Netflix & Xbox 360

[mh2365]

Anyone using this ... from what I understand you can do the 1,2,3 or whatever movies out at a time and unlimited downloads from Xbox .... is this right? How are the downloads? How long does it take to download the movies? How long do you have access to them?

[wade moore]

This is addressed in the Netflix thread, but..

1. Yes, it's right.
2. The downloads are fine. Most are in SD, but there are some in HD. Whether you can even view the HD depends on if you have a solid connection or not.
3. They stream. So, it doesn't take any time. I've heard some people say they seem some stalling in HD videos, but I haven't watched an HD video yet.
4. Since it streams, there really isn't a "time to have access"


The other point to note. There was some debate in the Netflix, but imo it is pretty clear that the selection for the movies viewable on Xbox/Online/etc is relatively limited. It is mostly older movies and it is pretty rare that you get a new movie from a major studio. It appears to be much better with TV show releases though, but I haven't used it for that yet.

[kcchief19]

They aren't downloads, it's streamling video. As a result, you can get some interruptions and congestion. You have access pretty much at any time. The pain in the ass is that if you have to setup your Xbox queue on your computer -- you can't do it from the Xbox.

I have it and I'm dropping it. The video quality is OK for a casual viewer but if you want premium video and sound, this is not for you. The depth of selections is horrible. There are hardly any new releases and most of the movies available are warmed over. They have TV series too but I don't think any series has all of its episodes.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

They aren't downloads, it's streamling video. As a result, you can get some interruptions and congestion. You have access pretty much at any time. The pain in the ass is that if you have to setup your Xbox queue on your computer -- you can't do it from the Xbox.

I have it and I'm dropping it. The video quality is OK for a casual viewer but if you want premium video and sound, this is not for you. The depth of selections is horrible. There are hardly any new releases and most of the movies available are warmed over. They have TV series too but I don't think any series has all of its episodes.

Yeah, I should have said this. I wouldn't subscribe JUST for this service. I would only subscribe if you're going to use this and the DVD service. I use Netflix for the DVD service and this is just a nice supplement to that service.

[mh2365]

Thanks ... sounds like I don't need to leave blockbuster just for this

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Thanks ... sounds like I don't need to leave blockbuster just for this

There is a thread around here somewhere about BB vs. Netflix.

I would pick Netflix 10 out of 10 times even without this service, but I know some others really like BB. But from what I've heard in the past (and I know BB has gotten better), Netflix is faster and it is VERY rare that you don't get your top choice movie - which I've heard (at least in the past) wasn't the case with BB.

[stevew]

Making you have to have Gold Xbox Live kills it for me. By the time you get the year card and the wireless thinhy for the Xbox I could just buy a Roku box. Or gets me about halfway to a blu ray player.

[Swaggs]

I got my wife a Roku for her birthday a few weeks ago. Pretty pleased with it, so far.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by stevew

Making you have to have Gold Xbox Live kills it for me. By the time you get the year card and the wireless thinhy for the Xbox I could just buy a Roku box. Or gets me about halfway to a blu ray player.

Well, again, I already have XBox Live Gold for gaming.

[stevew]

Yeah, I don't really do that at all. HA(where the fuck is that kid anyways) retired me after he destroyed me in online madden. And Im no good at shooters.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by stevew

Making you have to have Gold Xbox Live kills it for me. By the time you get the year card and the wireless thinhy for the Xbox I could just buy a Roku box. Or gets me about halfway to a blu ray player.

Yep. same here . I do not have any reason for Xbox live gold. I just watch netflix streaming on my computer.

Just a comment regarding the mostly selection of older movies.. there are also some newer movies on there too, but primarily the ones in the "Starz Play" line. Most of those can usually also be found on Starz on demand too. The Netflix playing movies online isn't really the reason to get it, it is just a bonus.

[panerd]

Agree on the very limited selection of "instant" movies but the TV selection is quite good. And the streaming problems seem to be people's local providers as I have never once had an issue streaming to my roku box.

[Butter]

Many of the "instant" movies are indie movies and older (2 years+) Hollywood major releases. Also, they do have 30 Rock among the many TV selections so I can echo that they do have some good TV stuff on there.

If you are interested at all in indie movies, streaming Netflix is a solid value. I only pay $8.99 for one movie out at a time and all the streaming I want via the 360 (plus the $30 I paid for a 12 month XBox Live Gold subscription). We get through maybe 1 DVD a week in the mail, and there was a period where I was watching 2-3 movies more a week on the 360.

I get the occasional movie in HD, but it is mostly standard resolution, but I have almost had no buffering problems to speak of. Only twice through the couple dozen movies I have watched.

The biggest annoyance watching via the 360 is that if you want to fast forward or rewind, it has to re-buffer to the spot you want to watch, so that's 20 more seconds of waiting once you pick the spot you want to go back to. Pausing and unpausing works like a DVD, but the rewind and FF via instant is a bit more of a pain than a regular DVD.

[DataKing]

I'll sound off in agreement of what others have already stated: I wouldn't go with Netflix just for this service, but it is a nice supplement. There are a number of television shows that I watch via this option. Some older Mythbusters episodes are available, for example, and they recently added the first nine seasons of South Park. I also used this for the most recent season of Heroes...seemed to be about 1-2 days for them to get the most recently aired episode up online.

One other nice thing about the service is that if you have movies in your regular Queue that are now available online, it's very easy to add them to your instant Queue. As an example, here are the things in my Queue that I've recently moved over to the Instant Queue:

My Name is Bruce
Let the Right One In
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Timecrimes
WALL-E

So it's not exactly top-shelf, but there's some decent stuff available.