Streaming Netflix - Worth It?

[Gadabout]

So, I currently have all the movie stations (Starz, Encore, The Movie Channel, Cinemax Shotime and HBO). I do enjoy the series that are on them, but lately it seems that the movie rotation is pretty poor. I mean some of the movies have been in the rotation now for 4 months.

So, in an effort to save a few $'s of monthly bills, I have been contemplating getting netflix. The DVDs will be nice, but I'm also very interested in the streaming that they are offering. Currently they claim 12k titles available for streaming, but that seems to pale in comparison to the 100k titles available for the rental / exchange program.

If there are any Netflix users out there ....

What do you think of the streaming?

How's the picture quality?

How is the selection of movies available from streaming?

Are they always increasing the titles that are available?

Do you have more than one box?

How does it compare to the movie selection on the cable premium channels?

Answers to these questions and any other thoughts you might have would be appreciated.

Thanx,
Scott

[swegyptian]

I like it for shows and older movies, but the quality just isn't there for the newer movies. There is enough stuff IMO to keep me busy, but it's not like everything is available. I think I have 160 movies in my queue, and 30 are available via stream. I just do 1 DVD at a time, and it makes it really cheap.

[heiney9]

MY brother just got the Roku device that streams and he said it's one of the coolest things he's seen in a long time!

I'm ordering one as well. If you have a Netflix account it's a no-brainer. The Roku device is a one time $99. It has all connections including HDMI and with cable high speed internet you can stream in HD, it also comes with the capability to stream over your wireless network.

You can take it to a friends house and log into your account there and I believe you can stream thru X-box and PS3 instead of the Roku if you have one of those.

H9

H9

[heiney9]

I like it for shows and older movies, but the quality just isn't there for the newer movies. There is enough stuff IMO to keep me busy, but it's not like everything is available. I think I have 160 movies in my queue, and 30 are available via stream. I just do 1 DVD at a time, and it makes it really cheap.

Are you talking about streaming to your computer? If you have high speed internet you can stream in HD. Using the Rocku device it had HDMI as well.

The only draw back is you can't stream new releases. But Amazon has a service that has 200,000 title as I believe they are priced $1.99-3.99. Saves a trip to the video store and late fees and is cheaper than most of the On Demand stuff the cable company offers.

H9

[wizzy]

Quality is fully acceptable, but it's true the selection isn't exactly the cream of the crop.

[slowpolky]

the quality is not that great if your using a pj like me .After i bought my onkyo 607 i upscaled the picture and i find watching netflix to be way better than before , Its on par with a dvd thats not been upscaled

[bruss]

quality is good.. selection is crap IMO, I dont think the PS3 can do netflix yet.. XBOX def. can

[izafar]

I am using Netflix via PS3. To make this work you need to install an intermediary service like Play-On Media server on your PC. Play-On server also provides access to Amazon On Demand, Hulu and CBS etc.

The streaming collection in not great at Netflix but it is good enough to keep one busy especially if you want to see old titles and TV shows. The quality is adequate for this purpose also.

[heiney9]

I don't get why everyone says the quality is adequate. Must be a TV or internet issue because with the Roku my brother just got he watched an episode of the Office in HD and he says the picture was outstanding.

He has one of the new Samsung LED LCD TV's and thru the HDMI it was simply excellent with no issues.

Again this is FREE with a Netflix subscription so you won't get all the the newest releases, but for older movies and TV series and Concerts and HBO/Showtime series, etc inclduing some BBC series like Dr. Who, etc. I think it's excellent and can't be beat.

There are so many shows over the years I've missed or want to revisit so for me I don;t mind the stuff being a little less than current.

YMMV

H9

[mutelight]

What do you think of the streaming?
It is a great feature.

How's the picture quality?
Not spectacular but certainly acceptable and watchable.

How is the selection of movies available from streaming?
Lots of documentaries and a decent selection that is always growing.

Are they always increasing the titles that are available?
Yup.

Do you have more than one box?
I have Netflix streaming on the two Xbox 360s as well as the Samsung Blu-ray player. I give the BD player the edge on image quality.

How does it compare to the movie selection on the cable premium channels?
I have the premiere package with DirecTV so I have all of the premiums and I typically end up watching more movies on them or through their onDemand than I do Netflix streaming. I do rent a lot of DVD and Blu-ray titles though.

For me personally, I love documentaries and there are a fair amount and overall I think it is a fantastic service and is only getting better. I don't think it can stand on its own right now but it is a great extra portion to a Netflix account.

[Sami]

It's only SD, right? No HD?

[heiney9]

It's only SD, right? No HD?

You can stream in HD if whatever device you're using has that capability.

The Roku player streams in HD.

http://www.amazon.com/Roku-Digital-V...5773553&sr=8-1


H9

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

You can stream in HD if whatever device you're using has that capability.

The Roku player streams in HD.

http://www.amazon.com/Roku-Digital-V...5773553&sr=8-1


H9

Uh, not through Netflix you can't...

The streaming on Netflix is all SD, there is no HD streaming. A call and an email to them about 2 weeks ago confirmed this when I considered going that route.

