max: what’s your verdict?

[quote] I’ve got like 15 seasons of How the Universe Works to go through, which is GREAT.

Google tells me you could have also gotten those from the Science Channel, Hulu, and Roku

Remember when HBO used to be about lots of big movies?

I thought it was easier to navigate on my Roku TV than HBO Max.

I have Apple TV and I find that scrolling through the Max offerings is buggy. Somehow, when I try to scroll to the right, the app scrolls me up all the way to the top.

Frustrating.

I keep having trouble with it buffering - it makes it unpleasant to watch so far.

It does not seem to be retaining my viewing history, particularly with series. I have to keep searching every time I watch and then pulls me back to the first episode. Of course I never have a clue where I left off. Oh, it is retaining Friends that I once watched a couple of episodes about a year ago.

R5 - I noticed the same thing.

I have the $9.99 version and there are A LOT more commercials. It wasn’t that bad before but Jesus, it’s like watching a broadcast network now. One Sopranos episode and you’re hitting me with five commercial breaks? Oof, madone.

Seems to have retained all my history, including mid-show watchpoints.

Only difference I see is that it added more to my Continue Watching queue. Selections that had previously been ccompleted now marked continue because a minute or two of the credits were unwatched.

I hate when that happens. How the fuck can’t you tell that I’m done watching this? I seriously have to sit through the entire credits before you get that I’ve seen it? Hello!

Why are you even bothering with this shit? For old episodes of the Sopranos or Friends?

Just download it as a torrent and you won't have to deal with any commercials or the rest of this bullshit.

R3, that’s happening to me too.

R10, callling in from 2005.

I use BitTorrent for porn. I don’t have a problem paying for content otherwise. I’m not 16 anymore.

Eh. I'm not 16 anymore either, clownstick at R12.

I'm also not going to put up with sub-standard "streaming services" that are glitchy, fucked up and irritating to use for tv shows that ran from 1999-2007 (last episode 16 fucking years ago) and/or shows that ran from 1994 to 2004 (last episode 19 fucking years ago). No thank you, hunny bunny.

But you do you, go ahead and pay for all that old shit to be delivered to you on a rickety-ass "service."

I’m with R12. Torrents were ok (but not great) when I was a kid had a lot of free time.

Now that I’m a grownup, I like just being able to play whatever I want without it turning into a project with shitty audio and resolution, losing the torrent, buffering and all that shit.

Whenever I think of someone using torrents in 2023, I just picture some brokeass smelly incel UberEats driver. Who else has that time and low standards to bother with torrents? Not you, R10, but anyone else.

For me, it’s well worth the subscription.

wow. Cable tv snobs.

Cable?

r13 is one angry pay tv hater. he called another poster a “clownstick” and then dropped four F-bombs because he doesn’t like how the other guy watches Friends. you do you.

[quote] I hate when that happens. How the fuck can’t you tell that I’m done watching this? I seriously have to sit through the entire credits before you get that I’ve seen it? Hello!

I found this mostly to occur when given the "Next Episode" shortcut option, and I select "Watch Credits" instead. Having disabled autoplay for next episode globally, I'll have to see if the problem is more or less frequent.

It feels like the Country Buffet of streaming services and it's all a bunch of bad side dishes.

Yeah now that Succession is over, I’ll be letting my Max subscription expire.

R12 "I use BitTorrent for porn." "I'm not 16 anymore."

You sound... like a simpleton.

I was also gonna cancel, but I’m still watching Unicorn: Warriors Eternal. It’s pretty good.

Max works fine for me. If you get the premium package you don't have to watch commercials.

BTW torrents are a pain in the ass. Use one of the pirate streamers instead, if you're inclined to that sort of thing.

I actually have subscriptions to a number of streaming services. I also use pirate streamers. Sometimes you just don’t want to watch a bunch of commercials for some of these older shows. I’d be ok with 2-3 but it’s often 5 or 6, as someone upthread posted.

So much of the Discovery (and Discovery adjacent) content is dumb as shit. Search for Big Foot? A Ghost Destroyed My Life? I was doing fine without knowing any of this existed.

Meanwhile, a show I do watch regularly (The Other Two) was buried within other series as I had no outstanding episodes to watch, and it took some work to find it.

Also having the same problem R3 described with app function on the Apple TV, when searching the screen resets itself and it is impossible to view a full list of shows and movies.

[QUOTE] Max works fine for me. If you get the premium package you don't have to watch commercials.

What’s on Max that’s worth the premium price?

It's only $20 a month

R26, all the HBO content.

[quote]Sometimes you just don’t want to watch a bunch of commercials for some of these older shows.

You cannot generally find enough people seeding older shows to make the inconvenience and risk associated with bittorrent worth it. The people on this thread trying to hype that ancient technology definitely sound like time has passed you by. Nobody is bothering with piracy anymore. Not because it did not serve its purpose. It's just no longer worth it.

r29 there are tons of pirate streamer sites. Much easier to use than torrents.

Why bother?

Why bother jailbreaking my fucking Apple TV, trying to find enough peers, dealing with handheld cam bullshit, and generally getting duped by deliberately mislabeled content?

Pirate all you like. I have no problem paying $12 a month for the whole fucking Disney library and then more.

r31 you don't need to do all that with the streaming sites. And it's HD quality.

R23 R24 R30 Which pirate streamers do you use? Is it an IPTV service or something accessed via Kodi/XMBC?

I use NecroIPTV and Player's Klub VPS.

R29, see r30. I wasn’t referring to torrents. Who torrents anymore when there are so many streaming sites?

R33 go to Reddit and search for piracy. They have a mega thread on there with a lot of info. Again, it’s always good to pay for what you’re watching, but once in awhile, it’s on some streaming site you don’t want to pay for. I have Netflix, Hulu, Max and Amazon Prime but I don’t pay for CBS or NBC streams etc. There are only a couple of shows worth watching on the networks, so I just go to a pirate streamer once in awhile.

I get it for free—a perk of working for Warner-Discovery

Well aren't you just fucking SPECIAL r37.

When it comes to streaming Max: Yes, yes I am.

On the flip side, I work for Chris Licht…so it may be a wash 🙃

[QUOTE] I get it for free—a perk of working for Warner-Discovery

Will they let you keep your subscription after the mass layoffs?

Has anyone tried the ad-based plans for Max or Netflix? I can't imagine them being tolerable.

Supposedly Netflix now makes more money per viewer from their relatively new ad driven plans. Speculation is they'll raise rates on ad-free plans just to push more viewers to the ad platform.

Max = the new Mini

R39, Chris Licht is a coke addict right? Why does he always looked so greasy and winded in every picture? Why does he refuse to smile in a way that shows his teeth? I am convinced he is an insane coke addict.

[quote] I am convinced he is an insane coke addict.

Why would he be different from the other sophisticated network executives?

Showtime has a deal that ends today where you get Showtime and Paramount Plus for $5.99/mo. for three months. I'd like to get it (through the website, not through Apple or something where they know exactly who is watching it) and share my login with my parents.

Does anyone here share their Showtime with someone else or have they cracked down like Netflix?

I can’t think of anything on Showtime I want to watch.

New Martin Scorcese doc on David Johansen? could be worth expending the effort to sign up for for a 7-day free trial, I have to read reviews first.

Last time I did that was to catch up on The Circus, but there don't seem to be any new episodes.