I think I'm currently paying about $80-$90 for the TV portion of my U-Verse, and I recently realized I only tend to watch broadcast channels and ESPN (with occasioanl viewings of SpikeTV and Versus for UFC stuff). Also been loving Netflix streaming on the PS3, and I can't wait until that goes disc-less.
So to cut out a big chunk of that $90, I've been considering a TiVo so that I still have DVR access. I believe that's around $13/month. But I really don't think I can do without ESPN, so that's where PlayOn comes in. Basically streams internet content from your PC to your PS3, 360, Wii, or a few other devices. Lots of additional options for CNN, Comedy Central, Food Network, and others including ESPN.com and ESPN3. $40 total for your first year and $20/year after that, or a flat $80 up front forever.
So I am mainly wondering if any of you have used PlayOn and what you think of it. I fully expect sound to be a bit of an issue, and I can deal without surround, for sure. My biggest "concern", though, is video quality. Now I'm not a true videophile by any means, but I would hope things would at least be "acceptable enough to not be distracting", especially for watching sports.
Any thoughts on this are much appreciated. Also feel free to chime in if you think you have other ideas for more of a "pay only for the channels I use" kinda set-up.
If it werent for Comedy Central (really just for Daily Show/Colbert) and Sports (most Cowboy games and all Texan games are show down here on the affliates, but most Rockets games are FSN), I would cut out cable altogether. Ill also be interested in any of the findings here.
Is it so hard to imagine? Is it so hard to believe? Something so outrageous, something so far-fetched, well how 'bout Adam and Eve?
Yeah, I'm realizing that a good chunk of the Gator basketball games are on FSN, as well. But if I'm really that eager for those, UF offers something called "GatorVision Online" for a fee, as well. So we'll see.
In doing the research, things look and sound easy enough. The "kicker" will be convincing the wife that the up front costs of switching (getting a digital antenna & TiVo) will be offset in just a few months. I checked out ESPN3.com yesterday, and the live feed of the European World Series of Poker final table (it was ESPN's only live event yesterday) looked surprisingly nice and smooth in full screen on the computer. So I'm gonna bite the bullet and give the PlayOn free trial a go. Will probably be a more accurate analysis on Saturday with a lot of college football to pick and choose from. I'm just hoping it's not one of those "give us your credit card up front and we'll charge you after 14 days unless YOU tell us to cancel it" kinda deals. We'll see.
Post by salmonjunkie on Sept 29, 2010 10:52:51 GMT -5
I haven't had cable in months, but am looking to finally bite the bullet. I can't get a dish at my apartment, so I'm stuck with Comcast, but I only want sports channels, local channels, Comedy Central, and AMC. And I want them in HD. I just don't know if $40 bucks a month is worth it, though.
This PlayOn looks interesting. Too bad I'm a mac user.
No Roku, but I wouldn't rule it out for the near future. I didn't find AMC specifically, but that doesn't mean a plugin isn't out there if it's a show they will have on the web. Lots and lots and lots of 3rd-party-created plugins for other sites: www.playonplugins.com/ .
Well, fuck, I may have just found the best of the best of plugin scripts for it. Especially since I just remembered I plan to watch TBS more because of Conan. Called "scripTV":
Description: "Watch live streaming TV from stations in the US and around the world. Includes TBS, TNT, ESPN, EuroSports, Discovery Channel, MTV and many more."
I must say that PlayOn has FAR exceeded any expectations I had.
That being said, I'm not yet fully prepared to cut the umbilicus. I tried out an internal digital antenna and only got 3 of the 5 broadcast stations. I may again try with a different internal antenna, but I'm not ready to mount one on the roof or in the attic.
All that being said, though, the wife and I were amazed at how much crisper the HD channels looked from the antenna as opposed to through UVerse. Stunning picture, actually. And the ESPN3 streaming as well as most other available streaming content was FAR better quality that I had expected it to be. You'll have the usual few seconds of initial buffering like any internet video, but then it "just works".
Anyway, that's the long and short if it for now. Will update more if there's anything to update. If you have even remotely considered it, I highly recommend at least giving it the 14-day trial to see if it is for you. Don't need to give a credit card or any of that information up front, so there's nothing to lose.