Playon

Overall Opinion: The PlayOn site describes their program as the answer to people's quest to capture streaming videos for later viewing. This concept is great - download the movies and TV shows that you can access through streaming services, such as Hulu and Netflix. Execution, however, is patchy and unreliable. The service will work great for weeks at a time, then suddenly you can't record from any of the channels that you have been recording from, for weeks at a time! Update to the latest build, same problem. Wait for a week or two for the corrected build, then you get to record for a couple more weeks, until it breaks again. The frustrating process starts over, and you are without recording service for several more weeks.

Pros: There are no Pros to an application or software program that is unreliable and stops working for weeks at a time.

Cons: The Cons are that the application or software program is unreliable and stops working for weeks at a time (refer to my Overall Opinion).

Overall Opinion: Playon is not a good idea to buy if you are outside the US. Some major streaming services in Europe are not on the list.

Pros: -

Cons: -

Overall Opinion: Glad I only purchased a 3 month service. Playon access is limited and almost all current and many older programs are blocked and cannot be recorded. For those few that can be recorded Playon consistently fails. Frustrating to be 30 minutes into a recording and then "Fail to record." My list of "failed" recordings is huge my list of successful recordings is minuscule and all are standard vice HD. Playon is a good idea that just doesn't live up to its promise.

Pros: -

Cons: -

Overall Opinion: Flexible and good video quality but huge CPU hog. This is a big problem.

Pros: -

Cons: -

Overall Opinion: So first off, I can't speak to how most people might be using Playon, only for how I use it. I use it has a NAS with my Roku to stream my collection of dvds, I have burned to disk. From this one perspective, it works great. First off, this feature is free, so winner winner chicken dinner, right there. Second, it's easy to use. Just install it, scan your drives, open up the communication between your Roku and computer, and wala! Now I can browse all my movies, music videos, series, or anything I burned. Works for my mp3s too. Now, all my old dvds, and cds are boxed away, out of sight and mind. Sooo much less clutter.

Pros: Free Easy to use Frees up my clutter! Stream to any TV in the house

Cons: Dependent on good wifi

Overall Opinion: The concept was great. Search streaming services, either watch now, or save to watch later. Videos could be queued to download during off peak hours It initially supported a lot of main streaming sites, with the ability for users to create plug-ins for the ones they did not support.

Pros: Not much anymore.

Cons: They are forcing all their lifetime software purchasers to a pay by month model. Every since they decided to move to a SAS model. The lifetime version of Playon is getting worse. Some non-mainstream providers were dropped (IE. history channel), with no intent on fixing them. Very little resources are being allocated to fix existing issues with existing providers. They cannot even provide a changelog when they push a new release. Playon desktop is stuck at recording 720P with stereo audio. You cannot search for a video across all the providers. Rescheduling failed recordings could be better. No auto-reschedule if internet is lost during the recording process. No flags if there was issues with the recording. I ran into multiple times over the years, where there was an issue with audio sync. So you need to test every recording after if finishes. I will never take part in their pay by month plans.

Overall Opinion: The way many of us watch television has changed. Streaming media like Netflix and Hulu offer an affordable solution to the traditionally expensive cable packages, and they also allow you to watch the TV you want on your schedule. That doesn't mean an all streaming entertainment ecosystem doesn't come with disadvantages as well. From having to sort through multiple streaming services to find the programming you're looking for to picking a device that gives you all the streaming services you have a subscription to, there are still some hurdles the digital streaming community has to face. PlayOn is a piece of third party software that takes measures to improve how you record and watch videos via your streaming services. The centerpiece of the PlayOn experience is its ability to record videos from any of your streaming services. All of the shows or movies you choose to record are saved in a high-quality MP4 format, so you can be assured knowing that you'll get crisp video free from stuttering. The control you have over recording is respectable. You can set a subscription to an entire show, so new episodes will be recorded whenever they enter streaming rotation, and the ability to set designated times for recording means that you can avoid slowdown during peak computer use. Set it to go overnight and rest easy knowing your bandwidth won't be affected during your waking hours. You can also skip right through the commercials to enjoy an uninterrupted experience from start to finish. Transferring these recorded files to other devices is also easy, so PlayOn is a great choice if you're worried about a program leaving a streaming choice before you have the chance to watch it. It's also great for setting up a playlist for a road trip, remote vacation, or daily commute, where consistent internet connections may be sorely lacking. Another strength of PlayOn is its versatile ability to work as a media server. Streaming devices like Rokus and Amazon Fire can be a great way to condense your streaming services into a single device, but many of these streaming devices are limited on what services they support. PlayOn can let you juice up your streaming device with added features. As a media server, it allows you to organize all of your photos, video, and media in one simple interface and project them directly through your streaming device or smart TV. But using the PlayOn app directly or a handy browser extension allows you to stream any browser based video service to your box as well, essentially circumventing restrictions on the apps available through your device. Both a desktop and cloud option of PlayOn are available. The former is a full service application that can run on your computer, while the latter allows you to record streaming videos on your phone or other mobile device.

Pros: Ability to set recording times automates the process Skipping commercials is a huge boon

Cons: Cloud services charges you per video recorded Requires setting up a complex network for features that might be of limited value\