I have the same problem. It’s still cheaper than returning a Blockbuster movie 2 days late, though.
It looks like there is an additional button near the “ADD” button that says “PLAY” if that movie is available for download. It would be nice if there were a check mark of some kind next to the queue listings. Since I didn’t see one, I clicked on each of the 55 movies in my queue. Only one was available for download, and it was the one first shown when I first tried the feature, so there must be some cross-checking between download list and queues.
I wonder what legal hoops Netflix needed to go thru to do this. Do they need an agreement with each DVD’s copyright holder? Or at least each distribution company?
There is also a company called Vongo that does downloads intead of discs. I have no idea what the video quality is but it’s another option for people.
An easier way to find out what movies in your queue are available online is in the Watch Now tab, there is a section, “From Your DVD Queue.”
I watched a movie last night/this morning and found the quality quite good. I don’t think I’ll be watching very many movies this way, though, since I have to sit in front of the computer screen for the whole thing rather than sprawled on the couch, but it’s still a nice option to have.
As an experiment, I added Real Genius to my Queue. I went back to the Watch Now tab and I still do not see a “From Your DVD Queue.” link.
Where on the screen did you see this link, I cannot find it? … Never mind
I just exited Netflix and then opened a new browser window and went back to the “Watch Now tab” and now it is right in the center.
Jim
I’m curious about something and this seems as good place to ask without starting a new thread.
When Netflix streams a video to its customers, what format is the video in, and how did they get it? I assume the video has to be on a hard drive someplace.
Does the studio send them a copy of the film in a streamable format, or does Netflix rip a DVD with the studio’s permission?
Isn’t breaking a DVD’s copyright protection against the law? Or can a studio give you a one-time permission to break DVD copyright protection?
Aaaaah…the fabled “first disk of season one”, right?
You’ve been waiting 3 months for the same reason we were waiting 3 months:
It doesn’t freaking exist. Some dimbulb at NetFlix entered its existence into the computer and somehow it got marked as being “out”. It’s a chimera, it’s a unicorn.
Seriously: the set of DVDs that constitute the first season are as follows:
Disk 1: the Miniseries
Disk 2: the first disk of the regular season following the miniseries
Disk 3: the second disk “” “” “” “” “” “”
Disk 4: the third disk " " “” " “” “” “” “”
Disk 5: the fourth disk “” " “” “” “” “” “”
there really and truly is no “Disk 1 of the regular season”. Netflix has the Miniseries listed separately (it’s the true Disk 1), and then has half the Netflixxing world awaiting their turn at Disk 1 of the regular series.
You’ll rot in hell and still never receive it.
AHunter3
Wow, that is a massive screw-up! That could potentially have a very big effect on the rate of new viewers coming on to the current episodes. Have you sent notice to Netflix about this? I bet SciFi would be interested to know as well.
Question for those of you already using the “watch now” feature: does anyone have their account set up for two queues on the same account? Only Mostly Dead set up our three-at-a-time plan to pull 2 from his queue and one from mine. Will we both be able to watch movies on the computer, or will it just be him, or will it be too confusing for Netflix to handle?
Meh. I’ll pass. I love Netflix (I’ve become a huge Alias fan thanks to Netflix) but watching videos on my computer is kind of a pain. Even with a 19" monitor, the picture isn’t really that big; certainly not big enough that I can sit in my recliner across the room and enjoy the show. (I’ve downloaded a couple of episodes of TV shows from iTunes, and ended up watching them sitting in my computer chair in front of the computer, which I didn’t really care for.) Plus, the quality of streaming video leaves a lot to be desired. I’ll wait the day or two for my disk to arrive by mail.
I haven’t yet seen it, but Netflix claims they can stream DVD-quality full-screen video if your connection is fast enough. Although I’m with you on the relative comfort of watching in an easy chair in front of a TV.
According to their FAQ, only the account owner can watch online–you can probably get around this by signing in on the other computer, though I have no idea if it would recognize if the same person was signed in on more than one machine at a time. I tried to have my husband test this out, but his browser refused to load the site for some reason.
Ok, I’ve watched it, and it’s crap. I also only qualify for the “Basic” level, and the quality is worse than iTunes movies. They won’t let you choose to wait longer to get a higher quality video, it says right on the “How does my connection speed affect my video quality” page.
I’ll probably use it occasionally, but it’ll have to get better than this for me to be really happy with it. It’s a nice first step, and I’m glad they’re offering it for free. I think I’m most likely to use it to watch TV. Is there any way to see which TV episodes are included? it doesn’t seem to be listed as a genre.
Mine shows “Television” under “Favorite Genres” on the right hand side, probably because I’ve rented a crapload of TV series from them; see if it’s under “Other Genres” if you don’t have it there. It looks like all BBC series right now, and about 75% Doctor Who.
It’s a good try, but this still can’t compete with Blockbuster’s new feature. For streaming video to even be attractive you first need a powerful enough machine and a fast enough connection for it to not hiccup or completely pause for seconds at a time. Then, to compete with the actual DVDs you can go grab at a Blockbuster store, you need a large, clear screen sitting in front of a couch. I’d wager most netflix users don’t have all those things.
That said, there’s no way I’d switch to Blockbuster right now, because their selection comparatively sucks. But selection or no selection, if they start letting people add video games too, I’m out like disco.
No idea, but interesting question, I thought I would reply to it, to give it a second read.
My guess is that they absolutely have permission, but I would also guess that Netflix creates the stream themselves to ensure compatibility with their systems and software.
The Streaming was quite good for me and if you own a High Def TV you could look into DVI out of the computer/laptop to the HDTV and get a great picture. This is how I am doing it. Apparently, my speed is sufficient to completely blow away any other streaming video I have seen so far. It is not DVD quality, but pretty good in full screen, watching from my couch on a 37” Westinghouse LCD 1080p screen.
Blockbuster is not at all convenient to me, so this is far from an option.
I do not think it is a big stretch that many Netflix users have HDTV that can accept VGA or DVI input. Most laptops and computers could be hooked up to these HDTV sets and the service will work out well.
Jim