Sling TV vs. PlayStation Vue: Online TV Services Compared

[Math Geek]

most services refuse to do that for their various packages. so getting one covering the various levels of all the services would be awesome but would have to be user generated. the companies are clearly not interested in being so open with what they offer.

good luck even getting a simple list from one service. i think sling tv was only one before that had such a thing but i've not looked in a long while.

 

[SeijiSensei]

I've been a PS Vue subscriber for about a year now. While there's a lot to like in the service, there are some drawbacks not mentioned in this review.

First, like many millions of people, I have a PS3 and not a PS4. I find that using fast forward/rewind through a show can lock up my PS3 and require a hard reboot. I've even had it lock up overnight when I wasn't even using it. I suspect Sony is aware of this issue (I've sent perhaps fifty missives to Sony when I've needed to restart my PS3), but they have no interest in fixing a problem on a platform they no longer care about. If you're like me and skip commercials whenever possible, this problem can quickly become very annoying. I've had my PS3 lock up as many as two or three times in a single day.

Another FF/Rew annoyance is that the PS3 will often not respond to these requests when in the middle of advertising. If I hit x16 or x32 at the end of a show segment before the commercials, it usually speeds through the entire break. I haven't encountered this issue the same way on my Android devices, but navigating though shows with those is usually pretty difficult. It's hard to hit a particular target in the time line. I'd love to see services like these let me jump to a timestamp, but I'm betting advertisers put the kibosh on that feature.

Third, the service only uses Dolby 2.0 audio. There are no 5.1 streams as far as I can tell. This is absolutely absurd with modern streaming technologies. Services like Netflix are in 5.1, why not PS Vue? It's a big let-down for someone like me with a nice five-channel audio system that provided excellent surround on programming carried over-the-air or on cable. I think this reflects a more fundamental problem -- Sony has not allocated enough bandwidth and servers to the platform. PS Vue has grown pretty quickly, and I don't think Sony has made the investments required to keep up.

The video quality on the PS3 seems a bit "soft." I find that streaming Vue from my Android phone to a Chromecast device provides a sharper image with better color than using the PS3. I also believe the service only runs at 720p, not 1080i like over-the-air HDTV, or even better 1080p.

Finally, I need to correct the notion that the FOX and ABC network programming is carried on the service. Neither of those networks lets Sony offer a live stream, unlike they do for CBS and NBC, but only programming on-demand. That means live events on those networks like sports cannot be watched or recorded on Vue. I have an antenna connected to my television so I can watch those networks over-the-air, but no means to record those programs.

The good things? Well, I can get all the channels I want to watch for $35/month and record them with the DVR service. Like this reviewer, I hardly ever watch anything live. I can get up to five simultaneous streams so I can watch programs on my Android phone or a PC when I'm away from home, but be aware that some programs are "mobile restricted" and can only be watched at home. (Again it's sports programming that seems to apply this restriction most often.)

I've looked at the competitors and their lack of a DVR service makes them a non-starter for me. If Sling gets its DVR service out of beta, I might give that a look.

 

[carlsteve]

Michael Cannon 2 years ago
"Why pay extra for network TV and local channels?.... it's all free with an antenna!
It looks like a big part of what Sony is charging you for with Vue, is available for free with a quality antenna."

This statement is false. The vast majority of offerings are the traditional cable channels. My Vue subscription includes over 90 channels, but only 4 of them are the big 4 broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) plus I get one local channel.

 

[carlsteve]

Edwin_19 10 months ago
"I think another thing you should add is ps vue can not be used outside your home. Its tied to your ip address as where as sling you can sign in from anywhere"

This is no longer true. On some mobile devices, Vue can now be used for anytime, anywhere viewing.

 

[carlsteve]

Elevator Guy 8 months ago
"Ps Vue review for Midwest region, I mainly want service for sports, I DVR 2 Fox Midwest Blues Hockey games, both games missed up to 4 minutes of gameplay at the end due to DVR, there are no settings to lengthen time for DVR.
DVR 3 football game 1 had terrible resolution and other 2 were just OK, I have fast Charter $60 a month internet, I used ethernet to a powerful Nvidia Shield TV console, so I cancelled the $35 a month PS Vue service.
I would rejoin service if both these problems were fixed."

Sony recently modified the DVR feature for sports events. An extra 50 minutes is automatically added to the recording time in case the event runs long.

 

[carlsteve]

brentwasham 5 months ago
"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."

