Can I ask my fellow CAG's about thier 360/Netlix experience?

coltyhuxx

coltyhuxx

CAGiversary!
Im sure I missed the boat on this topic a while back, so bare with me.

What do you guys think about the experience, as a whole?

I have wireless and I'm wondering a few things. The router is about thirty feet from where my XBOX lives. Do they stream well? (On my PC, they were pretty glitchy, which is why I ask) How's the library, in your opinion? Are they adding a lot of flicks on the regular? And last, do I have to use my PC to d/load a queue or interact with the XBOX in any way? I'm really hoping that you can just use your XBOX, sans PC to watch what you like.

Any feedback to the above, or in general, would be appreciated.
 
I'm sure the netflix thread is out there still. Anyways, I don't have a wireless router so can't really know the quality. I'm connected through an Ethernet cable to a router and to be honest the quality is very good. I know some people were talking about how the HD quality isn't bad, but it is a little below TV quality. I think the HD is just as good as the TV quality. I can't speak about any high def discs as I didn't own an HD-DVD or owned Bluray, but I am sure it is not as good as that.

The standard videos aren't bad. I do find that their library is pretty big. I know they do add new items here and there but I am quite content. Don't expect to find the latest movie on their right away. That's where the DVD rentals come into play anyways. A lot of people I see complain about netflix aren't content with what they found on instant stream. You should remember that the instant stream is just an extra. You still have the DVDs shipped to you which have an awesome turn around.

You do have to use your PC to choose what movies you want on your instant queue. Though you don't really have to go back and forth much. I mean if you log in once and just look around for a while just add all the movies and tv shows you'd like to see along with movies you want shipped. Then on your Xbox you just choose which of the movies you want to see at that time. So, it isn't like you can only queue one movie each time you want to stream something.

Just remember, the instant streaming is an extra of having Netflix. You still have all the DVDs available from them as well.
 
[quote name='D4rkewolfe']I'm sure the netflix thread is out there still. Anyways, I don't have a wireless router so can't really know the quality. I'm connected through an Ethernet cable to a router and to be honest the quality is very good. I know some people were talking about how the HD quality isn't bad, but it is a little below TV quality. I think the HD is just as good as the TV quality. I can't speak about any high def discs as I didn't own an HD-DVD or owned Bluray, but I am sure it is not as good as that.

The standard videos aren't bad. I do find that their library is pretty big. I know they do add new items here and there but I am quite content. Don't expect to find the latest movie on their right away. That's where the DVD rentals come into play anyways. A lot of people I see complain about netflix aren't content with what they found on instant stream. You should remember that the instant stream is just an extra. You still have the DVDs shipped to you which have an awesome turn around.

You do have to use your PC to choose what movies you want on your instant queue. Though you don't really have to go back and forth much. I mean if you log in once and just look around for a while just add all the movies and tv shows you'd like to see along with movies you want shipped. Then on your Xbox you just choose which of the movies you want to see at that time. So, it isn't like you can only queue one movie each time you want to stream something.

Just remember, the instant streaming is an extra of having Netflix. You still have all the DVDs available from them as well.[/quote]


I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm connected by ethernet cable as well and agree completely. My wife and I dropped down from the $60 cable package to the $11 dollar one and, honestly, the only thing we miss is Dexter on Showtime. We watch more movies, both on the instant and through the mail rentals, than we ever have before. As for the instant cue, we have over 140 items on there. I've divided it up into sections: television (30 Rock, Heroes, Weeds, etc.), newer releases (Spiderman 3, Corpse Bride, Super Bad), wife movies (Inventing the Abbots, Groundhog's day, etc.), Hitchcock (Strangers on a train, Birds, Psycho, Vertigo, etc.), anime (few of these), and childrens (crap ton of stuff my kids want to watch such as Ant Bully, Surf's up, Ratitoullie, Enchanted, Bridge to terabithia, Inspector gaget complet 1st season (AWESOME), etc.).

The worst part about the netflix experience for me is that the xbox is always on and it seems like I get less play time than before. I need to get another one!
 
I stream mine across the house with pretty good results. I have a Linksys 802.11g router upstairs near my pc. My xbox 360 is down 2 floors in my living room. I am using hacked firmware (Tomato) to boost the signal and I seem to be able to get the best quality most of the time. When you turn netflix on and start a movie it will give you a quality based on 1-4 bars. If you get 4 bars it looks to be around dvd quality on an HD TV. If you get 1 or 2 bars it can look pretty pixelated. Basically at 1 bar I don't even want to watch it because it is so bad. It's kind of like having grease smeared on your screen. It really depends on what you are watching though. One bar is actually not too bad for low res cartoons and such. Overall I am pretty satisfied. I especially like the History channel documentaries since I don't have cable available at my house.
 
i use a buffalo wireless receiver for mine and share my internet with 3 other roommates and most of the time my streaming quality is excellent.

they still don't have a ton of movies for instant streaming but more get added weekly and they have a pretty good selection as it is. they do have about every dvd ever made for mailing though.

i couldnt imagine my xbox without netflix. i hardly even play games anymore.
 
