Yeah, finally got my invite too watching ESPN now. I like it so far, but you are right in that the commercial break thing is really odd, never thought I’d actually wish for a commercial lol. How can you tell the speed of your connection? The picture looks good but I’ve noticed that it occasionally goes to a lower resolution for a couple of seconds, which I assume is due to my connection.
Call me old fashion but I like a old fashion guide. I use an Android App for my OTA Channel Guide on my Note 4.
For SlingTV I found TitanTV.com that allows you to create custom guides by adding channels by name. Then I went to the mobile site on my phone and added a link to my home screen. Works pretty good.
Fella, if you go to “settings”, “connection” it shows your current bit rate. It’s also where you can set a cap on the bandwidth usage.
After spending some more time with it this morning, I’m simultaneously more impressed while also being reminded that it’s still a bit of a work in progress. The interface is really responsive. Before now I’d have told you that a functional and attractive interface over a live video stream was beyond the capabilities of a Roku…but this works really well. On the other hand, I’ve had one “uh oh…something went wrong” moment…and the ABC Family channel has been showing Grease as being on for the last 12 hours…and seems to be “stuck” there.
But…the wife was impressed with the channel selection/cost ratio. So…big win there.
Got my invite yesterday too. It’s OK but not worth a twenty if I can’t pick my channels. I see they are already adding mini upgrade tiers. This reeks of cable.
Fella, if you go to "settings", "connection" it shows your current bit rate. It's also where you can set a cap on the bandwidth usage.
Thanks for the info, I was using the program on my computer to watch at the time and the “settings, connection” screen there only shows a list of connection options to choose from. It doesn’t show the current rate from what I can tell.
I did check it out on the Roku earlier this morning and the service is much more impressive there. The picture quality is better through Roku on the tv and is much more stable in terms of maintaining a constant resolution. It was very responsive in changing channels. I’ll have to check for the bit rate option there later. I also noticed that the video would sometimes pause on the computer but didn’t see this happen on Roku.
I also noticed that ABC Family channel is not showing the correct programming schedule. Appears to a bug of some kind right now.
This really would be a dream service if you were allowed to choose your own 12 channels for the $20. I really only see myself using the ESPN, TNT and TBS. It’s good that you can cancel at anytime because I could see myself maybe canceling during the summertime when basketball season is over and picking it back up in the fall. I’m not a baseball fan so I wouldn’t have much use for it over the summer.
I signed up today to try it out. I do like the interface and the picture quality is great on my Roku3 and PC.
Up until now, I have been getting my cable tv and sports fix using a valid cable email account from a family member. I could watch any ESPN or SEC Network game on my Roku. My kids could watch Cartoon Network (basically one show one day a week) on a PC or tablet. I could watch Archer on TNT on a PC/tablet, and I could watch Walking Dead on AMC.com.
If I subscribe for $25 a month (basic + sports), I see the following benefits.
1. Definitely more legal. Before this I always had the excuse that there wasn't any good way of getting these programs.
2. Cartoon Network and TNT on my Roku (and big screen tv). I was limited to a PC/tablet before this.
3. ESPN on Sling TV looks like real TV rather than "internet video" on the WatchESPN app. This part really surprised me, and it is a major reason why I am considering keeping it. I could live with WatchESPN, but watching a basketball game on SlingTV is considerably better.
4. Sling TV will be considered a WatchESPN provider soon, so anything that is just ESPN3 could still be watched.
Here are my negatives:
1. I still don't have anything for the FOX RSNs, so I still can't watch baseball or hockey on any device for my local teams.
2. My wife has a favorite show on TLC. She still has to wait a year to see it on Netflix.
3. I still have to watch Walking Dead on a PC/tablet.
4. No DVR capabilities (though I am used to that already on streaming channels).
5. $25 a month is still a significant amount considering I can get it all at no cost right now.
6. One stream per house could cause conflicts.
It's a tough decision. I could keep the cost a little lower by not subscribing in the summer (no need for the sports channels then), though that is when my wife and kids are home.
I got my sling channel up and running today as well. I agree the interface is slick for sure. I don’t care about ESPN, so I am already most of the way out of the demographic on this product, but I thought I would try it anyway. My first impression was noticing how spoiled I am by being used to on demand content. I honestly can’t imagine a scenario at this point that would involve me just sitting down and watching whatever is on and being happy. I don’t think there is any way this will last past the trial period in my house. If it was truly al la cart and I could get maybe HGTV for my wife and Disney Junior for my daughter for a couple of bucks I’d probably be in, but pending that, I don’t think so…
@snowcat, you can pay $5 more per stream up to 3 
But yea, not gonna keep it for more than a month I can tell
Got my invite yesterday too. It's OK but not worth a twenty if I can't pick my channels. I see they are already adding mini upgrade tiers. This reeks of cable.
