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Wow, Netflix is definitely not what I expected when I signed up - Page 3

post #61 of 101
3/6/12 at 12:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Why the 320? Why not the 220 for $40 less and no slot or blue glowy light thing?

You can connect to playon, but it will transcode everything but mkv and mpeg, so I wouldn't count on a lot of high quality file streaming.

There is no quality indicator like on the PS3.

Thanks. Yeah, I was just comparing the 320 to the 220 to see if it was worth the extra money to me. It's not.

That sucks about the quality indicator. It would really help around here to help people debug issues if we knew what quality the person was getting.
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post #62 of 101
3/6/12 at 12:30pm
As far as I know, only the PS3 and Xbox ever had a quality indicator. (Well, there are players which have one which they display just before they start playback but can't display again). There may be other players which do which I haven't tried.
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post #63 of 101
3/6/12 at 2:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gremmy View Post

I mean, when I think of how I use cable, I basically do a lot of flipping around looking for something -- anything -- worth watching and I rarely, if ever, find it. When I do find something interesting, it's halfway over. And let's be real here: most of the stuff on basic cable is low quality BS.

With Netflix, everything starts when I am READY for it to start and not a moment sooner.

Ever hear of a DVR?
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post #64 of 101
3/6/12 at 2:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles R View Post

Ever hear of a DVR?

Hilarious, who watches live TV?
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post #65 of 101
3/6/12 at 4:09pm
The problem with a DVR is that you first have to find something to record, you then have to set it up to record, you then have to wait for it to air, and then you can sit down and watch it provided it recorded correctly.

Why not just find something and watch it? Much easier.
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post #66 of 101
3/6/12 at 5:33pm
Roger Ebert: "I'm Told Netflix Has Largely Stopped Buying Streaming Rights to Indie Films"

Anymore info on this? Could be another major loss for streaming.

Netflix can be a great deal or a waste of money depending on the person. It seems whatever I'm interested in is usually only available on disc. You never know what shows will be available or how long you will have to wait to stream them. Lately my gf has been buying sd shows from amazon for 1.99 that we can't get on the basics with our htpc dvr. We have amazon prime, netflix , and hulu. Most of the time we are using a disc or paying for a streamed rental. My gf is the one that mostly uses netflix but even she is starting to question the value of it because they are running out of things that we want to see.
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post #67 of 101
3/6/12 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taperwood View Post

The problem with a DVR is that you first have to find something to record, you then have to set it up to record, you then have to wait for it to air, and then you can sit down and watch it provided it recorded correctly.

  • The DVR finds what you want to watch not you.
  • A Season Pass does the recordings not you.
  • It's hard to watch anything before it airs (long before it ever shows up anywhere else such as streaming).
  • In over a decade I can't remember a recording the DVR has missed.
Quote:


Why not just find something and watch it? Much easier.

Have you used a DVR? A few dozen season passes and Live TV doesn't exist. Even if you want to watch Live you don't... you commercial delay it and catch up to live at the end. Not to mention you save roughly 1/3 of your viewing time.
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post #68 of 101
3/7/12 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
I have to say after my initial disappointment, I'm starting to warm up to the service. It's still not anywhere near what I expected or wanted, but I am finding some movies that I can't seem to find on any of the movie channels. The movie "Restraint" was suggested to me and I had heard of it before, but I didn't plan on watching it. I decided to check it out and it was pretty good. That and the female lead Theresa Palmer has an UNBELIEVABLE body on her!

What still confuses me is how they select what gets chosen for streaming and what doesn't. Back in the beginning of the thread someone suggested it's a "clearing house" of titles that wouldn't make money any more. If that's true, why is it I am struggling to find a lot of movies from the 80's and 90's, but can find new stuff that just came out in the last couple of years?
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post #69 of 101
3/7/12 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Imp View Post

Back in the beginning of the thread someone suggested it's a "clearing house" of titles that wouldn't make money any more. If that's true, why is it I am struggling to find a lot of movies from the 80's and 90's, but can find new stuff that just came out in the last couple of years?

