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Is PlayOn more trouble than it's worth?

Chubbs

November 20, 2017 15:47

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A few years back, I paid for a lifetime subscription to PlayOn TV. At the time, it seemed like a terrific idea and for awhile it actually worked. Since that time, Amazon and Netflix have gotten wise to PlayOn's business model and are assuming that every PlayOn user is trying to steal content and redistribute it illegally - at least that is what various forum contributors have shared. 

As background, my primary reasons for using PlayOn are to move content to my NAS to watch when I have time (like after something has been removed from Netflix) or to transfer to my phone to watch on my very frequent flights across the US.

PlayOn is no longer consistently usable consumer software. It's now much more a hobbyist platform that requires constant tweaking and futzing outside the program and numerous support emails (sorry, no phone or chat) to make work. If it was free, I could see that being part of the equation, but if I pay for software that claims to provide specific functionality and consistently fails to deliver said functions, it should be free. 

What functionality am I talking about, you may ask?

1. Seamless log-in AND recording to premium content sites like Amazon and Netflix. Over the past year, there have been consistent issues with recording after having verified credentials in setup. Right now, for example, setup affirms that my credentials are correct for both and in each case I cannot record from either. Instead I get a message saying either my username or password is incorrect.

2. Lack of HD or UHD content. Think $3K HDR TV's and 720p content. Ugh

3. Stereo sound only. Really? Do you guys at PlayOn really think that people that have invested in an awesome Dolby Atmos system want to watch some crappy sub-DVD quality video with stereo sound? 

4. Clumsy, non-functional channel setup. Even National Geographic and FX don't work right after verifying credentials via PlayOn's browser. Extremely frustrating.

I suspect the problems come down to DRM and content protection battles between software developers like PlayOn and the content providers. Content providers are constantly trying to block programs like PlayOn and PlayOn is constantly trying to slap on patches to combat the blocking attempts. The result, PlayOn subscribers get an extremely inconsistent, frustrating, off-putting experience that drives them to alternatives or to just give up entirely. 

Is PlayOn worth purchasing? No, not until it can provide software that works ALL THE TIME as advertised.

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41 comments

• 0
  
  Harry Angel August 31, 2018 13:31

  Since Just to clarify on my post above (still not working) - am accessing from the UK ; When you check the app support page it states there is a known problem with Amazon UK - working on it but no timescale for a fix ; This has been the case for several months so no, won't be renewing

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  Kevin Rifenburg September 29, 2018 19:14

  I have read this thread and I guess I don't agree with most of you.  I find that there is times that Playon doesn't work.  But there is more times that it does.  Keep in mind that the content providers don't want you to have digital copies of their content, so anything you can use to get some of it then you should shut up and be happy.  2 years ago I used to pay $160.00 per month to DirecTV to have the DVR that I could only watch the recorded shows on my internal network.

  The first problems that I had with Playon were skips and glitches.  I found that the shows were recorded with the skips and glitches on my laptop.  After I purchased a dedicated PC for $150.00 that has an i5 processor and added a $99.00 4 TB hard drive and connected that to my router via wired gigabyte ethernet then my problems went away and I have great recordings  The wireless connection on my laptop was too glitchy for recording.  My TVs have wireless Roku devices and play the videos excellently.  I have recorded from Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and some others.  

  Are they HD or full sound?  I don't know and can't tell a difference.  If you are into your shows that much, then you should just buy a Tivo then enjoy your full experience life and spend as much money each month that your would drop for the lifetime fee for playon.  If you average out the lifetime subscription of Playon for a year, then that is less than $6.00 per month.  Now average it for 2 years.  If you think you can beat that anywhere else, then you are just kidding yourself.  In one month you can download enough movies from Netflix to pay for your lifetime subscription and have them for as long as your computer hardware lasts.

  I can put the movies and shows on an external hard drive and then use a WD TV Live device with that drive and watch the shows in my camper that doesn't have internet or WiFi.  I also can put the movies on an Android tablet and keep the kids busy for hours while driving on a trip.  

  So I guess it just depends on what you think or expect from Playon.  I have it setup on Windows 10 Pro and my wife can browse channels and setup a queue.  There is times that it fails recordings, but usually a few days later it records them or there is a Playon update and then it works.  I don't have to teach my wife Linux or something else.  It is easy and simple.  Roku has a Playon channel and it works great for playback.  Commercial skip is awesome.

  Just wanting anyone who reads this to know it isn't all doom and gloom.  It sounds like there is a few people who want to compare apples and oranges and complain that they are different.

   

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  lynn September 29, 2018 20:10

  Doom and goom - n o. But equally a "no" is reliability. I was one of DirecTV's first customers and was deelighted to get off cable. But, once I decided it was time to go to streaming and cut the cord (er airwaves) with DirecTV, I settled on PlayOn as a good alternative. Unfortunately, PlayOn is in a constant battle with the media providers, and with only a little thought the media companies can always stay a step ahead of PlayOn. Now don't get me wrong - when PlayOn works it works great. Unfortunately, it is so easy for the media companies to foil PlayOn's login procedure by doing something simple like inserting an advertising page before their login page. PlayOn, IMHO, will never reach even an entertainment level of reliability simply because of the way it works.

  Like some of the others posting here, I invested in a faster computer (real fast, in fact), a high end graphics card (also expensive) and was able to record in full HD. Well, I could whenever PlayOn could make a connection tot he streaming site. What I found over time is that the PlayOn staff, which I believe to be about 15% the size it needs to be, just couldn't keep up with the constant changing of login procedures and would simply delete the channel until they could get around to fixing it.

