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Cord Cutters Thread

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torre

torre 1286

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3 hours ago, tokamak said:

IMO the best thing about cord cutting isn't necessarily the cost, it's the flexibility. I signed up for Sling to get ESPN for bowl season. $25 to watch all the bowls plus whatever other random shit for a month is a good deal. Then when football is over, if my wife isn't watching something, I'll just cancel it which takes about 10 seconds on their website.

Is there ever an issue with the cancellation/continuing charge on credit card  ?

thanks !

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RedDirtTexan
RedDirtTexan

FWIW.....I tweeted at @YouTubeTV and complained about them not carrying LHN. They wrote back and sent a link asking for suggestions on which channels to work on adding to their lineup. Here's the link

WithoutAClue
WithoutAClue
Nice Guy Eddie
Nice Guy Eddie

For me the best part of cord cutting is not that I saved money, I’ve dropped tv viewing by at least 50%.  If I have to drop it closer to 100%, not sure I will miss it.

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tokamak

tokamak 6431

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5 minutes ago, torre said:

Is there ever an issue with the cancellation/continuing charge on credit card  ?

thanks !

I haven't had a problem with that yet. I did a bunch of free trials during football season to try out different services. They all require a CC even for the trial (because they're hoping you'll continue, of course). But all of them were fairly clear on when exactly you'd be charged. None have tried to keep charging me after I canceled.

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shnsajax

shnsajax 3591

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Posted

So I just realized my older smart tv won’t stream Hulu Live. And I don’t think my older Apple TV does either. I love the Hulu app UI, so which stick or method will get me closest to that? I do have a 360 that I never use as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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NoName

NoName 16352

Posted
Posted
On 1/5/2019 at 12:27 PM, shnsajax said:

So I just realized my older smart tv won’t stream Hulu Live. And I don’t think my older Apple TV does either. I love the Hulu app UI, so which stick or method will get me closest to that? I do have a 360 that I never use as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

at this point i recommend Roku to almost everyone because they don't end up in the pissing match between Google and Amazon - so you can get Prime Video and YouTube/YouTube TV (with the app that is nice) plus a ton of other options. cost is reasonable also...

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The University

The University 851

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Posted

for ota dvr, i'm still using a tivo roamio. bought it for about $300 when it also included the lifetime service. the roamio ota dvr is top notch, as far as i can tell. the only thing that i wish tivo would do is encourage the development of more apps. 

if the tivo died and i couldn't resurrect it with a new drive, i'd probably look at tablo.

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DCLonghorn

DCLonghorn 244

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Posted

So I finally cut the cord after hemming and hawing about the decision for two plus years. Sports, LHN, and the DVR held me back. But AT&T mucking up what used to be outstanding DirecTV customer service, making the DirecTV website practically unusable, and jacking up the rates right at the new year was enough for me to pull the trigger. I'd happily been with DirecTV since '03.

I went with YouTube TV and the Nvidia Shield Android TV box. So far the family hasn't missed a thing or complained about missing anything, other than the little one complaining about us not having some nickjr show that we've never heard of, that she's never asked to watch, and never even mentioned until the day after I cut the cord. I'll just use family's logins from their cable to get to nickjr app if she ever mentions it again.

I absolutely love YouTube TV! And I can't believe I didn't cut the cord sooner. Having the major locals already on the service means I didn't have to worry about an antenna, or an OTA DVR, or DirecTV now losing cbs. Simplified it, which was nice.

So far, no streaming issues at all. an occasional app restart needed, but I have a feeling that's more about the app and the hardware than the streaming.

YouTube TV DVR is very cool. Just searching for Marvel movies and Disney movies I was able to repopulate about 80% of what had been on my DirecTV DVR for a couple of years. I wish I could see a few more days/weeks out on the guide, but I just rescan for Marvel and Disney movies every few days or weeks. The cloud DVR will list both the video on demand showings and the recorded showings if you have recorded it. And you can choose between them. way better to choose the recorded version so you can forward through commercials. and YouTube TV interface works exactly like YouTube, where you can see the thumbnails as you fast forward.

Went with the Invidia Shield Android TV box instead of Roku since I live in the Android world, and kind of like to tinker with things. there's also the possible appeal of all the extra-curricular stuff you can do with an Android TV box. Comes with a ton of free games as well.

Speaking of that, anyone have a good YouTube channel or message board that's kind of a Android TV Kodi 101? I'm not exactly sure where to start.

But I will say, in general I absolutely love TV services as apps instead of channels. It's super intuitive, and really straightforward.

