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All reviews for PlayOn Home
| 26 reviews, Showing 1 to 26 reviews |
I've been using PlayOn Home for the last 2 years to make recordings. While there are occasional issues I've found it to be quite stable overall, particularly given what it does and how much it relies on individual streaming provider websites. Haven't found any other solutions that are as reliable while supporting so many different streaming providers. A slight learning curve, PlayOn Home is definitely worth the cost of the license fee to be able to automatically record current shows and my family's favorite movies.
Review by Kim Carsons on
May 15, 2024 Version: 5.0.175.36447
OS: Windows 11 64-bit Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
They stole money from their users who bought lifetiime licenses. Broke the software, reissued it under a new name.
DO NOT TRUST this company.
DO NOT TRUST this company.
Review by Bill on
Jun 23, 2023 Version: 5.0.107
OS: Windows 11 Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
I had the Playon Desktop with lifetime and it worked fine; but then they decided to take it from me with the option of playon home or cloud; which has not been working very good. they should have kept the playon desktop for the ones like me who gad lifetime version. this is a disservice and I think it was just a reason to get more money
Review by Robert on
Mar 27, 2023 Version: 5.0.91.34353
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
I purchased an older version of this product several years ago and early this year migrated to this PlayOn Home version. The channels I want to use the most are usually broken. I've seriously started searching for something else. This product used to be great but I'm quickly finding that there are better options out there. From now on I'll always research user reviews before purchasing just about anything. I found that channels typically break the most in the summer and this is currently proving to be still true. I don't know if their staff goes on vacation/holiday or what but repairs take three or four times as long in the summer as they do in the other seasons. I won't be buying another year of this service but it used to be adequate for my needs. No longer.
Review by NLWPS11 on
May 31, 2022 Version: 5.0.34.32514
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 4/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 3/10
Rating by NLWPS11 on
May 31, 2022 Version: 5.0.34.32514
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 3/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 3/10
Years ago when I bought a lifetime PlayOn, there were few options.
Playon downsides are 1) it records in real time - so a TV show is 20 minutes long, it will take 20 minutes to grab/capture, 2) it puts an intro and outro on every video announcing PlayOn and your IP address, 3) they add a bunch of junky channels in the channel search
I just (within the past month) tried two other programs: Kigo and StreamFab
Kigo worked ok sometimes, but froze quite a bit
StreamFab is what I use now. It downloads fast - so a couple of minutes for a 20 minutes episode. It goes so fast, that you end up downloading beyond the limit on services like Amazon and HBO. But StreamFab keeps those episodes in queue. So I just come back the next day and click Start All. If my limit period has passed they start, otherwise I get the warning message, and start again.
PlayOn is vastly inferior these days. Even Kigo with its penchant to freeze still downloads faster than "watching".
Playon downsides are 1) it records in real time - so a TV show is 20 minutes long, it will take 20 minutes to grab/capture, 2) it puts an intro and outro on every video announcing PlayOn and your IP address, 3) they add a bunch of junky channels in the channel search
I just (within the past month) tried two other programs: Kigo and StreamFab
Kigo worked ok sometimes, but froze quite a bit
StreamFab is what I use now. It downloads fast - so a couple of minutes for a 20 minutes episode. It goes so fast, that you end up downloading beyond the limit on services like Amazon and HBO. But StreamFab keeps those episodes in queue. So I just come back the next day and click Start All. If my limit period has passed they start, otherwise I get the warning message, and start again.
PlayOn is vastly inferior these days. Even Kigo with its penchant to freeze still downloads faster than "watching".
Review by MxMShare on
Mar 9, 2022 Version: 5
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 2/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
Just another disappointed customer of Playon TV. A key business value is trust. Playon lost that trust when they abandoned their customers that purchased a life-time license. Their published reason, we just don't want to spend the money to maintain the desktop platform. How about move those customers to the new Cloud platform. Playon has lost the trust of current customers!
Review by Richard Wallace on
Feb 5, 2022 Version: 4.5.130.31291
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 4/10
Functionality: 4/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
Sounds good but it isn't: it is just a buggy and counterintuitive low performance DVR.
Tech support by email comes after long delays and is ineffective.
Closed captions inaccessible.
Not recommended.
Tech support by email comes after long delays and is ineffective.
Closed captions inaccessible.
Not recommended.
Review by Ike on
Dec 31, 2021 Version: 5.0.14
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 3/10
Value for money: 2/10
Overall: 2/10
I have enjoyed PlayOn for quite a while. I'll gladly purchase PlayOn Home WHEN they bump up the resolution to 1080p.
Review by MarkSM on
Dec 15, 2021 Version: 5.0
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
This company is a totally reprehensible SCAM! They steal your money with a promise of lifetime support, then demand a monthly fee because they make your version obsolete. Stay away... they're thieves.
