Netflix streaming (1 Viewer)

[Gary Seven]

I've had titles in my queue for what must be close to a year. Even though they expired in their respective categories, the ones in my queue can still be watched.

 

[dmiller68]

I have enjoyed the heck out of Netflix streaming. I use it a lot and has changed my buying habits. I have only replace the catalog titles on bluray that I think could really benefit from 1080p and 5.1. When I sold off my 700 DVD's my wife figured I would have 700-800 blurays in no time. However, I have only bought 150 or so. A lot of this is do to Netflix streaming and bluray delivery service. Any movie that I'm not sure I will like I hold off and get it through Netflix instead. Although it looks like many more sub $15 blurays are coming out now so I may buy more again.
On the rural side of things... There is a push by the government to get everyone on the Internet. As the 7.2 billion stimulus act is spent I'm sure everyone that wants it will get broadband. The US is again behind Europe because of our carriers. However, by 2020 I think we should be able to make huge strides toward fixing this.

 

[RJ992]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
Well if your internet connection is only 1.5mbs its not surprising. The majority of American homes now have high speed internet, so for most people thats not really an issue.

As I stated in my first post, right now its almost 15% of evening internet traffic. They expect it to be 20% next year. Its only going to get bigger with many TVs and DVD players coming with Netflix, Hulu, and Vudo built in.

Also Netflix has reported that streaming is now more than half of their business, and they will be spending more on streaming licences, than on buying DVDs and blu-rays for rental.

Doug

That's because, since they stopped offering a lot of BD disc (and no longer carry newly-released BD catalogue titles (and often not many NEW BD releases...such as ALL-STAR SUPERMAN), AND raised the price for BD discs, many people changed their plans to only one or two out-at-a-time and switched to Blockbuster or some other service. But they still use straming (even though there's little to watc opf value) just because it's there. So their subscription base stays basically the same...but it reads as fewer disc rentals. But it's NOT because people have stopped getting discs...they just go elsewhere. As for their "HD" streaming...it's bottom-of-the-barrel. First, it is only 720p (that's less than cable) and, depending on the movie, can look "okay" or downright terrible. Not to mention those pesky buffering issues. And SD looks barely better than VHS, I think. Look, streaming is great if you're looking for some foreign film, a low-budget indie, or MEGA HYENA VS DINO SQUIRREL. But it pretty much does suck...however, as someone noted, people only care about convenience and not quality. MP3 sounds just dandy for most music listeners, regardless of the poor quality, and, if you don't mind watching movies on a 2-inch Phone screen...well, that just about says it all.

 

[Marc^H]

Originally Posted by RJ992
That's because, since they stopped offering a lot of BD disc (and no longer carry newly-released BD catalogue titles (and often not many NEW BD releases...such as ALL-STAR SUPERMAN), AND raised the price for BD discs, many people changed their plans to only one or two out-at-a-time and switched to Blockbuster or some other service. But they still use straming (even though there's little to watc opf value) just because it's there. So their subscription base stays basically the same...but it reads as fewer disc rentals. But it's NOT because people have stopped getting discs...they just go elsewhere. As for their "HD" streaming...it's bottom-of-the-barrel. First, it is only 720p (that's less than cable) and, depending on the movie, can look "okay" or downright terrible. Not to mention those pesky buffering issues. And SD looks barely better than VHS, I think. Look, streaming is great if you're looking for some foreign film, a low-budget indie, or MEGA HYENA VS DINO SQUIRREL. But it pretty much does suck...however, as someone noted, people only care about convenience and not quality. MP3 sounds just dandy for most music listeners, regardless of the poor quality, and, if you don't mind watching movies on a 2-inch Phone screen...well, that just about says it all.

It doesn't "suck" at all, actually.
Today from Netflix we streamed NIAGARA and HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE in SD, and THE ODD COUPLE in HD. All of them looked fantastic. Certainly not "bottom of the barrel." Way better than "okay."

Last night watched TIN PAN ALLEY, which Fox has never released on DVD. Looked great, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they are showing some "exclusive" content like this.

We stream it through Apple TV. I've seen a few things that did look bad (MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM), but for the most part I have been thrilled with the quality, and as someone with hundreds of laserdiscs, dvds, blu rays and vinyl records, I dont really fit the "only care about convenience and not quality" demographic.

