Just Signed Up For Netflix-Wow

[Phog Allen]

Good evening chaps. Well, my wife and I finally pulled the plug on DishNetwork this week. We were paid up through Monday and I called them and canceled service. What a relief to NOT have to pay $73.70 per month anymore. Now I will give Dish credit for a number of things. When we first signed up they were the most reasonably priced solution around. We started with the Top 200 which has morphed in the the Top 250 package. In that time (about ten years) our service charges have risen from the level listed, about $53 per month, to over $73. Ouch. They did give me my DishDVR service for nothing. I was one of the early adopter of a PVR508 receiver that is about to finally give up the ghost. And a second receiver in my daughter's bedroom. Still, a nearly 50% jump in price in ten years was getting to be too much. Our local cable scammers err...I mean company were much worse. The closest package they had WITHOUT the dvr option and WITH a second converter box was over $80 per month. No way. The gist of it is we were tired of paying for this nonsense. We really watch only about 25 channels. A&E/TLC/History/Science/Biography which I think are all owned by the same group. Cartoon/Boomerang/Disney/Nickelodeon for the kids. That and a few things on the Encore channels which Dish included and the cable company did not. Needless to say, we were at a point where we were saying to our selves; Why are we doing this? So I uninstalled the dish, ran a coax to my old aerial, and promptly found about 25 digital broadcast channels in the local Kansas City area. Many of our stations have a sub channel that delivers weather all the time. Nice. We are close enough to get a grand picture. Having metadata for channel and programming information is a real boon to the experience. Why did the FCC let these guys put this off so long? Now to Netflix.

This was my first experience dealing with this company. They made it very easy to sign up. I made sure to check reviews online. Here at B&B there was a good thread about it. I also talked at length with the parent of a child my youngest daughter attends school with. They are long time customers and love the service. I did not like using one of my credit cards for payment but you have no choice. I understand their position as well. They need collateral so to speak if you don't return the discs. We signed up for the $13.99 a month plan that allows two discs out at a time and UNLIMITED streaming from their watch now service. Frankly I was quite surprised to see new releases like Julie and Julia there. I had sort of gotten the idea newer movies just weren't in the mix. A nice surprise. Just for giggles I searched for "The General". A 1994 Irish movie starring Brendan Gleeson as Martin Cahill, a famous Irish mobster. Danged if they don't have it in queue. This movie is not regularly available at rental stores and there are at least a couple of version floating around. One has a nearly monochromatic look to it that really works well with the story. I don't which version they stream. I also like it that they state up front you can quit when YOU want, not them. No contracts so to speak. You also get the Starz viewer deal too. What a way to catch up on original series from that network. Wish me luck lads.

With our outlay for broadband + Netflix, we are out about $65 per month. That is ten dollars less than our satellite bill but doesn't tell the whole story. We have to have the broadband. My wife is enrolled in college online so end of story. However, we recently moved over to AT&T uVerse at a smoking 12Mbs download speed. I have tested this at several online speed testers and it always goes 11.6 to 11.7 download and 1.6 upload. More than fast enough to stream Netfilx. The local cable broadband we had was going to cost me ten dollars per month more than this service because I wouldn't keep our local phone service through them. We ported it over to a Tmoblie prepaid account. 100 dollars gets you 1000 minutes which are good for one year. We rarely use the home phone but I needed a contact for work and we didn't have to change our contact information for credit cards, doctors, etc. So we saved approximately $32 per month there as well. Even if you amortise the $100 over twelve months, it is about $8.50 per month. I can live with a net $24 savings per month on the phone alone. So between phone and satellite, we are saving $100 per month! A not insignificant amount. We are going to add a network capable Samsung BluRay player so we can watch Netflix in the living room. I will let you know how all this works out. Oh yeah, what about all those "learning channels"? If you go to their websites, you can stream almost any show they have recently broadcast. Score. This will make it much nicer when Warehouse 13 comes back on this summer. The only drawback I have with the antenna is no pausing of live tv. That feature will spoil you rotten. Miss a scene? Back it up and play it again. Can't quite tell what "X" is in the background? Back it up and pause it. I do love that feature and will miss it. Other than that, we are off to the races.

Regards, Todd

[TonyH]

I have been an avid Netflix user for almost 8 years now and I love it. Great customer service, good price, no complaints overall.

[taprater]

Yes netflix is great I stream movies onto my xbox and its the great thing EVER

[C Reed]

I haven't had a tv in almost 10 years. I stream netflix onto my laptop and prject it on our wall, then kick it on the couch and its like my own theater.

I use Hulu to keep up with Lost and veg out if I feel under the weather/ need some brain dead time.

