DIRECTV NOW LAUNCH

[yourbeliefs]

Sorry to see so many people had issues with the service. I was able to create an account and was watching on my TV in like 3 minutes on my Windows 10 PC. I mean this is already better than Sling for me, which I can't get to work on anything except for my Android phone.

However, I can't get it to work on my phone. Keep getting Timeout errors. Haven't tested on my iPad yet.

Another note: For some reason the web site doesn't work with Firefox.

 

[averagejoe78]

If they couldn't handle the demand on day 1, will they be able to once millions more inevitably sign up? Apple TV gets error code 60 and Fire TV gets error code 40 is basically what I dealt with last night. I think between the 2 devices, I got to watch about 30 minutes of content. Not a good start...

 

[gadgtfreek]

I hope AT&T rewards all you beta testers with a free month (or two or three).

I figure with the free ATV, which I can find a use for, its worth it. I wont be using it as the main source right now, wife would kill me. Not a fan of the ATV remote either.

 

[JamesJ]

well one customer down, My brother cancelled his subscription last night and is sticking with vue. I understand his reason, He needs something his wife can just turn on and watch and vue has been that for him. The errors frustrated her as she had a long day at work and then came home to take care of the baby and while feeding the baby wanted to watch a show, only to have errors pop up. I really do hope they get all this smoothed out, yes it does make me nervous for the future, but I also would tend to believe that directv/att wont let it stay like this long at all. By the way got my first error today as I turned on the apple tv at office and it said I could only watch a channel in my package, which I do have amc in my package, but then a quick trip to the guide and reloaded the channel worked fine

 

[Spankey00]

Pleased, impatient and annoyed!

Those three words pretty much sum up my experience so far.

Yes, there were and still are some bumps in the road with error messages, and freezing but I am sure those will be worked out. Overall, the product we have available to us is pretty good. PQ is on par or very very close to D*. Channel selection for the price is pretty great with a few noticeable exceptions.

Yes, I am impatiently waiting for my RSN's to be available. So far I only have YES in the NY area. I hope something can be worked out with MSG and FSNY. CBS also needs to get on board but for now I am ok paying for it through its app on Apple TV. I also wish NFL Network was available but it is mid-season and I'm sure a contract may be easier to hammer out after the end of this year's season.

The annoyance. NBC. Not being able to stream on Apple TV or other non-mobile devices feels like a bait and switch. NBC should not have been included as being available until it is available on all devices. The family is not going to gather around my iPad to watch NBC.

If the service can expand at a reasonable pace and address those immediate shortcomings I will be quite happy. I am ready to pack up the satellite equipment and ship it back. With two accounts at $35 I am still WAY under what I would pay with D*.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Download the NBC app, if you live in a NBC O&O area you can watch NBC live on it. (Although you do need a provider login)

 

[camo]

When Vue came out it worked day 1. Why is anyone giving them a break to get the bugs out especially since it lacks most all functions needed like FF & DVR service. You will never see Redzone either with Sunday Ticket being their bread and butter. Wasn't NFL Network left off also?
No thanks, reminds me of how they've jerry-rigged receivers for 4K content instead of coming out with a real 4K receiver.

 

[AZ.]

When Vue came out it worked day 1. Why is anyone giving them a break to get the bugs out especially since it lacks most all functions needed like FF & DVR service. You will never see Redzone either with Sunday Ticket being their bread and butter. Wasn't NFL Network left off also?
No thanks, reminds me of how they've jerry-rigged receivers for 4K content instead of coming out with a real 4K receiver.

Do you actually think that when VUE came out they were hit with that many users?....I haven't even seen it advertised! Ever!

Had this been rolled out months ago, I might agree with the comments.....But bitching days after a release?

 

[Spankey00]

Download the NBC app, if you live in a NBC O&O area you can watch NBC live on it. (Although you do need a provider login)

I didn't think the NBC app allowed Live Streaming either. I currently have it with D* but will have to check. I know "Now" only has a few apps available for sign on right now.

When Vue came out it worked day 1. Why is anyone giving them a break to get the bugs out especially since it lacks most all functions needed like FF & DVR service. You will never see Redzone either with Sunday Ticket being their bread and butter. Wasn't NFL Network left off also?
No thanks, reminds me of how they've jerry-rigged receivers for 4K content instead of coming out with a real 4K receiver.

