Netflix streaming question

[FantasiaWHT]

Ok so if I pay $8.99/month for 1-DVD out at a time unlimited rental, I can watch as much streaming movies/TV-shows as I want on my 360? (or soon to be my Wii)?

Is it that simple or is there something I'm missing?

What's the selection for streaming video like?

[Oobgarm]

As long as you have an unlimited plan, you're fine. The streaming library is pretty good, lots of TV. Starz also has some stuff selected for streaming that changes every so often.

[carlcarlson]

It's that simple, though I personally think the selection kind of sucks. They do have some good TV shows (30 Rock, Weeds, Dexter), but not many of the movies I looked up were available for streaming. Some of them also have capped quality, so if you stream Wall-E you'll be watching it at about 75% quality which is pretty noticable if you've got a big screen HD television.

[portnoyd]

It's a nice bonus to have on top of Netflix itself. They just need to keep encoding stuff to watch (i.e. so I can watch more Deadliest Catch).

[Lucifersam1]

I think the movie selection is lacking. There are a lot of movies, but they are horrible titles. If documentaries and tv shows are you're thing, then you will like it. Just my two cents...




Ok so if I pay $8.99/month for 1-DVD out at a time unlimited rental, I can watch as much streaming movies/TV-shows as I want on my 360? (or soon to be my Wii)?

Is it that simple or is there something I'm missing?

What's the selection for streaming video like?

[eastbayarb]

I think the movie selection is lacking. There are a lot of movies, but they are horrible titles. If documentaries and tv shows are you're thing, then you will like it. Just my two cents...


Its relatively new, so give it a chance. I however love this feature, and I use it with my xbox 360 almost daily. There are a lot of good documentaries, TV shows, and movies - many of which are in HD (HD content can only be streamed through a compatible device like an Xbox 360, or PS3, and some other devices). It seems more and more stuff is added almost weekly.

[kupomogli]

They do have some good TV shows (30 Rock, Weeds, Dexter)

I'd get Netflix for this if hadn't already seen every episode of Dexter.

I'd recommend Dexter to everyone who hasn't seen it, btw. Amazing tv show. Season 2 wasn't as good as the others and it was still 10/10 to me. Sucks that we have to wait until September for the next season to be released.

[Goodwill Hunter]

Here's a site that tracks everything on the "Instant Watch" list:

http://www.thenowhereman.com/netflix/

They indicate that there are currently over 15,000 titles, and hey, they just added "Tears of the Sun"...time to fire up the Roku!

Rich

[Daria]

It's great if you don't mind being very experimental with what you're willing to watch. Tons of great mini-series, tv shows, and indie films are available. We canceled our cable service because we never watch tv anymore. It's all instant queue.

[garagesaleking!!]

As many others have already pointed out the movie selection is lacking. No brand new releases and many very odd titles. Still a cool thing though.

[FantasiaWHT]

Thanks for the help!

[whoisKeel]

It depends on what kind of movies you watch. If you limit yourself to all new releases and big blockbusters you are up for a big disappoinment.

If you a good mix of movies, old and new, comedies, foreign, cult classics then you are in for a real treat. They recently added a good chunk of Criterion-only releases to the instant queue, for instance.

[FantasiaWHT]

Holy crap this is freaking awesome. I can't get Penn & Teller's BS without paying a crapload more for a better cable plan. The movie selection is great for me. I'm not at all looking for just new releases. Out of the 70 titles I put in my queue, some 30 of them are available for instant viewing.

Plus, if I tie it to my queue I enter on my computer - if something is available for instant watching on PC, I can get it on the 360 even if it wasn't on the 360 movie list.

And my son can see some things he hasn't seen from TV or cartoons, too. Awesome.

[FantasiaWHT]

Couple questions on the 360 interface...

1) Is there a way to just search? Or arrange things any differently? The categories are nice, and there's a bunch of titles in every category, but the arrangement is just random.

2) Related, I originally had an "Anime" category, which was awesome. Now it's gone. What gives?

[Trumpman]

Yeah, Netflix on 360 is awesome. I've been watching all of The Office in HD, and will start on 30 Rock next; there are also tons of classic movies available. I love it.

Fantasia: Unfortunately, there's no way to search on 360 - you can only do it on your Netflix account online. You can only browse. But, it takes about two seconds to search on the computer, so it's not a big deal.

[whoisKeel]

Yeah, no. Untill last year or so you couldn't even browse/add on the 360, and you still can't search. This isn't really a deal breaker for me, but would be nice. I'm thinking they will add this in the future at some point. Just load up while you're on the PC, and you'll be set.

Be aware that a handful movies do come and go (most stay) from the instant queue availability . When you go to your instant queue on PC, it will mention that it is available until MM/DD/YYYY to the right of the title if it is going to disappear soon. They usually give about a month or so advance? I think it also tells you on the 360, but you have to have the title selected.

[Flippy8490]

Yep you can. I do it all the time on my 360, and I have the 8.99 plan.
It's pretty sweet.

[josemp81]

Netflix streaming on Xbox 360 is better and faster than streaming on the PS3(need a disc). If you log on to your netflix account on the computer you can add and browse more movies. than What show up on Xbox and PS3 the searching on the consoles is very limited but as you rate things and watch different things it will "learn" what you like and suggest more things you might like. It's mostly independent films and documentary not much "blockbuster" movies. plus it free for two weeks so just try it. if you hook up directly to a the wall and have a good connection HD is HD if you are wireless that might suffer.
also bluray movies are $2 more a month

[mnbren05]

In terms of online viewing Netflix has a little bit to interest me. When I first started I watched probably a good 15 series, plus 4-5 movies. After that I got more selective and still over the next couple months watched anything that seemed interesting. Now I log onto their and see a ton of old/indie crap I cannot stand. So my Roku is sitting by my tv gathering dust, haven't used my xbox 360 netflix in awhile and I recently watched Black Hawk Down to test my PS3's disc service. My overall grade of Netflix streaming is a C. Just doing enough to get by, and they really don't have any online comp. so it looks even better.

Now I read that Netflix is actually going to stop shipping movies out on their release date. They plan to postpone them from 4-6 weeks off their original releases. This is meant to save them millions in expenses for buying new releases when they are most expensive. The article on yahoo news said that they will invest the money saved into improving the serivce and expanding the online service. Frankly I think they should, as a 4 at a time subscriber it would be nice to have a decent selection instead of having to decide between McMillian and Wife or McLeod's Daughters.

[FantasiaWHT]

So if I put a ton of anime on my queue, might the anime category pop back up on 360?

[GOLDEN KEYS]

It depends on what kind of movies you watch. If you limit yourself to all new releases and big blockbusters you are up for a big disappoinment.

If you a good mix of movies, old and new, comedies, foreign, cult classics then you are in for a real treat. They recently added a good chunk of Criterion-only releases to the instant queue, for instance.

this pretty much sums it up. those who are only interested in big blockbuster titles will be disappointed but there are lots of great indie movies and documentaries to watch.

really, there is a pretty good selection of big hit movies and tv series, as well.

[eastbayarb]

I don't think it's fair to expect every single title that is available on disc to be available online. There are tens of thousands of disc titles and the space/bandwidth you would need to host them all wouldn't be cost effective for Netflix at all. I am pretty happy with the titles online.