I noticed that I did a ton more reading, bike riding, hanging out with people and generally being happier and more productive with out tv, it just sucks me in and steals my day.

[mretzloff]

Go ahead and board up your windows. When I first got Netflix, I did not see much sunlight for a few days :lol:

[texasPI]

Yeah, I love it. I have a Roku HD that I love. The watch instantly titles are not the latest and greatest but I primarily watch documentaries or content from the History channel, Discovery etc.

I'm waiting for my Directv contract to come due so I can pull the plug on them. :thumbup:

[BladeDE40]

Yes Sir! I had back surgery a few months ago and have been off work ever since...Netflix has been a life saver!

[letsdisinfect]

Yes netflix is great I stream movies onto my xbox and its the great thing EVER

+1000 Streaming netflix is the best thing in the world. Being able to watch episodes of 30 Rock on demand is more than worth $10 a month

[dpm802]

How is the picture quality for internet streaming? Are they in HD?

[letsdisinfect]

I'm not really sure... It doesn't look as crisp as HD would be, so I'm assuming it's not.

Still, better quality than bittorrent!

[TonyH]

How is the picture quality for internet streaming? Are they in HD?

Streaming isn't 100% HD yet. There are a few titles, but the majority is not. However, I'm streaming to a 65" Mitsubishi DLP and the picture quality I get is pretty damn good!

[mmack66]

I just signed up over the weekend and agree that it is quite awesome. There is so much available to stream that I haven't yet thought about having movies sent to me.

[blary54]

I think its great too. Only complaint is that it can take a while to get the new releases. Not a big deal though. I love to stream the movies on my xbox.

[Phog Allen]

Hey chaps. A small update. The first movie was successfully streamed last night. Over wireless G no less! My wife has latched onto Netflix like a tick. And she isn't even a tv watcher normally. She and my youngest daughter snuggled up for a movie last night. She watched on her laptop in the child's bedroom. She said it stuttered/flickered ONCE and only briefly. It never dropped out. How about that? I would have guessed this would not have been possible. We will see how it works out. I can't wait to get my streaming capable BluRay box and hook the beastie up to our new 42" tv.

Regards, Todd

[Greyfox]

I have to check this out. Been thinking about it a while.

[SmoovD]

Between the streaming and the dvd via mail, the cable box almost never gets used. The only reason that we still have it is because they offered a great deal just to keep the business.

[Hawkeye5]

Food for thought.

So how do you like the U-Verse? I've thought about changing but have not made a decision.

[castlecraver]

Loves me some Netflix. I bought a Samsung Blueray player that has Netflix streaming built in, and it's freakin sweet as hell. Plugs right into my router. Only problem is it can only access your streaming queue as-is and can't search or add new things to it.

[Go West Young Man]

There are HD programs available for streaming, but you need at least a 6mbs connection to get HD quality. If you don't (mine tops about around 4.5 or 5mbs) it downgrades automatically to the best quality possible for your specific connection.

[TonyH]

Loves me some Netflix. I bought a Samsung Blueray player that has Netflix streaming built in, and it's freakin sweet as hell. Plugs right into my router. Only problem is it can only access your streaming queue as-is and can't search or add new things to it.

I stream through the Sony PS3 and can manage my queue from there. It's great!

[Dpflaum]

I love Netflix. I have only been on for a few months, but I absolutely could not be happier.

[Phog Allen]

Food for thought.

So how do you like the U-Verse? I've thought about changing but have not made a decision.

Hi John. So far the uVerse is A okay. I bought the 12Mbs, $45 per month level of service for two reasons. First up was the knowledge we were going the Netflix route anyway. More speed = less dropouts. Second, we were already paying for broadband through the local cable company because my wife is enrolled in online college. We were dropping the phone line no matter what. That is when they popped up with this bogus "ten dollar line access fee". So we would have had to have a $49 per month plan from them to be equal in performance PLUS ten dollars extra for daring to not have at least two services from them AND they are very stingy with bandwidth. AT&T does NOT cap it at all. At least so far. The speed is very consistent day to day unlike my cable connection. It was quite good most times and I would have stayed with them to avoid install fees with AT&T if they would only have not tried to jack me for the tenner per month. I just ran a speed test on it and it stays at 11.5-11.7 Mbs download. I am more than happy. The ATT guy came out and rebuilt my entire interface box with new guts. He even turned in a ticket to replace a line patch somewhere that was causing problems. All in all a very nice experience. One proviso. If you don't sign up for three services you will be hit with install charges. It was $149 for my internet only connection but I don't care. I would have had nearly that out for at least a month and would have had to call to downgrade it anyway. Done and done this way. So far, I would do it again in a flash.

