Decided to give Directv Now streaming service a try

[cabmandone]

I got an email the other day from Directv about their new directv now streaming service. They have a deal where if you prepay for a month you get an Amazon Fire Stick for free so I figured what do I have to lose? I have been trying their PC based setup which is a bit glitchy but I figure anything new will be. They were running a special where for $35 I could get their 100 channel package. On my S5 the video is crisp and there's no lag. On my laptop the video isn't as crisp.
I'm thinking if I like the service I'll get an Amazon Fire Tv box and go with ethernet connection rather than Wifi thinking if the kids want to be online using up bandwidth I don't have to worry with a wired connection. My other thought is that I have a 4K Tv and the fire tv box supports 4K and as I understand it I can select programming based on 4K availability. I'll update once I'm using the service on the TV.

[stomachmonkey]

IIRC there is a 3 month prepay deal that gets you an Apple TV.

It's tempting.

Let us know how you like it.

[scottmandue]

DirectTV is infamous for being expensive...
Why not just get high speed internet and a streaming device (ROKU, Chromecast, smart BluRay, game console, etc.)?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

IIRC there is a 3 month prepay deal that gets you an Apple TV.

It's tempting.

Let us know how you like it.

Correct! They did offer an Apple Tv for the 3 month prepay but I was doing some research and it looks like an Amazon Fire Tv is a better setup based on the specs of both for what I want to do. I figure I can put the fire stick on another TV that doesn't have 4K capability if I like the service and put the fire tv on my primary tv.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

DirectTV is infamous for being expensive...
Why not just get high speed internet and a streaming device (ROKU, Chromecast, smart BluRay, game console, etc.)?

I was a bit skeptical of Directv as they do tend to start low but finish high. But their streaming service is a flat price with no extra fees. It's comparable to Sling but with more channels. I wanted the ability to view live tv and their packages offered the most channels. They also offer on demand with episodes of previously aired seasons and programs. If I don't like the service I just got a fire stick for $35 since there is no contract and you only had to prepay for the first month service.

[Gogar]

With a roku you still need to pay for - something. Amazon, Netflix, or sling. I have all 3 so I'm paying about as much as cabmando will pay to try this directv thing. Until the promo runs out, anyway!

Remember for 4K stream you need a steady 15-16Mbps to your TV.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Gogar

With a roku you still need to pay for - something. Amazon, Netflix, or sling. I have all 3 so I'm paying about as much as cabmando will pay to try this directv thing. Until the promo runs out, anyway!

Remember for 4K stream you need a steady 15-16Mbps to your TV.

When the promo runs out their basic package is still $35/mo and has all the channels I really want. I tried Sling a month or so ago but wasn't happy with the overall channel selection. I'll still need to get a digital antenna for my locals but I'll have more locals than I do now with my current Dish Network package.
On the 4K I have a pretty steady 20 MBPS service. Pretty decent for rural service and the main reason I decided to give this a try.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Gogar

With a roku you still need to pay for - something. Amazon, Netflix, or sling. I have all 3 so I'm paying about as much as cabmando will pay to try this directv thing. Until the promo runs out, anyway!

Remember for 4K stream you need a steady 15-16Mbps to your TV.

Thanks, I'm still studying this (seems every few months we have a thread on streaming TV) I'm super cheap... I mean thrifty... and trying to figure if there is a better deal that the $58 I paying for Dish network.
High speed internet is ~$50 in my hood so by the time I pay for that and whatever service I will be paying more.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

super cheap... I mean thrifty... and trying to figure if there is a better deal that the $58 I paying for Dish network.

That's where I am too. My problem with the Dish package I have is there are some channels I don't have that I'd like to have. ESPN would have been handy when PSU played USC which is why I did the 7 day trial of direct's streaming service. I have high speed because of my business so that really didn't play into the equation for me.

[cabmandone]

Well! I received my Fire tv stick and quickly connected it to my 60" LG 4K. I was streaming in no time at all. My first impression was... hmmm not too bad. The audio and video quality are decent. It takes a bit of time to change channels but I could live with the delay when I'm getting 100 channels for less than I'm paying for my other service with less channels. The Alexa voice remote is pretty much useless from what I can see in changing channels on the directvnow service. I downloaded the app to use my Galaxy S5 as the remote and really liked it as it seemed to be less glitchy than the remote that came with the system. When using the provided remote the fire stick seemed to become unresponsive or PAINFULLY slow to respond. With my S5 I didn't have any issue with the unresponsiveness that I experienced with the supplied remote. The voice feature actually worked better with my smartphone than with the remote.
Back to the service! Later on in the day I started noticing the service buffering. I have a 20mbps service and have never experienced buffering with netflix or Prime movies. While the tv was buffering I thought I'd switch to my phone and see how it was acting. I brought up the exact same program on my phone as I was watching with my tv and... no problem with buffering. I don't get it! I have until 2/11 to cancel and will continue to watch to see if the buffering continues or if there will be a fix applied. It seems that it's a problem when streaming to a TV rather than to a smaller device. The web browser stream is a bit glitchy as well. Video quality changes frequently while watching. I can go from crystal clear video to fuzzy in the blink of an eye. Again this was not an issue while viewing on my phone.