I've used Vue on the PS3 and PS4 (among other devices). The most noticeable difference between the two is when you're using the search feature or the channel guide. On the PS3, shows load very slowly. Scrolling through the guide is also sluggish. The PS4 has much more horsepower, so it doesn't exhibit any of those problems. It's also less susceptible to buffering problems and has features not found on the PS3.

 

[carlsteve]

Math Geek 2 months ago
"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."

So why did this article just show up in my e-mail inbox today, 8/17/2017?

 

[Math Geek]

they keep updating the article and not creating a new one. so the old comments stay in place.

new update brings new commenters who love to argue about the very old comments made. confusing i know but this is how they are doing it for this one.

first article was well over 2 years ago n was a sling tv review i think.

 

[carlsteve]

From the article: "Sling TV shows you listings one painstaking channel at a time, with cumbersome options to search or access settings. PlayStation Vue is even worse, as scrolling through channels shows you only what’s on right now; you need to click through and wait for the video to load before you see what's up next."

Regarding Vue, I can't decipher what the author means. The Vue channel guide shows you every program in every time slot on every channel for the entire day (it resembles a spreadsheet). You can also go forward and backward on the calendar to see what you missed or what's ahead.

I tried Sling TV for a month on a Windows computer, and I promptly cancelled after that month. While watching a program, the transmission would stop and the following error message would appear on my computer monitor: "Due to inactivity, playback was stopped to save bandwidth." It took several e-mails to Sling tech support before I received a satisfactory response. They finally replied with "There is no way currently to remove the "inactivity" trigger (outside of pressing a button on your remote every once in a while)."

Essentially, the interrupted transmission meant that I was being punished for watching extended-length programs (3 hours or longer). That limitation resulted in many programs (e.g., most sporting events, live on-going coverage of breaking news stories, epic-length movies, etc.) being cut off before the end. Since I was using Sling on a computer, pressing a button on a remote wasn't an option. In addition to the technical problems, there was no DVR feature on Sling at that time.

Each time I reported an issue to Sling's tech support, it would be followed days later with an e-mail stating "This is a reminder that we need just a little more info to resolve your issue. Please be sure to reply to our earlier email with the clarification we requested." I never received e-mails asking for more information. Their automated messaging system is about as unreliable as the rest of their service.

 

[Michael_Buckley]

I run PlayStation Vue from an Amazon fire box. All of the videos are 1080P with advanced sound protocols. I wish I could change channels with Alexa, but ... the Amazon remote works quickly, easily, and well with Sony's product. To me, it looks like you used a PlayStation to test out PlayStation Vue. The Amazon implementation is much better. Take a look, you might be surprised. In my neck of the woods, Direct TV comes from a dish, which has some latency issues and can get bad in the winter. I run PlayStation Vue off the internet using a 60 Mbps link from an ISP and it works fine ... Summer, Winter, Snow storms, Lightning, etc.

 

[carlsteve]

I run PlayStation Vue from an Amazon fire box. All of the videos are 1080P with advanced sound protocols. I wish I could change channels with Alexa, but ... the Amazon remote works quickly, easily, and well with Sony's product. To me, it looks like you used a PlayStation to test out PlayStation Vue. The Amazon implementation is much better. Take a look, you might be surprised. In my neck of the woods, Direct TV comes from a dish, which has some latency issues and can get bad in the winter. I run PlayStation Vue off the internet using a 60 Mbps link from an ISP and it works fine ... Summer, Winter, Snow storms, Lightning, etc.

I can't tell from your post who you're responding to, but I want to put in my two cents worth anyway. Because of the mediocre performance I had gotten from my Roku 2 and my TCL Roku TV, I gave the Amazon Fire TV a try. Many posts from users in various forums spoke favorably of that device, but I was disappointed. While using Vue, the Fire was sluggish, sometimes crashed, and had some audio problems. Navigating through the menus was on the same par with Roku (i.e., clunky). The first time I tried using TubiTV, the program stopped roughly 30 minutes into the movie. Several times I restarted the movie, rebooted the Fire, tried fast forwarding past the point where it got stuck, etc., but the movie kept stopping at the same place. The app also kept asking me to register and activate when I had already done that. All in all, I felt I had wasted my money on the Fire.

This seems to be part of a larger problem. The user experience (based on posts in forums like this one) is often inconsistent from one user and streaming service and device to the next, making it difficult to offer troubleshooting advice. By far, the best experience I've had with streaming in general (not just Vue) has been on the PlayStation game console and the desktop computer (Windows and iMac). Even with only 12 Mbps DSL service and wired connections, buffering on those devices is almost nonexistent.