True..if you are looking for new films you will probably be disappointed. But you can put together a pretty nice little monthly film festival for yourself. My instant queue is loaded with great stuff....THE RED SHOES, NETWORK, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, BRIEF ENCOUNTER, DRIVING MISS DAISY, TOY STORY 3, WEEDS, PAPER MOON, ALL THAT JAZZ, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.

Nary a "mega hyena" among them.

For $8 a month? Nope...definitely doesn't suck.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I recently downgraded my membership from a grandfathered 4-out plan (at the 3-out base price) to a 2-out plan, partially because my wife and I weren't renting as many discs as we used to with the service, but also due to the fact that they were raising their prices rather steeply. Although we were grandfathered in with the 4-out at the 3-out rate, they were still charging us for the 4-disc Blu-ray surcharge, which also went up with their last rate hike at the beginning of the year.

Their streaming service works quite nicely, not quite as good as Blu-ray, but not bad, either. But, I think that Netflix, as well as many of the other streaming services such as HuluPlus, VuDu, Amazon, etc, are going to hit a brick wall in a few short years as more and more people switch to streaming, the ISP's begin to place more bandwidth caps, and the current internet infrastructure finally collapses under its own weight because no one will invest in upgrading it.

 

[Dennis*G]

Looks like the party is over.
Just received an email that streaming and shipped discs are now going to be two separate accounts, so my current 1 disc unlimited streaming for $10 will now be $16.
I'm not sure which one to give up at this point, but leaning toward the dvd's as I can still get those from kiosks or the library.

 

[irishmommy70]

I've had Netflix almost 2 years... lost our home; now in apartment. Had Verizon Fios their bundles have became to expensive.
Could no longer afford their prices, so it was fate > both TV’s died the same day. Buying new TV was out of the question.
Have great size Sceptre flat monitor > stream all the time.
Watch the Classics, Mysteries, BBC Mysteries, TV shows, new movies on DVD... etc., all in all, when money is no longer available
for the luxuries we once had > I am content with Netflix.
Now, I only pay Verizon for PC and Lan phone. All the movies I have streamed were of good quality except one, & Netflix
ask you to report any and all problems. Give Netflix thumbs up.

 

[Jim Mcc]

I agree. I love Netflix, and it's a great deal at $7.99 per month. And now that it streams in 1080p, has subtitles available, and 5.1 surround sound makes it even better.

 

[Stan]

I've got a new laptop, pretty decent but not top of the line. 750GB of of hard-drive space and 8GB of RAM. Also upgraded to a 25MB internet connection so hopefully can handle things.
Can somebody give me a quick lesson on the basics of streaming? I play news clips, you-tube and movie previews with no problem. Don't have the time to put much research into streaming shows so any basic advice would be really appreciated. One question I've always had is do you get a copy of the movie or TV show you can play later or is it a one time shot that you can't store.
Thanks

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Netflix streams--not downloads. But it remembers your place in the stream should you leave and come back later.

 

[Jim Mcc]

I've got a new laptop, pretty decent but not top of the line. 750GB of of hard-drive space and 8GB of RAM. Also upgraded to a 25MB internet connection so hopefully can handle things.
Can somebody give me a quick lesson on the basics of streaming? I play news clips, you-tube and movie previews with no problem. Don't have the time to put much research into streaming shows so any basic advice would be really appreciated. One question I've always had is do you get a copy of the movie or TV show you can play later or is it a one time shot that you can't store.
Thanks

I suggest you use a wired connection from your router to your streaming device.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I suggest you use a wired connection from your router to your streaming device.

I have a wireless connection to my blu-ray player and my laptop. I have no problems streaming 1080p video from netflix.
Doug

 

[Stan]

Thaks for the help, I'lll experiment this next weekend.
I'd be running shows on my laptop ( my HDTV budget was destroyed last month whtn my six year old Dell laptop had a catastrophic hard drive failure, so it was either computer or TV, so TV will have to wait).
Will try etihernet and wireless both, guess I just dive in and see how it goes. Doesn't sound to difficult.
Was kind of hoping I'd capture a file that could later be burned to DVD, but that would be a little to "consumer friendly". I guess no different than any other rental, watch it and it's gone.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Thaks for the help, I'lll experiment this next weekend.
I'd be running shows on my laptop ( my HDTV budget was destroyed last month whtn my six year old Dell laptop had a catastrophic hard drive failure, so it was either computer or TV, so TV will have to wait).
Will try etihernet and wireless both, guess I just dive in and see how it goes. Doesn't sound to difficult.
Was kind of hoping I'd capture a file that could later be burned to DVD, but that would be a little to "consumer friendly". I guess no different than any other rental, watch it and it's gone.

