Quote:
Originally Posted by sterlingice
|
Sorry for the late reply on this. First of all, any streaming service is going to be dependent on 1) the device you stream on and 2) the quality of your internet. We use Aereo on both my PC and a Roku generation 1. Our internet quality is good enough to watching streaming Netflix at the highest quality without buffering issues. That being said, here are my thoughts on Aereo.
- You have access to any local HD over the air signals. NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC, some PBS, and then (mostly) a bunch of junk. In Atlanta we have Peachtree TV, so Seinfeld reruns and such, but in reality this is for the big four networks above.
- You can't just channel surf and watch a channel. Its like picking a show on Netflix. You use the menu on whatever device you have to pick a show from the networks available, hit go, and when it thinks its over, you return to the menu. So if a game goes late, you have to go back and pick the next show in the schedule to keep watching. They claim that will be fixed somewhere down the line.
- We seem to have more picture quality and buffering issues on the Roku at medium quality than on the PC at high quality. So like I said, some performance is device specific, but we have no issues at highest quality with Netflix on the Roku. Live show streaming seems to result in more buffering errors than recorded shows (you get either 20 hours or 60 hours of cloud DVR service depending on your subscription level).
- Picture quality isn't always great.
- You can only use your subscription if your IP address indicates you are local to your area. If I go on a business trip, i can't stream the local Atlanta stuff.
In short, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that is going to get irritated by picture quality or buffering issues or that can pick up local signals over antenna. For us, its fine as 1) we live outside the range of the transmitters, 2) we only watch 4 or 5 shows on network TV, 3) we don't watch too much TV to begin with, 4) my wife really wanted some access to the local news for weather reports and other stuff, and 5) we watch most of our shows using the DVR. Being able to watch network sports was just a bonus.
If you have any specific questions, let me know.