3 months in and loving channels more every day

#1

Just a little shoutout/love for Channels DVR. I was an EARLY adopter of Plex and have been a cord cutter for many, many years. Over the past 3 months I've been moving my family away from Plex as Live TV and over to Channels and they are now 100% converts and love it.

M3U integration and TV Everywhere are game changers, the DVR is terrific and my wife regularly comments on how nice it is that she can watch the Today Show and not have to watch commercials.

I have my own small (and incredibly niche) wish list for features but it's hard to find anything to complain about. Thanks to all involved in putting this together!

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#2

Those are incredibly kind words!! Thanks!

1 Like
#3

I agree with the OP and really enjoy using Channels.

Years ago I was a happy SageTV user ... please don't "sell out" to a large firm who will bury all the excellent functionality provided by Channels.

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#4

Unless it’s Apple and they make you multimillionaires and allow you to continue to head development while bringing it to the masses. :grin:

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#5

I agree with this as well. MUCH better than the terrible Spectrum system I moved to. I actually liked Xfinity X1, except the cost, but less than a month with Spectrum I had to find an alternate, and am very happy with what I found.

In fact, many times our neighborhood FB will have posts "Spectrum is down again" but not for me :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:

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#6

100% this.
Would add that the philo integration has taken Philo TV from an interesting curiosity that I never used, to a useable addition to my entertainment choices. Thank you..

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#7

I really love the way Channels fully integrates the live tv viewing experience. The DVR features are excellent and perform better than I expected. I have been a TiVo user for years and Channels hands down outperforms. I am using a NAS, so Channels is always on. I am using a HDHomeRun PRIME w/ cable card. I just installed an OTA Silicondust Quatro 4K. The OTA channel guide was able to pull down for my local area in Channels DVR. Plex Live Channels had difficulty pulling in the full OTA channel guide. I am also able to pull down the TV Everywhere feature. I loose only a few DRM protected HDHomeRun PRIME channels like HBO (which I use the App) I also am using the M3U Playlist to bring in Pluto. I was able to edit the SD channels and those unwanted channels that I did not want out of the channel guide.

Channels is literally 1/2 the cost of TiVo monthly service. Plus, I am not limited by the size of the DVR HD. I do have a lifetime Plex account. I added additional HDHomeRun PRIMEs so I can add more tuners, plus the Quatro 4K for the ATSC 3.0 experience. I rarely watch live tv, unless its a sports event. I can stream the channels all over my home and do not have to buy additional cable boxes. I do use a Nvidia Shield to fully integrate all my apps....

I am still keeping my Tivo (Edge) Service as a backup and to watch DRM Protected stations. I was just wondering is there was a way to utilize the TiVo Online feature by utilizing the M3U Playlist?

Thank you for the Ultimate TV viewing experience.

4 Likes
#8

I was wondering about this as well since my cable provider offers a TiVo online service, if it could be used to feed channels into, well, Channels.

There is a chrome extension you can install called "The Stream Detector" that will show if there is a available M3U file. If there is, you can download the file and open it in a text editor and we can see if it mentions widevine or PlayOn drm

#9

I've found my doppelganger. Down to wish list and Wife with Today show. :wink:

#10

Just wanted to chime in because I have truly found what I was looking for with Channels DVR. The Devs are competent and fix things fast when they break and are actually in the forum and on discord working with the users. They are also pretty open and honest about what they want to implement and what they don't. So at least you know where you stand as a user and what to expect.

2 Likes