Review by Craig on
Dec 7, 2021 Version: PlayOn Desktop
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 5/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
I paid PlayOn for a “Lifetime” subscription but they stopped updating the desktop app and now tell everyone to pay a subscription fee to use the new PlayOn Home. So they took my money, promised me a lifetime of updates and then in less than a year stop updating the app, change the name and tell me they will give me 3 free months on their new PlayOn Home. I won’t give this company another dime of my money. Just for info the “New” software looks IDENTICAL to the old one with a new name. Do not give them your hard earned money. Sounds like the same thing another company named Slysoft did. They changed their name to RedFox and screwed their lifetime subscribers too.
Review by Mad at PlayOn on
Dec 3, 2021 Version: PlayOn Desktop
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
As others have stated PlayOn desktop update removed and replaced with PlayOn home requiring a monthly fee. I purchased a lifetime subscription which has been dishonoured. This company is not to be trusted. Thoroughly pissed off.
Review by M on
Nov 25, 2021 Version: 5.0.7
OS: Windows 10 Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
I purchased a lifetime PlayOn subscription. I could no longer record shows and saw an "update" was available. Installed the update. Noticed it now said Play on Home after the install. I tried to record a show and got a message that I need to subscribe to PlayOn Home for that to work. This is very deceptive and not a company to be trusted. I am done with them forever.
Review by Rob on
Nov 24, 2021 Version: PlayOn 5.0.7
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
This was PlayOn Desktop. They are no longer supporting PlayOn Desktop and are attempting to get lifetime license holders to start subscribing to PlayOn Home.
Review by Michael on
Oct 14, 2021 Version: PlayOn 5.0
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
Version 5.0 is not Playon Desktop, it is called Playon Home and a monthly subscription service. And still limited to SD and 720p as it was when I bought a lifetime license for the Desktop software in 2013.
Playon Desktop is no longer supported per the website. It does not run on Win11, but does on Win10 and Win8.1
Playon Cloud is a 1080P screen recorder, using purchased credits. It only runs on Android and IOS. There is a separate program, Playon Cloud Downloader, that can download videos from the cloud recordings to a computer.
In my opinion, Playon Desktop is a dead horse.....
Playon Desktop is no longer supported per the website. It does not run on Win11, but does on Win10 and Win8.1
Playon Cloud is a 1080P screen recorder, using purchased credits. It only runs on Android and IOS. There is a separate program, Playon Cloud Downloader, that can download videos from the cloud recordings to a computer.
In my opinion, Playon Desktop is a dead horse.....
Review by The old guy on
Oct 8, 2021 Version: Playone Home 5.0
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 3/10
Not supported on Windows 11, which will be released October 5th. Won't play back already recorded/downloaded videos via Windows 11 using "Playon server" and "Mymedia" on Roku. Consider using other downloading software or screen recording software. Use Plex to stream over your home LAN. Audials for recording screen captures, Plex for streaming to your set top box. I have a usb dongle recording via hdmi in 1080p using a Roku 3, works perfectly for captures. Sorry Playon, you're falling behind. Can only rate it poorly as of September 14th 2021
Review by Rob S on
Sep 14, 2021 Version: 4.5.126
OS: Other Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
PlayOn Desktop was once a decent program. You could buy a lifetime subscription for a reasonable price, and then record shows from most of the popular services. It doesn't actually download the shows, but records them in real time. Then, they started PlayOn Cloud which is a pay-as-you-go service to record programs in the cloud, and not your desktop. Once this took place, PlayOn Desktop and its lifetime subscribers became the unwanted stepchildren. Services were dropped from the Desktop program, but added to the Cloud. It only records in 720p, but the Cloud version is getting 1080. Worst of all, at least one or two of its channels are not working due to sign-in issues at almost all times, HBOMAX, Hulu, etc. They say they are working on it, but it goes on for weeks. By the time one issue is resolved, another channel quits working. It is completely unreliable. Meanwhile, the same channel will work on the Cloud version because it always get priority in being fixed, because no new money comes in if the customers can't pay to record each show when it isn't working. When I first got it, it was one of the few programs around like it. Even though it recorded in real time, you could pick 8 or 10 shows and record them overnight, and 720p was fine for the time. It has always been hit or miss for subtitles. About 4 years ago, people started clamoring for the ability to record subtitles with Amazon Prime. About 2 years ago, they said they were working on it. Never happened. I'm only giving it a 3 because of its usefulness in the past. I would not buy this program now. The last three times I tried to use it, it was worthless. HBOMax didn't work when I needed it. Hulu didn't work when I needed it, and Hulu was still not working today when I tried again. I wanted to record a show on Prime, but it is useless because I needed subtitles. Other program are out there that seem to work better for downloading in my trial efforts, but are expensive. I suspect even PlayOn Cloud might be half decent, but I don't want to give PlayOn another dollar because my already-paid-for Desktop program almost never works.