P.S. DirecTV was super chill when I canceled, they didn't try to talk me out of it at all. No hard up sales. and they've made it really easy to return devices now. Previously they'd send you a box and a label you have to pack it up yourself and return it. Now you just take the receiver and the remote down to a local UPS or FedEx store and just hand it over. They box it and ship it for you no charge.

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NoName

NoName 16352

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, HoustonFrog said:

If YouTube TV had HGTV I would have switched months ago. Only streaming service without it


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philo has it for like $15/month so you end up spending like $55 vs $100+ in some scenarios

(just saying it's an option if you want it)

 

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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15051

Posted
Posted
So I finally cut the cord after hemming and hawing about the decision for two plus years. Sports, LHN, and the DVR held me back. But AT&T mucking up what used to be outstanding DirecTV customer service, making the DirecTV website practically unusable, and jacking up the rates right at the new year was enough for me to pull the trigger. I'd happily been with DirecTV since '03.

I went with YouTube TV and the Nvidia Shield Android TV box. So far the family hasn't missed a thing or complained about missing anything, other than the little one complaining about us not having some nickjr show that we've never heard of, that she's never asked to watch, and never even mentioned until the day after I cut the cord. I'll just use family's logins from their cable to get to nickjr app if she ever mentions it again.

I absolutely love YouTube TV! And I can't believe I didn't cut the cord sooner. Having the major locals already on the service means I didn't have to worry about an antenna, or an OTA DVR, or DirecTV now losing cbs. Simplified it, which was nice.

So far, no streaming issues at all. an occasional app restart needed, but I have a feeling that's more about the app and the hardware than the streaming.

YouTube TV DVR is very cool. Just searching for Marvel movies and Disney movies I was able to repopulate about 80% of what had been on my DirecTV DVR for a couple of years. I wish I could see a few more days/weeks out on the guide, but I just rescan for Marvel and Disney movies every few days or weeks. The cloud DVR will list both the video on demand showings and the recorded showings if you have recorded it. And you can choose between them. way better to choose the recorded version so you can forward through commercials. and YouTube TV interface works exactly like YouTube, where you can see the thumbnails as you fast forward.

Went with the Invidia Shield Android TV box instead of Roku since I live in the Android world, and kind of like to tinker with things. there's also the possible appeal of all the extra-curricular stuff you can do with an Android TV box. Comes with a ton of free games as well.

Speaking of that, anyone have a good YouTube channel or message board that's kind of a Android TV Kodi 101? I'm not exactly sure where to start.

But I will say, in general I absolutely love TV services as apps instead of channels. It's super intuitive, and really straightforward.

P.S. DirecTV was super chill when I canceled, they didn't try to talk me out of it at all. No hard up sales. and they've made it really easy to return devices now. Previously they'd send you a box and a label you have to pack it up yourself and return it. Now you just take the receiver and the remote down to a local UPS or FedEx store and just hand it over. They box it and ship it for you no charge.


I also almost went with YouTube tv but lack of LHN and the local station that carries some Spurs games held me back.
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Vito Andolini

Vito Andolini 9126

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Posted

DirecTV whole house genies have been shitting the bed since we got it years ago, especially with the wireless, but we never really used the upstairs much, so no urgent need to bitch. Started using the game room more recently, and had WatchESPN app, which was ok.

So, a few minutes ago, I decided to turn the National Championship on for the wife upstairs. But WatchESPN wasn’t working. And a google search tells me it’s a big fuckup for the ESPN app nationally. I’m presuming it sucks for the streaming services, or is it ok for Hulu/YouTube TV, etc?

I’m ready to cut the cord, but this shit really dampens my enthusiam for doing so. 

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DCLonghorn

DCLonghorn 244

Posted
Posted
DirecTV whole house genies have been shitting the bed since we got it years ago, especially with the wireless, but we never really used the upstairs much, so no urgent need to bitch. Started using the game room more recently, and had WatchESPN app, which was ok.
So, a few minutes ago, I decided to turn the National Championship on for the wife upstairs. But WatchESPN wasn’t working. And a google search tells me it’s a big fuckup for the ESPN app nationally. I’m presuming it sucks for the streaming services, or is it ok for Hulu/YouTube TV, etc?
I’m ready to cut the cord, but this shit really dampens my enthusiam for doing so. 
No issues at all (so far) on YouTube TV.
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DCLonghorn

DCLonghorn 244

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Posted
Youtube TV still not available in Boise as I wanted to try it. Any issues on local channels?
I haven't had it that long, and we don't watch much broadcast TV, but so far, no issues with local channels. I don't get all of them, but I get the big 4 plus one or two UHF locals. No PBS, no CW.
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Dahobbs

Dahobbs 17543

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, DCLonghorn said:
17 hours ago, shnsajax said:
Youtube TV still not available in Boise as I wanted to try it. Any issues on local channels?

