NOW TV

DJ85 · 11 May 2018 at 14:08

looking into getting a now tv box for the sports mainly to watch the f1 on,
I can pick up a box for about a tenner second hand plus a few months free. Also ou can get free deals on the website for entertainment packages ect.
Has anyone had experience with these?
Does your internet need to be very good? I get 1.1mb/s at the best

TONY · 11 May 2018 at 17:11

The Now tv website says you need a minimum broadband speed of 2.5 Mbps.

Haggisman · 11 May 2018 at 17:22

Limited to 720p and no 5.1 sound output, it's ok for free/significantly discounted, but I wouldn't pay full price for it.

Captain · 11 May 2018 at 19:29

Haggisman said:
Limited to 720p and no 5.1 sound output, it's ok for free/significantly discounted, but I wouldn't pay full price for it.

You make it sound like 720p is poor, it’s not.

I’ve got no complaints when watching live sports, picture is very good on my TV.

TheVoice · 11 May 2018 at 20:34

Clov!s said:
You make it sound like 720p is poor, it’s not.

I’ve got no complaints when watching live sports, picture is very good on my TV.

It's decent enough but it's not as good as full HD and it's particularly noticeable on certain TV shows. Hopefully Now TV's 1080p support isn't too far away.

Haggisman · 11 May 2018 at 20:41

Clov!s said:
You make it sound like 720p is poor, it’s not.

I’ve got no complaints when watching live sports, picture is very good on my TV.

The difference in quality between NowTV, and Netflix/Amazon/Sky is definitely noticeable, particularly when it comes to sound quality, I found a lot of shows sounded very muffled and speech hard to follow in some cases.

Note: this was through the app on PS3 rather than a NowTV box, so no idea if it's better on there, but I know they still don't support 5.1

MissChief · 11 May 2018 at 21:34

David Flett said:
looking into getting a now tv box for the sports mainly to watch the f1 on,
I can pick up a box for about a tenner second hand plus a few months free. Also ou can get free deals on the website for entertainment packages ect.
Has anyone had experience with these?
Does your internet need to be very good? I get 1.1mb/s at the best

If your BB is that bad you'd be better off with Sky TV? £15pm will get you a far better picture, HD 1080i via satellite and no suffering with buffering due to the broadband? If you're happy to forego HD it can be had for £10pm.

BongoHunter · 11 May 2018 at 22:13

The content is adaptive bit rate, looks great as far as I'm concerned at 720p - better than a DVD on my 55" LG (1080p)

I did have to change the sound setting on my TV to clear voice - but I have to do the same thing on my DVD and BR players to.

DJ85 · 12 May 2018 at 00:17

What it is, is that I have sky+hd and I have the entertainment package,multiroom and broadband which comes to £50pm but I want to watch the f1 which I thought that ch4 had the full rights to but found out from this weekend maybe they dont?

I don’t know but just getting the highlights instead.

So was looking alternatives so I could watch the practice,qualifying, and the race. Contacted sky and I will be £18pm. Ok if I liked any other sports but I don’t so I can’t justify it.

Looked about and seen nowtv, can get a cheap box and cheap “gifts” or “passses” far cheaper than the £18pm that sky is asking for. I dont mind 720p v 1080p as long as I’m Getting the whole weekend of racing personally I can’t tell the difference toooo much but I think I’m getting mixed up with my broadband speed I say it’s 1.1mbs but could be 1.1MB/s? Which one is faster and is it by much? I have Netflix and it seems to play ok on my tv upstairs over the WiFi.

BongoHunter · 12 May 2018 at 00:49

C4 only doing 10 full weekends:

Channel 4 will live broadcast 10 Formula One races in 2018, including the British Grand Prix on 8 July, the Monaco Grand Prix on 27 May and the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The live weekends will cover all three practice sessions, qualifying and in-depth race-day analysis. All live races will be broadcast without advertising breaks.

Channel 4 will also broadcast extensive highlights of the other 11 F1 races in 2018, with a qualifying show on Saturdays and race show on Sundays.

From: http://f1.channel4.com/news/channel-four-formula-one-schedule-for-2018/

So you'll only be needing NowTV sports pass for the remainder I guess...