Regards, Todd

[Hawkeye5]

Thanks, Todd. More food for thought. Now to crunch some numbers.

[letterk]

Love Netflix, but we haven't taken advantage of the free streaming. I've been lookin into a Roku box, but am now leaning towards an LG BD570. For less than $250, you get a Blu-ray player with the great every day streaming options from Roku/Netflix AND the high-quality stuff from Vudu. Anyone else use something like this?

[perry]

http://www.woot.com/

Hurry, hurry. Refurb Samsung bluray w/ Netflix streaming for $80 today.

I just canceled my NetFlix subscription. I liked the streaming but wanted to stop the DVD part. I didn't want to clear my queue out though - just didn't want them sending me DVD's that would sit around and get lost. I couldn't figure out how to pause the DVD shipping, just the entire account, and saw no way of emailing them. So I just closed the whole thing and will do w/o the streaming too. Oh well.

[Cuttingboard]

I stream through the Sony PS3 and can manage my queue from there. It's great!

Same here!!

[letterk]

http://www.woot.com/

Hurry, hurry. Refurb Samsung bluray w/ Netflix streaming for $80 today.

I just canceled my NetFlix subscription. I liked the streaming but wanted to stop the DVD part. I didn't want to clear my queue out though - just didn't want them sending me DVD's that would sit around and get lost. I couldn't figure out how to pause the DVD shipping, just the entire account, and saw no way of emailing them. So I just closed the whole thing and will do w/o the streaming too. Oh well.

Good price, but no Vudu. I'm willing to pay a bit more for the higher quality streams.

[Greyfox]

Just signed up. Should get the PS3 streaming setup DVD Friday.

[RBE17]

We had netflix for about six months five years ago. When my daughter was born we dropped it because we simply didn't have time to watch the movies. I'm not sure the streaming movies were an option then. As my kids get older it might be something we pick back up. I do know that between cable and cable modem our bill is $120/mo. I'd like to drop that if we could.

[mretzloff]

We had netflix for about six months five years ago. When my daughter was born we dropped it because we simply didn't have time to watch the movies. I'm not sure the streaming movies were an option then. As my kids get older it might be something we pick back up. I do know that between cable and cable modem our bill is $120/mo. I'd like to drop that if we could.

Sign up for Netflix again. What Netflix cannot get you (news and some other stuff), is usually free on the Internet.

[Phog Allen]

Okay guys, one more update. I bought a Samsung BD-C5500 BluRay player last night and it works well. I had a spot of trouble getting it set up and activated with Neftlix. It was just my fumble handedness though. When you plug it in and attach network cable, it immediately goes into update mode. It downloaded updates for 14 applications including Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, Blockbuster and others. Then it did a firmware update. Nice and easy. No problems. Then I went to the Neftlix menu and answered "yes" to the question of whether I was a Netflix customer. It then generated a pass code to enter at the Netflix website to authorise the activation of the device. It failed. Oops. Then I figured out that you need to have something in your queue for it to sort of latch onto. Then it worked okay. I had one burp when I accessed it later. It told me I didn't have anything in my "watch now" queue. I refreshed it at the website and it came back but I was thinking to myself; Self, I don't want to have to do this every time I want to watch something. Then my wife discovered some mutterings on the Netflix website that at times, it "takes a few minutes" for the device to recognise the queue. Since then it has been flawless. Picture quality is darned good I think for streamed stuff. As good as a lot of dvds I have watched. No hiccups in playback so far. We are connected with ethernet cable which I feel is superior to wireless. Another thing to consider is the Samsungs will NOT allow use of any usb wireless adapter but their own. It is specific to their devices and costs around $80. If you can find one. I am more than willing to do a bit of structured wiring of my home. $80 will buy a LOT of cat 5e or cat 6 cable. Yeah, it will be some work to fish it in the wall cavities but oh well, wiring is my game every day anyhow. The house needs a network anyway. This Netflix thing is ADDICTIVE. I have already found one of my favourite British sitcoms; Keeping Up Appearances. While the whole show is hilarious, Geoffrey Hughes as "Onslow" is one of the funniest characters for all of time. Part hillbilly, part philosopher, part n'er do well, all around manly man, he is easily my favourite character on the show. The whole experience is just nice. No trips to local rental store. No worrying about getting discs back on time. And the choices are plenty. I know I am early in my experience with the service but I can only say I wish I would have done it earlier.

Regards, Todd

[Spacegeezer]

There are HD programs available for streaming, but you need at least a 6mbs connection to get HD quality. If you don't (mine tops about around 4.5 or 5mbs) it downgrades automatically to the best quality possible for your specific connection.