That's just my opinion based on the vast number of crap titles. Why the studios don't sell Netflix the rights to the kind of stuff you're looking for is anybody's guess. I imagine someday they will.

All that being said, I've been with Netflix from the beginning (except when I dropped them briefly after the infamous price hike) and still have plenty of great stuff in my queue that I can't find anywhere else. Given the thousands of hours I've watched for very little money, I think it's a great value. But getting back to your original point, it's no replacement for pay tv by a long shot. It is a great supplement however, and vastly superior to its competitors (amazon, etc.). I think a combination of Netflix and Redbox is the best of both worlds. I still long for the good old days of Netflix combined disc/streaming service. If that still existed in it's original form (common queue and lower price), I'd have no reason to use Redbox.
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post #70 of 101
3/7/12 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Imp View Post

What still confuses me is how they select what gets chosen for streaming and what doesn't.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Why the studios don't sell Netflix the rights to the kind of stuff you're looking for is anybody's guess.

Unlike disc, streaming is obtained via a license for any given title. No license, no stream. Disc are covered by the First Sale Doctrine, if it is available for retail sale then a rental outlet can purchase the disc and turn around and rent it.

For licensed content Netflix has to compete with all the other program providers (HBO, Showtime, USA, Turner, etc). Many of those has exclusive deals with the content providers therefore a good number of A titles are not available to be licensed.

Until Netflix has a substantial price increase for streaming do not expect a lot of top tier moves or recent TV programs.

I do find it interesting that Netflix now appears willing to get into bed with the cable folks: Report: Netflix in Talks With Cable Operators
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post #71 of 101
3/7/12 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland View Post

For licensed content Netflix has to compete with all the other program providers (HBO, Showtime, USA, Turner, etc). Many of those has exclusive deals with the content providers therefore a good number of A titles are not available to be licensed.

Until Netflix has a substantial price increase for streaming do not expect a lot of top tier moves or recent TV programs.

They've fielded a few relatively recent-release-to-disc top tier titles like True Grit and Limitless. I can't imagine that those weren't also offered by a premium subscription cable service.
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post #72 of 101
3/7/12 at 3:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulpa View Post

Wow, I thought I was the only one on this side of the pond that watched Peep Show (I watched on Hulu, though.)

I have a love/hate relationship with that series. I think it's hysterical, but there are times that I think it gets a little too dark. As in, "I'm going to hell for laughing at this, I know it." The part where Mark thinks he may be gay and starts watching gay porn is wonderfully f'ed up.

Lol, my favourite episode is where Jez starts eating the dog. "Mummy, you ate Mummy"?!!
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post #73 of 101
3/7/12 at 3:35pm
The other great thing about Netflix is I'm having a hard time remembering the last time I wathced an ad, I think it was during superbowl
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post #74 of 101
3/7/12 at 8:18pm
It's nice that you are finding something worthwhile other than the narrow universe of heavily marketed big Hollywood films. I'm not bashing Hollywood, but I believe it would rather nobody knew just how much content is actually out there from around the world and that some of it is quite good.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Imp View Post

I have to say after my initial disappointment, I'm starting to warm up to the service.
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post #75 of 101
3/8/12 at 7:12am
I refuse to pay for cable or iptv services! I use over the air hd antenna for local stations and netflix for everything else and I'm quite happy. Don't expect the latest and greatest to be on netflix I don't mind waiting a year to see a movie that came out now or a season of tv shows that come out a few months to a year after the air date to watch. This said if you are the type of person that must be on a bandwagon and want everything new then netflix will not be a good choice for you.
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post #76 of 101
3/8/12 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by B7k View Post

This said if you are the type of person that must be on a bandwagon and want everything new then netflix will not be a good choice for you.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's being on a bandwagon. Some people would be willing to pay a bit more to see newer stuff.

