As many of you may have seen, there was a quick blurb in Engadget's CES review of Directv's new products about the coming ability to use a PS3 as a RVU client with the HR34 (and coming HR44)... Is there any news about when this may be available to customers and how it will work? Thanks!
PS3 as RVU client
- Thread starter shaudods
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 17
- Views 11K
- Status
Any update on this yet? I am in the process of buying my first house. It is scheduled to close on March 18th. At my parents house we currently have Dish with a 2H/3J setup. After reviewing current offers from both satellite providers and Charter Cable's TV and internet bundle I am leaning towards switching to Directv and sticking with Charter for internet. Both Dish and Directv plus Charter internet are cheaper than Charter's TV and internet bundle. I would get the Genie for the main TV and surround sound setup and one Client for my bedroom TV.
I would be signing up for the Choice Ultimate package since they are offering it at the same price as Choice Xtra for a year for new customers at only $5 more than Choice. After the first year I may end up dropping down to Choice during the NBA and NHL off season (no NBC Sports, NHL Net, or NBA TV in choice)
Anyways, back to my main question. I remembered reading that the PS3 will someday be compatible as a Genie Client. I own a PS3 so at some point I would be interested in trying it out and maybe even sending back my bedroom Client. I would only use it if it is free because the Clients are only $6 and I'm sure the PS3 won't be as reliable or convenient. I basically only use my bedroom TV to watch the news in the morning while I'm getting ready for work or to fall asleep with west cost Tigers games so if it is free it might be good enough for me.
I would be signing up for the Choice Ultimate package since they are offering it at the same price as Choice Xtra for a year for new customers at only $5 more than Choice. After the first year I may end up dropping down to Choice during the NBA and NHL off season (no NBC Sports, NHL Net, or NBA TV in choice)
Anyways, back to my main question. I remembered reading that the PS3 will someday be compatible as a Genie Client. I own a PS3 so at some point I would be interested in trying it out and maybe even sending back my bedroom Client. I would only use it if it is free because the Clients are only $6 and I'm sure the PS3 won't be as reliable or convenient. I basically only use my bedroom TV to watch the news in the morning while I'm getting ready for work or to fall asleep with west cost Tigers games so if it is free it might be good enough for me.
I believe you, but if that is the case I don't see the point of offering it for PS3 at all. First of all, it just seems wrong that they would charge me an additional fee to use hardware that they have nothing to do with. Can you imagine if Netflix tried to charge an additional $6 fee for each computer and streaming device you use it on even though they don't manufacture any of them?
Secondly, if it is the same price as the actual Client hardware why would anyone want it? I can somewhat see the point on a RVU Samsung TV because that uses a standard TV remote and doesn't have all the bootup time.
I cannot imagine a scenario where the PS3 isn't much clunkier than a real Client. I have the Logitech PS3 adapter so I am able to use my Harmony remote for Blu-ray and streaming services. That wouldn't be a huge issue for me but I can't imagine everyday channel surfing with a PS3 controller. Also the PS3 has to bootup and connect to PSN each time you turn it on. Then you would have to scroll over to video and then scroll the the video apps till you get to Directv each time you want to use it.
I'm not even sure free would be worth it compared to the normal $6 unit. I would at least give it a shot if it were free though. If it is the same price I won't even bother.
On a side note... What are the chances that Directv starts offering new customers Extra Innings for free by March 18th. I'm not sure if they even do that for EI but I figured they might since they do it with Sunday Ticket in the Fall.
I am an MLB.tv subscriber and I will definitely be keeping that for when I'm on the road for work. I definitely wouldn't mind having EI at home though if it is offered free to new customers.
I am an MLB.tv subscriber and I will definitely be keeping that for when I'm on the road for work. I definitely wouldn't mind having EI at home though if it is offered free to new customers.
How would the PS3 communicate/ connect to the Genie? Would you be able to use the PS3 controllers a remote?
I would assume it would have to be on the same ethernet network as the Genie just like the way DLNA currently works on PS3s. It would probably have an app just like they do for all of their other services. Once you open the app it would auto search for your Genie as long as it is on the same network.
They would have to have it set up for use with a PS3 controller or the vast majority of users would be able to use it. The PS3 controller already works to control Blu-ray, Netflix, MLB.tv, etc... It's not as easy as an actual remote but it does work.
The $6 is a fee for watching the programming on an additional receiver - owned receiver, leased receiver, C31 RVU client, Samsung TV RVU client. The PS3 will probably be considered the same. And yes I doubt anyone will buy the PS3 just for the RVU capability, it's just an add-on feature.
Oh I'm not even talking about buying a PS3 just for RVU. I'm saying even people, like myself, who already own a PS3 wouldn't have a reason to use this. Why would anyone use the PS3 when they can get a better functioning, more convenient product made specifically for use with a Genie for free and pay the exact same monthly fee? I could see the purpose of this if the Directv C31s were hundreds of dollars but when they are giving them out for free I don't see who they are making this functionality for.
This is how DIRECTV has chosen to handle RVU clients. They do the same thing with RVU capable TVs and presumably they'll do the same thing with any other RVU client whether it is a gaming console or a Blu-ray player.
If this isn't your idea of a good business practice, you might want to reconsider who you want to provide your pay TV service.
Nah, This feature won't be factored into my decision because Dish doesn't offer anything like it either. The price is almost identical for my setup with either service and both plus cable internet are cheaper than Charter's internet and TV bundle. Dish would be about $2 cheaper for me in the first year and Directv would be about $8 cheaper for me in the second year. I'm not looking any further out than that because once my contract expires I will reevaluate my options.
I do like PTAT and auto-hop with our current Dish setup. Only having 3 tuners is fine for my parents house because we have 2 hoppers. When I close on my own house next month I will be living alone and either have 1 Hopper and 1 Joey or 1 Genie and 1 C31. I am trying to decide if 2 available tuners will be enough for me with PTAT running or if I should just forget about PTAT and go with 5 tuners. I'm not done looking into it yet but so far it looks like I will have trouble on Thursday and Sunday nights. That's why I was leaning towards Directv.
Edit: By the way. We have stayed away from Charter Cable for years because of their equipment but I checked them out today to see if I could save money with a bundle even if it meant inferior equipment. For me to get a similar programing package with HD receivers in both rooms and a DVR it was almost $60 more than Dish or Directv and that was the bundle price. This price only included DVR on one TV. If I wanted DVR on both TVs it was going to be over $70 more than satellite and the DVRs aren't whole home. This is their 12 month 'promo" price. I don't even want to see their regular price.
Last edited:
They are not giving out free C31s in general, only for new customers. Yes, some existing customers have got free C31s but it's not general policy.
Has any more information about this come up? We are only into our first year of our contract, but would like to add a receiver for a 5th TV. We have an HR34 and 3 H25s. D* wants $99 for an H25 plus $49 installation, and of course a 2 year contract extension. If this will be available sometime this year, I may be willing to hold off on an additional receiver.
- Status
