IPTV - http://now.abs-cbn.com/

[benb]

Folks,

I'm about to subcribe to this as a gift for my wife for our anniversary on wednesday.

http://now.abs-cbn.com/

The premium package seems like a good deal.

Has anyone had any bad experiences with them? The sample video seems to be good quality with no jitters.

My access link is good (12Mb), but worry that their link might be a bottleneck at peak time.

All comments and suggestions welcome.

Cheers

[IainBusby]

Folks,

I'm about to subcribe to this as a gift for my wife for our anniversary on wednesday.

http://now.abs-cbn.com/

The premium package seems like a good deal.

Has anyone had any bad experiences with them? The sample video seems to be good quality with no jitters.

My access link is good (12Mb), but worry that their link might be a bottleneck at peak time.

All comments and suggestions welcome.

Cheers

Are you sure that it's 12Mb. That may be the service that your signed up for with your ISP, but unless your on cable, it all depends on your BT line. Try this: http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ . The package I have with my ISP is up to 8Mb but because of the BT line bottleneck, I generally get between 3.5Mb and 3.75Mb.
Iain.

[benb]

Are you sure that it's 12Mb. That may be the service that your signed up for with your ISP, but unless your on cable, it all depends on your BT line. Try this: http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ . The package I have with my ISP is up to 8Mb but because of the BT line bottleneck, I generally get between 3.5Mb and 3.75Mb.
Iain.

Hi Iain, due to the contention ratio (set at the DSLAM) you will not get the maximum rate. However, you can subscribe to the uncontended dedicated link with BT.

The speed test gives me 6311kbps downstream, 679kps upstream. I'm using ADSL2+ business line.

Cheers,

[andypaul]

what media player/codecs does it use?

The only downer i can see is you can only use one pc, im sure if you speak to customer services it can be transferred?

But how good is customer services both for ease of speaking to and the service they provide?
Also worth thinking about if say the pc you have conks out how long to transfer.
If its asap then no worries if it takes a few days or longer..

I guess you could load it on to a virtual disk so it can be transfered from pc to pc as long as it can run the virtual drive on the pc:)

Many Phill companies in the UK seem to be franchaises some better than others. In the four or so years I have been involved in the uk phill scene many companies have come and gone far more than on the high street in general.

Worth checking out that side, will save hassles later.

[IainBusby]

Hi Iain, due to the contention ratio (set at the DSLAM) you will not get the maximum rate. However, you can subscribe to the uncontended dedicated link with BT.

The speed test gives me 6311kbps downstream, 679kps upstream. I'm using ADSL2+ business line.

Cheers,

Hi Benb,
Even discounting the contention rate, I couldn't get above 4Mb at the moment, not until BT upgrades the line.
Iain.

[andypaul]

Hi Benb,
Even discounting the contention rate, I couldn't get above 4Mb at the moment, not until BT upgrades the line.
Iain.

dont hold your breath:D

If your lucky they will send you one of the those dinky little plates to put on the master socket

[benb]

what media player/codecs does it use?

The only downer i can see is you can only use one pc, im sure if you speak to customer services it can be transferred?

But how good is customer services both for ease of speaking to and the service they provide?
Also worth thinking about if say the pc you have conks out how long to transfer.
If its asap then no worries if it takes a few days or longer..

I guess you could load it on to a virtual disk so it can be transfered from pc to pc as long as it can run the virtual drive on the pc:)

Many Phill companies in the UK seem to be franchaises some better than others. In the four or so years I have been involved in the uk phill scene many companies have come and gone far more than on the high street in general.

Worth checking out that side, will save hassles later.

Its Microsoft Media Player and codecs. The video bit rate seem to be ~600kbps mostly, but some streams as low as 300kbps.
Once paid, DRM licence is downloaded to the PC. Also allows downloading of content. It *may* be possible to export licences. My main TV at home is a PC.

I used paypal to make the payment so as not to give out my card details to the company.

So far so good - no jitters, so no need to pre-download.

Cheers

[jimeve]

Hi Benb, the only problem we have is, only got 4 mb, stop and start, so you should have plenty with 12 mb, and if you change HDD or transfer PC
you have to email them for the license. takes about 24 hours Phill time, lol

[andypaul]

Oh no phill time:omg:


I think if we ever go down that route it will be defo loaded on to a virtual pc.

[benb]

Hi Benb, the only problem we have is, only got 4 mb, stop and start, so you should have plenty with 12 mb, and if you change HDD or transfer PC
you have to email them for the license. takes about 24 hours Phill time, lol

Thanks Jim. I also noticed that the live stream news is at 300Kbps with very poor audio. I have a small TV (19inch LCD) and it still looks bad due to the very low bit rates.


Oh no phill time:omg:

Only when I'm working. :D

[andypaul]

Thanks Jim. I also noticed that the live stream news is at 300Kbps with very poor audio. I have a small TV (19inch LCD) and it still looks bad due to the very low bit rates.


Only when I'm working. :D


Could you not use a software upscaler for your pc like the ones which you can get for dvds and tv tuners for HD tv's:Erm:

Your picture would be buffered and delay by a few seconds i presume but i very much doubt if you would notice that much.