MissChief · 12 May 2018 at 01:44

David Flett said:
What it is, is that I have sky+hd and I have the entertainment package,multiroom and broadband which comes to £50pm but I want to watch the f1 which I thought that ch4 had the full rights to but found out from this weekend maybe they dont?

I don’t know but just getting the highlights instead.

So was looking alternatives so I could watch the practice,qualifying, and the race. Contacted sky and I will be £18pm. Ok if I liked any other sports but I don’t so I can’t justify it.

Looked about and seen nowtv, can get a cheap box and cheap “gifts” or “passses” far cheaper than the £18pm that sky is asking for. I dont mind 720p v 1080p as long as I’m Getting the whole weekend of racing personally I can’t tell the difference toooo much but I think I’m getting mixed up with my broadband speed I say it’s 1.1mbs but could be 1.1MB/s? Which one is faster and is it by much? I have Netflix and it seems to play ok on my tv upstairs over the WiFi.

If it's 1.1MB/s then you have about a 9 Meg connection, allowing for overheads.

what does http://dslchecker.bt.com say for your speed? You might need to use the postcode checker.

I'd need to double check but there was an offer of the F1 channel as a standalone for £15pm including HD, saving £9pm.

varkanoid · 12 May 2018 at 11:32

The Smartbox gives a more fluid picture due to it outputting in 50hz whereas the normal black box outputs 60hz. I have both and I can notice the smoother picture on my Smartbox connected to my main TV.

Also little tip. If you can't find a cheap Sky Sports code or another free offer when your current day/week/month pass is due to run out cancel (it will still keep going till your current pass end date) and select "I cant afford it" option, keep selecting I want to cancel I cant afford it and the last prompt they offer you £20 per month for 3 months instead of the normal £33 ! I've done this last three times!

You can also pickup cheap 6 month entertainment vouchers for less than £15 sometimes if you look around for the Walking Dead/Westworld type fans. They also just gave me free 3 month cinema pass for being a long standing customer.

jpaul · 12 May 2018 at 11:43

varkanoid said:
The Smartbox gives a more fluid picture due to it outputting in 50hz whereas the normal black box outputs 60hz

nowtv now have new smart sticks based on the respective roku sticks, which do now frequency adjust, for iplayer to 25hz, mine does nowtv at 25hz ?
they should be ready when they have their 1080 service .....

BongoHunter said:
I did have to change the sound setting on my TV to clear voice

good idea - have not played with that.

TheVoice · 12 May 2018 at 12:36

Haggisman said:
The difference in quality between NowTV, and Netflix/Amazon/Sky is definitely noticeable, particularly when it comes to sound quality, I found a lot of shows sounded very muffled and speech hard to follow in some cases.

Note: this was through the app on PS3 rather than a NowTV box, so no idea if it's better on there, but I know they still don't support 5.1

Apparently the Apple TV is pretty good for Now TV, a friend has an LG OLED with the Now TV app but also has an Apple TV and says it looks much on the latter.

varkanoid · 12 May 2018 at 18:54

jpaul said:
nowtv now have new smart sticks based on the respective roku sticks, which do now frequency adjust, for iplayer to 25hz, mine does nowtv at 25hz ?
they should be ready when they have their 1080 service .....

good idea - have not played with that.

Yeah I bought one of the TV sticks and thought it was rubbish. It was slow, sluggish and kept locking up. Wifi on it is terrible even when its sat next to the router. It got extremely hot too so I went back to the black box which still works a lot better. I'm waiting for BT to bring out their software update for the full NowTV app this year so then I wont even need a box.

DJ85 · 12 May 2018 at 20:57

BongoHunter said:
So you'll only be needing NowTV sports pass for the remainder I guess...

yeah pretty much. I like to watch all the build up, practices etc.

MissChief said:
If it's 1.1MB/s then you have about a 9 Meg connection, allowing for overheads.

what does http://dslchecker.bt.com say for your speed? You might need to use the postcode checker.

I'd need to double check but there was an offer of the F1 channel as a standalone for £15pm including HD, saving £9pm.

