Why We Ditched Tivo for Sling & AirTv

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We have been using Tivo for a few years now with mainly just an antenna. But after being without cable we needed a little more. We were due for our annual renewal with Tivo and looked around for other options.

We decided to add on Sling for additional show options and that is when we the found AirTv player.

Streaming services have obviously taken over the television watching world and there is no going back now. It is much cheaper and more customized than anything we have ever had before. We have had Tivo for the last 3 years and have only had OTA or over the air channels and streaming everything else. Most of the streaming was done with a Chromecast device. Some apps like VUDU and HBO GO are available through the Tivo, but not everything is available. It was also quicker to use the phone to cast whatever wasn’t over the air broadcasts. But that is all much simpler now with the AirTv player (the white and blue one).

Why The AirTv Player

The AirTv player is an Android-based streaming player that is combines Sling Tv and OTA (over the air) programming in one platform. Over-the-air channels are received using an external antenna (Here’s the one I got from Amazon for just $22- Affiliate link) that plugs into the player. Bonus there is currently no monthly fee to use the AirTv player. You have to connect an external hard drive (I got mine from Amazon for $50 affiliate link) and then you have a DVR that will record over the air channels. With the additional adapter from AirTv, you can record 2 channels at one time.

At the time of this writing the AirTv service for recording OTA channels is free while they are in Beta at the moment. It is not known when and if they will charge a monthly fee. Also for $5 per month from Sling you can get a cloud DVR with 50 hours of recording space. This allows you to record 2 Sling channels as well. Between the two you can record 4 shows at once, 2 OTAs and 2 Sling channels. With Tivo you can record 4 shows at once, but only OTA channels.

AirTv is Optimized for Sling Tv.

Sling TV is just one of many streaming services for cable and movie channels. But only the AirTV box will integrate the OTA channels from the antenna into the same on-screen guide with the Sling channels. This makes it seemless to go from a cable channel on Sling to an OTA channel from your antennae without leaving the Sling platform.

With Sling on a Tivo box you have to load the Sling app to see the guide and watch. But the OTA channels will be in a separate Tivo guide. Not convenient. It also makes it much easier to record from either source.

AirTv is an Android based streaming box

The AirTv runs on Android and has Chromecast built in. This is so convenient to stream whatever you want to the AirTv player. You have access to the Play Store for apps that are compatible with AirTv. There are some web browsers available and we have had no problems accessing the internet on the television. So no need to buy a smart tv.

Another great app that we use from the Play Store is Pluto Tv. This app is a set of a couple hundred channels including music channels. It is like another cable tv platform with its own guide for its channels. The guide even keeps the current channel on in a picture in picture mode while you scroll. There are channels for every genre you can think of as well as gaming and news channels. So with all of these options there is not much we can’t watch.

The Remote

The remote control is connected by bluetooth. Being able to control from wherever you are without having to aim at a box is the way it should be. There is a voice search button and a google search button. There is also dedicated buttons for Netflix, Sling, and the Sling guide. Everything can be done with the remote control including DVR controls.

The Downsides

It will glitch out sometimes and leave the show you are watching and go to either the guide or to the last app you had open. It is strange and sometimes inconvenient, but not the end of the world.

Another weird thing happens when you record a series. If you have more than one recording you can delete all but one of the shows. It will always leave the last one. Luckily there is a work-around for this. If you go to your recordings and there to manage in the upper right corner you can then select what you want to delete and you can get rid of those shows.

To Sum it all up

So now we have all of our entertainment running through the AirTv player and could not be happier. We are using Sling which gives us the feel of having cable which we have missed for a few years. We did one of the programs for $25 with the $5 for the DVR and an additional package for $5. So just $35 a month.

On the annual plan with Tivo it was $12.50 a month. So we have added more money per month, but we can now do what we did before with the Tivo and much much more. If or when AirTv adds a monthly payment we will look at out options again.

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