFlix Premium $13.99 per month
Pluto TV (Free) 120 channels plus free on demand moves plus one 4K only channel
CBSN - Free CBS News
CW Seed - Free CW on demand
SKY - Free News from UK
Bloomberg tV - Free
Youtube Free
Vevo - Free Music videos
PBS Socal - Free
Crackle - Free (movies only)
OTA local channels - Free

So if you drop the first two on my list, you can get a lot of programming absolutely free.
 
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