I've added a couple picture for you, 1.1 MB/s is as fast as it goes so that's what I'm working with,

I've spoke to sky the best there willing to offer is £18 pm for the sky sports package or £20 for both as a deal.

varkanoid said:
Also little tip. If you can't find a cheap Sky Sports code or another free offer when your current day/week/month pass is due to run out cancel (it will still keep going till your current pass end date) and select "I cant afford it" option, keep selecting I want to cancel I cant afford it and the last prompt they offer you £20 per month for 3 months instead of the normal £33 ! I've done this last three times!

varkanoid said:
The Smartbox gives a more fluid picture due to it outputting in 50hz whereas the normal black box outputs 60hz. I have both and I can notice the smoother picture on my Smartbox connected to my main TV.

that's the one I've been looking at the smart box.

I had a quick look on gumtree and there are a lot of folk selling passes on there, that's what got me thinking about it in the first place. Much cheapness!

jpaul · 12 May 2018 at 21:32

Not sure where you have seen cheap sport passes - these are like >£5 a day no ? versus entertainment ~£3-4 p/m (for the last 3 years I've used them)

This suggests sport is also 25hz https://community.nowtv.com/t5/NOW-TV-Smart-Box/Smart-box-or-Roku-4k-stick/td-p/456519/page/2
so may not be wonderful for F1 - it's fine for entertainment though.

[

varkanoid said:
Yeah I bought one of the TV sticks and thought it was rubbish. It was slow, sluggish and kept locking up. Wifi on it is terrible even when its sat next to the router. It got extremely hot too so I went back to the black box which still works a lot better. I'm waiting for BT to bring out their software update for the full NowTV app this year so then I wont even need a box.

roku stick has been fine and I thought the two were the same
https://community.nowtv.com/t5/NOW-TV-Stick/Now-TV-stick-gets-hot/td-p/463959
says some heat is normal .
I may try to access secret menu, that thread suggests, to see what temp is https://streamfree.tv/roku-secret-screens/

For roku anyway, I filled out online form and they sent me an extender cable for better wifi and (wireless) remote communication

]

MissChief · 13 May 2018 at 00:03

David Flett said:
yeah pretty much. I like to watch all the build up, practices etc.

I've added a couple picture for you, 1.1 MB/s is as fast as it goes so that's what I'm working with,

I've spoke to sky the best there willing to offer is £18 pm for the sky sports package or £20 for both as a deal.

that's the one I've been looking at the smart box.

I had a quick look on gumtree and there are a lot of folk selling passes on there, that's what got me thinking about it in the first place. Much cheapness!

I have a code available for Entertainment pack for £10pm or Entertainment+HD for £15pm. Send me a trust message if you're interested.

DJ85 · 13 May 2018 at 11:48

jpaul said:
Not sure where you have seen cheap sport passes - these are like >£5 a day no ? versus entertainment ~£3-4 p/m (for the last 3 years I've used them)

I just had a quick look on eBay and picked up a sports day pass for £2 something, I added it and it seems to work fine,

also missing out a box as I haven’t bought yet I installed The app on my laptop to then use the hdmi cable to my tv and noticed a cast option from the app on. My phone so currently casting the F1 channel to my tv, seems a very good picture with no glitches so far over WiFi.
@MissChief thank you for the very kind offer but I had the entertainment 14 day trial and I did what someone above said, cancelled and went along saying “can’t afford” and then go offered it for £3.49 for 3 months.
Still never took it though as I have sky only wanted the f1 channel nice and cheap

Captain · 13 May 2018 at 13:48

David Flett said:
I just had a quick look on eBay and picked up a sports day pass for £2 something, I added it and it seems to work fine,

also missing out a box as I haven’t bought yet I installed The app on my laptop to then use the hdmi cable to my tv and noticed a cast option from the app on. My phone so currently casting the F1 channel to my tv, seems a very good picture with no glitches so far over WiFi.
@MissChief thank you for the very kind offer but I had the entertainment 14 day trial and I did what someone above said, cancelled and went along saying “can’t afford” and then go offered it for £3.49 for 3 months.
Still never took it though as I have sky only wanted the f1 channel nice and cheap

Promotion code though? If so, you can only ever redeem that sort of code once on your account, if it was a Pringles code then you won't be able to redeem another one of those again.

Seems eBay are clamping down on the sale of digital codes.