Netflix Streaming Only Plans?!

[DavidStein]

[quote=”Lothar”]
[quote=”Ugadata”]
I just heard this morning that Apple may be looking to purchase Netflix,  has anyone else ran across this news?
[/quote]

I’d heard this rumor a couple of times also recently.  I don’t know how legitimate it might be though.  I’m not holding my breath.
[/quote]

[url=http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2009/11/should-apple-buy-netflix-revisited.html]I’m under the impression that its more analysts saying that netflix would be a good purchase for apple[/url], combined with Jobs recently saying in an analyst-centric conference call that they are sitting on their 50 billion in cash in case a good acquisition opportunity opens up more than an actual rumor coming from apple.

[jbachman2]

@Lothar – I use http://instantwatcher.com/ to find movies and shows to watch on Netflix streaming.

[htpc_user]

I just started using Netflix on the PS3 in the bedroom since it no longer requires a disc.  I am impressed with how instantly it starts playing on the PS3…just a matter of seconds.  Compared to in Media Center where it takes a couple of minutes for me.  However, on the flip side, while trying to watch The Munsters this afternoon, the PS3 stream stopped several times and said “retrieving”.  Maybe it was because I’m using wireless; I don’t know.  I know that I’m not going to get an HD stream with a 768k connection, but it looks rather good.  Some shows look good that is.  The Munsters looked about what I’d expect watching it on an SD satellite channel.  But I tried watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series) just as a test on the PS3 and it looked absolutely horrible.  It was so blocky I couldn’t tell what was going on.

Something else…while reading on the internet the other day I saw where someone said that streaming an SD feed on the PS3 from Netflix forced the output to 480i instead of scaling it to 1080p.  But I hit the “Info” button on my TV while watching The Munsters, and it displayed 1920 x 1080.  Has this been an updated feature or was that guy just wrong to begin with?

[Mike Garcen]

[quote=”jbachman2″]

@Lothar – I use http://instantwatcher.com/ to find movies and shows to watch on Netflix streaming.
[/quote]

Not sure how i missed that site before. fantastic!!

[Meester.Rip]

I just spent about an hour over there. Great find.

My Netflix guide takes a second or two to load on Media Center but after that everything fires up as quick as any other streaming site. I’d strongly suggest going wired.

[htpc_user]

[quote=”Meester.Rip”]
I just spent about an hour over there. Great find.

My Netflix guide takes a second or two to load on Media Center but after that everything fires up as quick as any other streaming site. I’d strongly suggest going wired.
[/quote]

But how long does it take for the movie to start playing in Media Center (or the PC in general)?  Mine has to go through the testing connection, which usually doesn’t take that long, and then it has to go through the buffering, which does take several minutes.  The PS3 doesn’t seem to do any buffering at the beginning because when I push play, it says “retrieving”, and it only takes a few seconds before I’m actually watching the movie.

[jennyfur]

I’m far too impatient to be waiting several minutes for something to load/buffer. I can’t imagine how you’ve done it all this time! Thankfully Netflix starts movies in a few seconds for me (using xbox, the plugins I was using through the extender just weren’t as good).

[robinhoody]

that instant watcher site is awesome, nice find.  I had a crappy connection about 2 months ago and I can see a huge speed different for how fast the titles load in media center netflix.  With a slower connection mine would buffer occasionally, take longer to load in media center etc.  Netflix must pull a ton of data in media center when loading up.  I wonder why they don’t cache the titles on the HDD?  It is a PC with generally adequate amounts of space generally. 

[Meester.Rip]

[quote=”htpc_user”]
But how long does it take for the movie to start playing in Media Center (or the PC in general)?  Mine has to go through the testing connection, which usually doesn’t take that long, and then it has to go through the buffering, which does take several minutes.  The PS3 doesn’t seem to do any buffering at the beginning because when I push play, it says “retrieving”, and it only takes a few seconds before I’m actually watching the movie.
[/quote]

When the testing connection screen pops up the progress bar fills up in about a second, then a I get a blue circle made of dots that grow as the movie buffers for about 3 seconds and the movie starts playing. It takes about as much time to start as it takes to load an ISO from my WHS and start playing it.

I am on Comcast 10Mbps cable. Now six months ago I would have said it was a slower experience but that was mainly an issue with the title browser. But it is all very acceptable now.

[Lothar]

[quote=”htpc_user”]
But how long does it take for the movie to start playing in Media Center (or the PC in general)?  Mine has to go through the testing connection, which usually doesn’t take that long, and then it has to go through the buffering, which does take several minutes.  The PS3 doesn’t seem to do any buffering at the beginning because when I push play, it says “retrieving”, and it only takes a few seconds before I’m actually watching the movie.
[/quote]

I stream via Netflix’s website.  I get the testing connection screen for a couple seconds then buffering for maybe half a minute (I’ll try to check that this evening) before the movie starts.  And I’m on a ~1.5Mbps connection.  Not super-highspeed.

[Meester.Rip]

At work using Chrome as my browser it took 4 seconds from the time I clicked play to start the movie.

When I tethered my computer to my Sprint Phone with a 3g connection it took about 8-10 seconds to start.

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