DirecTV Now (Competitor to Sling)

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Thanks to alarmguy, I'm loving my ROKU box I got from the gf for my birthday
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I am so thankful I can pickup some broadcast TV and then use my families vacation home/air bnb xfinity credentials. All 4 of wife's siblings use that homes account.

I feel it's legit because we all own that home.
 
Originally Posted By: alarmguy
So dont take my words wrong, I just dont see how people with 2 to 3 times the speed as us have issues.

I guess we need to define "issues."

A single HD (1080) stream from Amazon Video runs at about 10 Mbps. Will it run OK at lower speed? Sure, but it won't be at 1080 resolution. Granted, if you sit far enough from the TV, you won't be able to tell the difference between 1080 and 720. And if you sit even further away, even 480 will do.
 
I haven't purchased ferrite filters, either clamp on or oval (used to put on Apple II disc drives, also stereos' in years. Parts Express or e-bay? Any grease (i.e. silicon dielectric?)used? Thanks!
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: alarmguy
So dont take my words wrong, I just dont see how people with 2 to 3 times the speed as us have issues.

I guess we need to define "issues."

A single HD (1080) stream from Amazon Video runs at about 10 Mbps. Will it run OK at lower speed? Sure, but it won't be at 1080 resolution. Granted, if you sit far enough from the TV, you won't be able to tell the difference between 1080 and 720. And if you sit even further away, even 480 will do.



Just discussing here (sometimes people read what I type the wrong way) :eek:)

You posted "I guess we need to define "issues""

How about I suggest we define "1080 resolution"
NO Amazon Streaming, No Streaming of any kind, No Pay TV of any kind, No Cable TV of any kind, No Satellite TV of any kind will give you true 1080P Resolution. Its a pipe dream and marketing gimic the so called 1080 resolution of ANY of the above are dumbed down and compressed signals.

The only way to get true 1080P is through a Blueray Player OR Free over the air broadcasts using an antenna.

So with the above said, I would ask, since most streamers and over the air broadcast people here.
At what cost would Amazon streaming be worth to you? If the cost is worth it, by all means, then go for it.
Same goes with paying for cable or satellite, if its worth it to you, pay for it, but it still is not true HD like you get out of a Blueray or free over the air.
So for that Amazon streaming you are paying $8.95 a month plus extra for higher speed service you say you need if you sit close to a TV and that is fine.
Im not saying higher speed is bad, just not needed or better said anyone can easly get by with 7 Mbps service.

However I am saying, in my all my posts made in this thread, no one will notice any loss of quality with the services I mentioned using 7Mbps service of which doesnt include Amazon.

We pay for Hulu Plus and Netflex Streaming, less then $20 a month plus all the free stuff in Roku. PLUS Superior Free other the air 1080P TV using an antenna Plus Superior Blueray player movies.

A little about myself, my wife and I are particular about quality. Pretty much my whole life. (heck, just read these insanely long posts) *L*
My current system is a state of the art sound system with my almost slightly aging 60 Panasonic Plasma TV. To this day no LED TV can match the contrast and colors of a Plasma BUT LG now is coming out with OLED that can, they are still priced in the $2000/$3000 area though.

Anyway, if one wants true 1080 the only way is blueray player or free over the air TV antenna. Everything else is a compromise. Honestly though, even though we rent a blueray movie every weekend, Netflex streaming comes pretty darn close and as you say, 8 feet or so away from the screen of our 60 inch tv its pretty close to a blueray.
 
Originally Posted By: bmwjohn
I haven't purchased ferrite filters, either clamp on or oval (used to put on Apple II disc drives, also stereos' in years. Parts Express or e-bay? Any grease (i.e. silicon dielectric?)used? Thanks!