Honestly, it's no more expensive than renting videos used to be, and you don't have to leave your house.
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post #77 of 101
3/8/12 at 12:18pm
When I lived in Seattle in the 1970s I almost saw NO Hollywood movies because of the Seven Gables Chain and a few other movie houses that mainly played foreign and independent films. They were excellent films that didn't disrespect the intelligence of the audience. I don't know how many screen writers articles I've read where they like to state that Hollywood execs take a dim view of the intelligence of American audiences.
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post #78 of 101
3/8/12 at 12:52pm
Many of those shallow Hollywood productions can be greatly amusing diversions .
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post #79 of 101
3/12/12 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Imp View Post

Call me a noob, call me uninformed, call me anything you want. I probably deserve it for going in with such high expectations.

When I decided to finally get Netflix (for the streaming aspect) and drop most of my movie channels, I did so under the impression that I would be able to find almost any movie I want. What a shock it was when I started searching for a bunch of titles I wanted to see and almost nothing came back as being available.

I finally decided I wanted to see all of the Resident Evil movies because it's a pain to try and find them on regular movie channels so I can see them in order. Nothing! The only one that was available was the animated one which I didn't care about.

How about the Harry Potter series? They have to have that, right? Wrong! Not a single one was available. Are you kidding me?

Then I went through a list I compiled of over 20 movies that I either wanted to see for the first time or watch again from my past. I think maybe 4 showed up as being available to view.

I honestly thought that almost everything would be available for streaming just like it is for a physical copy.

Am I missing something here or is their streaming list really limited?

That's why I have both streaming and 2 Blu-rays out at a time. At $15, I'm still paying 25% of what DirecTV or Time Warner charge for replaying HBO movies over and over again that I don't want to watch.

Many more new releases are available via Blu-ray via the mail than via poorer quality via streaming.
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post #80 of 101
3/12/12 at 5:50pm
$15? Were you grandfathered in at that price?
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post #81 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulpa View Post

I remembered the other reason I prefer VUDU over Netflix. I don't have a PS3, Roku 2, Panasonic BD player, or an Apple TV, so I'm limited to stereo streams on Netflix. VUDU gives me DD+.

Does that mean you use VUDU on your home PC as a Home Theater PC?
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post #82 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:12pm
+1

How did you get that $22 plan for $15?
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post #83 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by [Irishman] View Post

Does that mean you use VUDU on your home PC as a Home Theater PC?

No. My blu-ray player has the VUDU app and outputs DD+. Netflix on the same device is DD 2.0.
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post #84 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulpa View Post

$15? Were you grandfathered in at that price?

Well, it could be $16. I meant within a dollar or so, it's still a deal compared to cable or satellite, and the combination of streaming and by mail gets me and my family pretty much all we want to see.

I take that back! My wife loves the Chris Hemsworth and when she saw Thor was available on iTunes on the ATV, she had to watch it, so we watched it that way.
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post #85 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

+1

How did you get that $22 plan for $15?

We certainly don't pay $22 for it, but we were subscribers for about a year before the price increase.
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post #86 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by [Irishman] View Post

Well, it could be $16. I meant within a dollar or so, it's still a deal compared to cable or satellite, and the combination of streaming and by mail gets me and my family pretty much all we want to see.

$16 is a stupendous deal considering streaming is $8, a one disc plan is an additional $8, and blu-ray adds a $2 premium. And you get streaming and two BD discs for $16? Again, were you grandfathered into that before the price shot up?
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post #87 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:24pm
There was no grandfathered pricing that plan is $22 a month.
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post #88 of 101
3/12/12 at 6:27pm
Maybe his wife is hiding the additional $6.
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post #89 of 101
3/13/12 at 5:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulpa View Post

Maybe his wife is hiding the additional $6.

Maybe.

She is quite clever with money!
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post #90 of 101
3/13/12 at 11:20am
Well, Roger Ebert may be right. Usually on Monday and certainly by Tuesday there are a host of new titles in the New Arrivals section and as of today it's pretty much unchanged from last week. That would be sad, not to mention boring.
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