Has anyone tried it? Looking into it and wanting to know the pros and cons. I don't have any tv provider, I just use Netflix and that doesn't bother me other than not being able to watch sports. Is this the alternative that I have been waiting for?
I haven't tried it, but IIRC, they don't have ESPN signed up, so probably not the best for sports. They do have some regional sports channels it seems. Overall, it seems a bit too expensive, compared to services like Sling TV (~$20, and that does include ESPN). It has some nice features/functionality, but I think it's too early to get too excited about it. It either needs to be cheaper or get more content (ESPN, more sports channels, more other channels, etc.). Or both. At least IMO.
It's only available in three cities. If you're in Houston unfortunately you're out of luck. I use Sling and for $20 it's great. I really don't have a need for any Viacom channels.
Vue will have lots of channels to choose from, and they have 3 tiers like a traditional TV provider, with each tier offering more channels for $10 more per month. If you decide that it's right for you, but you still want to watch national sports, maybe you can borrow or share someone's Watch ESPN account. Another possible option (this is what I do) is if your parents/family/friends have U-Verse or Comcast, you can get a Fire TV box (not the stick) and sideload the provider's app onto it and watch live TV for free. My parents have Comcast, so I installed Xfinity TV GO onto my Fire TV, and bought a cheap Amazon brand wireless mouse for $12, which is required to navigate through the Xfinity app. Between that app, Watch ESPN, and Netflix/Prime instant video, I'm set. All I need is Ballstreams, which I might get next season.
BUMP So now that it's in Houston (the Slim package, at least) can anyone tell me what channels that package will contain?
From my understanding, Vue is now available nationwide. Pros: Much better than SlingTV. I've only used Vue at a friends house but it appears to be a better quality than Sling. I canceled Sling just due to the constant buffering, pixelating and poor quality. It also offers cloud DVR service. You can support up to five streams at once. Cons: Device limitation. It can only be used on PS3, PS4 or Amazon Fire or certain iOS devices. Vue is a stickler about single location usage. Sharing an account is not an option. (If you're networks savy and have the bandwidth, there are ways around this).
Pretty much whatever Space Ghost said. The channel guide UI is far better than Sling's and I get better quality picture than I did with Sling. I have the Slim Package and it has all the channels I need. TV List for Slim Package below in spoiler Spoiler ABC, FOX, NBC, AMC, Animal Planet, BET, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CMT, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Family, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, DIY, E!, ESPN, ESPN 2, Esquire, Food, FOX Business, FOX News, Free Form, FS1, FS2, FX, FXX, HGTV, HLN, ID, MSNBC, MTV, MTV2, National Geographic, NBCSN, Nick Jr, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, OWN, Oxygen, Pop, Science, Spike, Syfy, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel, Tru TV, TV Land, USA, VH1, WE.
From what I've seen it would be a better option for a single home with a TV, kind of like the SlingTV. For me, I'd have to have it hooked up on 4 TVs, which severely kills my internet bandwith as the best I can get is Uverse's ****ty 45mbps package. Secondly, I'd have to have 3 firesticks hooked up to my 3 other TVs as I don't have 4 PS4s, so then you're limited to using that ****ty little remote for navigation. The firestick works great in theory, but a severe downside to using it is that if your TV's power supply is too close to the firestick, it will get hot and malfunction. I had this problem in my son's room with an older model Haier HDTV. The power supply was heating up the firestick and it would kill the Wifi signal. I eventually switched his TV out with a new 32" Insignia from Best Buy and now it works much better. As mentioned, Rockets and Astros are currently not part of the equation as I believe they are only signed up for Foxsports local broadcasts at this time. Also the Houston package doesn't contain local channels, which isn't a huge problem as you can get them over the air, but kind of a pain in the ass. I'd love to cut the cord but this just isn't the solution I'm looking for yet.
Thanks, all. The DVR is what makes me prefer this over Sling TV. Not to sound too diva-ish, but I can't go back to no DVR. I find that I never watch anything live anymore. That device limitation is lame. I have a PS4 in my cave and smart blu ray in the living room, though I could move the Roku 3 from the bedroom into there since we never use it. If I could use both (PS4 & Roku), this would be great. I don't really have an interest in buying FireTV or the stick. I'm hoping that Roku will get on-board soon. ::EDIT 2:: Wait a minute... it's a Sony blu ray! I bet Vue is on there. ::EDIT 3:: No, Vue is not on Sony bluray players, which is stupid and makes no sense. No, but are the Rockets worth watching? As for the Astros, I usually only watch a few innings of any given game. I could give that up. Wow. That's way more than I expected. That's all I need and more. But from what I understand aren't the local broadcast channels delayed or something? By like a day? That wouldn't be a deal killer but I swear I read that somewhere. Yeah if someone needed multiple TVs this probably would be a poor option. But last year we cut back to just one cable TV and it wasn't so bad. Though it's just me, the wife, and a baby. And the wife and I have overlapping interests so it's never been an issue. I have the 105 mpbs Comcast internet so that should be sufficient. As for the Houston package not getting the local channels... marky's above list shows them? Either way I don't think that's a deal killer but it is unfortunate.
