Playstation Vue Core Slim Package

[thedukeofearl]

I've had Vue for about 9 months now. Moving to it from DirecTV was the one of the best decisions I've ever made. Here has been my experience with it:

1. It has pretty much all the major stations I ever watch....never missed a Hawkeye football or basketball game.
2. You will need an OTA antenna to be able to watch the locals. If you live in the Des Moines area, CBS is now a listed local in the guide....but still need the antenna to get ABC, NBC, and Fox.
3. Cubs fans gets CSN.
4. HBO is now an add-on package for those that want to add it for a short time for GoT...no need to get HBOGO from a different provider.
5. I've got 100MB speed with 1 TB usage. With 3 kids (21, 17, 12) that are using multiple devices and multiple streams, I've never had an issue. I typically average about 600GB of usage per month, so I've found the 1TB to be plenty.
6. Online DVR works pretty well....as long as you watch the show within 28 days or else it goes away. I've never had an issue with a football or basketball game going away earlier than that, but at the same time, I'm usually watching it later the same day or the next day at the latest, so I don't know if it goes away earlier than 28 days or not.
7. One of the things to get used to is that you don't really record an actual program. When you set the show as your "favorite", it records everything with that title. For example, if you want to record the Hawk football game on a Saturday, it will record all programs that are "College Football". You then just have to tab thru the games until you find the Hawkeye one. Not a big deal, but does take some getting used to at first.
8. I use a Playstation 4 in one room and Fire TVs in the rest of the rooms and find the UI to be pretty good. I've heard it's also now on Apple TV. Don't use it with a Fire Stick as the guide is too slow. With a Roku, I've heard the UI is pretty crappy.
9. I'm saving about $120 from where my DirecTV bill was at before I switched. I took $20 of those savings to up my internet to what I mentioned above, so I'm still saving over $1,000/year and missing absolutely nothing.

One thing I do not understand is whether or not I need a PS4 to use Vue. I have had Roku for years and apparently they have Vue, I am going to get FireTV and I believe they have Vue also.....

 

[kwah]

One thing I do not understand is whether or not I need a PS4 to use Vue. I have had Roku for years and apparently they have Vue, I am going to get FireTV and I believe they have Vue also.....

You do not need a PS4. The fire tv does have the vue app. Just make sure to avoid the fire stick because it has a slow processor.

 

[SpiderRico]

Now I have to Google Fire TV. This just gets confusing! Thanks for the heads up about the sticks. I don't think I'd have to buy a Fire TV just for the trial as my kids have a Playstation IV they got for Christmas. I'd just use that, correct, as the guide is fine on that.

So, if I liked it I'd be better off setting the other two up with Fire TV's because the guide is better, right?

Thanks.

Didn't realize that you have a PS4. Yep, just use that.

 

[SpiderRico]

One thing I do not understand is whether or not I need a PS4 to use Vue. I have had Roku for years and apparently they have Vue, I am going to get FireTV and I believe they have Vue also.....

Get the Vue on the Fire TV box you are getting. Don't get it on Roku....the UI sucks!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Get the Vue on the Fire TV box you are getting. Don't get it on Roku....the UI sucks!

When you refer to the "UI" what is that?

 

[SpiderRico]

When you refer to the "UI" what is that?

The User Interface....basically what you see in the navigation and how easy (or difficult) it is to navigate...

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I have Vue, $35/mo with no fees and haven't missed a Hawkeye game yet. The streaming can glitch a bit on occasion but is generally smooth.

Only thing might be if a game is on some oddball station, but I don't believe that's happened yet. No problem on football - note that CBS isn't included so I'm probably going to have to get myself an HD antenna for the big dance, selection show, etc. But local Fox, BTN, ESPN 1/2, ESPN U, etc. is included so the coverage has been good for all my sports needs.

I live in Tampa, FL so can't get Cubs games, since I get the Fox FL, Fox Sun Sports, etc. instead, but can't do much about regional coverage I guess.

Tampa? I live in Orlando, and my brother is in Tampa. Are you active in Tampa Bay I-Club? That is one hell of a great club.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Thanks so much Spider. I think I may do the trial after the NCAA tournament. Not sure my wife is going to have the patience as she likes things running smoothly.