I haven't had it that long, and we don't watch much broadcast TV, but so far, no issues with local channels. I don't get all of them, but I get the big 4 plus one or two UHF locals. No PBS, no CW.

You can get PBS for free over the PBS app and cast to your tv. Dont forget PBS kids too if you have them. 

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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14921

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Posted

YouTube doesn’t have the cooking channels either, which makes it a no go for the wife.

I got the 99 cent Hulu deal in December so I think I’ll start with that, ESPN, and a family login for NBC SN for Premier League and go from there.

How about Internet speed? I max at 22 mb on U-verse but I can go to 150 up to 1000 with Comcast. I’m thinking 150 will be plenty but curious to hear from cord cutters.

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HRSchenker

HRSchenker 2268

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I'm loving YouTube TV. The only issue I have is that I can't seem to figure out how to schedule a recording when that show isn't next on the listing. I don't want to set a blanket recording for a program called "College Basketball" because then I have to weed through every damn game just to find Texas.

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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14921

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Posted
Anyone ever have any issues hooking a Roku directly to the receiver for surround sound? Looks like it should be plug and play, but just now thought of this.


Never tried it, but I just run everything (U-verse box, Xbox, Apple TV/Roku) to the TV with HDMI and then optical out from the TV to the receiver. Newer receivers take HDMI in so you can run everything there and then one HDMI out to the TV. I’ve occasionally had to fiddle with the audio format that the TV outputs to get surround sound.
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shnsajax

shnsajax 3591

Posted
Posted
Just now, Buzzrock said:

 


Never tried it, but I just run everything (U-verse box, Xbox, Apple TV/Roku) to the TV with HDMI and then optical out from the TV to the receiver. Newer receivers take HDMI in so you can run everything there and then one HDMI out to the TV. I’ve occasionally had to fiddle with the audio format that the TV outputs to get surround sound.

 

That's how I am, just the one HDMI from tv and all devices go into receiver. 

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kevwun

kevwun 15790

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

YouTube doesn’t have the cooking channels either, which makes it a no go for the wife.

I got the 99 cent Hulu deal in December so I think I’ll start with that, ESPN, and a family login for NBC SN for Premier League and go from there.

How about Internet speed? I max at 22 mb on U-verse but I can go to 150 up to 1000 with Comcast. I’m thinking 150 will be plenty but curious to hear from cord cutters.

How many devices will you ever stream at the same time?  There's a good chance that your current connection is fast enough.  I have 10mb right now and it works just fine for streaming 2 things at once.  Your connection will handle 4-5 streaming devices at once without any problems.  150 is way more than you will ever need.  You can run an office building with that much bandwidth.

Edited by kevwun
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NoName

NoName 16352

Posted
Posted

 

54 minutes ago, HoustonFrog said:

 


Does philo integrate with YouTube TV seamlessly? Or will I have to switch apps on the Roku?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

they are not integrated, but are different apps as far as i know?

i don't personally have it just have had it recommended to me every time i have ever mentioned any channels. 

 

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Dahobbs

Dahobbs 17543

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, HRSchenker said:

I'm loving YouTube TV. The only issue I have is that I can't seem to figure out how to schedule a recording when that show isn't next on the listing. I don't want to set a blanket recording for a program called "College Basketball" because then I have to weed through every damn game just to find Texas.

Then just record Texas Basketball. You can add specific teams. I have all UT sports set to record that way. 

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Newdoc

Newdoc 3440

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, MoJames said:

DirecTV Now had no issues with the game last night.

Mine buffered quite a bit and the rest of my internet was working well. Could have been ISP still.  Overall DTVNow not too bad. Really want LHN so PS Vue seems to be the only other option.

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DCLonghorn

DCLonghorn 244

Posted
Posted



YouTube doesn’t have the cooking channels either, which makes it a no go for the wife.


It's not the cooking channel, but YouTube TV has one random cooking channel I've never heard of. The Mrs has tuned in a few times. And Pluto TV has a bunch of Gordon Ramsey episodes for free.
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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14921

Posted
Posted
How many devices will you ever stream at the same time?  There's a good chance that your current connection is fast enough.  I have 10mb right now and it works just fine for streaming 2 things at once.  Your connection will handle 4-5 streaming devices at once without any problems.  150 is way more than you will ever need.  You can run an office building with that much bandwidth.