I don't know if I am giving them a break. I definitely feel like we are beta testing this and without going Live there was no way to really load balance these channels. Most of the problems seemed to hit at "prime time" yesterday when most people would have gotten home from work to try out the app. That said, I like what I said and the potential for greatness is there as long as costs remain low and a few major issues are checked off the list. I'd also prefer a bit more transparency. The initial Event on Monday was very sketchy and it seemed like the presenters were trying hard to do anything but show off the product.

 

[Ronnie-]

Guys, leave the personal attacks out of the discussion. Thanks.

 

[keenan]

Found this on The Verge review;

Does DirecTV Now support 5.1 surround sound?
Yes. Currently 5.1 audio output is available only on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

Yes, I was trying it on an Amazon Fire TV box and not seeing 5.1, even on HBO.

Maybe I need to play with the FTV audio settings as I know they are somewhat funky, to get 5.1 from Netflix you have to set it not to Dolby Digital Plus, which is what Netflix uses, but Dolby Digital and then it will output DD 5.1. Maybe that's the case with DNow as well.

 

[Spankey00]

Yes, I was trying it on an Amazon Fire TV box and not seeing 5.1, even on HBO.

Maybe I need to play with the FTV audio settings as I know they are somewhat funky, to get 5.1 from Netflix you have to set it not to Dolby Digital Plus, which is what Netflix uses, but Dolby Digital and then it will output DD 5.1. Maybe that's the case with DNow as well.

To the best of my knowledge DD 5.1 is not available on the live streaming channels. It may be available on some of the On Demand shows so don't go crazy trying to find it. A lot of the early coverage/press was given "exagerated" info from from ATT.

 

[SatinKzo]

I'm giving it the 7 day trial to decide whether to continue with it. If not, I will revisit down the road and read reviews if things have cleared up. I just think that not enough testing was done. Sling issues should have brought to light things DTVNow would run into and maybe it did and the errors we are seeing are not related. There's a difference between complaining and get giving feedback with some opinion. I think most of us are simply providing feedback with frustration level/importance of functionality. Heck some of the smartest people in the world have issues landing space probes due to math so something like this is expected to have some hiccups.

 

[reddice]

This is why the revolution "will be Televised". Really IPTV suffers form the same issues it has when it first started. You can have a billion people tune in channel 7 on OTA, cable and satellite but try to have a billion people stream channel 7 using IPTV and all you get is cryptic error messages like code: 0000HIYF764 on your screen's.

 

[Spankey00]

The lack of communication by Directv/ATT is the most frustrating part about all of this. Legitimate questions are not being answered or willfully ignored. I'll say it again. That press event was rather sketchy. Turning off the camera's so the press could ask questions was a true indication that there were known issues they did not want to address publicly. I have to go back to NBC's availability on mobile devices only. If Directv Now is meant to be a TV service they should not have included NBC as an available local network.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They should have asked a few SatelliteGuys to be testers. (We are good at breaking things!)

I will be meeting with them at CES and it will be something I suggest.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

When Vue came out it worked day 1. Why is anyone giving them a break to get the bugs out especially since it lacks most all functions needed like FF & DVR service. You will never see Redzone either with Sunday Ticket being their bread and butter. Wasn't NFL Network left off also?
No thanks, reminds me of how they've jerry-rigged receivers for 4K content instead of coming out with a real 4K receiver.

Are you talking about when it (Vue) came out NATIONALLY? Remember, Vue was out in select cities only, like NYC & Chicago, for at least a year before being released nationally, so it had plenty of time to work out the bugs.

 

[stmcld]

Anyone else have issues activating a device, specifically the Apple TV with HBO GO?

 

[Mochuf]

Are you talking about when it (Vue) came out NATIONALLY? Remember, Vue was out in select cities only, like NYC & Chicago, for at least a year before being released nationally, so it had plenty of time to work out the bugs.

Hmm, I wonder if this service should have done the same?

 

[SatinKzo]

This is why the revolution "will be Televised". Really IPTV suffers form the same issues it has when it first started. You can have a billion people tune in channel 7 on OTA, cable and satellite but try to have a billion people stream channel 7 using IPTV and all you get is cryptic error messages like code: 0000HIYF764 on your screen's.

No one gets that error, those aren't proper Hexidecimal numbers.