Tired of waiting for Netflix and Hulu app? Is this app worth it

[Snowmanham]

Supported Devices Compatible with PlayOn | PlayOn
I just found this and it will let you play Hulu and Netflix and more but is it worth the money for it? $40 for the first year then $20 a year after that or$80 for lifetime.
Has anybody tried it on anything?
It does look like it would work good but you need to have a computer logged on their website at all times. Not to bad I have a desktop that I don't use very much and could leave that on.

I would like any info on this.
Thanks
Snowmanham

 

[want a droid]

In my opinion, not worth the money. I'm also getting the ThunderBolt when it comes out which should be getting Netflix app sooner rather than later.

 

[takeshi]

Worth is always highly subjective. I wouldn't pay for it. YMMV. There's a 14 day trial. Test drive it and see for yourself.

 

[kodiak799]

Personally I'd save my money for the Sony service that is getting ready to launch. They will have 6M songs from the 4 major labels and also a huge library of video. If you have a PS3 that would be the route I'd go.

 

[born2golf]

This is a paste from my post on a similiar thread. Please ignore Kodiak. He has absolutely NO hands-on experience with Playon (as evident from the other thread), so his input is purely manufactured.

from my previous post regarding playon...

"...there seems to be some confusion in the last few posts. Perhaps I can clear that up. Playon is a windows program that is a media server. It is NOT an android app. It does the following 2 things:
1. re-routes internet media to other devices, such as a PS3/Xbox/Wii/Roku/iPad/iPhone/ and sort of Android. So for instance you can watch Hulu on your xbox via playon.
2. streams local media files from the PC to those other devices .This is certainly nothing new as windows can do this all on it but it is convenient for devices that cannot connect to the windows media server features.

The recent activity on this thread is stating that it is now possible to stream media to Android via the device's web browser. The mention of an app is related to the future app for android yet to be released by playon. That app would replace the browsers method and instead have structured way of connecting the playon media. That is currently how it is done on the iPad. (EDIT: the playon app was indeed released yesterday and it works fine)

The windows program costs $39/year or $79 forever. Again this is a media server program, and cannot be compared to a 99 cent app.

Why is this important? neither Netflix or hulu have yet to release their android apps, but playon users can watch both... right now, in addition to lots of other stuff. Also, if anyone has experience with hulu plus, which is required for most non-PC based hulu viewing, there is a great deal of content that is still not available via hulu plus on anything but a PC. For instance, sometimes if your try to watch a show on hulu plus using your PS3, you may see a message that the particular program is "web only" meaning you can only watch is from a PC. Playon users don't have this limitation, because as far as hulu is concerned, your PC is the thing pulling the content down. Then playon redirects it to whatever you are using to watch it from."

There also is a substantial user community that writes plugins and scripts for pulling even more channels into playon, that aren't available natively or via hulu.

The question of worth is truly up to you. And the value must be perceived beyond the android. Because while I am an avid playon user, I would not have deployed it into my entertainment model just to use hulu on my phone. I chose playon to help me get hulu on to my Xbox360, along with netflix and all the other goodies. So it has a lot of value to me. The side benefit is that I can now watch all that same programming on my phone while I'm on the commuter train to NY.

Lastly, if you are a regular hulu user, then I would pay special attention to my statement above about "web only" videos. I personally find this to be a big deal. I am really confused why I am paying for hulu plus when only a fraction of the content I want is available to anything but a web browser. Playon solves this problem. And I'll admit I chuckle happily to myself every time it happens.

 

[ntrddragn]

^ lmao. im having issue with connecting via 3g. i can with wifi but as soon as i turn off my wifi it said no pc found. any idea? i emailed support but i figure i'll post it here too.

 

[born2golf]

You need to have UPnP configured on your router, or you need to set up the mobile access port manually on the router.

 

[cnmsales]

Yeah set the playon to manual. That will solve the issue.

Also this software probably isnt worth it if all your going to use it for is streaming to your phone. But , it also streams to any dlna compliant device including xbox, ps3, wii, roku and etc.

I have used this software for almost a year. Recently we cut the cable cord completely and haven't missed it at all. What really makes playon great is the 3rd party developed plugins. I have a megavideo premium account (10.00 bucks a month) and with both the tvlinks and ice films scripts we are able to watch almost anything we want with the commercials edited out. So in essence I pay 10 bucks a month for cable TV service.

For more info on what exactly is available as far as 3rd party plugins go check out this website. PlayOn Scripts :: Home :: PlayOn Scripts and PlayOn Plugins

As you can see there is a TON of content outside of Netflix and Hulu. Honestly with tv links we are probably getting ready to cancel netflix as well.

 

[dave4100]

In my opinion, not worth the money. I'm also getting the ThunderBolt when it comes out which should be getting Netflix app sooner rather than later.

Has it been confirmed that Netflix will play on the Thunderbolt? I thought I read that it had to have a specific processor to be able to run Netflix. Maybe the next version of the processor that is currently in the Bolt.

 

[Snowmanham]

Trying it out

Well I took your advise and I am trying out the 14 day trial. It took alot for me to get it configured, but after some reading up on it and a few choice words and a couple of beers its working. Wifi is working real good on my Droid X and it is also working on my Wii as well. 3g is a different story, sometimes it works and sometimes not. I will do more experimenting this weekend with it. There is alot of shows that you can access through it but you can also get some of them on their own website. I guess my biggest selling point will be access over 3g. if it only works part of the time it is differently not worth the money but if I can get the bugs worked out before the end of my 14 day trial then it might.

 

[ntrddragn]

thanks...i set it to manual and add the port to my router and works like a charm. 3g works great too.

 

[jaycemiskel]

In my opinion, not worth the money. I'm also getting the ThunderBolt when it comes out which should be getting Netflix app sooner rather than later.

I'm pretty sure it's not coming to the Thunderbolt. A certain processor is required and the Thunderbolt doesn't have that.

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