OT: Set up my DirecTV cancellation date

[sloth316]

honoring my contract with them, which runs through first part of August, but decided to cancel to give Playstation Vue a try. I really like DirecTV and will probably eventually go back to them someday, but saving $70+ a month by going to a streaming service that offers the majority of channels I want/use (BTN, all ESPNs, USA, TBS, TNT, AMC, Spike, FX all included) was too enticing to pass up. The final straw was DirecTV telling me they would take $15 off my bill a month for a year (still $90+ total).

Anyone done something similar? Last time I went through this song and dance, I called DTV back the day of my cancellation and they offered me the new customer package but pretty determined to give Vue an honest shot

 

[TruHusker]

I would be interested in hearing how you like this. I had Dish for many years and got suckered into Direct. We hate it. Too many reasons to list here. There has to be something better than these two companies. I just want good sports, movies, and news and I am set. Seems like I get hundreds of channels I don't even recognize.

 

[balsy]

I would be interested in hearing how you like this. I had Dish for many years and got suckered into Direct. We hate it. Too many reasons to list here. There has to be something better than these two companies. I just want good sports, movies, and news and I am set. Seems like I get hundreds of channels I don't even recognize.

I've had both the satellites, but the wife wanted to save money so we got cable. I love everything about charter, sans the emergency weather and amber alerts. I thought I'd hate it, I was wrong.

 

[bigboxes]

I've had both the satellites, but the wife wanted to save money so we got cable. I love everything about charter, sans the emergency weather and amber alerts. I thought I'd hate it, I was wrong.

Yeah, have cable. I have a ton of channels I never watch. Wish that SlingTV had both the ESPN networks and Fox Sports on the same bundle. I don't need a lot to be happy, but I need the basics in sports and the smattering of channels. 300 channels of crap is not needed. I wish that I could just pay to stream BTN exclusively over the internet. But with cable you get reliability, low latency and fast internet. I've got Time Warner and that is soon to be Charter. I've been trying to convince the missus to cut the cord, but I'm not a single guy so I can't make every decision unilaterally. Give me a good sports package and about 20 channels, an OTA antenna and BTN over the internet and I would be good.

 

[sloth316]

Seriously, check out PS Vue: includes BTN, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN U, SEC Network, FS1 & FS2

Yeah, have cable. I have a ton of channels I never watch. Wish that SlingTV had both the ESPN networks and Fox Sports on the same bundle. I don't need a lot to be happy, but I need the basics in sports and the smattering of channels. 300 channels of crap is not needed. I wish that I could just pay to stream BTN exclusively over the internet. But with cable you get reliability, low latency and fast internet. I've got Time Warner and that is soon to be Charter. I've been trying to convince the missus to cut the cord, but I'm not a single guy so I can't make every decision unilaterally. Give me a good sports package and about 20 channels, an OTA antenna and BTN over the internet and I would be good.

 

[CameronKrazie86]

Honestly the only downside to Playstation Vue is that you're roughly a minute or two behind real time depending on the channel and dependent on an internet connection. If your internet sucks, then it may not be for you. So for live sporting events, you can sometimes get a text here or there that spoils a dramatic moment. It's rare but it has happened to me a few times.

What I did is get an HD antenna (paid like $20 at Target for one) so I can get all the local channels in HD (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW) and then use the Playstation Vue to supplement everything else. So far it's worked out quite well and would recommend it highly. The $30 a month plan has every channel I need except for the local ones and I can pay $5 more during football/basketball season to get ESPNU if I really want to. Great product.

 

[bigboxes]

Seriously, check out PS Vue: includes BTN, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN U, SEC Network, FS1 & FS2

Well, I'd have to have my local Fox Sports. They broadcast all the Mavericks, Stars and Rangers games. I realize that those not in a major metropolitan area may not care, but we catch a lot of those games. I'd have to subscribe to the Core package at $45/mo. Then I'd have to purchase devices that support it. I have no Play Station, nor Roku or Chromecast devices. In the living room, I have a very nice HTPC that I built this past January. Unfortunately, Windows is not supported. That's too bad, as I use Kodi as a front end. If they supported Windows as a platform I just may pull the trigger. I like the idea though. I contacted SlingTV customer service a couple of months ago to see if they planned to offer certain channels in a single package. Looks like they are all getting closer to my needs. Stay tuned!

