Sling

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program

lovingit

Member
I heard about a streaming provider called Sling that costs $20/month.  You get live ESPN, TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Channel, HGTV (about 20 channels)  But it currently does not support PS3 or PS4 and you need either a XBox One or a Roku or Amazon box/stick.  Why isn't Sling available on smart TVs like Netflix is?  You don't need a Roku stick or Amazon stick to access Netflix as long as you have a smart TV.  Is Sling different?  I thought as long as you should be able to access the Sling app through the smart TV, you should be ok.  But when I called Sling support, they told me that a Sling app is not available on a smart TV yet.  I find it interesting that they have a Sling app for the computer/tablet but not for a smart TV.

Support said Sling has to be supported to a smart TV thru a Roku or Amazon device.  Maybe the app for smart TVs are in the works, just like PS3/4.  Anyone know if Roku or Amazon stick or box is better?  The stick is smaller storage and doesn't have functions like voicecontrol but seems more convenient without needing a HDMI cable.  It basically just plugs into the TV's USB port.
 
Keep in mind:
- You get ESPN, but not ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, etc.
- You can only watch one show at a time. So if you have two TVs in your home you are SOL.

A $50/mo U-verse TV package will kick sling's butt.
 
paperboyNC said:
Keep in mind:
- You get ESPN, but not ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, etc.
- You can only watch one show at a time. So if you have two TVs in your home you are SOL.

A $50/mo U-verse TV package will kick sling's butt.

Slingtv subscribers get watchespn so you can stream espn2 and espn3, etc live.
 
lovingit said:
But its on a Roku box?

Eventually won't they just make a downloadable app so you can use it from any smart TV?

That's up to them to create the app on all the TV platforms and for the TV mfg's to approve it.
 
bones said:
paperboyNC said:
Keep in mind:
- You get ESPN, but not ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, etc.
- You can only watch one show at a time. So if you have two TVs in your home you are SOL.

A $50/mo U-verse TV package will kick sling's butt.

Slingtv subscribers get watchespn so you can stream espn2 and espn3, etc live.

Actually I was wrong - ESPN2 comes with the base package. WatchESPN might block ESPNU unless you pay the extra $5/mo:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoud...g-tv-adds-watchespn-app-and-5-sports-package/
 
paperboyNC said:
Keep in mind:
- You get ESPN, but not ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, etc.
- You can only watch one show at a time. So if you have two TVs in your home you are SOL.

A $50/mo U-verse TV package will kick sling's butt.

Yeah, but getting tied to a contract sucks.  First year is always good, then they jack you in year 2.  Direct TV was the worst.  Everytime something broke, they tried to charge you for a technician to come out.  It was a hassle to get them to credit it.  Let's see how Sling is.  $20/month isn't too bad.
 
lovingit said:
Yeah, but getting tied to a contract sucks.  First year is always good, then they jack you in year 2.  Direct TV was the worst.  Everytime something broke, they tried to charge you for a technician to come out.  It was a hassle to get them to credit it.  Let's see how Sling is.  $20/month isn' too bad.

I just call U-verse once a year and they give me that year's promo rate for another year. But yeah - certainly feel free to try sling out.
 
lovingit said:
paperboyNC said:
Keep in mind:
- You get ESPN, but not ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, etc.
- You can only watch one show at a time. So if you have two TVs in your home you are SOL.

A $50/mo U-verse TV package will kick sling's butt.

Yeah, but getting tied to a contract sucks.  First year is always good, then they jack you in year 2.  Direct TV was the worst.  Everytime something broke, they tried to charge you for a technician to come out.  It was a hassle to get them to credit it.  Let's see how Sling is.  $20/month isn' too bad.

I've had sling since it came out earlier this year.  Warning:  it can get buggy and slow.  Usually at the most annoying times i.e. end of close basketball games.  But to me, it's a keeper.  I rather do this than traditional cable.  I think this ala carte system is the future so I'm hoping it gets better - both in terms of pricing/selection & tech. 
 
bones said:
I've had sling since it came out earlier this year.  Warning:  it can get buggy and slow.  Usually at the most annoying times i.e. end of close basketball games.  But to me, it's a keeper.  I rather do this than traditional cable.  I think this ala carte system is the future so I'm hoping it gets better - both in terms of pricing/selection & tech.

Sling is not a la carte. You pay $20/mo for:
ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, TNT, TBS, CNN, A&E, Lifetime, History, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Disney Channel, ABC Family, IFC, H2, El Rey Network, Maker, Galavision

Out of those channels I only watch ESPN, ESPN2 with some TNT, TBS and Disney Channel. So I'd be paying for 15 channels I don't watch.

Kids plan for $5/mo has Disney Junior, Disney XD, Boomerang, Baby TV, Duck TV. We only watch Disney Junior out of those..