  So, not to be stopped from converting to streaming, I bought a 4 tuner Tablo (OTA) DVR and put an antenna in the attic. It works very well for all the local channels. For the non-local channels we required, I subscribed to SlingTV. I cut my bill from $100/month to $30/month and have never looked back. Although I haven't used it yet, Tablo does allow you to view your recorded shows from anywhere (no geographic restrictions).Plus, if one wanted, it is small enough to toss in one little corner of a suitcase, along with the external USB hard drive, and physically take it with you.

  Everyone's needs are different, but after investing almost $1000 to upgrade my computer system to accommodate PlayOn, I was seriously disappointed in the results. I still have PlayOn since I stupidly bought a lifetime subscription, but I have no plans to use it any time soon.

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  David S. September 30, 2018 02:53

  Kevin, well said!

  Lynn, are you aware that there are 3rd-party utilities for copying/moving recordings from a Tablo? I use TabloRipper for this. Check out the TabloTV Community (Forums) for more information.

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  lynn September 30, 2018 03:46

  Thanks for the heads up about TabloRipper, I'll check it out. I only recently got our completed streaming system up and running well and documented and cheat sheets made and laminated and put with each of our 5 TVs. Plus, I recently ran across a deal on an older metal cutting lathe manufactured in 1953 that I am rebuilding, so my time on the streaming system has been minimal once I got it working. I'll spend some time looking through the Tablo Community, so appreciate the heads up. One thing I can say about Tablo, their support gets 5 stars out of 5 in my book. They are well staffed and well trained and easy to work with. That's a pleasant change after working with PlayOn whose support team is seriously under-staffed.

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  Joshua Strayhorn October 02, 2018 15:03

  Sometimes PlayOn doesn't work but most of the time it does. I am not for sure what you guys are expecting from PlayOn. Are you trying to get the best picture quality or the best sound out of a recording? I think some one you are trying to rip true bluray quality. I record only tv shows and movies that is tough to find. I have them saved to a folder that is then read by my Plex.  I think I read somebody say they are looking for 5.1 audio. Browsers can not push out 5.1 audio. I also  think I read somebody say the video is buffering when recorded. Thats not PlayOn issue. Its a good chance the video will be buffering when you play it from Netflix or any other service. Maybe you should check your internet connection. Another thing, PlayOn is a ripper software. I think people are expecting it to get the raw file. You are not going to get that quality. PlayOn is great for what you get for. 

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  lynn October 02, 2018 16:45

  I can't speak for others, but what I expected was that it would reliably record shows from DirecTV NOW or Spectrum's streaming service (forgot what they call it). Neither of these happened. For example, PlayOn worked great with DirecTV NOW until they inserted a one web page advertisement between the login screen and the videos. PlayOn simply hung up when it encountered that. I notified PlayOn support of the problem, sent them screen shots and URLs, etc, and expected a fix in a few days. Instead a week or two later the DirecTV NOW channel was taken off the channel list. This is only one example of many issues that PlayOn encountered and none of them were ever fixed during the several months I tried to use it. After having stupidly purchased a lifetime subscription and having spent upwards of $1000 upgrading my computer and network to avoid all recording limitations, I was really disappointed in both PlayOn and - mostly - in the lack of support.

  I don't think my expectations were unreasonable. I wasn't expecting 5.1 audio or never having a buffering issue or never seeing a glitch during the streaming of a show. I was expecting that it would reliably record shows from major streaming providers. I was seriously disappointed that they could not keep their product working at a even at minimum consumer level of reliability.

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  Michael October 02, 2018 17:36

  @Joshua Strayhorn

   

  I don't see anyone really complaining about the quality of the videos in general. I get HD 720P recordings. Nothing to complain about there. The issues are more with PlayOn playing catch up with the channels, and other technical issues.

  Do you follow the release notes page? Hulu is on there 3 times between 9/21 and 10/1. In the meantime, there's a Feature and Channel Requests section that clearly is being neglected. I've been using PlayOn for a year and I've not seen one new channel. Nor can I think of a single new feature. Back in July, someone asked about documentation on making plugins. If that was made available, people with the time and some know how could be developing (and updating) plugins for these channels.

   

  I am sure I've said this before. I use Plex, and it can already record your locals. If they added in support to also record the streaming services, there would be no need for PlayOn.

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  Joshua Strayhorn October 02, 2018 18:51

  I agree with you guys they do need to add channels and features. I do notice most of the channels they do have, it doesn't work properly. RIght now I am getting all the weird TV shows  off of Netflix and Amazon Prime and it working like a charm. I have dealt with other recording software but most of them you cant automate. You have to babysit the recording, meaning you have to be there to play and stop it. With PlayOn, I can walk away from it and its fine. But alot of channels would be great for it. 

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  georgenickconnor December 12, 2018 09:32

  I'm on team "barely". It has been years since PlayOn added a worthwhile channel, and they've had to remove/get rid of many.
  
  If they're transitioning to PlayOn Cloud, that's understandable, since it's a continuous source of revenue instead of a one time license. But again, same problem. Lack of worthwhile channels.
  
  Where's Hulu Live TV? YouTube TV? These aren't exactly niche services or products. 

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  Michael December 12, 2018 19:30

  PlayOn Desktop or PlayOn Cloud, it shouldn't make a difference.