Probably four or five max. It does seem like the internet bandwidth arms race is overkill right now. I can get gigabit fiber for $60 per month at our new place in April, but I don’t download torrents or anything so I think that would be largely wasted. I can save 10-20 bucks per month by dropping down to 250 or 150 mbps.

Lol at “ever need” though. I remember buying a 420 megabyte hard drive and thinking I would never fill it up.
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NoName

NoName 16352

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Bobby Light said:

I haven't cut the cord yet but interested in the best device for casting iPhone to TV. Not necessarily looking for the best per se, just the best value. I will just use it for casting and streaming services so I don't have to use the PS4.

at this point, why not just buy a Roku (which you can cast to I believe) - you get 4k plus it is platform agnostic so you don't get caught in the Google/Amazon wars...

TheWirecutter Best Media Streaming Devices

if you are just looking for the best value you can maybe get a bundle for $17 from WalMart that includes a Chromecast and a Google Home mini (slickdeals link)

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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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Posted

I started with Chromecast and it would work for me, but my wife/kids couldn't make the change. 

Got a fire stick and the remote/splash screen makes it beyond easy for them. I don't mind being hooked into Amazon as I'll probably just build up a digital movie collection through them anyway. And as far as pirating movies etc, I'm past that. Was talking to someone the other day about mIRC and sitting on different channels downloading screeners at Moore Hill. Was fun at the time, but now I'd just rather pay 5 bucks to rent it.

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NoName

NoName 16352

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, MoJames said:

I started with Chromecast and it would work for me, but my wife/kids couldn't make the change. 

Got a fire stick and the remote/splash screen makes it beyond easy for them. I don't mind being hooked into Amazon as I'll probably just build up a digital movie collection through them anyway. And as far as pirating movies etc, I'm past that. Was talking to someone the other day about mIRC and sitting on different channels downloading screeners at Moore Hill. Was fun at the time, but now I'd just rather pay 5 bucks to rent it.

i mean if that is what people want to do there are other ways to get android boxes that do this, but like you i am happy to just use YTTV + rent the movie or find another choice on one of the other options i have (Amazon/Netflix/etc)

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HouTex

HouTex 1867

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Posted
On 1/7/2019 at 10:34 AM, DCLonghorn said:

So I finally cut the cord after hemming and hawing about the decision for two plus years. Sports, LHN, and the DVR held me back. But AT&T mucking up what used to be outstanding DirecTV customer service, making the DirecTV website practically unusable, and jacking up the rates right at the new year was enough for me to pull the trigger. I'd happily been with DirecTV since '03.

I went with YouTube TV and the Nvidia Shield Android TV box. So far the family hasn't missed a thing or complained about missing anything, other than the little one complaining about us not having some nickjr show that we've never heard of, that she's never asked to watch, and never even mentioned until the day after I cut the cord. I'll just use family's logins from their cable to get to nickjr app if she ever mentions it again.

I absolutely love YouTube TV! And I can't believe I didn't cut the cord sooner. Having the major locals already on the service means I didn't have to worry about an antenna, or an OTA DVR, or DirecTV now losing cbs. Simplified it, which was nice.

So far, no streaming issues at all. an occasional app restart needed, but I have a feeling that's more about the app and the hardware than the streaming.

YouTube TV DVR is very cool. Just searching for Marvel movies and Disney movies I was able to repopulate about 80% of what had been on my DirecTV DVR for a couple of years. I wish I could see a few more days/weeks out on the guide, but I just rescan for Marvel and Disney movies every few days or weeks. The cloud DVR will list both the video on demand showings and the recorded showings if you have recorded it. And you can choose between them. way better to choose the recorded version so you can forward through commercials. and YouTube TV interface works exactly like YouTube, where you can see the thumbnails as you fast forward.

Went with the Invidia Shield Android TV box instead of Roku since I live in the Android world, and kind of like to tinker with things. there's also the possible appeal of all the extra-curricular stuff you can do with an Android TV box. Comes with a ton of free games as well.

Speaking of that, anyone have a good YouTube channel or message board that's kind of a Android TV Kodi 101? I'm not exactly sure where to start.

But I will say, in general I absolutely love TV services as apps instead of channels. It's super intuitive, and really straightforward.

P.S. DirecTV was super chill when I canceled, they didn't try to talk me out of it at all. No hard up sales. and they've made it really easy to return devices now. Previously they'd send you a box and a label you have to pack it up yourself and return it. Now you just take the receiver and the remote down to a local UPS or FedEx store and just hand it over. They box it and ship it for you no charge.

