COX v. UVERSE
- Thread starter Irvinecommuter
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Few things I've been really happy about with Dish that DirecTV didn't offer (keeping in mind I had the HR-22 receiver, not the Genie):
1) Being able to very simply watch remotely (web browser, phone/tablet app, etc.) any programming from your receiver at home, including both recorded programming and any channel of live TV.
2) 3 channels of primetime television are automatically recorded every night (in addition to the up to 3 channels you may be recording separately). It's very useful to me that I can always go back and see what was on TV, especially if I missed something or want to watch some 20/20 or Dateline. Some of these primetime programs also have all the commercials auto-skipped.
3) Anything you delete remains available until you start running out of space and it's cleared. Very helpful if you accidentally delete something.
4) The guide and overall interface is super-fast. DirecTV was always frustratingly laggy.
5) I can instantly open on my TV any photos, video, or music from my computers. (I discovered this by accident recently and I love it.)
6) Dish's fast-forwarding, skip-forward, and skip-backward are all super-fast.
There are some things that annoy me in comparison to DirecTV. For example:
1) DirecTV is always queuing up whatever channel it's on, so you could turn it on and immediately start rewinding even if you weren't watching it previously. Similarly, if you watch a recorded program, whatever channel it's tuned to will also continue to be queued up. On Dish it's strictly while you're actively watching live TV that the rewind buffer is saved.
2) On Dish there's no way to see where you are in the recording timeline except to pause. On DirecTV you can just hit play during playback and the timeline bar will show or hide.
3) Dish will always shut itself off after 30 minutes of inactivity and there doesn't seem any way to disable that.
There are a few minor things along those lines that bug me, but for all the important features, Dish has been a huge step up for me.
I have one set up in Taiwan for my dad. It's certainly not the best quality picture and we have issues sometimes when you need a hard-reboot, but it does the job. You just need it hooked up to a TV that the source end donst use much so you can control the channels.
Yes I have a slingbox hooked up to a 3rd Uverse receiver and use it to watch TV on my phone, tablet and laptop - mostly at home when the kids or wife wants something else on the TV. It works great at home. The quality is a little poor outside of home and if I'm not on WiFi it kills my data plan.
I have a Slingbox 500 I use to watch MLB Extra Innings on DTV at a remote location. I have UVerse at my home, I can't get DTV since my house doesn't face DTV's satellite. For me it's worth the money since I'm fully comped on DTV. Sling recommends 2MBPS of upload speed, but I believe you need at least 4-5 for a good HD stream. I had issues with my remote upload speed since the location was on DSL, finally, switched to FIOS and the video quality is top notch now. There is a lag when performing any functions (3-5 seconds). Also, if you're watching from out of the country, I believe there are a few router settings you should set up to maintain an optimal viewing experience. There's an informative forum on Sling's website.
I guess you don't really watch sports if you don't need TV. Only reason I still have TV...i'll shrivel up and die without sports.
Yeah but you can get local channels for free and subscribe to video viewing of whatever sport you're looking for.
This would work well if I didn't have little munchkins
Nothing is on the free channels anymore except the finals. Stanley Cup was on NBC Sports, NBA was on ESPN and TNT, MNF is on ESPN, and the Thursday night football games are on NFL network. Angels/Dodgers are on Fox Sports...soooo free channels get you pretty much nothing.
Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu in combination with YouTube is perfect for the munchkins...they don't need much else.
I watch sports a lot and can't take the munchkins to a pub to watch them.
Yep that's the one.
You do have to pay for the box and service. Right now it's $50 per box and $40 for the service. I believe if you watch the demo they give on the weekends you get a promo discount for the service.
Also I believe if you already have Cox cable it's just $10 a month to add the service on. (But that's kind of redundant since it would be the same channels just a different interface).
The demo guy said the price after it gets out of beta is supposed to be higher but if you sign up during beta you keep the beta subscription price.
http://watchflare.com/index.php/pricing
lucky760
New member
qwerty said:
Few things I've been really happy about with Dish that DirecTV didn't offer (keeping in mind I had the HR-22 receiver, not the Genie):
1) Being able to very simply watch remotely (web browser, phone/tablet app, etc.) any programming from your receiver at home, including both recorded programming and any channel of live TV.
