Netflix to offer unlimited online viewing
Michael Gay January 13th, 2008
Just one day before Apple is expected to announce online movie rentals through iTunes, Netflix will announce that it is lifting caps for online viewing of movies. The AP says virtually all Netflix subscribers will be able to stream as many movies and TV shows as they want from a library containing more than 6,000 titles. With more than 90,000 titles available in its DVD library, delivering movies through the mail is expected to remain Netflix’s primary moneymaker for years to come. Has anyone tried their “Watch Instantly” service before? Thoughts?
13 Comments Add your own
1. Bruce Barber | January 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I would… but they don’t support Macs
2. Olivier | January 13th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I am glad that my Macbook Pro also has Windows and Internet Explorer, because it allowed me to test their service. I watched a 90min wireless (in my bedroom to be more specific). The sound and image were great - the movie streamed after only a few seconds, and there was no buffer at all for the entire movie. Quality of the video was comparable to DVD. I haven’t used the service more for a couple of reasons: first, I’d rather watch movies on my home theater than on a small computer screen, two there isn’t a large choice of movies to watch yet. Note that Netflix has a very cool feature to let you see which movies in your queue are available for download.
3. Adam | January 13th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
It actually works pretty well. The picture if pretty good on a 19in monitor, full-screen. It loads slow the first time you open the window because it’s got some two-step DRM junk, but once it gets past that it’s a smooth stream - no buffering. You can even fast forward and it quickly catches up.
The selection isn’t overwhelming, but there’s more there than you’d think. My only issue with it is that I don’t want to watch hours of video on my computer.
Anyone got a Media Center PC and tried it?
4. Cale | January 13th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Works great! just wish they had more movies.
5. Richard Terry | January 13th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
As the other commenters mentioned, the picture quality is pretty good. The selections is limited, but growing steadily. Every so often, a popular of blockbuster movie will pop up. Click the top 50 link to get a good sampling of the best stuff available. A friend of mine loves it. He says it’s a B-movie paradise.
Firefox users get no love from Netflix right now, though.
6. Dan | January 14th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I’ve watched a few streamed movies through Netflix on my TV … it looks about as good as SD cable channels … which is pretty great for on-demand, commercial free movies.
And, once your computer is hooked up to the TV, it takes about the same amount of time (mabye less) to load up an on-demand movie from netflix as it does from the cable co’s on-demand library.
More choice, similar quality = winner.
7. Susan | January 14th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I’ve used it several times and it’s pretty good. You have to use Internet Explorer though.
8. chaderik | January 14th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
yea - too bad they don’t have the Mac support. i wrote them about it and got a - “we’re in development for Mac OSX but nothing at this time”
9. Anon | January 14th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I never could it to work when I was a subscriber. (One of the reasons I cancelled). When I called the “help line” I waited on the phone for over 25 minutes before I hung up.
10. Jeremiah | January 14th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
No love for Firefox, but when plugged into my laptop’s S-Video output, even on a 61″ HDTV the picture looks comparable to standard cable. Definitely watchable.
11. Jess R | January 14th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Tried a few months ago, and it was pretty neat.. fast, clean, etc. Big pain that not only do they not support Macs, but also do not support Firefox. Even on a PC.
Another pain is that it requires administrative privilege to install on a PC, which would make me have to log out, log back in, etc,
Dont like to use IE, and that is what I’m stuck using,
12. Anon | January 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I use a DVI link between an old laptop (that I didn’t use anymore), which is hidden with components in a closet, and my HD LCD. I also have it hooked up to my theater sound system. It’s like a huge DVD library on demand without any complications. It is the only thing I use the laptop for (besides streaming XM) and it comes through a Wi-Fi connection. I have no complaints about quality!
13. john | January 23rd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Man…if they used .divx for HD, it would be a real winner. Utilize the Connected platform and BOOM!
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