Netflix users, we are getting a new free feature phased in.

[What_Exit]

I found this on PC Mag news update today. NetFlix is rolling out a new feature.

Netflix is now rolling out a feature that lets users stream videos on their PCs (sorry, no Mac support!) The feature is free to Netflix subscribers, and you’ll know you’ve been upgraded when you see a “Watch Now” tab on the Netflix interface. Here’s what Netflix says about the download limits:

Watching movies instantly on your PC is limited by viewing time each month. The limit is based on your plan size. For each $1 of monthly plan cost (excluding taxes), 1 hour of instant watching is included. For example, if you are on our 3 at-a-time (unlimited) plan, you pay $17.99 a month, and you have 18 hours of instant viewing

I will be looking for that new tab when I get home.

Jim

[guppy]

Good, maybe now I can watch the first disk of Battlestar Galactica that I’ve been waiting to get for 3 months now.

[interface2x]

Wow, that’s really cool. I’ll have to check out how this thing works.

[What_Exit]

I just checked, I do not have the magic new tab yet.

[melondeca]

If you go to the Your Account section, you will see a link that says How can I watch movies instantly on my PC?

Clicking on that will let you know that this feature will not be available until June of this year.

[neutron_star]

Netflix! Damn! I kind of forgot about Netflix. Damn!

I just realized that I have had the same three movies for a FULL YEAR now! I guess that means I paid $240 for rental charges on movies that I still have to return (assuming I can find them). :smack:

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

So those of us who are Mac users and thus do not get this service, and/or who couldn’t realistically use it anyway because we have dialup connections, get a rebate, right? I’ll start holding my breath…now.

[norinew]

I’m pretty sure this is in response to the Blockbuster Total Access Plan (which I have, and it rocks!)

I was wondering how Netflix was going to go up against that.

[iamthewalrus_3]

@melondeca

If you go to the Your Account section, you will see a link that says How can I watch movies instantly on my PC?

Clicking on that will let you know that this feature will not be available until June of this year.

It let me know that I could watch movies right now. They’re rolling it out to some subset of their users; I guess I got lucky. I’ll try it out tonight and let you know if it’s any good. So far, the selection looks small, but diverse. There are several movies in my queue on there, so this will be great for the inevitable weekend movie binge when I watch all three by Sunday night and have to wait until Wednesday to get more.

@Biffy the Elephant Shrew

So those of us who are Mac users and thus do not get this service, and/or who couldn’t realistically use it anyway because we have dialup connections, get a rebate, right? I’ll start holding my breath…now.

If you were happy with your service before, why would this change things?

[Musicat]

@melondeca

If you go to the Your Account section, you will see a link that says How can I watch movies instantly on my PC?

Clicking on that will let you know that this feature will not be available until June of this year.

Mine says I have it now, but the particular computer I am using won’t work, since it isn’t XP:

To watch instantly, you need a computer with the following configuration:

Minimum Requirements
Computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, or Windows Vista
Internet Explorer version 6 or higher
Windows Media Player version 9 or higher
An active broadband connection to the Internet
1.0 GHz processor
512 MB RAM
3 GB free hard disk drive space
Recommended in addition to minimum requirements
An active broadband Internet connection of at least 1.5 Mbps
1.5 GHz processor
1 GB RAM

I’m going to try it with a newer computer in the next room where I’ve got bandwidth and RAM to spare.

[melondeca]

@iamthewalrus(:3=

It let me know that I could watch movies right now. They’re rolling it out to some subset of their users; I guess I got lucky. I’ll try it out tonight and let you know if it’s any good. So far, the selection looks small, but diverse. There are several movies in my queue on there, so this will be great for the inevitable weekend movie binge when I watch all three by Sunday night and have to wait until Wednesday to get more.

Damn elitist Netflix! Who do I have to blow to get this feature now?

[levdrakon]

Bleh. It’s streaming video and streaming video usually isn’t very good. You need sustained 3-4Mbps downstream to get nice DVD quality video and a lot of broadband users don’t have that.

Also, it uses Windows DRM, which means Macs & Linux may never be able to take advantage of it.

I’m more excited about downloadable TV. No, not iTunes. BitTorrent, and the Bittorrent client app, Azureus, are both in negotiations now to use their technologies to distribute TV & movies legally.

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

@iamthewalrus(:3=

If you were happy with your service before, why would this change things?

Because it’s not fair that other people who pay the same price that I do will now get an extra service that I can’t get. It’s not a big deal, but it does irk me slightly.

[Musicat]

It works on my XP SP2 computer. It has specifications equal to or far greater than the “recommended” level of requirements, yet Netflix claims all I can get is “basic” service, one bar of three.

I tried watching a video, and I would rate it “not acceptable”. The video quality, at near-full screen (the widescreen movie I tried didn’t fill the top & bottom of the screen), was substandard. But then, I am picky.

I did a speed test and got 5Mb/sec download, just what I expected, and 3 times what Netflix wants, yet they call it basic.

Forget it. I’ll wait for the next breakthrough.

