DirecTV VOD Already Available; Now with Screenshots

Though the DirecTV VOD service doesn’t officially launch until the second quarter, it’s been available for beta testing for some time already. As we’ve written before, because of satellite’s one-way-only transmission, DirecTV will be using a combination of pre-selected movies beamed directly to set-top box hard drives and downloading them through a viewer’s existing broadband connection (to learn how to set it up, visit the DirecTV on Demand page).

So how is it working so far?

 

An NTV reader told us that setting it up was a snap; he also said he can start watching non-HD content as soon as it starts downloading using his 6Mbps connection. A perusal of the forums on DirecTV indicates there have been a bunch setup/connection issues, as well as a few complaints about download speeds. The real test will come when this thing goes live and more than early adopters start using it. As Om pointed out:

Imagine how ticked off you’ll be when your home email access slows to a crawl because someone’s watching “America’s Next Top Model.”

Check out pics from the service. If you’ve been using it, drop us a line in our comments section and let us know how it’s working for you.