 

[colts30]

I have had PS Vue going on two years now, running on a PS4 and Amazon Fire TV with both connected via Ethernet. I personally think the service is phenomenal on both platforms and I have run into very few issues. With that said, out of the two, I personal believe the PS4 runs the App the best. This is not saying the Fire TV is bad by any means, but I do experience a little bit of lag for the couple of minutes of starting the app while moving through the guide that I don't experience on the PS4.

Outside of that I have had no other issues. The recent update to the App on the Amazon platform has brought it in line in terms of features with Multi Channel View being only feature excluded.

It did kind of hurt at the time losing the Viacom channels, but now I can say I personally don't miss them.

I have not used Sling, DTV Now, YouTube TV, or Hulu's offering so I have no basis for comparison, all I know is PS Vue has worked very well for me and my family. I have had multiple friends and family sign up for the service that have had a similar experience to mine, Sony must be doing something right.

 

[ant7717]

We have been on PS Vue for the last 6 months after our DirecTV contract was up....and it has worked great with 50mbps internet service and way cheaper than our satellite bill was. There are a few problems with it:

1) PlayStation just raised the price of each tier $10/month two months ago

2) They do not have the popular Viacom channels; MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, VH1, and BET

3)If you travel away from you home IP address they consider that "mobile content" and you cannot watch more than half of the available programming....so if you're on your cell phone or tablet at work, school, vacation.......forget about it! (The other providers do not do this, with exception to possible league blackout requirements for live sports.

Other than that is has worked great and they let you stream up to 5 devices at the same time.

We are currently on a free trial for DirecTV Now and may make the switch due to PSVue price change and you can get the Viacom channels in DirecTV Now lowest pricing tier at 35/month plus they are giving away either a free Roku Premiere or Apple TV if you prepay the first few months.

 

[carlsteve]

We have been on PS Vue for the last 6 months after our DirecTV contract was up....and it has worked great with 50mbps internet service and way cheaper than our satellite bill was. There are a few problems with it:

1) PlayStation just raised the price of each tier $10/month two months ago

2) They do not have the popular Viacom channels; MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, VH1, and BET

3)If you travel away from you home IP address they consider that "mobile content" and you cannot watch more than half of the available programming....so if you're on your cell phone or tablet at work, school, vacation.......forget about it! (The other providers do not do this, with exception to possible league blackout requirements for live sports.

Other than that is has worked great and they let you stream up to 5 devices at the same time.

We are currently on a free trial for DirecTV Now and may make the switch due to PSVue price change and you can get the Viacom channels in DirecTV Now lowest pricing tier at 35/month plus they are giving away either a free Roku Premiere or Apple TV if you prepay the first few months.

Every streaming service (not to mention every streaming device) has pros and cons. I'm keeping my Vue subscription in spite of the issues you mentioned. The Slim packages (as Sony refers to them) are being discontinued because Sony is adding local channels in those TV markets, hence the $10 price increase. Sony has to foot the bill for the equipment that will be needed at each station to stream locals. The price will now be the same all over the country for the 4 different channel line-up options. The 13 Viacom-owned channels were dropped last November because Viacom wanted more money. If those channels had been kept, Sony probably would have raised the subscription price. Watching TV on the go is not an issue for me. I have no use for anytime, anywhere viewing on mobile devices, and I can't enjoy what I'm watching on a screen the size of a postcard. It makes a person wonder what is happening to our culture when people have to be able to watch TV while at work or school. Also, I don't take vacations so I can binge watch my favorite TV shows.

 

[ant7717]

Good for you! However, many different people have many different needs! It is a bit presumptuous to assume that people away from the home have some sort of "problem" if they need to watch tv on their postcard size mobile device. Some people travel for work and in the evening or their off time would like to watch programming on a tablet, laptop, fire stick, etc..... some college students are on a campus all day and in between classes may like to enjoy programming, and many other situations where people are away from the home. Just because you go to work then come to your home every day doesn't mean other people don't have different lives and needs!! The point is if you are away from your home IP the. the vast majority of programming you pay for is unavailable!

As far as PSVue we really like it and it works well, at the end of the day it's a cost benefit analysis which is precisely why we dropped DirecTV even though we enjoyed it. You say Sony is paying for local channel equipment, well we only receive one local channel from them, CBS. You say Sony raised the prices because of costs, well all the companies carry the costs.

I have no problem with Sony standing up to Viacom for their price demands, however don't then turn around and raise your price compared to your competitors who do offer those channels at a lower price than what you are offering without!

