Cord cutters - What's your favorite streaming services?

Paramount Plus is kinda tempting with this one:

1669235423721.png
 
Cancelled Disney.

Is there actually anything worth watching on AppleTV+? It was a wash before, but with the $4/month increase, it's now extra. I don't think I've found anything on there that make it worthwhile.

Apple One
Family
$24.95/mo

Apple Music
Family
$16.99/mo

iCloud Storage
200GB
$3.99/mo

Wish Apple would hurry the hell up and give us a decent Mac Mini M2, so I can have an HTPC again (do the NAS thing and retire from streaming).
 
Edd said:
Paramount Plus is kinda tempting with this one:

View attachment 19609
Click to expand...

I killed an annual renewal of that thing coming from an expiring promo rate (well a bundle w/ Showtime) before the regular price kicked in.

But they emailed me the above offer as a "returning subscriber" option and I figured yeah why not. I had liked having it because it also includes live local CBS TV (well regional for me) which came in handy a few times. When i scrolled down in the offer page they also had the bundle with Showtime, at like $75 annually instead of the $130 I had declined to renew.

So I attempted to take that bundle option of the deal, but their system is messed up somehow: once i stuck in my email addr, it said yeah ok you need to sign in to continue. Great. So I did, but then it didn't bring the offer to me and ask me to update payment info, even if I went back and clicked through again from the promo email, just started all over again so it was like a loop. PITA, I will have to call them after the holidays I guess. Offer's only good to the 28th.
 
Eric said:
Here's my lineup:

YoutubeTV for all my main content
Click to expand...

Are you still with YTTV?

I was getting ready to order a new 4K receiver and LNB for the new house, but then youtube got the NFL package. I know you can buy it standalone, but will supposedly need YTTV for DVR features.

We are headed out there at the end of the month with the first big load and will be there a few days and with their 30 day free trial, I thought I might give it a go. They are missing a few channels like A&E, Science & History, but seem to have most everything else. They don't have near the RSN's that DirecTV has, but I really don't watch them like I used to.

My biggest concern is I will be going from a 100M cable connection to a 30M WISP connection. That is enough for a couple of HD streams, and maybe 1 4K stream, but not much else.

My second concern is the remote. I have a Roku 4K out there now and it is how we watched the last time we were out there, but I am really not a huge fan of the interface. Nor Apple TV's either. I use them when needed, but they would not be my first choice. Mainly there is no "Guide" button. I really don't want to have to jump through hoops to get to the guide. And there is no Previous Channel button either. I also use DirecTV's Double Play (Dual Live buffers) when watching football, but given its all streaming, this might not be as big of deal.

So if you are still with them, are you still happy with the service?
 
Herdfan said:
Are you still with YTTV?

I was getting ready to order a new 4K receiver and LNB for the new house, but then youtube got the NFL package. I know you can buy it standalone, but will supposedly need YTTV for DVR features.

We are headed out there at the end of the month with the first big load and will be there a few days and with their 30 day free trial, I thought I might give it a go. They are missing a few channels like A&E, Science & History, but seem to have most everything else. They don't have near the RSN's that DirecTV has, but I really don't watch them like I used to.
Click to expand...
Yes, I still have it and love it. The unlimited DVR is awesome and we never miss a thing, just add any show or event you want and it'll forever record every episode and you'll be able to zip past ads like you do with your current DVR. It also has nearly every show on demand (with ads) as well but as long as you record you are able to skip.

As far as networks I don't get I will subscribe to the ones I really want as most are available within their own standalone apps these days.

Herdfan said:
My biggest concern is I will be going from a 100M cable connection to a 30M WISP connection. That is enough for a couple of HD streams, and maybe 1 4K stream, but not much else.
Click to expand...
I would think any modern internet connection will support this, even 4K streaming, so long as you have the supported bandwidth and most will likely have that, too.

Herdfan said:
My second concern is the remote. I have a Roku 4K out there now and it is how we watched the last time we were out there, but I am really not a huge fan of the interface. Nor Apple TV's either. I use them when needed, but they would not be my first choice. Mainly there is no "Guide" button. I really don't want to have to jump through hoops to get to the guide. And there is no Previous Channel button either. I also use DirecTV's Double Play (Dual Live buffers) when watching football, but given its all streaming, this might not be as big of deal.

So if you are still with them, are you still happy with the service?
Click to expand...
I use the Roku 4K on one of my tvs and have no issues with it. Once you launch the YTTV app the guide is simple and intuitive regardless of which platform you use.

Let me know if you decided to go this route and I'll send you a code that will give me a free month and you a discount for your first month.
 
Eric said:
Let me know if you decided to go this route and I'll send you a code that will give me a free month and you a discount for your first month.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

And for the code. We are planning on heading out on the 25th, so I will reach out before then for a code.
 
Herdfan said:
Thanks for the info.

And for the code. We are planning on heading out on the 25th, so I will reach out before then for a code.
Click to expand...

Got the code and signed up. Thank you!

My initial thought about the service was the PQ. Wow! I guess I forgot what true HD was supposed to look like. This is equivalent to 2008 OTA HD before the local affiliates started adding sub-channels and DirecTV kept adding HD channels without additional capacity. I just kept flipping inputs on the UT/Clemson game between my ATV and my DirecTV box. The difference was like night and day.

I'm not a fan of the ATV interface and my Roku is in AZ. So I will deal with it for now. I couldn't control the skip back and scrolling down the Guide was slow. I'll look for some tips online.

But so far really liking what I have seen.
 
Herdfan said:
Got the code and signed up. Thank you!