Granted, I’m a bit concerned that the baseline package might become bloated and increase in cost accordingly. But…I really don’t think that this will become just another cable-bundle. Especially after competitor streaming-TV services are available, which are already in the works, from what I understand. There is no contract with sling, and there is no equipment. In my opinion, it’s the contracts, the equipment requirements, and (in many areas) the lack of competing providers that has sucked people into these huge bundles and bills.
With streaming providers, I could literally switch to another competitor within 15 minutes, where it could take a couple of weeks, contract-termination fees, and equipment returns to swap between traditional providers (assuming it’s even possible). Those barriers create inertia the keep people with their provider even as the cost slowly creeps upwards. A service like sling won’t be able to leverage those factors, because moving away from them will be quick and easy.
Got my invite today and signed up. I’m looking forward to giving it a try. I like that it is only a month by month commitment.
ESPN reminds me of watching ESPN3 on Watch ESPN, with the commercial break message. NBA Gametime put’s up team stats during the commercial. Also, I missed Monday night football, because it was on ESPN, or other sports broadcast on TNT. This may be one of those options I buy during the Fall/Winter time span.
Read this article on changes coming to Sling TV. One of them is on-demand viewing for up to 3 days for 5 of the channels and "The company says it will add Watch ESPN capability soon, meaning
subscribers will be able to authenticate ESPN’s streaming app through
their Sling TV account."
http://www.fierceonlinevideo.com/story/sling-tvs-latest-updates-expanded-roku-models-more-demand/2015-02-06
I’m willing to give this a try.
So I am done with my week trial and I purposely let them bill me for the next month and then canceled. Gonna let it sit for that month, but at this point I do not think I will continue with them. Again, still not worth the $20 for me 
I had several issues this morning. All of my Roku’s had to be re-signed into Sling. One of them wouldn’t sign in at all, and one of the others would have to be re-signed in everytime the roku-channel was opened. I ended up having to uninstall/reset/re-install on all of them. I suspect there was an update to the channel last night. I hope this doesn’t become a regular occurrence.
Some notes on this for you all:
1.Got my invite and signed up yesterday. For some reason yesterday the streaming quality was terrible. I signed in again today and it seems fine.
2. I signed up because my wife likes Food Network and the Kids like Disney Channel, but $20/month is too much for those two channels. Plus some of the shows are available on Hulu+, Netflix and the Plex channels for those two.
3. I think this is really aimed at cord cutters who want ESPN. The other channels seem like deal sweetners.
I think I will pay for one month after the trial and see if the family actually use it. As it is, I am paying $4.99 for Tablo Guide, $7.99 for Netflix, $8.25 for Amazon Prime and $7.99 for Hulu+. A grand total of $29.22. Adding $20 for Sling.tv makes it $49.22, still a savings of over $100/month from what i was paying Dish Network for satellite, but not leaving much room for the HBO over-the-top service that is coming. If it is priced around $20/month (which is what I’m expecting) I will definitely be taking that and not the Sling.tv.
snowcat you can use twonky on the roku and a smart phone (belkin Media play) to stream amc.com or any of those other shows you have to watch on your computer to your roku.
beejybone who do use for internet? I have comcast and they have a package where I get internet, local TV and HBO. It actually doesn’t cost anymore than having internet only. It does go up $20 after 12months but so does internet only.
Ok, today they announced they are adding AMC, so it is getting better, but live TV is just not for me
With AMC, I am going to keep it for now (base+sports). I ended up watching quite a bit of live TV over the weekend (it’s hard for to resist Lord of the Rings).
Ok, today they announced they are adding AMC, so it is getting better, but live TV is just not for me
Live TV is all I use my two Tablos for, it was more cost effective and less labor intensive than ditching in coax or putting up a second tower at the residence when I already had a 40’ tower at the shop 300’ away, and a P2P WiFi bridge between the two.
I guess it’s just different strokes. I’m 59 and the wife is 51, and we never got into the VCR thing either. If you miss a show, it’s on in 6 months. We call them reruns.
:))
For SlingTV I found TitanTV.com that allows you to create custom guides by adding channels by name. Then I went to the mobile site on my phone and added a link to my home screen. Works pretty good.
Thanks for the TitanTV info, I just configured my OTA, SlingTV and Roku live streams into a single lineup. Now if TitanTV made a Roku channel for it similar to the “What’s On?” one so I could access it from the Rokus, I’d be a happy puppy.