Well, I did it. Could not resist. I signed up the first day for the new DirecTV Now. The first seven days are free and after that it is $35 for 100 channels (an introductory offer, normally $60). Will I keep it? Right now, after less than 24 hours, I am leaning towards no. But here are my first impressions…and please remember my views apply only to me.
First thing I found out is it won’t work on a Firefox Browser. For now, it only works on Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Safari. I chose Safari as I have it on my MAC. So for now, I can only watch it on my computer. This weekend, I will hook it up on my seldom-used Chromecast so I can watch it on a regular TV.
Getting it up and running was not easy. There are no instructions on setup. Their website needs a great deal of work. One has to hunt around to find how to sign up. But I did find out early on, I had to first download Microsoft’s Silverlight software. Even then it would not work. Safari would not recognize Silverlight until I activated it…and I had to do some searching on the Net to find out how to do that as it is not obvious in the settings. That may or may not be true for other browsers.
But I did find out and finally got it up and running. Even then I could not watch any channels until I signed up and gave them my credit card info. And that was not easy to find either. But I finally did and I was finally active.
The quality is good on some channels, not so good on others. But until I see it on a regular TV, I will withhold judgement. I have only viewed a few channels so far and can see by looking at the list, I will never view most of them. So, like cable and satellite TV, I will pay for channels I will never view. But, still, $35 a month is a good deal.
They list a goodly portion of on-demand movies, mostly older films. But when I tried to view some of them, I discovered most are not commercial free. Some are even edited for time, so parts of the movie are missing. Not good. The same holds true for TV programs on demand.
For many years now, I have been watching movies and TV shows on my Roku…almost none of them have commercials. About the only thing I watch with commercials are sporting shows and events. I have thousands of choices of movies and TV shows on my Roku, none of which have commercials. I admit, I am spoiled. I will never watch a movie with commercials.
Again, all my opinions were formed within 24 hours of signing up. I will watch more over the next few days (between football games) and set it up on my Chromecast. So will have more for you next week. I have included one negative review below as I have yet to find a good one. But its early days yet.
As usual, I have found some good tips and tricks for your electronic devices so I hope you find something of value. Have a good weekend. -JRC
Tech News and Opinions
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