I've read most of the thread and this seems to be the closed to my situation.  I live in Houston.  I currently have Directv with 5 smart TVs connected wirelessly via the Genie.  I also have Comcast internet and all but one of my smart TVs are connected via ethernet cable to the internet and the one that isn't gets good wifi reception.  We use Netflix and Amazon Prime Video all the time and they work extremely well.  Live local network TV and ESPN for sports is a must for us and my wife likes to record several shitty prime time shows from the major networks--many at the same time.  It sounds like you get the local channels without the need of an external antennae.  How is the Directv Now DVR function?  Can you record multiple shows on different networks at the same time?  How is the menu of shows listed on screen and how far out can you program a show to record?   It sounds like it's cloud based so I assume you can watch a recorded show on any smart TV that's connected to the internet.  What is the limit on how many hours of programs that can be saved?

My Directv costs me about $300 per month for the 5 TV genie system and my high speed Comcast (I'm getting 450+ mps download speeds) is $137 per month.  I get just about all of the HBO/Cinemax/Starz/TMC channels on Directv.  How much does your current set up cost?  I'm guessing I can save some money each month, but I'm wondering what I lose.  The wife's head would explode if she had to switch sources to an external antennae (and I really don't want to have to install one) so I don't want to do that and it sounds like I wouldn't need to do so.  It also has to be somewhat easy to record and play back the prime time TV shows that she records.  Any advice/ideas are appreciated.

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DCLonghorn

DCLonghorn 244

Posted
Posted
... Any advice/ideas are appreciated.


You asked more about DirecTV Now than YouTube TV in your post, but you can do what you need for your wife on YouTube TV. You just tell it to record a specific show, and it grabs them all new, reruns, video on demand, all of it. I just wanted to grab the New year's special episode of Doctor Who. But since it was like a five-day marathon, I now have almost every episode of that show recorded.

The downside is, you can't go in and delete a specific episode like you can on a traditional DVR. But since YouTube TV is unlimited DVR, it doesn't really matter, beyond vaguely offending my OCD sensibilities of liking to keep a DVR clear. YouTube TV DVR is unlimited recording, and it holds the recordings for 9 months. I'm new to this, so I don't know what that means. I don't know if it's a rolling 9 months, or it resets what you've asked to record every nine months.

The upside, is if you just tell it to record Seinfeld or friends, since they're on heavy rotation on TBS or whatnot, you have the entire catalog of that show really really quickly.

As a side note, I absolutely love that I got to unplug all these random DirecTV things that are plugged in all over my house from over the years. Swm devices, decas, genies, DVRs, coax cable out the yin yang. All gone. Just my Wi-Fi, and my Android TV box. We use Chromecast or Xboxes on the other TVs.
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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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Posted

$300 for television is insane.

The nice thing with most of these streaming options is you can find a show you want to watch and binge it. Head to the network and see what they offer.

Also, I thought I would miss the DVR as the one on DirecTV Now is limited, but I honestly only record Longhorn games and Chelsea games. Past that we have Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime and HBO through DirecTV.  I used to have an arsenal of DVR'd shows, but often I can find what I want without the DVR.

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HouTex

HouTex 1867

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Posted
15 minutes ago, DCLonghorn said:

 


You asked more about DirecTV Now than YouTube TV in your post, but you can do what you need for your wife on YouTube TV. You just tell it to record a specific show, and it grabs them all new, reruns, video on demand, all of it. I just wanted to grab the New year's special episode of Doctor Who. But since it was like a five-day marathon, I now have almost every episode of that show recorded.

The downside is, you can't go in and delete a specific episode like you can on a traditional DVR. But since YouTube TV is unlimited DVR, it doesn't really matter, beyond vaguely offending my OCD sensibilities of liking to keep a DVR clear. YouTube TV DVR is unlimited recording, and it holds the recordings for 9 months. I'm new to this, so I don't know what that means. I don't know if it's a rolling 9 months, or it resets what you've asked to record every nine months.

The upside, is if you just tell it to record Seinfeld or friends, since they're on heavy rotation on TBS or whatnot, you have the entire catalog of that show really really quickly.

As a side note, I absolutely love that I got to unplug all these random DirecTV things that are plugged in all over my house from over the years. Swm devices, decas, genies, DVRs, coax cable out the yin yang. All gone. Just my Wi-Fi, and my Android TV box. We use Chromecast or Xboxes on the other TVs.

 

Thanks, this is very helpful.  So it sounds like I might need both Directv Now and Youtube TV (plus keeping my existing Netflix and Amazon services).  I don't believe I would need any additional hardware.

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