LiveAmerican.tv - A Review

CFA123

Silver
May 29, 2004
3,512
413
83
I've been using a service provided by Live American TV: Live American TV channels direct to your home for the last month.

Essentially, they set up a slingbox connected to a Verizon Fios cable box in NYC for my exclusive use.
Over 400 channels to choose from, just as if you were watching the cable channels in NYC.
They also offer cable boxes from the San Francisco area & DirectTV options.

I can connect from any internet connected computer/iphone/ipad anywhere in the world.

Picture quality & slingbox interface on the ipad or a computer are super.

Picture quality viewed on a 53" flatscreen using a mac-mini & safari browser is perhaps an 8 on scale of 1-10. If you were to walk in and look at the image on the tv, you'd not think a thing about it. It's as good or better than DeLancer's best image quality.

It takes about 1.5-2mb of my 4mb download bandwidth to get that quality. Very watchable. I 'think' about 500k download would be enough bandwidth for a laptop/computer to get good quality.

Pros:

  • I have as wide a selection of channels as if I were in NYC. Multiple Cinemax/HBO/Showtime channels, sports channels, news channels, financial, etc, etc, etc.
  • The DVR is available to record up to 100 hours of programming
  • Watch from anywhere I have internet
  • Better selection of English language programming than I've seen available anywhere here in DR
  • LiveAmerican.tv's customer service for their test (they allow about 6 hours of connection to a box to determine if you want the service) was excellent.
  • Payments are easy through PayPal
  • NO minimum contract. pay month by month

Cons:
  • Cost $135/month for their premiere package (packages start at $75/month)
  • While image/sound is great, using the remote control to channel surf or setup the dvr is slow. You essentially get a duplicate of the cablebox remote within the browser window. Each time you mouse click one of the remote's buttons it has to send that signal to the slingbox in NYC. This takes perhaps 3-5 seconds per click. So, clicking on the channel up/down button to change channels or navigate the on-screen program guide is SLOW. Once you're on the channel you want, it's super until you need to change channels again.

Summary...
  • Picture/sound quality even when displayed on a large screen tv should be very good if you have a 2mb or faster download capability
  • Channel choices are great
  • Channel surfing, navigating the program guide, or setting up the DVR is slow due to having to send each command (up/down/left/right/select/esc) from your mouse/keyboard to the slingbox
  • If you KNOW what channel you want to watch, switching is quick. Just click the channel number on the onscreen remote or type in the channel number on the keyboard.

If the service were half the price, I'd be an ongoing subscriber. As is, I may hold on to the subscription through the Presidential elections. I'm not big into sports, otherwise I'd probably already be sold!
 

lisagauss

Bronze
Feb 16, 2011
721
0
0
I would say save yourself the money, contact a family member already in the US and ask if you can add an extra box and you would pay for it. Just buy the Slingbox and wallah.
 

CFA123

Silver
May 29, 2004
3,512
413
83
I would say save yourself the money, contact a family member already in the US and ask if you can add an extra box and you would pay for it. Just buy the Slingbox and wallah.

I'm trying to find someone with enough upload bandwidth... Probably need a consistent 2-4mb up to make it consistently work well. Family members for now are in locations that can't even be upgraded to that speed without significant costs.
 

yapask1

New member
Jul 23, 2012
477
0
0
I'm trying to find someone with enough upload bandwidth... Probably need a consistent 2-4mb up to make it consistently work well. Family members for now are in locations that can't even be upgraded to that speed without significant costs.

Try Watch live TV channels broadcasting on the Internet. - many stations free. Or get netflix and vpn ( strong vpn ) total $10 per month. BBC Olympics coverage was excellent - covered by strong vpn. None of the stupid sickening CNN adverts too. Do not pay rip off merchants in the US! My claro at 1,700 pesos a month seems to work well enough - but run a test.

yapask1