Sling TV vs. PlayStation Vue: Online TV Services Compared

[Math Geek]

yah Vue has the better features for now. odly even though i cancelled it over a month ago, it still logs in and let's me use it on one tv in my house. not complaining

i am waiting for the dvr features and roku support for directv now and hopefully they come soon. but i can always go back to Vue if needed since the price has not changed or anything like that. i did want to lock in the $35 for directv now to see what it offers. so far i am not seeing any buffering issues but i have very strong solid net access. there will always be a few hic-ups in the beginning and so long as they can keep upgrading and adding features that are missing, they will have a winner on their hands.

 

[Jacolby]

We se an over the air antenna for big networks and the basic $20 sling package and it covers everything we want!

 

[jam40jeff]

Video quality is much better on PS Vue, where all channels are 60 fps. Only a couple are on Sling TV (most are 30 fps). This makes a huge difference for sports.

 

[IVIEDICATED]

I've tried all 3 services and PSVUE is the best of the 3. Sling has been around awhile & has no excuse for no DVR function and their sloppy menus. Directv has good pricing but poor interfacing and poor channel quality. Also there was an article a week past about Directv refusing to issue refunds & people being charged after the free trial when they cancelled before the trial was up & people have had to file complaints with the BBB to get refunds. I do NOT recommend Directv now. PSVUE on the other hand has great streaming quality a legit DVR and easy to use menus & guides. If you're cutting the cord I highly recommend PSVUE.

 

[Math Geek]

i tried directv now and so did a number of friends of mine. we all liked the $35 promo price and the free fire stick it came with.

problem was me and all 5 friends i now who gave it a shot all got screwed by the service on the same day. the promo ended right before we all renewed for the next month. there was a "glitch" in their system that caused the payments to be declined by our banks. no payment so they canceled the service. the "problem" cleared up the day after the deal ended and we could not resume our $35 promo price since it had ended. all 6 of use had our service canceled on us and the only way to get i back was to start again at the full price.

did some looking and saw a bunch of reports around the web stating the same thing happened to others. i know At&t is a deplorable company but did not expect this level of cheating. so it seems we all got a $35 fire stick and a month of service from directv now and we're all back to playstation vue.

live and learn i guess. i wanted to give them a chance and was willing to go through the start-up hic-ups with the service but not for $60 a month. back to my $45 PS Vue service i enjoyed before and won't give at&t another look again for sure.

 

[G0m3r619]

This makes no sense. Get a digital antenna and you get the networks for FREE. Get a solid Internet service and add Netflix and/or Hulu and you are good and cheaper than these offerings.

 

[Math Geek]

good says you. what if you want to watch stuff not on netflix or hulu?? i know this will be surprising to you but people actually have different tastes and desire to watch different programs than other people.

if that's good enough for you, then super awesome special for you. for the rest of us, we'll have to look at options that meet our needs.

 

[rbess1965]

I have PSVue now. The cost of it depends on the region you live in. I pay 35.00 in Austin for the Core Slim 60 channels. In Dallas the same package is 45. The reason to get PSVue is the Cloud DVR service which is the best part and it can handle 5 streams at once. The others can only manage 1 or 2 streams at once. If you’re a loner and only need one, fine, but if you have a family that is not good. We’re saving over 80 a month and getting more from the DVR than we ever did from the one DVR box we were ‘Renting’ from Spectrum. Never looking back. Now if Amazon breaks into this market, I will consider it but only if the 2 main options I pointed out are available.

 

[UberStCrew]

PS Vue is missing too many channels for what they are charging. $65/mo for the Elite package is not worth it when it is missing channels like History, Comedy Central, Military History, Smithsonian, A&E , the other Epix channels, and quite a few other channels. Also here they make you pay the extra $10/mo for local channels.

DirecTV Now has a better selection of channels but is also missing a few that I watch. I don't know why so many people complain about the streaming quality of DirecTV Now, I have used it on FireTV 2, Apple TV 4, Windows 10 PC, Android Phones & Tablets and the streaming quality has been very good on all devices. Very little buffering & glitches. Where DirecTV is lacking is features & device support. DirecTV needs a DVR feature, better selection of On-Demand content & better support for TV Everywhere app login. Another thing is they still are lacking apps for Android TV & Roku.

Sling TV selection of channels is way too sparse even with all their add on packages. Sling TV also lacks in features such as DVR (which is in beta testing now) & TV Everywhere app login support.

Still waiting for an invite to test out Hulu's new live TV service. Maybe that will be a pleasant surprise.

At this time, at least for me, none of these services offers enough channels or features to be a serious alternative to traditional Cable TV. They have a lot of work to do before I would consider any of them as my main "TV" viewing source.

