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'DirecTV Now' Offering 32GB Apple TV 4K at No Cost When Signing Up for 4-Month Service at $140 [Updated]
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The main advantage to something like Directv NOW to me are the login credentials it gives you for many of the channels' own apps (especially ESPN which cannot be fully accessed yet without a separate subscription - or someone else's password). Single-Signon isn't perfect yet (you still have to authenticate through the individual app) and some of the main apps don't allow access with a Directv NOW subscription even if they allow access with a regular DirecTV sub (looking at you CNN Go).
Yes we are in a time where accessing content is very fractured, but I'm okay with that. I can manage different apps for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, and Starz. I won't use the Directv NOW app that often because I don't "channel surf" for live content anymore, I browse shows shows for on-demand content. After 5 years without a live-tv cable/sat subscription, my habits have completely changed, and for the better.
Still, this is the future of "television," until it's entirely a la carte. Disney will release their independent app/service next year, said to be priced below Netflix initially that will probably combine all of their properties. For people who are true cord-cutters, it will be a nice addition to the typical (netflix, hulu, HBO combo), and Directv NOW will lose out (as many will see is as a competitor or duplicative).
Yes we are in a time where accessing content is very fractured, but I'm okay with that. I can manage different apps for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, and Starz. I won't use the Directv NOW app that often because I don't "channel surf" for live content anymore, I browse shows shows for on-demand content. After 5 years without a live-tv cable/sat subscription, my habits have completely changed, and for the better.
Still, this is the future of "television," until it's entirely a la carte. Disney will release their independent app/service next year, said to be priced below Netflix initially that will probably combine all of their properties. For people who are true cord-cutters, it will be a nice addition to the typical (netflix, hulu, HBO combo), and Directv NOW will lose out (as many will see is as a competitor or duplicative).
Thats the first I've seen about HBO being part of the desired combo. I would think its Hulu, Netflix, and then the basic package of choice to replace typical cable. I used SlingTV, others use Vue or DTVNow. I haven't had a premium channel in over ten years- why would HBO be considered more important than channel packages?
I got it from an ATT store.
They just had me follow the prompts from the DirecTV Now site to sign up.
Once it was all confirmed, they took care of it on their end to zero the Apple TV out of inventory and I left.
All in all, it took maybe 10 minutes.
So I jumped on this, I was on sling's combo orange/blue + sports + iTunes HBO (so $40+10+15 or $65/month). I did the $50 tier + $5 HBO ($55/month) so this is saving me $10/month plus getting a free apple TV upgrade. Also I really disliked Sling's interface (give me a traditional grid layout for crying out loud!). I'm moving to a market that has youtube TV in 3-4 months so this will be perfect and I can switch over then. This seems like a really good deal overall.
The Sling interface is horrible. That ticker-tape way of displaying channels is phenomenally aggravating.
If Philo offered a bundle that included the major networks, and they had an app for
TV I'd jump to them in a second. Aside from giving Google yet another way to gain extremely detailed information about you, what is so great about YouTube TV that you'd defect to that service from DirecTVNow?
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Thats great to hear. I'm completely over Sling and I'm ready to switch. I'm trying to get someone on the line at two different AT&T stores locally to check stock on the Apple TV, and no luck.
I also have a free Apple TV 4K waiting for me to claim it, but if I can get one through DTV and drop Sling, thats actually a better deal for me, since Sling is $45. I thought we were only paying $30, but evidently some things changed and I was never informed. Grr...
I figure by the time my 4 months contract is up, maybe Philo will have an app for ATV ready.
I did the offer and picked In-Store Pickup. Since it didn't give me info on how or where to pick up I started a Live Support Chat and this is what the rep stated:
Omar (Rep): Swell! How may I assist you with your Apple TV 4K questions today?
Me : I just signed up with your service due to the device offer you had
Me : and I chose in-store pick up but it didnt give me any info as to how or where to pick up the device
Omar : Awesome!I'm thinking of signing up for this as well for my grandma & keeping the Apple TV
Omar : That option was put in error; currently we don't offer in-store pickup, but I'd be happy to get the address updated for shipping
I also selected the in store pickup option, and was confused as to where or when to pickup since it gave no further instruction. I as well started a chat with a rep, and when I explained to her the situation, she took forever to reply and she said "try to pick it up at any AT&T store. If you have a problem, contact us and we will ship it to you." Seemed really iffy, but I went with it. Left to my nearest AT&T store, and told them what I was there for and the employee was absolutely confused. Showed her the order history in my DirecTV NOW account, that stated 4 months prepaid at $140 and a ATV4K at $0.
