So, now that the Wii offers Netflix without a disc, we broke down and went for the free trial to see how the streaming works.
After a week of using Instant Netflix, we’re hooked. So hooked, in fact, that I’m considering ditching the cable television subscription in favor of using Netflix and streaming media over broadband to replace television.
Here’s my idea:
Since the Wii doesn’t offer a lot of streaming media options, I’m thinking about laying out the cash for an XBox 360, since this gives me access to ESPN3 and Netflix (and eventually Hulu if we want it.)
Based on my calculations (which include amortizing the cost of the XBox over three years and the XBox Live subscription over 12 months) we would save about $40 to $50 compared to what we’re spending now for cable Internet and a DVR with extended cable.
Netflix seems to offer most of what we need on Instant, although there are a couple of the Kid’s shows that we’d have to find alternatives for (mainly Yo Gabba Gabba! and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.) The wife and I watch a lot of Travel Channel, TLC and BBC America.
If I do this, I’ll probably try to round up a couple of cheap digital antenna boxes so we can get over-the-air TV for local news and weather (and to make sure we still have access to Kentucky games on CBS and the BBSN.)
Anyone tried going Internet-only and dropping their cable television service?
Sure, it’s the only way I’ve ever done things. Before all this streaming stuff was available, I used regular Netflix for movies and surfed the internet for my mindless entertainment. Now that everything streams… I don’t know why anybody DOES keep their cable.
Life without commercials is a beautiful, blessed thing. My husband uses the antenna to watch football games on the weekends sometimes, and we can hardly stand the advertising.
We did it, as I’ve said in a lot of these threads - we have a little media computer we watch everything through. We also have a Wii and our Blu-Ray player hooks up to Netflix and blah blah blah, but we like the versatility of the computer. We have a wireless keyboard with built in trackball, so we don’t have to keep track of a bunch of crap to go with it (a previous problem we had with the computer option.) Himself works in video, so it’s good for him to be able to upload and download his stuff that way, and we can get Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix with the same functionality of any device. We love it - never have a single problem with it.
Quick question to the OP - do you do the Wii wirelessly or wired? I ask because I’m about to get a router for my SO’s mom to stream, but if it doesn’t work out with the Wii there’s no reason to have a router at all.
Wireless over the network from the router upstairs. The only time I’ve had any problems with the Netflix stream, it was because of problems with the modem, not the Wii.
Here’s one dilemma that pushes me toward the XBox idea over an HTPC: my 57-inch Toshiba HDTV is several years old (bought used) and doesn’t have an HDMI input, so I have to use component inputs. That complicates matters slightly when it comes to choosing hardware.
If you don’t really want the Xbox, just mostly the streaming capability, take a look at a Roku. I bought one for $70 a few months ago, and compared to my friends’ Wii, direct connect TVs and blu-ray systems that will connect to Netflix, the Roku has much better search options (inside Netflix) and a much wider range of channels to pick from.
I did it about 3 years ago. Hooked up the computer to the flatscreen in the living room, added wireless keyboard and mouse that live on the coffee table, and haven’t looked back.
An interesting concept, but judging by the channels they advertise on the website, not going to satisfy a lot of our needs. Although the potential for watching MLB.tv on the big screen would be nice.
I did this for 3 years as a grad student, and was more than happy with it. My house paid about $9/mo for the local networks (we could have plucked them out of the air for free I suppose but we got them piped in instead) and ~$50 a month for cable internet. We did Netflix 3-at-a-time so there were always tons of movies to watch, and of course Watch Instantly was great.
I will warn you that you’ll burn through the really good stuff on instant Netflix quicker than you think, so working out a way to get the internet on your TV would be great.
wheresmymind, if you really commit to searching for instant stuff (and rating as many movies as possible) there is an absolute metric TON of good stuff. I currently have more in my instant folder than in my DVD folder.
Yeah, there’s definitely tons of good stuff on there, but I remember when I first started watching instantly ~3 years ago there seemed to be an unlimited cornucopia of awesome content, I couldn’t swing my mouse without hitting something that interested me. Now I definitely have to look a little harder for things I want to watch. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it and use it every day, but I’m starting to notice the large amount of crap on there a lot more.
You’re totally right about rating movies, every once in a while I’ll take the time to rate as much stuff as I can find and I’m always rewarded with new/better recommendations.
Actually, now that I look at it my instant queue is longer than my DVD one as well, but that’s largely due to a ridiculous number of MST3K episodes
Spending 18 months in Iraq broke me of my television habit. I haven’t had cable since. I don’t regret it at all. I watch everything on netflix and the cable sites. That reminds me…I’ve got some Glee and House to watch.
My wife and I decided this past weekend to cancel our cable. I simply can’t justify the $75 a month for something we rarely use anymore. I was thinking about looking into Netflix’ streaming service and, at $8.95 per month, the price is right.
The question I have is what would I be missing if I did this? Does Netflix have current programming. There are shows such as Fringe that I watch. Will I have access to it on Netflix? Perhaps I’m jumping the gun. I guess I should first ask, does Netflix stream TV shows at all, shouldn’t I?
I’m not in the least interested in dealing with Netflix’ mail service, and setting up queue’s, and dealing with physical tapes or DVDs or whatever the heck they use. That’s just too much for me to keep up with. I just want to turn on my TV, turn on my Wii, and watch whatever programs I’m interested in, akin to a Hulu scenario. Does Netflix work this way?
Sounds like you need a Roku box. On a new Roku box for $60-100 depending on model, you can stream Netflix Instant directly to your TV. I’m still waiting on getting one since the SO’s credit card reward program has them, but they’re currently out of stock. Hulu is coming to the Roku box soon here. You can stream most of your shows through it for an extremely reasonable $10/month. Until then, watch the shows you normally watch on Hulu or the company’s cable website itself.
ETA: Netflix does have TV shows to stream instantly, but they are always shows that have already been released on DVD. For example, I’m (re)watching some old Parks & Recreation. Most of season 1 and 2 are on Instant, but Season 3 is not because it has not yet been released onto DVD. But on the Hulu site, there are many episodes of season 3’s Parks and Rec available for viewing.
Question for anyone who’s tried this using PlayOn and a video game console: how well does PlayOn work? I’m interested in using it to get streaming Web video to the TV, but I’d like to know how difficult it is to use.
This is likely to be complicated by the fact that networking with my copy of Vista on the desktop appears to be screwed up a bit, because I can’t get a Win7 laptop to talk to my printer connected to the Vista machine.
In my household, we watch a fair amount of live sports; college basketball primarily, but also baseball and football. Sports is at least 60% of our TV viewing.
Is that a possibility with the streaming/internet stuff or is this mainly an option for folks you only want pre-recorded shows and movies?