Review by jimwnola on
Sep 5, 2021 Version: 4.5.125
OS: Windows 10 Ease of use: 3/10
Functionality: 3/10
Value for money: 3/10
Overall: 3/10
Rating by S. Pupp on
Jun 7, 2021 Version: 4.5.119
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Rating by LabbeKga on
May 24, 2021 Version: 4.5.117
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 5/10
Functionality: 3/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 4/10
STAY AWAY FROM THIS SERVICE!!! CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A JOKE. DO NOT BUY. NO ONE CAN HELP YOU, ALL THEY DO IS SEND OUT EMAIL AFTER EMAIL TELLING YOU THAT THE ARE LOOKING INTO THE ISSUE. MY ISSUE WAS ACCOUNT IP LOCKOUT DUE TO INCORRECT PASSWORD ENTERED TOO MANY TIMES. BEEN OVER 2 WEEKS NOW AND STILL NO ONE THERE IS ABLE TO UNLOCK THE ACCOUNT. LOL BIG JOKE!!!!!!!
Review by Carla on
Feb 18, 2020 Version: 4.5.59
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
Nothing works in Spain
Review by DavisSP on
Mar 17, 2019 Version: 4.5.24
OS: Windows 8 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
Pros:
Ease of use.
Works most of the time.
There is pretty good support.
Built in media server.
Get lifetime membership on sale periodically.
Cons:
Some times it breaks. Not their fault. Streaming sites change and the program has to adapt.
720P maximum resolution. File is 720P whether original is 1080P or 260p. Can give awful results. Most looks pretty good.
Limited channels. Used to be able to record any site but that function was removed.
Video Help seems like a great site to get information on streaming software (and just about anything else video) but the reviews seem a little sparse, so I thought I would add my 2 cents about one program that I use regularly.
I am always looking for a streaming recorder that can get video from any site and do it in the native resolution but so far I keep going back to Playon. I have tried a few But been frustrated by them for one reason of another. I won't mention which ones they are because I can not give them a fair evaluation.
Playon does usually work for the channels it supports.
You can get an idea of the issues that most people have at this reddit site.
On of their support staff visits there regularly and answers questions.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayOn/new/
Ease of use.
Works most of the time.
There is pretty good support.
Built in media server.
Get lifetime membership on sale periodically.
Cons:
Some times it breaks. Not their fault. Streaming sites change and the program has to adapt.
720P maximum resolution. File is 720P whether original is 1080P or 260p. Can give awful results. Most looks pretty good.
Limited channels. Used to be able to record any site but that function was removed.
Video Help seems like a great site to get information on streaming software (and just about anything else video) but the reviews seem a little sparse, so I thought I would add my 2 cents about one program that I use regularly.
I am always looking for a streaming recorder that can get video from any site and do it in the native resolution but so far I keep going back to Playon. I have tried a few But been frustrated by them for one reason of another. I won't mention which ones they are because I can not give them a fair evaluation.
Playon does usually work for the channels it supports.
You can get an idea of the issues that most people have at this reddit site.
On of their support staff visits there regularly and answers questions.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayOn/new/
Review by hav on
Mar 9, 2019 Version: 4.5
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Weird that I had to come here to download the update.
Review by Michael on
Jun 15, 2018 Version: 4.4.20
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
For a all around automated screen capture solution this fits the bill. Also has media serving capabilities so my roku and android can see my captures. Only limitation is it ALWAYS records at 29.97fps. Not mad though as anyone who's captured before knows you can't tell what the framerate is without actually having the file. Upside is avisynth and tdecimate easily makes smooth 24/25p files if that's what the source really was. Had hiccups with amazon, but the support team was top notch and had me going again in no time. Would highly recommend as yes virtualdub and OBS is more tunable, but this just "works".
Review by dannyboy48888 on
Feb 9, 2018 Version: 4.4.5
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I have been using this for a while now and it has gotten better in newer versions. It is an easy way to record web video to watch later and has decent quality, I also use a ROKU and a Hauppage HD PVR 60 if I really want Great quality but this is a lot easier and acceptable results for most things.
Review by n8tvm on
Mar 15, 2017 Version: PlayOn 4.2.102.18909
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 7/10
The latest update to PlayOn 4.2.54 totally trashed my previous install rather than updating it. Had to do a restore to get it back to the previous working version.
Review by mail2tom on
Nov 30, 2016 Version: Download PlayOn 4.2.54
OS: Windows 8 64-bit Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
| 26 reviews, Showing 1 to 26 reviews |