Hey John, I use the clamp/snap on, purchased on ebay, all kinds of sizes, since I was in no rush for some I simply went by price from Hong Kong or China, ones I wanted right away USA. No grease used.
Click here for a photo of the type I used

Since you have some experience with them, let me explain how I realized these things
are NOT "snake oil."
It all started out with our security system (which is my field)
My home has quite a security system with multiple touch screen keypads. Anyway, getting up in the morning I noticed sometimes I was being forced to enter my code 2 times at times to shut the system down, maybe 3 and other times just once. So for a while I thought it was me, early morning etc but my wife had the same issue. Worked on this for MONTHS ... until ...
I put ferrite filters on the screen power supply lines, NEVER EVER happened again. Without getting into specifics, signal strength went from 1 to 2 bars to all bars. Its been well over a year all good..
I then started looking around my home, Hmmmm I think, look at that the maker of my Plasma TV, Panasonic thought it was necessary to put a HUGE Ferrite Filter on the main power lead going into the back of my 60 inch TV, something I knew they would not spend money on unless they thought they should.
Then ... again, Hmmmm ...
I noticed the big Ferrite Filters that came on the HDMI cables I bought, OH and on the USB data transfer cables for my Nikon SLR camera and all my cameras.
Then in my business, I noticed all the network cameras I am installing have large Ferrite Filters on the power supply leads.

So, safe to say, there is something to this whole Ferrite Filter thing, all these companies shipping their products out with filters on them, you know darn well with profit as the main bottom line they would not be doing so unless needed.

Since all the above, I have them on EVERYTHING in my home that has to do with communication or security. On all power leads going to the devices AND on all data cables, both ends. My network is rock solid, never has to be reset, I actually get HIGHER then advertised internet speeds then what I pay for and honestly never an issue with any communications in my home and never any buffering of ANY kind when streaming services on our Roku players. We pay for 6Mbps service and get 7.25 down and 1.25 up as tested this morning.
 
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Current DirecTV subscriber. I extensively use the DTV's DVR. Signed up to take advantage for the free AppleTV with 3 months pre-pay. DTV Now isn't VERY now. It currently has no DVR features. I enjoy and record sports events/local news/live show (OSCARS, GRAMMYS, ETC.) slightly ahead of time to skip the commercials and catch up to the end when it's live. I CANNOT do that with DTV now. They say DVR is coming in 2017 though.

Chromecast and Apple TV are supported and is what I tested. By default when you open the app and you have it 'casted' it will by default begin to playback your last channel you viewed with live content. You CANNOT skip back or restart that show. If you watch previous episodes, you CANNOT skip commercials, but this is true with nearly all streaming services.

Previous shows available was also a bit too fast with expiration. One night I wanted to watch Conan's show from two days prior which was show as available on the app, but I missed it for that night. Two days later when I had time it was no longer available! I ended up just watching it off my DVR.

Using your phone to control and view the guide is cramped. You'll want to use a tablet. You also cannot cross cast from Android to Apple. If you have an Apple TV you can only use iPhone/iPad. If you have Chromecast, you must use Android phone/tablet. Though, some have said that they got iPhone/iPads to connect to Chromecast. I feel it was probably an early bug that got fixed, since there's two app updates I remember receiving since I signed up. I can also imagine that you can use your PC/laptop via Chrome browser, but when I tried, it was the laggy browser window cast, not native DirecTV Now cast.

Video quality seemed fine, but you are at the mercy of your ISP. There will be nights when kicks down to 480p. Audio quality was PCM only. No native bitstream Dobly Digital coming out of Chromecast or Apple TV. I'm not even sure if it's discrete surround sound.

Compared to DTV Now, I am paying nearly double a month for regular DirecTV with HD DVR and currently am willing to pay that extra money. It's how I have lived with it and find it worth the convenience and consistent video/audio quality. As soon as DirecTV begins to lower the price of their 4k Genie box and service, I'll probably move on to that for my primary living room TV, but use DirecTV Now for secondary TVs. For those with multiple boxes at home, this is probably a wise choice.

The service is barely two weeks released am I'm sure it'll improve, but if you use DVR extensively for live shows to catch up on, this isn't for you ATM.
 
Just read on Facebook (with a reputable link) that Direct TV will be raising prices on their satellite service towards the end of January. FYI.
 
An updated to my experience, through another app update. It appears as if I didn't have the latest version.

1. You can now restart a live show from the beginning. It was unfortunately buggy off the Chromecast. Fine off the device itself.
2. You are allowed two streams and works from different locations. So yes, you can share between two people, devices etc. I didn't bother to see what happens if you try a third stream.

Definitely early days and DirecTV got blantant bugs to work out. Once they get DVR working, if it behaves the same as DTV DVR box, then it's $35 early adapoter price is going to be a bargain. I'd lock it while you can.
 
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