So do you watch TV live or is there a delay to view the stream. That is kind of confusing to me. Say I want to watch "Kevin Can Wait" (my go to show for now), can I watch it real time or do I have to wait for the stream to be ready like the next day. If so, this may be a deal breaker with wifey.

Kevin Can Wait is on CBS, and it may have finished for the season? We have the CBS App ($6/month), so we can watch/stream it live OR on-demand.

CBS shows, for the most part, don't make it to Hulu/Netflix/Amazon during the season, and some never make it there. CBS doesn't "own" most of its shows, strictly broadcast rights, so they have both an advantage and disadvantage.

 

[Calculator]

I'm in my week long trial and have a DVR question. I like to have Seinfield on the DVR just in case there isn't anything else on. The problem is that there are about 75 episodes on per week. I can set a cap on Directv saying I only want you to keep 5 episodes. Is that possible with Vue? Also is there a max capacity? I hardly ever watch anything live except for sports so my DVR can get pretty full. Thank you, I'll hang up and listen.

 

[SpiderRico]

I'm in my week long trial and have a DVR question. I like to have Seinfield on the DVR just in case there isn't anything else on. The problem is that there are about 75 episodes on per week. I can set a cap on Directv saying I only want you to keep 5 episodes. Is that possible with Vue? Also is there a max capacity? I hardly ever watch anything live except for sports so my DVR can get pretty full. Thank you, I'll hang up and listen.

Based on my understanding, there is no limit on the number of shows you can have in your "DVR", it's simply time based. So after 28 days, they will drop off.

 

[Calculator]

Based on my understanding, there is no limit on the number of shows you can have in your "DVR", it's simply time based. So after 28 days, they will drop off.

That's the way the website made it sound. I just thought the experience might be different. Thank you.

 

[SpiderRico]

That's the way the website made it sound. I just thought the experience might be different. Thank you.

My experience for the last 9 months has been this way. Some have stated that they've seen shows falling off earlier than 28 days if there are a lot of episodes that are recording. That hasn't been my experience....

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I'm in my week long trial and have a DVR question. I like to have Seinfield on the DVR just in case there isn't anything else on. The problem is that there are about 75 episodes on per week. I can set a cap on Directv saying I only want you to keep 5 episodes. Is that possible with Vue? Also is there a max capacity? I hardly ever watch anything live except for sports so my DVR can get pretty full. Thank you, I'll hang up and listen.

So, what is your verdict? Anything you can't stand? What are you doing for your local stations or are you just evaluating the other live programming and streaming?

 

[Calculator]

So, what is your verdict? Anything you can't stand? What are you doing for your local stations or are you just evaluating the other live programming and streaming?

So far I like it. I'm only three days in but I haven't had any problems at all. KCCI is usually the only local channel that we watch here in DSM and it streams on Vue. ABC, NBC, and FOX are all on demand. We can still watch shows on those channels but a day later. I did pull an OTA antenna out of the closet to use if there is anything that we would want to watch live on those channels.

There are a few things that are annoying. I'm using a fire stick (which I read in this thread is not the way to go) and I don't like the way the guide is set up but that could be the stick. You have to go channel by channel. You cant go page by page. Also, as people have mentioned, if you DVR college basketball it will record all games. I would like to be able to specify that I only want Iowa games.I would also like to cap how many episodes of a show are saved on the DVR. These are all things that I'm sure I will get used to or will hold out hope that Sony improves upon. Overall the wife is happy she can still watch all of her shows and I've been happy the quality of the stream.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

OK. Selling to wife. She's concerned about losing alll the older movies she has saved on DTV DVR. Am I correct, that after going with Playstation Vue, that there will be a library available to streamline all the movies we want, such as Grown Ups, etc.? Will all older movies be available for us to stream?

 

[hawk2012]

Your wife will lose the movies. And Vue will not have a replacement. You want a library of streaming movies you need Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Starz, something like that. Vue is for TV, not an on demand streaming service. There is some on demand content, but its more tv.