 

[keilwitzg]

Is Microsoft coming out with something like that for their X Box? That would be nice! Damnit Playstation, why did you have to piss me off so many years ago driving me towards X-Box?!!

 

[theoriginalrealdeal]

Is Microsoft coming out with something like that for their X Box? That would be nice! Damnit Playstation, why did you have to piss me off so many years ago driving me towards X-Box?!!

Well you don't need a Playstation to use this service. There's a Chromecast app, you can use a computer I believe, etc. I'm looking into it, seems like a great deal during football season, then cancel afterwards.

Oh, and they're adding regional Fox Sports networks. I guess not all of them yet, but it's a work in progress.

Hell of a deal, much cheaper than cable / satellite.

 

[9and4]

I use Playstation Vue (and MLB.TV) with Amazon Fire TV and get OTA channels via antenna. Covers everything except Pac 12 channel and CBSSN.

 

[jteten]

Between me, my wife, friends and kids, and in terms of time spent per $, there is likely nothing that provides as much entertainment value as directv/netflix. 1 dinner out for 4 or ordering a couple of Chicago stuffed pizzas is more than a month of cable in most restaurants. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[sloth316]

I'm curious what channels you get outta DTV that are must haves that streaming service such as Vue
doesn't cover

 

[Husker Hunyock]

Just got rid of Cox Cable for DTV. So far happy with it. Got a good discount over Cox since I am an AT&T customer. Saved about $160 a month . I may consider Playstation Vue when they come out with 802.11ac router and a service that can offer the speed. Got 3 kids who are on the Internet constantly. Would like to find a good Internet provider so I can dump Cox internet and be done with them entirely. Also have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Vudu.

 

[Jimmy Frank]

What are these cables and satellites people speak of?

 

[mkbrkloster]

How are multiple TV's handled in PS Vue (and other streaming services)? Can they share the same account? Also, which services have the best DVR-type capabilities?

 

[Husker Hunyock]

How are multiple TV's handled in PS Vue (and other streaming services)? Can they share the same account? Also, which services have the best DVR-type capabilities?

With DTV we have three tvs hooked up via Cable from the Sat dish and one that is by Internet. The internet one lost us the ability to record four shows at once. We can only do three at once now. this is fine with us. there is a box for each of the other three tvs but I believe that the recorded shows go to the main box which is in our living room while the other two boxes communicate to the main box for recorded shows. Got 800 channels, but will admit that a lot of them are infomercial channels which disappointed me some. Still have most of the channels i used to have but it takes a while to find them and I have a lot of sports channels to chose from.
Make sure that the modem is in a place for good coverage by all the boxes to avoid pixelation. I did have to get the premium package to get BTN. Still under $100 dollars, but need to pay for Internet service which I still get from Cox, but now charge me $81 dollars which is why I am looking for a new internet service with appropriate speed.

 

[mkbrkloster]

With DTV we have three tvs hooked up via Cable from the Sat dish and one that is by Internet. The internet one lost us the ability to record four shows at once. We can only do three at once now. this is fine with us. there is a box for each of the other three tvs but I believe that the recorded shows go to the main box which is in our living room while the other two boxes communicate to the main box for recorded shows. Got 800 channels, but will admit that a lot of them are infomercial channels which disappointed me some. Still have most of the channels i used to have but it takes a while to find them and I have a lot of sports channels to chose from.
Make sure that the modem is in a place for good coverage by all the boxes to avoid pixelation. I did have to get the premium package to get BTN. Still under $100 dollars, but need to pay for Internet service which I still get from Cox, but now charge me $81 dollars which is why I am looking for a new internet service with appropriate speed.

Sorry, I was interested in the DVR/watch later capabilities of the various streaming services plus OTA DVR options (for example, is there a box that allows me to record both OTA and streaming content and play it on all TV's in my house?). I actually have DirecTV and love the technology. I could probably do with much fewer channels, which is why I'm curious about cheaper options.

 

[CameronKrazie86]

How are multiple TV's handled in PS Vue (and other streaming services)? Can they share the same account? Also, which services have the best DVR-type capabilities?

http://www.techhive.com/article/304...o-know-about-sony-s-cable-tv-alternative.html

This article can help with most of those questions.