VuNow and Playon, making it work

A couple days ago I noticed a few more icons on my VuNow’s list of popular Web sites. They are PlayOn Hulu, PlayOn CBS, PlayOn CNN & PlayOn Netflix. Last night I finally had some time to play around with it. This is how I made Vunow work with PlayOn:

  1. Download and Install the MedialMall PlayOn Media Server.
  2. Purchase a MediaMall license and register it.
  3. Open PlayOn: Start > All Programs > PlayOn > PlayOn Settings
  4. Make sure your Hulu and Netflix usernames are entered in the User Accounts tab. (You MUST have accounts set up with Hulu and Netflix.)
  5. Turn on Vunow and go to the Popular Websites icon, then choose your poison, my favorite is PlayOn Hulu.
  6. THAT’S IT! At this point, just navigate the different folders. I went to PlayOn Hulu > TV Episodes > Folder R > and chose to watch the old TV show, Run for Your Life. You could also check out what’s on your Hulu queue. Of course you need to have episodes queued up. So far it appears to only show  the first 10 in queue. Regarding Netflix, it seems it only shows the movies that are in your Netflix queue, meaning you aren’t browsing their entire inventory. So make sure what you are looking for is in your Netflix queue. I would definitely suggest browsing the actual Hulu /Netflix Web sites with your computer first, figuring out what you want to watch and then just using VuNow to find it. VuNow is not easy to browse.

I am absolutely LOVING this new functionality.  I finally have Video on Demand!!  My hope is the next thing VuNow works on is getting connection with Rhapsody! How awesome would that be? I’d love it!

2 thoughts on “VuNow and Playon, making it work”

  1. Annja

    Hello and I think I love you. I have had this VUNOW device for a little time now — ignoring it for about 1.5 months now. I gave up cable tv and was looking for an option for more viewing that available by antenna and chose VUNOW because I did not have to run a computer to access internet programming.
    I am turning on my VUNOW and after allowing for 6 upgrades see new icons like you did for HULU etc. (I love HULU but hate having to connect a PC to TV for Big Screen viewing.) Surfing around to get some understanding about this PlayOn option makes me think I have to run software on my PC to use VUNOW. That defeats the purpose for VUNOW.
    Please tell me that you purchased, installed, registered PlayOn and after set things up, you were able to log off (power-down even) and through VUNOW have access to the PlayON channels (much like you can do something through VuMarks and have access to it without further need of computer). If that is the case, I will continue with following what seems 6 easy steps to what sounds Greatttt!
    Need you leave a computer on for PlayOn to work?
    Do you use VuMarks?
    Thanks

  2. Donna Post author

    Annja–

    You need to purchase PlayOn from MediaMall and have it installed & actively running on your computer. They give you a two week trial so you can check it out and determine if it’s what you want. But once it’s running (and you should have either your computer or your vunow connected directly to your router– meaning only one should be running wirelessly— if you have both connecting to the Internet wirelessly you will have issues), you access Vunow’s Hulu menu and you are good to go.

    I know it’s a pain that you need to have something running on your computer but it’s really not that bad and the result is worth it.

    I have not tried out the VuMarks– Once I do, I will blog about it. But right now I am having a great time just exploring Hulu and Netflix.

    Good Luck!

    –Donna

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