She went and consulted with a manager, and the manager told her to have me cancel the subscription and re do it in store, but I was skeptical. When I pressed "cancel", a message came up saying that it would cancel my subscription from auto-renewing in March 2018, but I would still have access to my content until then. She seemed confused again - I assume they had no idea that this offer was going on.
She consulted the manager again, and the manager told her to give me the ATV and try to ring it up a certain way and it should come up at $0. She attempted to ring it up multiple ways but it was still coming up at full price.
Once again she went with the manager, and after a few minutes I assume the manager just had to manually override everything and $0 everything out. It was kind of hectic, which is unfortunately nothing unusual when visiting an AT&T retail store.
I managed to get my ATV but it took at least 25 minutes and got back to work late.
Happy with the device and streaming service thus far, but I don't know if I'll be keeping it after March (DTV Now).
Ordered basic package today - had password, login issues immediately. Email confirmation only listed price paid, no mention of AppleTV 4k. Had to chat online to confirm qualified for AppleTV. Watching it via dated Roku and overall what I expected - stream is better than individual apps but probably won't keep this past March. Free AppleTV to replace Roku worth the $ IMO.
This is exactly why I opted not to do it online.
When selecting the instore pickup option the site didn’t prompt me to enter a zip code or to select a store.
That’s why I did it all in store.
I just called to confirm they had inventory before going in.
Did the same test
And ended keeping direct tv now. View is limited on the Apple TV and will never make on to the Xbox
Ok, I'm confused by your post. Did you choose to leave Vue because the ATV version was limited? Or because the same service you had on the ATV isn't going to have a parallel app on the Xbox?
What did you feel were the limitations of Vue on ATV, btw?
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Just my personal perspective I guess. Since I've been without a traditional cable/sat subscription for 5 years now, I think about programming as an a la carte deal. HBO has some of the best shows airing, to me, so I am willing to pay for them. I see HBO and Netflix as apples and apples - both offer a fair amount of quality original programming. Hulu is an orange - an aggregator of content that is good value.
Traditional cable/sat subscription packages are stuffed with a ton of channels that I decided a long time ago are simply not worth my time. And most of the channels don't even show content related to their original concept (e.g. TLC, History, etc).
I remember what those channels were like back in the days when they first aired. The Learning Channel (I hate the acronym) was an amazing channel full of in depth science. The closest thing today is Sci. The faux-reality programs that have replaced the original mission programming are an affront to wisdom.
The $35 Grandfather plan will go away eventually. I dropped DirecTV Now for Youtube TV just because I can share the account with 5 family members, DVR on day 1 and They have all 4 major networks. They don't have CNN, but I don't really need to see #fakenews... and even then... on my iOS devices, I use the login from my mom's DirecTV satellite account because she doesn't mind and she is low-tech and doesn't use it herself anyway... LOL.... so that is how I can watch all of the other channels YTV hasn't added yet.
Well, I jumped on the bandwagon for the offer.. one thing I noticed when signing in to apps separately: nbc sn doesn’t show the football game for tonight, just a bunch of nascar. Strange. Of course, I can see the game in the official directv now app.
So much for 2-3 weeks. Ordered mine around noon on Friday and just got a shipping email with FedEx tracking.
Yes, it does work.
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[doublepost=1511237323][/doublepost]So...I called AT&T to get information about this offer, & the rep told me that if I canceled the service before the 7 day trial ends, the Apple TV would ship, & I wouldn’t be charged the $140 for the 4 month prepay. He said the Apple TV would then end up being free. I couldn’t believe he actually told me that.
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Right?!
Has anyone had problems with DirecTV Now maintaining an HD Stream?
Edit: In case anyone was wondering, I found a link that lets you know which stand-alone apps you can use with the service.
https://help.directvnow.com/hc/en-u...count-to-access-network-sites-and-mobile-apps
Thanks for the update. I was a Saturday AM order and have not seen or heard a thing since registration. Luckily, the original order details show the Apple TV 4K.
ETA: My FedEx Delivery Manager shows a new shipment from DirecTV arriving tomorrow.
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