2) 3 channels of primetime television are automatically recorded every night (in addition to the up to 3 channels you may be recording separately). It's very useful to me that I can always go back and see what was on TV, especially if I missed something or want to watch some 20/20 or Dateline. Some of these primetime programs also have all the commercials auto-skipped.
3) Anything you delete remains available until you start running out of space and it's cleared. Very helpful if you accidentally delete something.
4) The guide and overall interface is super-fast. DirecTV was always frustratingly laggy.
5) I can instantly open on my TV any photos, video, or music from my computers. (I discovered this by accident recently and I love it.)
6) Dish's fast-forwarding, skip-forward, and skip-backward are all super-fast.
There are some things that annoy me in comparison to DirecTV. For example:
1) DirecTV is always queuing up whatever channel it's on, so you could turn it on and immediately start rewinding even if you weren't watching it previously. Similarly, if you watch a recorded program, whatever channel it's tuned to will also continue to be queued up. On Dish it's strictly while you're actively watching live TV that the rewind buffer is saved.
2) On Dish there's no way to see where you are in the recording timeline except to pause. On DirecTV you can just hit play during playback and the timeline bar will show or hide.
3) Dish will always shut itself off after 30 minutes of inactivity and there doesn't seem any way to disable that.
There are a few minor things along those lines that bug me, but for all the important features, Dish has been a huge step up for me.
changm55
New member
hey guys, this is a bit on the side, but does anybody have experience with slingbox type gadgets? i ask cause i been looking into alternatives to the home home dvr and what nots that i gotta pay extra for... figured i could recoup the savings in a years time with a slingbox, would also be nice to be able to watch tv when im outta the country
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I think DishTV's Hopper has SlingBox capability.
world chaos said:
I have one set up in Taiwan for my dad. It's certainly not the best quality picture and we have issues sometimes when you need a hard-reboot, but it does the job. You just need it hooked up to a TV that the source end donst use much so you can control the channels.
paperboyNC
New member
world chaos said:
Yes I have a slingbox hooked up to a 3rd Uverse receiver and use it to watch TV on my phone, tablet and laptop - mostly at home when the kids or wife wants something else on the TV. It works great at home. The quality is a little poor outside of home and if I'm not on WiFi it kills my data plan.
NASCAR24
Active member
world chaos said:
I have a Slingbox 500 I use to watch MLB Extra Innings on DTV at a remote location. I have UVerse at my home, I can't get DTV since my house doesn't face DTV's satellite. For me it's worth the money since I'm fully comped on DTV. Sling recommends 2MBPS of upload speed, but I believe you need at least 4-5 for a good HD stream. I had issues with my remote upload speed since the location was on DSL, finally, switched to FIOS and the video quality is top notch now. There is a lag when performing any functions (3-5 seconds). Also, if you're watching from out of the country, I believe there are a few router settings you should set up to maintain an optimal viewing experience. There's an informative forum on Sling's website.
Irvinecommuter said:Thanks for everyone's input. I think we may go with Cox internet and may strike out TV all together and go with Netflix, Amazon, and/or Hulu. If that doesn't work, we may move to Dish/DirecTV. I have heard stories of bad installation damaging the house though...
I guess you don't really watch sports if you don't need TV. Only reason I still have TV...i'll shrivel up and die without sports.
Irvinecommuter
New member
broda said:Irvinecommuter said:Thanks for everyone's input. I think we may go with Cox internet and may strike out TV all together and go with Netflix, Amazon, and/or Hulu. If that doesn't work, we may move to Dish/DirecTV. I have heard stories of bad installation damaging the house though...
I guess you don't really watch sports if you don't need TV. Only reason I still have TV...i'll shrivel up and die without sports.
Yeah but you can get local channels for free and subscribe to video viewing of whatever sport you're looking for.
paperboyNC
New member
No Quarter said:
This would work well if I didn't have little munchkins
Irvinecommuter said:broda said:Irvinecommuter said:Thanks for everyone's input. I think we may go with Cox internet and may strike out TV all together and go with Netflix, Amazon, and/or Hulu. If that doesn't work, we may move to Dish/DirecTV. I have heard stories of bad installation damaging the house though...
I guess you don't really watch sports if you don't need TV. Only reason I still have TV...i'll shrivel up and die without sports.
Yeah but you can get local channels for free and subscribe to video viewing of whatever sport you're looking for.
