PS Vue

[bucksfan2]

Does anyone use PS Vue for TV? My biggest holdups for cutting the cord have been:
1. Channel lineup. I am not going without Fox Sports OH and Big 10 Network, which aren't often carried on the ala cart options. One of PS Vue's packages carries pretty much every channel I watch.

2. The DVR function. I like the DVR function to really catch up on shows. I know there are other ways, streaming the show on demand (which I hate Cincinnati Bell's platform), I just have yet to get used to that.

3. The channel surfing function. If I am watching TV, I like to flip in between stations. Is that easy to do on Vue? I don't want to be watching one game, and flip to another game and then have it have to load a la Netflix or Prime.

[WVRed]

Does anyone use PS Vue for TV? My biggest holdups for cutting the cord have been:
1. Channel lineup. I am not going without Fox Sports OH and Big 10 Network, which aren't often carried on the ala cart options. One of PS Vue's packages carries pretty much every channel I watch.

2. The DVR function. I like the DVR function to really catch up on shows. I know there are other ways, streaming the show on demand (which I hate Cincinnati Bell's platform), I just have yet to get used to that.

3. The channel surfing function. If I am watching TV, I like to flip in between stations. Is that easy to do on Vue? I don't want to be watching one game, and flip to another game and then have it have to load a la Netflix or Prime.

Never used PSVue, but I have used the free trial of DirecTV Now and Sling. If I’m not mistaken, the two channels you listed are on Sling.

I’ve been hesitant on cutting the cord. We pay $150 a month for Suddenlink, which is still high and can raise again at a moments notice. Since we “bundle”, eliminating cable and upping data would raise the internet price and factoring in channels we have to have, it’s pretty close to what we pay for Suddenlink.

Do you have a Roku or Fire Stick? I have both and prefer the Roku. Roku has more apps (although I wish it had Spotify) and our local tv stations have Roku channels. If you get Directv Now, you can use the tv login and access the Roku channels (Nick Jr and Disney are musts for my kids).

[TRF]

Lots of discussion here: http://www.redszone.com/forums/showt...at-do-you-like

[bucksfan2]

TRF, I figured that, just didn't want to dive through that thread.

I do have two Roku TV's and one Roku 2 in the bedroom.

[dougdirt]

I don't know how old the Roku 2 is, but there's an old Roku streaming stick on one of the TV's in this house and it has not been updated with the newer version of PS Vue and it's the worst, most backwards experience ever. It's almost unusable. On the Roku TV, though, it works great. On the newer Roku streaming sticks, it's great. On my Fire TV stick, it's great. But be aware that the Roku 2 may not be new enough to get the update to the new PS Vue, and if not, it's going to be an absolutely brutal experience.

[JaxRed]

New Roku's are so cheap it's almost crazy not to get a modern one...

[bucksfan2]

I don't know how old the Roku 2 is, but there's an old Roku streaming stick on one of the TV's in this house and it has not been updated with the newer version of PS Vue and it's the worst, most backwards experience ever. It's almost unusable. On the Roku TV, though, it works great. On the newer Roku streaming sticks, it's great. On my Fire TV stick, it's great. But be aware that the Roku 2 may not be new enough to get the update to the new PS Vue, and if not, it's going to be an absolutely brutal experience.

I have Cincinnati Bell with 30 GB I think. I assume that is good enough to stream TV without issue. I just don't want to make the switch and then all of a sudden have freezes in the TV I am starting to watch.

FWIW I don't have much of an issue with Netflix or Prime, there are times where Netflix takes a while to load up.

I go back and forth on this. Yesterday I was all in, today I am kinda meh about it. It would save me around $20/month which is nice, but if it becomes a headache then it sure isn't worth it.

[WVRed]

I have Cincinnati Bell with 30 GB I think. I assume that is good enough to stream TV without issue. I just don't want to make the switch and then all of a sudden have freezes in the TV I am starting to watch.

FWIW I don't have much of an issue with Netflix or Prime, there are times where Netflix takes a while to load up.

I go back and forth on this. Yesterday I was all in, today I am kinda meh about it. It would save me around $20/month which is nice, but if it becomes a headache then it sure isn't worth it.