[Sami]

I just gave it a try on my computer, had to install SilverLight which is a small minus. Quality is definitely not even SD DVD on the computer streaming, very bad IMO. I don't even want to watch SD-DVD anymore since I'm so used to BD now so this isn't for me. I have the service but I doubt I'll ever use it. Even on the road I think I'll just take my ripped BD images with me to watch.

If I was one of those lawsuit happy people I might contact a lawyer for a class action lawsuit and get those who are not using it a discount. After all, they charge extra for BD and provide the streaming "for free". :)

[heiney9]

Roku player states this:

Video Modes: 16:9 HD (720p), 16:9 anamorphic (480p), 4:3 standard (480i) .

You are incorrect.......8 pages of HD programming avail. My brother just watched an episode of the "Office" in HD over the Roku. Don't know who you talked to at Netflix but you received some sketchy info.

H9

[heiney9]

I just gave it a try on my computer, had to install SilverLight which is a small minus. Quality is definitely not even SD DVD on the computer streaming, very bad IMO. I don't even want to watch SD-DVD anymore since I'm so used to BD now so this isn't for me. I have the service but I doubt I'll ever use it. Even on the road I think I'll just take my ripped BD images with me to watch.

If I was one of those lawsuit happy people I might contact a lawyer for a class action lawsuit and get those who are not using it a discount. After all, they charge extra for BD and provide the streaming "for free". :)

Yes, maybe I didn't make it clear I'm not talking about streaming thru your computer. :)

I'm suggesting using the Roku player for best results.

[blakeh]

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

I'm not incorrect, the two people I talked to at netflix are incorrect, just to clear that up...

It doesn't look like there is much HD content for streaming though, certainly the great HD quality doesn't apply to the vast majority of titles available for streaming, though hopefully that'll change.

[heiney9]

Yeah sorry about that......I should have said your info was incorrect.

Look, the streaming from Netflix is an additional benefit if you're a member. It's not really supposed to offer every piece of content Netflix has nor every single thing in HD. It's a nice bonus for members if you choose to go down that path.

Um............it's free with your subscription and to get the best quality you buy a Roku player for a one time fee of $99 and you're done.

It's a damn good deal for the player and you can't beat the service of having 12,000 titles on demand at your finger tips.

Some of you guys are making too big an issue out of this. It's an additional benefit......take it or leave it.

[POIDOG]

Steve,
Take a look at this. It seems pretty interesting :) and does HD and HDX
My only concern, will they ever upgrade to allow external storage?

http://www.vudu.com/

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

heiney, no one's really complaining about it. The guy started a thread asking for input, and we're providing it. It's not like one of us just started a thread to bitch about netflix. I think the streaming works great, for what it is, but it is not the be-all end-all of television viewing.

[Sami]

blakeh, how do you get to that screen? I don't see any HD options.

[blakeh]

I setup my Roku player and selected HD as my television preference. It may be that Netflix doesn't show you HD content unless you have that selected in your Roku setup.

Other than that, all I did was go to the "Watch Instantly" tab on Netflix, pull down the genre menu and "HD" is one of the options.

[thebluemonkey]

netflix is great!

[Kex]

My sister uses Roku for wireless streaming from Netflix. It's worth noting that, other than the $100 investment for the device, they also had to upgrade their wireless modem and broadband service to get fast enough delivery to avoid wireless streaming issues (I think they increased their service to 6Mbps). In the end, the modem cost more than the Roku, and the internet upgrade will too (in less than a year of added subscription charges). But ... they absolutely love the service, and are not interested in cable movies any more.

Their TV is 720p/1080i, but from the small amount of time I was watching, the picture looked very good, and certainly better than just average.

Does Blockbuster offer this service too? BB does not charge extra for HD movies, so that might compensate for the increased internet subscription.

[slowpolky]

netflix isnt hd , your player does what my onkyo does and upscale . Its crappy quality and the sound is crap too, your roku player aint worth the money if you have an xbox and a decent avr, blue ray is the best ever and thats the standard we all expect nowdays. Anything else is dull by comparison

[blakeh]

Well, the my TV certainly thinks the Roku streams in HD, because it displays 720p when the signal from the Roku hits it. Granted, only a few hundred titles are in HD, but I just watched another 3 episodes of 'The Office' which were indistinguishable from the DVDs I own. I agree that BluRay is great, but there are only a small percentage of BR titles out there as well. Anything older than two years or more obscure that a blockbuster in the top 20 has to be seen on SD DVD anyway.

I find the Netflix streaming via Roku to be more than acceptable and let's not forget... it's FREE (the streaming service, the Roku is $99).

[slowpolky]

its free on all devices? Well my pj thinks a dvd's are 1080p . it says so on the input menu,so are my dvd's 1080p or is the dvd player bull****tin my pj

[slowpolky]

streaming gets payed for by your internet connection, the service is payed for by your netflix subscription, So playing on xbox is the same as your roku of love, you just dont have to pay extra

[Sami]

I find the Netflix streaming via Roku to be more than acceptable and let's not forget... it's FREE (the streaming service, the Roku is $99).

There is a difference between free and not having to pay extra for it. In reality all of us who subscribe to their service pay for the streaming capability, whether we use it or not.