[Musicat]

@levdrakon

Bleh. It’s streaming video and streaming video usually isn’t very good. You need sustained 3-4Mbps downstream to get nice DVD quality video and a lot of broadband users don’t have that.

I second your “Bleh”. But I have 5Mbs down (verified thru tests) and it’s still not too good, because Netflix doesn’t seem to recognize the speed. I’ve sent a message to their tech support.

Does anyone know if their entire DVD inventory is available thru this service?

[What_Exit]

@melondeca

If you go to the Your Account section, you will see a link that says How can I watch movies instantly on my PC?

Clicking on that will let you know that this feature will not be available until June of this year.

This is why I love the Dope so much. I followed your instructions and we are eligible. I will have to try it out tomorrow or maybe later tonight.

It looks like the selection so far is limited and without search, but my wife and I are experimenting. I will report back.

Jim

[Santos_L_Halper]

Here’s the full article.

@Musicat

Does anyone know if their entire DVD inventory is available thru this service?

Appearantly it’s only about one thousand movies right now. They’re supposed to be adding more over time.

[What_Exit]

@Santos L Halper

Here’s the full article.

Appearantly it’s only about one thousand movies right now. They’re supposed to be adding more over time.

The selection so far is not great. For fans of the Tom Baker Dr. Who, I saw a bunch of them so far. My kids like the new series, and Baker was the only Doctor I use to like, so I might try one of these first.

Here is there top rated selections: I grabbed the top 105, no formatting.
Coupling: Season 3 (2002); Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (1980); Ninja Scroll (1995); America: Freedom to Fascism (2006); Ballykissangel: Series 2 (1997); The Breakfast Club (1985); The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); Desk Set (1957); Harvey (1950); Nayak (1966); Oliver! (1968); The World’s Fastest Indian (2005); The Big City (1963); Bill Engvall: Here’s Your Sign (2004); Chinatown (1974); City of Men (2003); The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951); The Evil Dead (1982); Ghost in the Shell (1995); Horse Feathers (1932); Joi Baba Felunath (1978); Kapurush (1965); Lover Come Back (1961); Mahapurush (1965); Monkey Business (1931); The Motorcycle Diaries (2004); Ron White: They Call Me “Tater Salad” (2004); Street Fight (2005); The Thrill of It All! (1963); The Untouchables (1987);Valdez Is Coming (1970); Yanni Live: The Concert Event (2005); Zach Galifianakis: Live (2006); An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991); Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State (2005); The Bank Dick (1940); The Dick Van Dyke Show: Season 1 (1961); The Dick Van Dyke Show: Season 2 (1962); Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock (1977); Doctor Who: The City of Death (1966); Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive (1980); Doctor Who: The Mind Robber (1968); The Guns of Navarone (1961); Jaws (1975); Katt Williams: Live (2006); Little Britain: Series 1 (2003); Martin Chuzzlewit (1994); Pride and Prejudice (1980); To Hell and Back (1955); 84 Charing Cross Road (1986); All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); American Me (1992); Brian’s Song (1971); Bukowski: Born into This (2003); Campion: Dancers in Mourning (1990); Campion: Flowers for the Judge (1990); Campion: Mystery Mile (1990); Campion: Sweet Danger (1990); Cape Fear (1962); Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara (1978); Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric (1989); Doctor Who: The Green Death (1973); Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet (1978); Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (1978); The Endless Summer (1966); Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005); The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966); Hail the Conquering Hero (1944); The Jerk (1979); Just for Kicks (2005); The Land Before Time IX (2002); Larry the Cable Guy: Git-R-Done (2003); Lessons of Darkness (1995); Let’s Rock Again (2004); The Lost Weekend (1945); Middlemarch (1994); Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause (2003); Our Mutual Friend (1998); Ram Dass: Fierce Grace (2001); Run Lola Run (1998); Scratch (2002); Serial Killers: Real Life Hannibal Lecters (2001); The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974); 12 Monkeys (1995); Anastasia (1956); Appleseed (1988); Battlefield Britain (2004); Big Eden (2000); Born Into Brothels (2004); Campion: Look to the Lady (1989); Campion: The Case of the Late Pig (1989); Cape Fear (1991); Charley Varrick (1973); Cher: The Farewell Tour (2003); The City of Lost Children (1995); Coral Reef Adventure (2003); Doctor Who: Carnival of Monsters (1973); Doctor Who: Ghost Light (1989); Doctor Who: The Power of Kroll (1978); Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood (1978); Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries: Gaudy Night (1987); Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries: Strong Poison (1987); The Flight of the Phoenix (1965); Fried Green Tomatoes (1991); IFC’s Greg the Bunny: Series 1 (2005)

Actually after sorting this way, the selection is better than I thought by going by category.

Jim

[supervenusfreak]

I tried the new service tonight and found it to be quite compatible with my current system. The only thing I had to do was update my Windows Player, and then it worked very well.

[What_Exit]

It works great, a quick Media player upgrade and remembering how to get the sound on. (it is pumped through the stereo). I having it streaming fine over Comcast Cable Internet. Pumped out through DVI to my LCD panel TV.

We are watching the very funny Brit TV show Coupling.

Jim