If you decide to stream full time, you need to up it to 100 GB. Otherwise you will likely get a hefty bill from Cincinnati Bell.

[dougdirt]

If you decide to stream full time, you need to up it to 100 GB. Otherwise you will likely get a hefty bill from Cincinnati Bell.

I'm assuming he means he has the 30Mbs service. I don't believe that Cincinnati Bell has datacaps. And I'll say this about that service: Just because you're paying for that tier doesn't mean that is the speed you are getting. I tried Cincy Bell when I first moved to this neighborhood two years ago. That 30Mbs service was (and still is) the highest service they offered here. I was getting about 18Mbs. It wasn't nearly enough for what I needed. Of course, I work from home and on the internet all day. My needs aren't typical.

But.... I think that generally speaking, you want 10-15 Mbs to stream things somewhat comfortably. And if you're going to be streaming on multiple devices at once, there's a chance you could run into some problems. I don't know if you will or won't, but there's a chance.

[Griffey012]

Does anyone use PS Vue for TV? My biggest holdups for cutting the cord have been:
1. Channel lineup. I am not going without Fox Sports OH and Big 10 Network, which aren't often carried on the ala cart options. One of PS Vue's packages carries pretty much every channel I watch.

2. The DVR function. I like the DVR function to really catch up on shows. I know there are other ways, streaming the show on demand (which I hate Cincinnati Bell's platform), I just have yet to get used to that.

3. The channel surfing function. If I am watching TV, I like to flip in between stations. Is that easy to do on Vue? I don't want to be watching one game, and flip to another game and then have it have to load a la Netflix or Prime.

I've used it for going 2 years now. So here is my review and answers to some of your questions.

Pros:
Can stream on up to 4 devices. I have 4 roku streaming sticks plugged into 3 tv's and a projector. I've had 3 running sporting events in the same room before and they all worked great.
Channels - they have most every channel I could want, with various add on packages that have even more. I can get pretty much any college football game that exists along with the nearly every other normal cable channel for 59.99 a month.
Guide - they used to have a lack of or unworkable guide, but now you can sift through like a normal cable service. It can be a little slow to respond at times.

Cons:
Delay - when watching the Reds I will usually hear the fireworks a solid 15 seconds before the TV shows the home run, it is noticeably behind over the air channels or the usual cable feeds.
Loading - I think i've learned that if it has to buffer while watching live tv, it just delays and doesn't skip ahead. I've noticed I am a solid 60 seconds slow on sporting events at time.


The DVR works well enough, you have to watch shows within 30 days though. As far as pausing a rewinding live TV, that aspect doesn't work very well.

Overall I highly recommend PS Vue.

[Sea Ray]

How's the quality of picture for sports? I've been underwhelmed watching streamed sports. I cancelled my MLB.tv package for that reason. Picture was jumpy on motion scenes and sports has a lot of that

[dougdirt]

How's the quality of picture for sports? I've been underwhelmed watching streamed sports. I cancelled my MLB.tv package for that reason. Picture was jumpy on motion scenes and sports has a lot of that

That doesn't sound like a problem that's related at all to anything that isn't either your internet quality or your TV settings.

[Sea Ray]

That doesn't sound like a problem that's related at all to anything that isn't either your internet quality or your TV settings.

I think it's mainly related to frames per second issues:

For some TV watchers, deciding to keep cable instead of cutting the cord is as much about quality as content. Although streaming TV bundles such as Sling TV and PlayStation Vue offer many of the same channels as cable, often at lower prices, they also might not look and sound as good or be as reliable...Frame rate has also been an issue for streaming TV services, which don't always deliver the smooth 60-frames-per-second experience that cable offers for sports, news, and talk shows. As I've written previously, faster frame rates require a lot more bandwidth--around 30 percent more than 30-frames-per-second streams by one estimate--so some streaming services avoid them due to cost and/or reliability concerns.

https://www.techhive.com/article/319...it-better.html

[dougdirt]

I think it's mainly related to frames per second issues:



https://www.techhive.com/article/319...it-better.html

I've watched sports through Sling and PS Vue for the last two years. I've never once experienced what you are describing.

[paintmered]

I've watched sports through Sling and PS Vue for the last two years. I've never once experienced what you are describing.

Same here