So a few weeks ago Sony decided to drop Viacom channels from its PS Vue line-up. Good for them. We lost MTV on which I watched the
Shanarra Chronicles but it was already available on Netflix so technically, I lost nothing. I would still argue that PS Vue is the best
value on the market right now. Since May they have added our CBS affiliate channel, the BBC America and the NFL Network channels,
Apple TV support (who cares, right?), Roku support (YAY!!), PC support (awesome!!!) and I think android support (don't quote me on
that). We also purchased a new OTA Tivo Roamio with
lifetime subscription for $199.99 so bye bye $14.99/mo. Takes our monthly entertainment and home phone costs down to $120.15/mo down
from $135.14/mo [$44.99/mo PS Vue Elite Slim package, $45.73/mo Comcast internet (includes basic cable, which we do not use and
Showtime), $8.25/mo Amazon prime (paid annually), $5/mo Funimation (paid annually), $10.44/mo Netflix,
$1.50/mo Callcentric (for caller id), and $4.24/mo for Ooma (second home phone line)].
Sony Playstation Vue is more stable and more feature rich than Sling TV (which recently announced a cloud DVR option that has not
yet launched) and the newly launched DirecTV Now service.
Arguably, DirecTV Now has more channels:
- Viacom (BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike, TV Land, VH1)
- A&E (A&E, History, Lifetime, Viceland...)
- Hallmark
- Longhorn Network
- MLB Network
- Fox Sports Prime Ticket
- The Weather Channel
- Starz
- more lesser known channels
Those would be channels that Sony PS Vue does not carry but they have a 2 stream limit, no DVR, and no CBS. While PS Vue does carry our
local CBS affiliate, ESPN Deportes, and the Fox College Sports networks (Atlantic, Central and Pacific) which are not carried by
DirecTV Now in any package.
Sony PS Vue
pros: cloud DVR, every channel we have any interest in watching, 5 stream limit, multiple application logins, multichannel guide,
user profiles (perfect for multi viewer households)
cons: geo fixed, cannot technically use it outside the home (but can use the application credentials to log in to individual network
apps), multichannel guide (it is there but it is not so great and is not available on the Roku)
Sling TV
pros: multilingual/multicultural options, lighter package price if you are willing to forgo some channels, use anywhere
cons: still buggy, has no usable multichannel guide, no DVR (coming soon??), limited to at most 3 streams and as little as 1 stream
DirecTV Now
pros: more channels, multichannel guide is very familiar, use anywhere, cheap at launch, $5/mo HBO and/or Cinemax
cons: just launched so very buggy, no DVR (next year???), no local affiliates (unless you live in network owned station areas),
not such a great price after the launch period is over, 2 streams max
OTA
pros: full HD programming on every channel it is available on, free, 41 different channels in our area including ABC, CBS, CW, Fox,
NBC, PBS, Ion, GetTV, Decades, etc, no equipment rental
cons: fewer channels than with cable/OTT services, no electronic tv guide, one time expense of installing an antenna and wiring it
up
Updated to use the latest version of java and re-enabled viewing the java version. It was a security issue that initially had me
remove it but I would rather see it myself so I know when it needs to be updated [or a configuration changed] than hide it.
So last June my wife and I cancelled Comcast TV service and phone service and went Internet only for ~$60/mo. At the same time we
picked up an OTA Tivo Roamio for $50 and $15/mo. We also picked up Sling TV with the Lifestyle and Sports packages for
~$34+/mo. We already had Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime and those did not change. We also went with a new antenna on the
roof and went with the Obihai phone service, the VOIP device costs some money but the service is free through Google Voice.
Our last Comcast bill was $260+/mo prior to this change (plus Amazon Prime ~$8/mo, Hulu ~$8/mo and Netflix $8/mo at the time for a
total of ~$284/mo for internet, phone and video entertainment).
After the change the bill was $110 / mo. From last June to March
we were reasonably pleased with Sling TV. We were getting some of the shows we missed through Amazon Season passes and got
a lot of capability with the Tivo that we did not have before. Around Christmas we picked up a new modem and WiFi router
that let us get rid of the last piece of our Comcast rental equipment and took our internet bill down to ~$50/mo.
In March we switched to Playstation Vue. The content is better [got back USA and SyFy, as well as MTV and Bravo and all of the Fox
sports affiliates], the cloud DVR is awesome and you are not trapped by the ridiculous 1 stream limit Sling TV has/had so my wife
and I can watch TV at the same time, e.g. I can watch a football game on FS 1 or ESPN while she watches The Cooking Channel both on
PS Vue without one of us having to compromise on what we want to watch. We also get far more app sign-ins with PS Vue, which
means I can watch SyFy, MTV, or USA channels on the Roku OR the Amazon Fire TV. We gave up Hulu commercial free when we
switched to PS Vue since most of the content is available through the NBC, ABC, and Fox on Demand via PS Vue but I do miss
watching Arrow and Flash commercial free. I feel like we finally have every channel we watched on Comcast (plus a comparable phone
service) and we are only paying $115 / mo [Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, USA, SyFy, FS1/2, ESPN, MTV,
Disney XD, Bravo, Freeform, DIY, HGTV, CW, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox]. More
importantly, we can watch all of the shows on every TV in the house without paying any rental fees. Comcast may advertise that they
have more content available for a lesser price but once you add the ridiculous HD fee, the equipment rental fees for each TV
you may want to watch on, you inevitably pay more. Not to mention, Comcast's packages to get just the channels I listed above
in 720i or better will take you well above the $110 price point (plus Obihai Extras $5/mo, Netflix $10/mo and Amazon Prime $8/mo for a
total of $133/mo for internet, phone and video entertainment) and I challenge anyone to prove they can get the same 19 channels I
listed above from Comcast in at least 720i on just one tv with or without DVR for less.
There are some down sides though. The PS Vue app is not available on Google Android, Roku or PC, Sling TV is. You can only watch
PS Vue at your home address, Sling TV is available anywhere in the U.S.. Neither PS Vue nor Sling TV's interface is great, they
both have their strengths and weaknesses. As for the Obihai phone service, you can make and receive calls really well but
the caller id SUX!!! They have add ons ($5) that let you use your own Google contacts to look up numbers but other calls come in
with just the number identified, no name. Not that it is a big deal but I also kind of miss the phone number caller id on the
tv that we got with Comcast/Xfinity Triple Play and I might miss NFL Network when Thursday night football is exclusively on it in
the fall. All in all we significantly downsized our bill and get every channel that
we enjoyed with Comcast, we seldom or never watched any other channels, our bill is ~$150 less and we can watch on every tv in the
house without any additional rental fees. For us it was well worth the change and we are very happy with our current entertainment
package.
Did a lot of validation using the new W3C HTML 5 validation as well as the
PowerMapper Validation.
The site is better as far as being more valid and in compliance but still has some issues. 100% HTML 5 and CSS 3 compliant
but the accessability and usability still have some warnings.
Modified the year handling to be a dropdown menu rather than a long list of years across the top. Modified the History
page to account for Pluto's demotion and the fact that it is no longer considered to be the farthest most planet-like
body from the sun. Fixed the favicon.
Site was rebuilt and moved to a new server that finally allows free hosting of java apps. The styling is a bit dated but
just glad to have the site up and running again.