I just want to state, for the sake of stating it, that proper HD takes a lot closer to 40 Mbps. Netflix et al are providing a very convenient service, but if you're looking to get more out of your screen for now you more-or-less are limited to Bluray. "HD" is getting thrown about as loosely as "Hifi" used to, and has more-or-less lost its meaning.

Not to take away from Netflix or any of those other services (anyway, the vast majority of movies really aren't worth a real HD presentation), I just wanted to point out that there's more to be had for those who were not aware.


/anorak

[SmoovD]

Okay guys, one more update. I bought a Samsung BD-C5500 BluRay player last night and it works well. I had a spot of trouble getting it set up and activated with Neftlix. It was just my fumble handedness though. When you plug it in and attach network cable, it immediately goes into update mode. It downloaded updates for 14 applications including Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, Blockbuster and others. Then it did a firmware update. Nice and easy. No problems. Then I went to the Neftlix menu and answered "yes" to the question of whether I was a Netflix customer. It then generated a pass code to enter at the Netflix website to authorise the activation of the device. It failed. Oops. Then I figured out that you need to have something in your queue for it to sort of latch onto. Then it worked okay. I had one burp when I accessed it later. It told me I didn't have anything in my "watch now" queue. I refreshed it at the website and it came back but I was thinking to myself; Self, I don't want to have to do this every time I want to watch something. Then my wife discovered some mutterings on the Netflix website that at times, it "takes a few minutes" for the device to recognise the queue. Since then it has been flawless. Picture quality is darned good I think for streamed stuff. As good as a lot of dvds I have watched. No hiccups in playback so far. We are connected with ethernet cable which I feel is superior to wireless. Another thing to consider is the Samsungs will NOT allow use of any usb wireless adapter but their own. It is specific to their devices and costs around $80. If you can find one. I am more than willing to do a bit of structured wiring of my home. $80 will buy a LOT of cat 5e or cat 6 cable. Yeah, it will be some work to fish it in the wall cavities but oh well, wiring is my game every day anyhow. The house needs a network anyway. This Netflix thing is ADDICTIVE. I have already found one of my favourite British sitcoms; Keeping Up Appearances. While the whole show is hilarious, Geoffrey Hughes as "Onslow" is one of the funniest characters for all of time. Part hillbilly, part philosopher, part n'er do well, all around manly man, he is easily my favourite character on the show. The whole experience is just nice. No trips to local rental store. No worrying about getting discs back on time. And the choices are plenty. I know I am early in my experience with the service but I can only say I wish I would have done it earlier.

Regards, Todd

Keeping Up Appearances is nothing short of awesome. Netfilx is worth, IMO, just for their BBC content. I just started the Black Books series...funny stuff.

[letterk]

I just want to state, for the sake of stating it, that proper HD takes a lot closer to 40 Mbps. Netflix et al are providing a very convenient service, but if you're looking to get more out of your screen for now you more-or-less are limited to Bluray. "HD" is getting thrown about as loosely as "Hifi" used to, and has more-or-less lost its meaning.

Not to take away from Netflix or any of those other services (anyway, the vast majority of movies really aren't worth a real HD presentation), I just wanted to point out that there's more to be had for those who were not aware.


/anorak

From all the reviews I've read, Vudu's HDX format is "near Blu-Ray" and requires significantly less than 40 Mbps.

[Swampfox]

Sign up for Netflix again. What Netflix cannot get you (news and some other stuff), is usually free on the Internet.

+1000 'Nuff said.

[Spacegeezer]

From all the reviews I've read, Vudu's HDX format is "near Blu-Ray" and requires significantly less than 40 Mbps.

Compression keeps getting better all the time, but HDX is not such a significant improvement over the VC1 that is used on many BR discs. Reducing size still means reducing quality. I have encountered non-HDX H.264 encoded 1080p films and was not satisfied; not enough to consider it a replacement for higher quality archival methods. I see "on-demand" streamed video as a fairly satisfactory replacement of cable TV, certainly better typical quality than many standard forms of HD broadcast.

I strongly object to the misuse of the HD label by services that do not provide high definition (I know the official definitions are rather loose, but I mean the spirit of it), whether it is being misapplied to over-compressed satellite broadcasts, poorly mastered Blu Ray discs or online video. For me, it makes it difficult to support companies or services that otherwise are ticking all the boxes.

[Go West Young Man]

Netflix just announced they are now offering streaming through the wii system too.

[Hayden]

Netflix just announced they are now offering streaming through the wii system too.

Yep I have mine already, works great and easy to setup also.

