You won’t be disappointed…
1 Like
I just started using Channels and it’s awesome. I bought it on ATV and was surprised I had to pay twice for iOS also but did not hesitate to support the product as good code doesn’t write itself. That said add me to the $8 a month is too much for DVR. 10 years ago this technology warranted a monthly fee but today you have so many more options with content streaming such as Hulu, Netflix, individual network apps that it almost makes a dvr unnecessary today. I still am interested and if it was a single payment I’m in. Though I also understand Devs need to get paid and subscription model is the best way to keep money coming so future updates continue to flow. I’d suggest going all out and capture the market by aggressive pricing like $3 a month, $25 a year. Make it irresistible.
If the WD MyCloud device I have was used during the previous DVR beta, does that mean it will work with the new DVR service?
Do you mean the Silicon Dust Beta DVR? If so then I wouldn’t count on it. I was able to run the SD beta on a single drive WD MyCloud (4TB), which is below the current minimum for the Channels DVR. If you have a two bay until (MyCloud Mirror, Mirror Gen 2 or better) you should be ok.
Channels DVR is doing more and needs more CPU than the SD product did.
Would you kindly explain your assertion that the Channels DVR needs more CPU than the
SD product…this is not evident to me and I wonder what I’m missing if this is true…
Thanx in advance
The minimum requirements of the Channels DVR are above the specifications of the single drive WD MyCloud products, which can run the SD product. Given the things the Channels DVR can do that SD does not: pruning, auto-update, commercial detection, local guide data, transcoding, etc., I’m sure they set those specifications to ensure a proper experience for the DVR.
I agree with @rcgfl. I did use the SD DVR Channels Integration for some time on the WD Single Drive 4gb… Like the Channels Developers I was pretty frustrated with the SD DVR Progress. The Channels DVR in much less time has created a much more powerful DVR then SD will ever have. So basic DVR functions may work on a WD Single Drive but you would not be happy with dropping so many of the features mentioned above. The more powerful the DVR Hardware the better the experience.
It’s worth noting that the SD DVR is mostly cloud based. All the installed component does is sync a schedule for when to record from your device to disk. So it’s requirements are very very low.
Channels DVR was designed specifically to avoid any cloud based systems to be as reliable as possible, so everything runs in your installed instance. Because of this, its requirements are a touch higher.
2 Likes
It definitely should work, those specs seem to be well above and it appears to have hardware transcoding.
Considering Apple has apparently abandoned the Mac Mini platform (no update in years and rumors abound), focusing on NAS devices is smart. I’ll be on the lookout for good deals on Synology devices.
Is there a reasonably-priced NAS that people recommend?
I like my QNAP (HS-251+). Woot has a 4-bay from QNAP today that has similar specs:
http://computers.woot.com/offers/qnap-ts-453mini-4-bay?ref=cp_gh_cp_3_d_ph
4-bay would be nice (mine is only a 2-bay)… price is pretty good.
1 Like
@dajspi Those apps all use Apple’s built in video player. That video player does in fact respond to those buttons. tvOS apps do not actually have the ability to do that though. We’ve opened radars with Apple regarding this in the past.
I’m a Harmony user as well and I agree it’s super frustrating.
I have a question for you though. Have you added an “Apple TV” device to your Harmony remote since the Apple TV 4 has been released? Or are you just using the old “Apple TV” profile you had already programmed before the Apple TV 4 came out?
The reason I ask is that, I’ve recently reset my Harmony Hub and I can’t get it to utilize the skip buttons anymore. I’ve tried both the new “Apple TV” profile and the “Apple TV 2/3” one. Neither of them allow the skip buttons to work like the old original “Apple TV” profile. It really sucks because now I don’t have my 10s skip anymore in other apps.
It’s a bargain if you’re using cable cards (except it doesn’t support DRM). But I’m guessing most of us aren’t. So paying just for DVR of OTA only seems like a bit much.
Ditto.
I’m an OTA user looking to record the NFL, 60 minutes, and maybe jimmy fallon late night. I have been looking forward to this for a while as a cord cutter. I’m happy to pay a lifetime membership but I cut the cord to avoid monthly fees (as I assume most cord cutters do). Please consider this type of offer to you users. Tablo has a lifetime offer which i might have to consider but I really do enjoy your product.
I’d too prefer a lifetime or even yearly option to the subscription.
I’ve been a Tablo user and I can tell you from my experience that using Channels and even the alpha DVR are leaps and bounds better than Tablo. To be frank, the Tablo hardware and software are both about as unstable as can be for a released product. And, each new version of their software brings new and exciting ways for both the hardware and software to break. Their releases are infrequent and they often blame the user / environment for the more than obvious bugs in their solution. On top of all of that access to the device is restricted such that you are completely at their mercy and slow support to resolve issues.
Bottom line, stick with Channels. The product, even as alpha/beta, is the best out there (I’ve tried many) and their responsiveness to problems is top notch. You won’t be disappointed!
Like a few other people here I’ve been following development of the DVR software, but I’m only a light OTA TV watcher. I just can’t justify $96 per year for Channels. I understand the need for a recurring fee to cover ongoing development costs and the channel guide, but I think you need some way of reducing the price or having tiers of service. I could see paying $60 per year, but not more than that.
Channels does offer a tiered service in that the OTA app which offers time shifting capabilities like pause, rewind, ffwd is available for a single fee per OS (ATV/iOS). It is the DVR capabilities that will come at $8/month charge. I know some of this cost is to cover the extended guide data that is needed for full blown DVR capabilities. It’s up to the Channels team how many tiers make sense for a small company from an implementation and management perspective but I understand them wanting to limit options (especially early on).
For light OTA users the $8/month may not make sense. In addition to the monthly fee you also need to factor in the hardware requirements of a NAS, Mac or Linux machine and disk space space to store recordings. Maybe the Channels App and timeshifting is enough for light users. In my house, where OTA is now a primary means of television service, the DVR is a reasonable cost vs our previous $120/month DTV bill.
2 Likes