Nothing is on the free channels anymore except the finals. Stanley Cup was on NBC Sports, NBA was on ESPN and TNT, MNF is on ESPN, and the Thursday night football games are on NFL network. Angels/Dodgers are on Fox Sports...soooo free channels get you pretty much nothing.
paperboyNC said:
Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu in combination with YouTube is perfect for the munchkins...they don't need much else.
paperboyNC
New member
broda said:
I watch sports a lot and can't take the munchkins to a pub to watch them.
Have any of you guys considered Flare from Cox? $40 a month for live tv over Internet. I am beta testing it for about 1 week now. Seems very solid and well thought out device modeled after the Apple delivery/engineering philosophy.
Only issues I have had so far:
1) Sometimes needs a restart after a software update
2) I had an IP address conflict with another computer on the network that caused it to lockup (very rare condition that I need to report)
The device is targeted to people like me that don't watch that much TV. I just want the occasional live sports and the only show I want is Walking Dead. The TV is more for guests than anything.
Only issues I have had so far:
1) Sometimes needs a restart after a software update
2) I had an IP address conflict with another computer on the network that caused it to lockup (very rare condition that I need to report)
The device is targeted to people like me that don't watch that much TV. I just want the occasional live sports and the only show I want is Walking Dead. The TV is more for guests than anything.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
How did you get on Beta test? I would be interested in something like this.icey said:
Not so different from the Advance TV Cable boxes Cox has now. I have to unplug them every so often because the guide is missing data or it's acting up.
Thanks for telling us about this... it's much cheaper than cable and looks interesting.
Hi irvinehowner,
You can get on the beta test by going to the Cox store and picking up a unit. The guy who demo'ed it in Laguna Niguel did a great job in the demo. Looks like you can pick it up in Irvine in Quail Hill and in Woodbury. The locations are listed below.
The cool thing I like about this device is the remote. It literally has no buttons on it. You either tap it, hold it down, or hit the "home button," or you swipe left and right or up and down, just like a cellphone or tablet.
Seems like a well thought out system.
The guy who demoed it to me said Cox would be deciding in the next few weeks on whether to take it nationally, but the likelihood of that is very high. He said they would refund all subscription and equipment fees in case it doesn't go national. Currently it's only available to Orange County customers.
Another cool thing is there is no silly contract lock in.
http://watchflare.com/index.php/contact_us
You can get on the beta test by going to the Cox store and picking up a unit. The guy who demo'ed it in Laguna Niguel did a great job in the demo. Looks like you can pick it up in Irvine in Quail Hill and in Woodbury. The locations are listed below.
The cool thing I like about this device is the remote. It literally has no buttons on it. You either tap it, hold it down, or hit the "home button," or you swipe left and right or up and down, just like a cellphone or tablet.
Seems like a well thought out system.
The guy who demoed it to me said Cox would be deciding in the next few weeks on whether to take it nationally, but the likelihood of that is very high. He said they would refund all subscription and equipment fees in case it doesn't go national. Currently it's only available to Orange County customers.
Another cool thing is there is no silly contract lock in.
http://watchflare.com/index.php/contact_us
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
Yeah... I saw the unit... it's that Fanhattan gadget I saw on Engadget.
I'll pass by the QH store to see... so you have to pay for the box and the service even though it's beta?
I'll pass by the QH store to see... so you have to pay for the box and the service even though it's beta?
irvinehomeowner said:
Yep that's the one.
You do have to pay for the box and service. Right now it's $50 per box and $40 for the service. I believe if you watch the demo they give on the weekends you get a promo discount for the service.
Also I believe if you already have Cox cable it's just $10 a month to add the service on. (But that's kind of redundant since it would be the same channels just a different interface).
The demo guy said the price after it gets out of beta is supposed to be higher but if you sign up during beta you keep the beta subscription price.
http://watchflare.com/index.php/pricing
I would go with Cox.
I had Uverse FTTP Internet and you dont get what you pay for.
I was testing the Uverse broadband for the FCC with the Sam I Know program. Dropped ATT Uverse service immediately shortly thereafter.
Now I use Cox.
http://www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america
I had Uverse FTTP Internet and you dont get what you pay for.
I was testing the Uverse broadband for the FCC with the Sam I Know program. Dropped ATT Uverse service immediately shortly thereafter.
Now I use Cox.
http://www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america