Of course the nice thing about netflix, is you can watch as many movies as you want, as many times as you want for $7.99 a month.
Doug

 

[Stan]

Of course the nice thing about netflix, is you can watch as many movies as you want, as many times as you want for $7.99 a month.
Doug

Checked my connection on several sites, got anywhere from 23 to 27MB, so hopefully decent enough to run without any pauses for buffering.
Even after the big Netflix fiasco last year, will probably sign up with them. $7.99 really isn't bad.
If this question isn't allowed, let me know, but are there services where you can actually download a film and put it on DVD for later viewing? Maybe with Netflix it's not a problem since apparently I can get a film at any time, but often I DVR a film or buy a DVD at a good price yet don't watch it for several months.
If I go with Netflix and start a movie Friday night and have to stop, it sounds like maybe I can start it up again a few days later then possibly back up 15-20 minutes to refresh where I left off. Is this accurate?

 

[Todd Erwin]

Yes, Netflix will remember where you left off on any movie, TV episode, series, etc, regardless of what device you started watching it on. For example, you started watching Thor on your laptop, but stopped 12 minutes in. You can then pick up where you left off on your PS3.

Originally Posted by Stan /t/306097/netflix-streaming/60#post_3959860
If I go with Netflix and start a movie Friday night and have to stop, it sounds like maybe I can start it up again a few days later then possibly back up 15-20 minutes to refresh where I left off. Is this accurate?

 

[Jim Mcc]

Checked my connection on several sites, got anywhere from 23 to 27MB, so hopefully decent enough to run without any pauses for buffering.
Even after the big Netflix fiasco last year, will probably sign up with them. $7.99 really isn't bad.
If this question isn't allowed, let me know, but are there services where you can actually download a film and put it on DVD for later viewing? Maybe with Netflix it's not a problem since apparently I can get a film at any time, but often I DVR a film or buy a DVD at a good price yet don't watch it for several months.
If I go with Netflix and start a movie Friday night and have to stop, it sounds like maybe I can start it up again a few days later then possibly back up 15-20 minutes to refresh where I left off. Is this accurate?

Stan, Netflix has a free 14 day trial period. Check it out.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Checked my connection on several sites, got anywhere from 23 to 27MB, so hopefully decent enough to run without any pauses for buffering.
Even after the big Netflix fiasco last year, will probably sign up with them. $7.99 really isn't bad.
If this question isn't allowed, let me know, but are there services where you can actually download a film and put it on DVD for later viewing? Maybe with Netflix it's not a problem since apparently I can get a film at any time, but often I DVR a film or buy a DVD at a good price yet don't watch it for several months.
If I go with Netflix and start a movie Friday night and have to stop, it sounds like maybe I can start it up again a few days later then possibly back up 15-20 minutes to refresh where I left off. Is this accurate?

My internet access peaks at 17mbps, so you should have no problems at all.
I don't know of any service that allows you to download and burn to a DVD. Frankly the studios would rather you not have that kind of control over the product, and one reason they favor the streaming model. They never really wanted you to be able to own a copy of their films.
I've gone back to a film 6 months later and it remembered the place where I lift off.
Doug

 

[Stan]

With Amazon's latest announcement, looks like I may be using them instead of NetFlix.
NetFlix $96 a year, not bad.
Amazon, $79 a year (smaller catalog that I expect to see expand) but also free 2-day shipping on their products. That's a huge saving right there if you buy a few movies/TV shows a month. I'll give it a while and see what people's opinions are, but Amazon seems to the way to go.

 

[Douglas Monce]

With Amazon's latest announcement, looks like I may be using them instead of NetFlix.
NetFlix $96 a year, not bad.
Amazon, $79 a year (smaller catalog that I expect to see expand) but also free 2-day shipping on their products. That's a huge saving right there if you buy a few movies/TV shows a month. I'll give it a while and see what people's opinions are, but Amazon seems to the way to go.

I've had Amazon prime for about 5 years. I do almost all my Christmas shopping there. The instant video service is getting better, but doesn't compare to Netflix as far as variety goes, yet.
Doug