My initial thought about the service was the PQ. Wow! I guess I forgot what true HD was supposed to look like. This is equivalent to 2008 OTA HD before the local affiliates started adding sub-channels and DirecTV kept adding HD channels without additional capacity. I just kept flipping inputs on the UT/Clemson game between my ATV and my DirecTV box. The difference was like night and day.

I'm not a fan of the ATV interface and my Roku is in AZ. So I will deal with it for now. I couldn't control the skip back and scrolling down the Guide was slow. I'll look for some tips online.

But so far really liking what I have seen.
Click to expand...
Awesome, glad you're digging it and yeah the quality is great across all my devices. Interesting about ATV, I've used my Sony TV, Roku and the Amazon Firestick 4K with this service and all have performed really well, nice and responsive across the board. Hopefully this is an isolated thing with ATV, I've just never tried it on that.
 
The issue with the ATV is there is not a real D-Pad. It is more like a trackpad and you have to swipe which is a lot slower than pressing a button.

Ordered a new Roku Ultra and the offspring is going to pick it up for me so I'll get it hooked up and see how it does.
 
Herdfan said:
The issue with the ATV is there is not a real D-Pad. It is more like a trackpad and you have to swipe which is a lot slower than pressing a button.

Ordered a new Roku Ultra and the offspring is going to pick it up for me so I'll get it hooked up and see how it does.
Click to expand...

The Ultra is much better than the ATV. I can jump forward and back easily.

One thing I have noticed is that when I jump forward or back, it doesn't automatically play like DirecTV does. I have to hit Play to get it going again. Not sure if this is a bug or bad feature.
 
Herdfan said:
The Ultra is much better than the ATV. I can jump forward and back easily.

One thing I have noticed is that when I jump forward or back, it doesn't automatically play like DirecTV does. I have to hit Play to get it going again. Not sure if this is a bug or bad feature.
Click to expand...
I see what you're saying, yes that can be handy. At the same time I think it gives you the ability to scan to see where you are at before hitting play, we've come to rely on it that way and is handy for completely ignoring commercials.
 
The newer remote for the ATV has more obvious directional buttons along with the trackpad. I’ve always been a bit puzzled by the ATV remote hate. I think they work great.
 
Edd said:
The newer remote for the ATV has more obvious directional buttons along with the trackpad. I’ve always been a bit puzzled by the ATV remote hate. I think they work great.
Click to expand...

It depends on the app. In Prime or Hulu tapping the right or left side of the thumbpad (or whatever you call it) jumps you forward or back 10 seconds. Works great., But for some reason, this does not work on YTTV. You have to scroll and it is hard to get exactly where you want to be.
 
Herdfan said:
It depends on the app. In Prime or Hulu tapping the right or left side of the thumbpad (or whatever you call it) jumps you forward or back 10 seconds. Works great., But for some reason, this does not work on YTTV. You have to scroll and it is hard to get exactly where you want to be.
Click to expand...
I only have the regular YT app but I know what you’re saying. This used to work on that but some update messed it up awhile back. Have you tried pausing first and then tapping back? Memory tells me that works, although an extra step. I presume YT as sabotaged this on purpose.
 
Edd said:
I only have the regular YT app but I know what you’re saying. This used to work on that but some update messed it up awhile back. Have you tried pausing first and then tapping back? Memory tells me that works, although an extra step. I presume YT as sabotaged this on purpose.
Click to expand...

No, but I'll give it a try. Thanks
 
Ok, so I tried a month with YTTV. Now going to try DirecTV stream.

Looks very similar except for one big thing - the Osprey box. This box makes it look and function more like traditional cable/sat. There are Guide and List buttons and with D* Stream, you can use channel numbers. The irony here is the Osprey box runs on Android TV, yet is not compatible with YTTV.

So far the PQ on both services blows my old DirecTV out of the water. Getting some buffering issues on Stream, but my internet has been a bit wonky the past couple of days so I don't know if it is the service or Xfinity.

Pricing is a bit higher than YTTV, but the ability to use channel numbers makes that worth it. As far as programming, I get A&E & SCI back, but lose The NFL Network. I will need my NFL Network come football season (my college's conference has a contract so their games are on it), so we will see.

I find navigation a bit easier in that you don't have to go all the way back out to get to the Guide or List. Still no full live buffer, so that will take some getting used to.

It's a process.
 
Herdfan said:
Ok, so I tried a month with YTTV. Now going to try DirecTV stream.

Looks very similar except for one big thing - the Osprey box. This box makes it look and function more like traditional cable/sat. There are Guide and List buttons and with D* Stream, you can use channel numbers. The irony here is the Osprey box runs on Android TV, yet is not compatible with YTTV.

So far the PQ on both services blows my old DirecTV out of the water. Getting some buffering issues on Stream, but my internet has been a bit wonky the past couple of days so I don't know if it is the service or Xfinity.

Pricing is a bit higher than YTTV, but the ability to use channel numbers makes that worth it. As far as programming, I get A&E & SCI back, but lose The NFL Network. I will need my NFL Network come football season (my college's conference has a contract so their games are on it), so we will see.

I find navigation a bit easier in that you don't have to go all the way back out to get to the Guide or List. Still no full live buffer, so that will take some getting used to.

It's a process.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, at least you gave it a shot (and we both got a discount as a result) but I've read where channel numbers are important for some. We've been with YTTV long enough now that we wouldn't know the difference, what we do is just arrange our channels according to our favorites and now know where everything is without even thinking about it. It just took a bit of getting used to.
 

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