When I was looking into it a few weeks ago it said something about local channels not being available in the Houston market. Maybe that has changed. But I devote most of my TV time to sports, so if I can't watch premier league / champion's league soccer, NFL Redzone, Rockets in glorious HD its really not worth it for me. Most of the shows I watch I can find ways to get to them (Netflix, HBO now, etc). What I'm waiting for is a mostly stand-alone sports package.
No local sport packages and I'm not sure about local broadcasts since I don't really watch those. I see the limitations for it, like Moe pointed out, but as someone who just lives with their GF its a good choice for me. I've kept my old PS3 and have a PS4 and only have two TVs so it was an easy pick for me. I'm hoping local sports will be added along with sports packages in the future. But for now it meets my needs.
Yeah later I'll compare the costs of my cable/HBO package vs Vue + x months of HBO standalone (for GoT) + HD antenna. At least I already use my own modem and router so I won't have to pay for that.
I am in the process of cancelling Fios and going with Vue. I have similar concerns to you guys but have given this a ton of thought. I am in the DFW area though (sigh). We get all local channels except ABC which is on demand only. I still have an antenna so I can pull in all of the local channels in perfect HD quality. I am a huge soccer, redzone fan as well and the Vue package I have includes Bein Sports, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports Southwest also NBC Sports Network. Will have to stream Rockets, Astros, Redzone via the Kodi app that can be installed on the Amazon Fire TV. all channels come in super clear with a good internet connection. Sometimes the quality fades a little but it is worth it to me. Can also access other standalone apps like WatchESPN, FoxSports GO which will have little better streaming quality. Amazon Fire TV works really well with Playstation Vue and you can use a controller. I am in the process of connecting a Harmony remote to make it easier. The Fire TV only streams at 30 frames per second though instead of 60 which I don't understand why. I am hoping they will improve this in the future. I plan to have 3 HDTV's (one setup with Amazon Fire TV in living room, one setup with Chromecast in Bedroom, one setup with PS3 in Game Room). I may plan on purchasing another Fire TV soon for the bedroom instead of Chromecast even though picture quality is better on the chromecast. If you are slightly tech savvy and still want a fundamental DVR try getting a high quality antenna to get OTA channels from your nearby broadcast towers and buy a Tablo DVR which allows you to stream and record/watch all of the local channels you get from your antenna to any TV or device that can access the Tablo app. Pretty awesome setup so far even though I get local channels anyways through Vue I wanted the comfort of a DVR and an even better picture quality to watch sports on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox especially once football season starts up.
I plan to sign up for this. It contains pretty much all the channels I would need save for Root Sports. And at only $30 that's a deal to me. Will judge once I've done the free trial period
I seriously considered doing that. I have messed around with Kodi a bit too. I use it in my kid's room because we don't have a Cable box set up in there, but I picked up a FireStick for 25 bucks and now he can watch Netflix, Amazon, and Kodi streams of Nick Jr and stuff. My main problem is lack of dedicated bandwith, frustration of several different components needing to be utilized to get to a particular channel. For me being the tech savvy person that I am, it is only a minor chore, but for my wife and kids they'll have to learn how to access which apps and which remotes to use. They already b**** at me for hooking up a soundbar and having to figure out they have to use the soundbar remote for volume control on our living room TV. :grin: with my Uverse package now, I pay out the ass (About $200 monthly) but it does offer a lot of advantages such as convenience of everything being available. I also have an old 50" Samsung DLP HDTV (Picked it up from side of the road, changed bulb in it and it works fine) in my detached garage that doesn't have an HDMI port, so being able to put the Uverse wireless receiver out there hooked up via component cables is a big plus. I think my main problem is quality. I'm an HD junkie. Having to watch something in SD is like torture to me. So currently for a 4 person household I have 6 TVs. One for Living room (55" Westinghouse LED 1080P, picture quality is decent but sound is **** so put an RCA soundbar on it, also where my PS4 is located), one for master bedroom (Vizio 43" LED 1080P Smart), 32" Haier 720P HD in the teenager's bedroom, and 32" Insignia 720P (Equipped with Firestick) in the 4 year's old room. Got a Uverse DVR in the master bedroom, and wireless boxes in the living room and for the teenager. Then out in the garage I have the 50" Samsung and an old Tube TV. The Sammy is mostly used on the weekends so I can chill in the garage. I also have a hacked Nintendo Wii out there with nearly every NES, SNES game, some Sega, NEO-GEO stuff, and N64 games, as well as an external hard drive with about 40 Wii game ISOs on it so I can get my retro Nintendo game on. The little tube TV has an old PS2 hooked up to mostly used as a DVD player so my 4 year old can watch a DVD out there if the rest of us are watching a game on the big screen. He's also got a Kindle Fire tablet.
Wow, I didn't know Vue was available on devises other than playstion. I was really starting to regret my Xbox 1 purchase. I have a ton more research to do, and this thread has been great, but I'm currently holding a pair of scissors in my right hand and the cord in my left. Question... When using Vue, do you still have access to the TV networks' mobile apps. My main concern is Disney Jr. via an iPad.