In the end I am just trying to learn the best option for my family, and compare the other streaming services, and I was describing my experience with PSVue because that is all I have had at this point, but would like to learn about others experiences with different streaming services.

 

[carlsteve]

You say Sony is paying for local channel equipment, well we only receive one local channel from them, CBS. You say Sony raised the prices because of costs, well all the companies carry the costs.

I have no problem with Sony standing up to Viacom for their price demands, however don't then turn around and raise your price compared to your competitors who do offer those channels at a lower price than what you are offering without!

The local CBS affiliate is the only local channel I currently receive as well. That's because the rollout of local channels hasn't been finished in all markets. For that reason, the price in the Slim markets won't go up until later this year. The Slim pricing plans do NOT include the cost of providing local channels. The local channel issue and the Viacom issue are completely unrelated. Over the past year, many new cable channels have been added to the Vue line-ups. I now have almost as many channels as I did before the Viacom-owned stations were dropped. It's inappropriate to suggest that Sony is engaged in a rip off.

I couldn't care less which streaming service you choose. I replied to your post because you implied that Sony raised the price arbitrarily for all Vue subscribers everywhere, didn't explain why the Viacom channels were missing, and made it sound like having a TV addiction is a reason to fault Vue.

 

[ant7717]

@CarlSteve, sorry I don't know how to highlight your reply;

1) That is precisely what Sony did, raise all their pricing tiers $10 and eliminated their lowest tier, even though they do not have Viacom, and do not provide all local channels yet.

2) Second, regarding the Viacom channels I stated that I don't blame Sony for standing up to their price demand (which is explaining why they are missing), and regarding TV addiction I have no idea what you are taking about because my post did not address that.

3) Your post implied that people who watch on a "postcard" size device away from their home IP address had some sort of problem, and I explained there are many different reasons people would watch TV away from their home IP and on many different types of devices other than just their phone! I just came back from Puerto Rico and was watching content on my ipad pro and the fact is more than half the programming cannot be viewed on PSVue away from the home IP. Soooo explain that with your justification for the price increase?!?!

I have no other problems with PSVue the service has worked well......and, despite the issues we may keep them. Are you an employee of Sony because it sounds like you have some sort of personal problem with any complaint of their product????? If not, you should apply for a position with them and get paid for your advocacy!

 

[carlsteve]

@CarlSteve, sorry I don't know how to highlight your reply;

1) That is precisely what Sony did, raise all their pricing tiers $10 and eliminated their lowest tier, even though they do not have Viacom, and do not provide all local channels yet.

2) Second, regarding the Viacom channels I stated that I don't blame Sony for standing up to their price demand (which is explaining why they are missing), and regarding TV addiction I have no idea what you are taking about because my post did not address that.

3) Your post implied that people who watch on a "postcard" size device away from their home IP address had some sort of problem, and I explained there are many different reasons people would watch TV away from their home IP and on many different types of devices other than just their phone! I just came back from Puerto Rico and was watching content on my ipad pro and the fact is more than half the programming cannot be viewed on PSVue away from the home IP. Soooo explain that with your justification for the price increase?!?!

I have no other problems with PSVue the service has worked well......and, despite the issues we may keep them. Are you an employee of Sony because it sounds like you have some sort of personal problem with any complaint of their product????? If not, you should apply for a position with them and get paid for your advocacy!

No, Sony did not raise everyone's price, all 4 channel line-up options are still available, and the price increase has nothing to do with Viacom. Customers in the large metro areas (as opposed to those in the smaller TV markets where Sony offered the Slim packages) were already paying $10 more because they were already receiving local channels. What Sony has done is put all customers on the same playing field, regardless of where they live. I'm still paying the Slim price because the local channel rollout hasn't been completed in my market. That will change later this year.

What you can and cannot view on your mobile device has nothing to do with the price increase. The prices are based on which channel line-up you select, not the features that are available on the supported streaming devices. That's the case with all of the streaming services, not just PS Vue.

No, I am not a Sony employee. The only problem I have is when people misrepresent how things work. Potential cord cutters read the user comments in forums like this one to learn about cord cutting and the various issues that go with it. They can't make informed decisions when posts contain overly subjective statements, wrong information, erroneous conclusions, and invalid arguments.

 

[sholsten50]

We love our DirectvNow, but I wish it carried locals. We get it for $10 a month through our AT&T wireless acct.

 

[timmyleeturner]

Don't be misled, Playstation Vue can be viewed away from your home. It's the best deal for the money between all available services, but it's far from perfect. I work 100 miles from home in a different IP, different zip code and different area code and have no problem viewing Vue.