MLBTV Questions

[cumberlandreds]

The 2013 pricing for MLBTV is out. I'm thinking seriously about dropping EI from DirecTv and just going with MLBTV. I would view through my laptop and connect it to my TV. I was wondering if anyone else does this and how it works out? Does it buffer a lot or is it pretty smooth most of the time? I have Verizon Fios at home with the 25/25 speed. Would I need more speed to get the best results or is what I have good enough? There is $70 difference in MLBTV Premium and EI and I would like that savings as long its worthwhile. Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome.


http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions...iateId=mlbMENU

[mattfeet]

Depends on your internet connection in my experience. Given that you have FIOS, you'll be just fine. If you have an XBOX360 or PS3 in the house, you can also download it onto there and not have to go through the trouble of connecting your laptop to your TV.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by mattfeet

Depends on your internet connection in my experience. Given that you have FIOS, you'll be just fine. If you have an XBOX360 or PS3 in the house, you can also download it onto there and not have to go through the trouble of connecting your laptop to your TV.

Thanks. I don't have those other devices. It's not much trouble to connect the laptop. I have a HDMI cable connected to my TV and just plug it into the connecton on the laptop. Pretty easy.

[RedEye]

I watch directly through Apple TV and it isn't bad at all.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Originally Posted by mattfeet

Depends on your internet connection in my experience. Given that you have FIOS, you'll be just fine. If you have an XBOX360 or PS3 in the house, you can also download it onto there and not have to go through the trouble of connecting your laptop to your TV.

Matt's right. If you've got a fast connection, it looks fantastic. But a middling internet speed, you'll get some serious lag and degradation of quality.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Also, be forewarned in regards to the playoffs. You won't get squat for playoffs with MLBTV. I was pretty pissed about that aspect of it. Especially since I didn't have cable at the time.

[Superdude]

Originally Posted by _Sir_Charles_

Also, be forewarned in regards to the playoffs. You won't get squat for playoffs with MLBTV. I was pretty pissed about that aspect of it. Especially since I didn't have cable at the time.

Do they not sell the postseason package anymore? I did that in 2010 and it was a joke, so I guess that's not too surprising if they did. I still don't understand why they did this, but they had like 8 still cameras you could toggle through while the game was going on. Basically I ended up watching Volquez shuffle around on the mound whenever the ball was put into play and I had to wait to find out what happened. Excellent viewing experience.

[sdwagers]

Few things on this...

I subscribed to MLBTV last year and loved the option to watch multiple games at the same time (up to four).

The option to switch feeds (home or away) was really nice too if you don't prefer a certain broadcast crew or prefer another "voice" (I could listen to Vin Scully read out the phonebook all day long)

Negatives - "network" games and the playoff games are not live... just the same as "in market" games. MLB still expects you to watch it on your Cable/Satellite package.

I watched it with Zoomtown last year without any issue.

MLB and the rest of Pro Sports needs to get rid of the blackout rules and allow the consumer to watch the games the are willing to pay for.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Originally Posted by Superdude

Do they not sell the postseason package anymore? I did that in 2010 and it was a joke, so I guess that's not too surprising if they did. I still don't understand why they did this, but they had like 8 still cameras you could toggle through while the game was going on. Basically I ended up watching Volquez shuffle around on the mound whenever the ball was put into play and I had to wait to find out what happened. Excellent viewing experience.

The post season package was weird. It had a ton of camera angles, none of them were the standard ones. And they were all stationary cameras basically. Which meant if you wanted to watch a play you vision had to switch from one camera to the other. And there was no play-by-play announcers like normal. Also, no digital stat lines or box score info either on the screen. Just really strange. It would make a great add-on to the regular broadcast, but horrible as a substitution.

This was last year btw.

[George Anderson]

Originally Posted by _Sir_Charles_

The post season package was weird. It had a ton of camera angles, none of them were the standard ones. And they were all stationary cameras basically. Which meant if you wanted to watch a play you vision had to switch from one camera to the other. And there was no play-by-play announcers like normal. Also, no digital stat lines or box score info either on the screen. Just really strange. It would make a great add-on to the regular broadcast, but horrible as a substitution.

This was last year btw.

Yea I did not like it at all.

[Crumbley]

TBS/Fox pay big money for the postseason rights, I'd assume the still cameras thing was the best MLB could get away with.

[cumberlandreds]

Thanks all. I believe I have what I need to get this with good quality. I'll try to watch some games in spring training to see if my speed is good. Sounds like it is. But if not I can boost it through Verizon with Quantum speed. I'll just have to see how much that is.

[elfmanvt07]

Living in New York, I've gotten MLB.TV for the last few years. I only recall a single loss of signal, and I believe it was system wide. The quality is excellent. I've primarily used an Apple TV to watch it, though there's also an app for most console gaming systems. This past season, using a computer, they built in radio audio as well, allowing you to watch the game and listen to Marty (or not).

[cumberlandreds]

Just wanted to point out that if you get the MLB-TV you get the MLB At Bat 13 free with it. I have used that this past weekend and I really like it. I have a Kindle Fire and can use it on that and I am able to listen and watch games on it also. Which was a pleasant surprise to me. If you have a Kindle Fire or HD Fire you can only watch via AB 13. You can't watch through MLBTV because it uses Adobe flash, which isn't supported by andriod devices now.

[elfmanvt07]

I would like to add, having tried the service on both an XBOX 360 and an Apple TV, the latter's picture and stability is dramatically better.