[Phog Allen]

Good evening chaps. A small update. I still love Netflix streaming. We haven't had a disc shipped yet. We will, but for now the streaming is a very effective cable replacement. I like the YouTube option as well. I am not a registered YouTube user but I may be soon. If you have an account you can load your favourites into a sort of cue and then associate it with the BluRay player and bingo, personal YouTube viewing on your tv. Nice.

I will give you an opinion on this whole direct streaming thing. Cable, satellite, and AT&T uVerse LOOK OUT! If the basic cable channels like Disovery, Learning, SciFi (sorry, I refuse to call it SyFy), History and the like EVER wise up and start selling subscriptions directly to streaming device customers they will have a huge bargaining chip between cable and consumers. This can only drive content prices down and give us all what we really want; a la carte channel selection. I don't know about you chaps but one of the MOST irritating things about my satellite package of "over 250 channels!" was wading through all the crap you didn't want to watch or listen to. All for the ridiculous sum of nearly $75 per month. At most I regularly watched about 20 channels. The rest were waste. I am sorry but Oxygen, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies aren't my cup of tea. More like "The Evil Stepdaddy Channel". They are very narrow in their viewership. I watched mostly stuff like I listed above. Really like SciFi and Chiller for crappy, campy movies. If the hardware manufacturers can come up with a solid firmware that allows viewers to activate the service directly from the providers websites like a Netflix cue, we will soon see which channels really stand on their own market wise. I personally would pay a few bucks a month for a small number of channels that I pick. I know that I would choose A&E/History group even though I guess it now own Lifetime as well, and the Discovery/Learning channel group. And maybe ESPN. Music? I have it handled nicely with Pandora which is a part of my Samsung Apps firmware on the BluRay. I can only hope there is a time coming soon when we are paying for what we want and not what makes a package.

Regards, Todd

[rAZor]

Kudos on breaking the "creeping monthly bill" habit. I've got the same thing with Comcast cable but can't seem to ween myself of it. I've subscribed to Netflix for going on eight years and been amazed at how they have kept their prices down, sometimes even dropping them. I have streamed using my home computer and am waiting to set up my new Panasonic home theater system with it. We'll see how well it does across a wireless N network.

Also kudos on watching Warehouse 13. My sister-in-law is a casting director on that show. Spread the word!

[Bri-Dog]

We've had Netflix for some time as well and enjoy streaming content via both an Xbox 360 and a Wii. Our current content provider for broadband and tv is U-Verse, and while I would like to eliminate the tv package, I've yet to find a suitable OTA DVR replacement.

Tivo offers an OTA-capable product that requires a monthly/yearly/one-time subscription that I'd rather not pay. Dish offers the DTVPal OTA DVR without a subscription, but the reports I've read indicate the units are prone to overheating and the warranty coverage is not very good.

I'm interested in Sezmi (http://www.sezmi.com/). After several months of testing, the product is available in the LA area, and this is the beginning of a national rollout. Any Sezmi customers out there who wish to comment on their experience?

[C Reed]

Kudos on breaking the "creeping monthly bill" habit. I've got the same thing with Comcast cable but can't seem to ween myself of it. I've subscribed to Netflix for going on eight years and been amazed at how they have kept their prices down, sometimes even dropping them. I have streamed using my home computer and am waiting to set up my new Panasonic home theater system with it. We'll see how well it does across a wireless N network.

Also kudos on watching Warehouse 13. My sister-in-law is a casting director on that show. Spread the word!

Really I know the director of cinematography on it, small world.

[Phog Allen]

Kudos on breaking the "creeping monthly bill" habit. I've got the same thing with Comcast cable but can't seem to ween myself of it. I've subscribed to Netflix for going on eight years and been amazed at how they have kept their prices down, sometimes even dropping them. I have streamed using my home computer and am waiting to set up my new Panasonic home theater system with it. We'll see how well it does across a wireless N network.

Also kudos on watching Warehouse 13. My sister-in-law is a casting director on that show. Spread the word!


Thank you for the nice comment. It is nice to not write a $75 check every month. The only thing I really miss is cable news channels and Discovery/Learning/SciFi. I had forgotten how absolutely awful broadcast news is. And I am speaking to local as well as national channels. I haven't watched a NBC, CBS, or ABC evening "news" show (and I use that term to describe them facetiously) in nearly twenty years. And now I remember why. Bloody awful. I can at least go to the other channels and pick up some of their shows via streaming. Sometimes they put them up the day after they debut. A nice workaround.

Way to go knowing someone who works on the show. It is one of the very few series I bother to watch. Tell your sis inlaw there is at least one cowboy boot wearing, steampunk, wire loving geek out here in cattle country who loves the show. In other words, keep up the good work.

Regards, Todd