[atcjorg]

there are a few drawbacks first you can only have 2 streams active at a time and no 4K read this, DirecTV Now a Game Changer for Cord-Cutters? - Consumer Reports

[atcjorg]

my main problem is there seems to be some corporate foot dragging on getting a roku app for this, I have a few.

[astrochex]

Any concerns about DirecTV signal quality?

Jus asking because we recently switched from satellite (Dish) to cable (Brighthouse) and noticed significant improvement in picture quality.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by atcjorg

there are a few drawbacks first you can only have 2 streams active at a time and no 4K read this, DirecTV Now a Game Changer for Cord-Cutters? - Consumer Reports

I knew going in that there wasn't 4k but honestly I'm not watching live tv for the video quality. And if I can't count the arm hairs on a football player during the game, I'm good with that. So far the service is just too problematic. My son was home sick today so I told him to use the new service (haven't cancelled Dish yet). As the day progressed the programs he was watching on DIY network started freezing up. I'm going to go back and check later because everything I have read on screen freeze and buffering has stated it starts happening later in the day presumably because more people are signing in and the servers don't have the bandwidth to handle the load. It will be interesting to see how it shapes up over the next two weeks.

[cabmandone]

I have been watching on and off now since my last post. I'm not noticing the buffering or screen freeze ups that were happening. I'm thinking I might just stay in and drop my Dish Network service in favor of this service. I have Prime so I have options for watching other things and we don't have the TV on all that much during the day so I figure why not?

[Gogar]

Cool,

I'm interested to see how it settles in for you,

I'm also on Rokus over here so it's not an option for me anyway.

Not sure if it's $15 'better' than sling for me, but it looks interesting.

On the ATT conference call yesterday they mentioned that they have 200K directv now subscribers so far.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Cool,

I'm interested to see how it settles in for you,

I'm also on Rokus over here so it's not an option for me anyway.

Not sure if it's $15 'better' than sling for me, but it looks interesting.

On the ATT conference call yesterday they mentioned that they have 200K directv now subscribers so far.

As I understand it they're coming out with an app for Roku.
The big reason I went with Directv Now over Sling is there are so many channels that my wife and teenage kids like on the Direct package that Sling doesn't offer. If I up the top offering from Sling I'm paying more and for fewer channels since I got in on the early offer and IF (notice the big if) Directv doesn't hose me I'm supposed to be at that price for as long as I have the service.

[stomachmonkey]

Going to have to revisit this.

Had a huge blow out with my new provider yesterday.

Got my bill and noticed it seemed higher.

Checked it thoroughly which is not easy as one of my first blowouts with them is over how the information on their bill is laid out and calculated. F'n terrible to begin with.

I notice two charges ~$10.00 per piece. Sport Package Surcharge and Entertainment Package Surcharge.

I don't have additional Sports or Entertainment packages beyond what's in the package I ordered.

Assumed they had done that "Try XXX free for XX days then just $whatever a month after unless you cancel" which I had expressly declined when initially ordering.

Call them up and their answer was "That's the fee for providing those channels."

But I don't want those extra channels, said that from the start.

"They are not extra channels, they are already included in your package"

Sooo, why the extra charge?

"That's the cost for us to provide them to you"

I'm sorry, why is that cost not covered in the price of the package? If it costs X to provide them then that's a cost of doing business that should be built into the ROI when you advertise the package price. You sold me a package for $XX but the real cost is $XX + $20.00. How is that not deceptive advertising?

"Well that's how we break out our costs"

I don't give an effin F how you break out your cost. I agreed to pay $XX for Y because YOU told me that's what it costs when clearly it does not.

"Well some networks renegotiated the fees we have to pay to carry their content, that's what the surcharge is, it costs us more this year"

NO, no, it's costing ME more this year. That's just laziness. You have no motivation to negotiate harder for a better deal because it's a pass through cost.

We went around for a while but got no where because she has no authority to do anything about it.

Upon digging into it later it seems my provider is not the only one doing it, they pretty much all are over the last year or two.

Fuchers.

I so gotta cut the final cord.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Going to have to revisit this.

Word of warning. If you do the 7 day trial don't base it off a PC. My video quality was poor on my laptop (could have had something to do with my video card). On my Galaxy S5 using the app the video quality was great. I have no complaints with the video when streaming through the fire tv stick. I think I'm going to buy a fire tv box and go wired ethernet rather than wifi. I figure that way I can put the fire tv stick on another TV for the kids to watch.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Upon digging into it later it seems my provider is not the only one doing it, they pretty much all are over the last year or two.

Fuchers.

I so gotta cut the final cord.

Yup. Time Warner - or whatever their new name is - did it to me. Same result. The basic package comes with a mandatory extra charge for some channels."The price is this, but it will cost you that." It's deceptive marketing, plain and simple.