I bring the Xbox upstairs for movie night and I have had no problems with my connection. I have a belkin wireless N router and I have only had one movie stream at 3 bars. All the rest are 4 bars. The service is well worth the money in my opinion.
 
I had Lynksys router... Wireless G and was haveing alot of connection drops esp during HD movies.. finaly bit the bullet and got a Wireless N that BB was selling a few dollars cheaper then NewEgg. A Dlink Wireless N Extreme... and i couldnt be happyer i NEVER connect less then 4 bars now... and NEVER have quality drops during movies.. very happy with it.
 
It's not available in Canada.

I love Netflix. I was the type of guy who rarely watched movies due to the cost. In my first month of Netflix, I watched 40 or so. I can choose from 12,000+ movies and TV shows to watch instantly, and over 100,000 to have sent to me on DVD (one at a time) for just $8.99 a month. That's maybe 2 rentals at a regular video store.

I have over 300 items in my instant queue right now, and they're adding new stuff weekly (though removing a few things as well; it's a fair trade off). The stuff they remove is mostly from the Starz Play section, which features movies playing on- you guessed it- the Starz family of networks. Networks which you would have to pay to add to your cable or satellite package.
 
There's a Netflix blog as well as hackingnetflix - both great sources of info. I've learned from them that the reason why some movies pop in and out of availability on the Instant queue is due to license issues with specific distribution channels. Apparently if a movie is slated to appear on broadcast TV, that is considered a competing medium to NF Instant, and therefore it disappears for a while. Go figure - the broadcast muckety mucks are actually threatened by NF - hoo AH!

Anyway, NF / 360 combo works pretty well for me - the wireless signal I have going from third floor to first is pretty darn fast - the limiting factor is the 4Mb/s DSL line - I usually only get 2 bars on the HD content, and 3 or 4 on the lower res stuff. It still looks good tho, even on the TV downstairs - I'm just hoping that if I ever upgrade to FiOS 20Mb/s, the quality gets pegged to 4 bars all the time.

btw - you have to use your PC to add to your instant queue - don't know if that was mentioned before, but since you specifically asked about that, yeah, you can't just rely solely on the 360 - need to use the PC to add stuff, but once its in the queue, you can browse your queue on the 360. Also, you have to have XBL Gold... a Silver account isn't good enough (which kinda ticks me off, seeing as how it's free with every other device out there - LG TV, TiVo, PC, Mac, etc).
 
couple of noob questions here:

- when you stream on the 360 (HD or SD), do you get stuff in 5.1 sound?
- when you stream, do you have access to any bonus features? Not a deal-killer, but I do like to listen to DVD commentary tracks while I'm washing dishes and stuff.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']couple of noob questions here:

- when you stream on the 360 (HD or SD), do you get stuff in 5.1 sound?
- when you stream, do you have access to any bonus features? Not a deal-killer, but I do like to listen to DVD commentary tracks while I'm washing dishes and stuff.[/quote]

I beleive the sounds is stereo only and there are no bonus features that I have noticed.
 
IMO for 8 bucks a month is pretty worth it. You figure you pay more than that just to have movie channels for cable. And it has a nice selection a hit and miss on some titles but like I said its worth the 8 bucks. I have a Belkin N1 WiFi Router and the Offcial 360 Wireless adapter streams videos great with no problems or hiccups. Even does good when im downloading a couple torrents
 
[quote name='Dingleberry']I beleive the sounds is stereo only and there are no bonus features that I have noticed.[/QUOTE]stereo, huh? that kinda kills it for me. oh well!
 
It's pretty sweet, but the Instant Watch selection is kind of limited. If you don't plan on renting the physical DVD's, it's barely worth it.
 
I'm also connected through an ethernet cable so streaming videos usually run smoothly. I have experienced unusually slow connections, but that might just be my internet acting up. They have a fair selection of movies, most of them are older titles, but they do add newer ones each week. I think it's worth the $8
 
Everyone else pretty much has said it all, but don't forget you can stream them to your laptop or CPU. I watch some stuff at work and finish them up at home.
 
I love it. The 360 is quite the little media box. I stream Netflix to the Xbox using an ethernet cable - I have FIOS - and the connection speed is blazing fast. I always get 4 bars and the quality is pretty good. I also love that there aren't any formatting issues - if the movie is 16:9 it appears that way on my TV. I also use the 360 to stream video from my computer (which is usually sitting on my dining room table) and I've never once got a buffering message or anything - it's as if the file is stored locally on the 360 HD - it's amazing!
 
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