 

[brentwasham]

Article mentioned how good Vue user interface is on PS4, wondering about PS3 since you can get a used one for around $40 on ebay, maybe a little more with all the connection cables. Has anybody had experience with using a PS3? Or is the Amazon Firestick interface as good? I have ROKU and Chromecast but not Firestick. Hard to keep up with all the upgrades going on.

 

[Math Geek]

looks the same on PS3 as on PS4. think Roku is the only one that lacks the grid channel guide. i still use it on the Roku and no guide yet for sure. firestick has the channel guide as well if you're using that.

overall, i still don't miss the standard grid channel guide we got used to with cable. try it both ways and you may find you like it better without the guide turned on. once you set the fav channels up and get the list the way you want it, it's easy to see what's on and to find on demand stuff.

 

[Thxportland]

Tried sling tv and wasn't impressed, ended up signing up for Vue. The best I can say about these streaming services is that you can pay less for less and there are no contracts. The user experience is awful as is the DVR. It's not really a DVR but really on demand, but only if you select it. It also degrades the quality of the play back unless you watch the commercials, but you can pause "most" of the live TV.
The lag is horrible, it's takes up to 5 minutes to start up sometimes, often it's completely unresponsive, then when it does respond it executes every button you pushed in one burst.
A 10 second foward skip isn't of much use when it takes longer than 10 seconds to execute.
In the the month that I have had Vue I can honestly say I've had about 10 times as many issues than I have had in 20 years of cable. On the plus side, it is cheaper and hopefully it will improve, also because it is easy to cancel (so they say) I'll probably try direct tv to see if that is any better, thought it doesn't sound like it. I know,one thing for sure, If I wanted the higher end packages I'd just stay with cable which is pretty much superior in every way.

 

[Jdmac07]

The article indicated PlayStation Vue is available on Sony smart blu-ray players. I would love for this to be true, but I can't find one that says it has the capability of the App. Also the PlayStation Vue site does not indicate that this would be a device to use the App. Has anyone found a Blu-Ray Player that has the App? And how well does it work?

 

[Liz_15]

I have DirecTV Now, have had it since it's inception. At first, it was glitchy. As of now, have no problems. It was recently opened up on Roku ( newer models) and Roku TV ( tho not mine ). I have no problems using it on other platforms, and often watch it on my phone while stuck somewhere outside of home. That's the advantage of DTV over Vue, I can't watvh it outside of home. Useless in that respect.
I am locked into the $35 a month for the Go Big package, haven't had a problem being charged anything else. The picture is gorgeous, as DirecTV satellite is.

 

[Bizzy817]

I have a subscrption to PS vie and I can use it out side of my home I do it all the time at work when showing customers what it has to offer for those thinking of ditching cable. Also I am able to access the same tv guide from the ps4 PS vue interface on my gs6, tab s, and firestick, which shows channel programming for the next 7 days

 

[Bizzy817]

I'm able to steam PS vue outside of my home, and I also can access a tv guide in the PS vue interface on my GS6, Tab S, and firestick not just my ps3 and ps4. So i am puzzled as to why the writter would say the tv guide feature is only available on the ps3 and 4 interface. Or why another reader comment said you can only stream on your home Wi-Fi. The PS vie interface also is only sluggish on my firestick. On my phone and tablet it normally runs ALMOST as smooth as my ps3 and 4. Also one thing the writer didn't mention is local channels like ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS aren't all offered in every area. I live in St. Louis, MO, and CBS is the only local channel offer through vie. ABC, FOX, and NBC only have On demand. Also to that other comment about it seems like the service is charging customers more for local channels that's not true if any of the customers local channels are offered in their area with vie, it is already included in ever tire package. Meaning, if you just went with the $30 base package you'll still get whatever local channels are available for you local area (or market as vie reffers to it as). But most people who opt-in the use either of these 3 services primarily will just use an anntena to get the local channels.

 

[Math Geek]

you missed that the article is over 2 years old now. what was written was true for that time but obviously the service has changed since then.

perhaps an update article would be nice but do realize the info was accurate for when it was released. all the services have changed a lot in the last year as has directv now which is barely 6 months old now!!

 

[Mike_378]

Article is incorrect about Sling not offering DVR. They have a cloud DVR option for $5/month. You get 50 hours of recording time and can record multiple shows at once. But in all fairness, I don't know when they began offering it, since this article was written in march, and it's now June.

 

[Math Geek]

again, it was written in March of 2015 well over 2 years old now. a lot has changed since then.

please can we just let this die now?? getting beyond silly now.

 

[Vic_Arios]

Am I only reader looking for simple chart which simply shows channel-by-chanel availability for each service? Seems a single, simple comprehensive chart with boxes checked or unchecked showing which service had which channels and which of the other attributes/benefits detailed in the article would be an improvement - a fraction of the wordcount and many times more informative/useful for the reader... Or do people prefer the prosaic approach?