And if you really want to dig deeper, paying for one channel at a time is not a la carte. If we only watch one show on HBO (let's say Game of Thrones), paying just for HBO is the opposite of a la carte. Apple actually tried to introduce true a la carte V where you pay $0.99 per show you watch.. now that's a la carte and consumers didn't pay up.
 
bones said:
lovingit said:
paperboyNC said:
Keep in mind:
- You get ESPN, but not ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS, etc.
- You can only watch one show at a time. So if you have two TVs in your home you are SOL.

A $50/mo U-verse TV package will kick sling's butt.

Yeah, but getting tied to a contract sucks.  First year is always good, then they jack you in year 2.  Direct TV was the worst.  Everytime something broke, they tried to charge you for a technician to come out.  It was a hassle to get them to credit it.  Let's see how Sling is.  $20/month isn' too bad.

I've had sling since it came out earlier this year.  Warning:  it can get buggy and slow.  Usually at the most annoying times i.e. end of close basketball games.  But to me, it's a keeper.  I rather do this than traditional cable.  I think this ala carte system is the future so I'm hoping it gets better - both in terms of pricing/selection & tech.

Oh, I thought your "Borrowing" the username/password from people that already have cable.
 
paperboyNC said:
bones said:
I've had sling since it came out earlier this year.  Warning:  it can get buggy and slow.  Usually at the most annoying times i.e. end of close basketball games.  But to me, it's a keeper.  I rather do this than traditional cable.  I think this ala carte system is the future so I'm hoping it gets better - both in terms of pricing/selection & tech.

Sling is not a la carte. You pay $20/mo for:
ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, TNT, TBS, CNN, A&E, Lifetime, History, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Disney Channel, ABC Family, IFC, H2, El Rey Network, Maker, Galavision

Out of those channels I only watch ESPN, ESPN2 with some TNT, TBS and Disney Channel. So I'd be paying for 15 channels I don't watch.

Kids plan for $5/mo has Disney Junior, Disney XD, Boomerang, Baby TV, Duck TV. We only watch Disney Junior out of those..

And if you really want to dig deeper, paying for one channel at a time is not a la carte. If we only watch one show on HBO (let's say Game of Thrones), paying just for HBO is the opposite of a la carte. Apple actually tried to introduce true a la carte V where you pay $0.99 per show you watch.. now that's a la carte and consumers didn't pay up.

Dude relax. Ala carte has two meanings when referencing TV. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_la_carte_pay_television

And No one is saying ala carte is the better deal bc as you often point out, your $50 uverse deal is a no brainer. Except for people that don't want to deal with traditional cable companies. And since you want to talk about what shows we watch, in our house, we only watch espn/tnt and the free channels (cbs/nbc/abc/etc). So I pay $20 for sling to get espn and nothing to get the free. Why would I pay $30 more for uverse?  So I cAn have a thousand channels at my disposal in case I want to watch them? Pass. Not sure why you care so much about what others do about cable. Do you work for uverse?  >:D
 
lovingit said:
Support said Sling has to be supported to a smart TV thru a Roku or Amazon device.  Maybe the app for smart TVs are in the works, just like PS3/4.  Anyone know if Roku or Amazon stick or box is better?  The stick is smaller storage and doesn't have functions like voicecontrol but seems more convenient without needing a HDMI cable.  It basically just plugs into the TV's USB port.

Amazon Fire TV Stick unless you need the features for the box (connecting an USB HD, Bluetooth headphones, voice search on remote).

Both can be sideloaded with apps without requiring a root. Highly recommend installing Kodi (formerly XBMC)  and some of the popular plugins to get access to tons of bootleg movies and TV shows.

Also, the recent Amazon firmware update added hotel login so you can take the stick with you on vacation and log into the hotel wifi. Did this recently at a Hilton and it worked great.
 
Vinster said:
lovingit said:
Support said Sling has to be supported to a smart TV thru a Roku or Amazon device.  Maybe the app for smart TVs are in the works, just like PS3/4.  Anyone know if Roku or Amazon stick or box is better?  The stick is smaller storage and doesn't have functions like voicecontrol but seems more convenient without needing a HDMI cable.  It basically just plugs into the TV's USB port.

Amazon Fire TV Stick unless you need the features for the box (connecting an USB HD, Bluetooth headphones, voice search on remote).

Both can be sideloaded with apps without requiring a root. Highly recommend installing Kodi (formerly XBMC)  and some of the popular plugins to get access to tons of bootleg movies and TV shows.

Also, the recent Amazon firmware update added hotel login so you can take the stick with you on vacation and log into the hotel wifi. Did this recently at a Hilton and it worked great.

Watching the tv is the last thing that comes to mind when I'm at a hotel on vacation.
 
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