Personally, the thing I hated about Vue and caused me to keep cable is that you couldn't start a game halfway thru. Living in California, many basketball games start like at 4PM here. Sometimes, I get home at 5 and want to start the game then from the beginning. That works with my cable DVR. With Vue, you can either join in progress or wait till the game is over and then watch it. Also, I don't think Vue has anyway to add extra time for sporting events so you always have to record the program after. Maybe these problems have been fixed. I quit the service about six months ago.

I'm hoping that either YouTube or Hulu, both launching streaming services this spring/summer will fix some of these issues.

 

[SpiderRico]

Your wife will lose the movies. And Vue will not have a replacement. You want a library of streaming movies you need Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Starz, something like that. Vue is for TV, not an on demand streaming service. There is some on demand content, but its more tv.

Personally, the thing I hated about Vue and caused me to keep cable is that you couldn't start a game halfway thru. Living in California, many basketball games start like at 4PM here. Sometimes, I get home at 5 and want to start the game then from the beginning. That works with my cable DVR. With Vue, you can either join in progress or wait till the game is over and then watch it. Also, I don't think Vue has anyway to add extra time for sporting events so you always have to record the program after. Maybe these problems have been fixed. I quit the service about six months ago.

I'm hoping that either YouTube or Hulu, both launching streaming services this spring/summer will fix some of these issues.

Just an FYI...all you had to do was tag a program as your "favorite" and then when you got home, opened that program, click "start over" and watch from the start as well as fast forward. I do it all the time...

 

[thedukeofearl]

OK. Selling to wife. She's concerned about losing alll the older movies she has saved on DTV DVR. Am I correct, that after going with Playstation Vue, that there will be a library available to streamline all the movies we want, such as Grown Ups, etc.? Will all older movies be available for us to stream?

Netflix and Amazon Prime eventually have most movies to watch shortly after they are released on DVD or pay streaming downloads. Netflix is about $9 a month and Amazon Prime is $99 for 12 months. With both options you will have many thousands of movies to watch, and original series some of which are excellent. Prime is the best deal going. Free two day shipping on almost every item. I get my 99 dollar investment back saving money on shipping and time spent shopping. I buy everything for Christmas from Amazon. You also get Turner Classic Movies with Vue. In one likes the classics, TCM is nirvana.....

If you get the Vue tier with HBO and Showtime, you also get HBO Go and Showtime Anytime separately on FireTV which provides access to every movie currently showing on both services and also every episode of every series on both services. Sopranos, Deadwood, GOT, Shameless, Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Detective and everything else.....

I will be purchasing three FireTV units and save hundreds of dollars a year. Am going to keep broadband from Mediacom. Not certain how good Century Link is,,,,,

 

[thedukeofearl]

Your wife will lose the movies. And Vue will not have a replacement. You want a library of streaming movies you need Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Starz, something like that. Vue is for TV, not an on demand streaming service. There is some on demand content, but its more tv.

Personally, the thing I hated about Vue and caused me to keep cable is that you couldn't start a game halfway thru. Living in California, many basketball games start like at 4PM here. Sometimes, I get home at 5 and want to start the game then from the beginning. That works with my cable DVR. With Vue, you can either join in progress or wait till the game is over and then watch it. Also, I don't think Vue has anyway to add extra time for sporting events so you always have to record the program after. Maybe these problems have been fixed. I quit the service about six months ago.

I'm hoping that either YouTube or Hulu, both launching streaming services this spring/summer will fix some of these issues.

I hadn't read all of the posts. You have covered it quite nicely.....

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Your wife will lose the movies. And Vue will not have a replacement. You want a library of streaming movies you need Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Starz, something like that. Vue is for TV, not an on demand streaming service. There is some on demand content, but its more tv.

Personally, the thing I hated about Vue and caused me to keep cable is that you couldn't start a game halfway thru. Living in California, many basketball games start like at 4PM here. Sometimes, I get home at 5 and want to start the game then from the beginning. That works with my cable DVR. With Vue, you can either join in progress or wait till the game is over and then watch it. Also, I don't think Vue has anyway to add extra time for sporting events so you always have to record the program after. Maybe these problems have been fixed. I quit the service about six months ago.

I'm hoping that either YouTube or Hulu, both launching streaming services this spring/summer will fix some of these issues.

Good to know. Thanks for the input. Yea, that might be a deal breaker, but not sure it's worth paying $93 extra bucks a month. I might learn to live with it.