We were selected to test out the On Demand service that is rolling out to Cox Customers soon. Overall, I really like the idea of the On Demand service concept but the system needs a little work. I am giving it the benefit of doubt that it will have less kinks because we beta testers will have worked those out.
Pros:
~ Watch almost anything with little to no fee
~ Has loads of kid worthy programing that our kids miss due to their unusual schedule
~ Has Noggin (It’s like preschool on TV!) that I can use for homeschooling
~ Has TMNT (cartoons and movie) for Little T
~ Has Sonic X which the boys always miss because it comes on before they awake
~ Has categories for easy selection
~ Has A-Z listing
~ Has search feature
Cons:
~ Tends to load slow during busy time of day (like around dinner time) – increase server speed during this time would help
~ When the show you select ends, you are put back to the top menu – would be nice to be put back where you selected the show or have an option to go back to selection area or top menu since there is a pop up which says you’re show is over hit ok to be returned to menu.
~ Search feature is rough to use and slow at searching – need to implement better faster search terms
~ All programs have an end time – would be nice to have an option to save to the DVR
~ No favorites – would be nice to select certain shows/channels as your favorites so you wouldn’t have to search so much to find the same thing all the time
So, overall I think the concept is great but needs a little work on the back end so it’s more consumer friendly and a whole lot faster. I’m not sure how many beta testers they selected but if we are bogging it down, wait til they let everyone one it at once. Sounds like a system crash to me. Tim is sending in our opinions so hopefully when the rest of AZ is given access, some of the problems we’ve seen are solved.
Tim has used it to watch some movies. The boys have used it to watch their shows. I have been playing with the menu and options. Oh, another thing I forgot is that it is blocked just like any other program for TV ratings. We have ours set at PG13 so if anything is over PG13, we have to put in a code to watch it. You can adjust that setting or turn it off if you don’t need it.
