On the general worthlessness of Netflix streaming.

I've been trying this out and I have such a hard time finding stuff on there that I want to actually see. So much of it is just so... meh. It doesn't seem too bad for watching TV shows, but for movies? Yeesh. I don't see how one could be satisfied with a streaming-only plan. Just my opinion.

 

I agree for now. I think it will get better, but I also recently got NetFlix streaming, and despite having heard the complaints before, I was still surprised by the lack of content.

What really freaked me out is that I was about to watch Annie Hall, and I noticed that it had a note about expiring at the end of the month or something. Why? Licensing? I thought NetFlix was going to be adding more and more content. If they're going to be taking it away, that's a major drag.

 

My focus has been mainly watching the first 3 seasons of Prison Break on Netflix. The PQ has been excellent though. I only have watched the latest Star Trek movie, but that too was excellent.

I stream Netflix through my Roku XDS box. I can also say the PQ is about the same for Hulu Plus.

 

I tried a few movies/ TV shows this week using Netflix via PS3. Not bad. Parks And Recreation looked great in HD. Looking For Mr Goodbar while not HD looked ok and watchable for an old 70's movie.
Also watched a foreign film called Lila Says. Again looked fine.

 

I just watched some Parks and Rec last night and it does look great! Picture quality is generally pretty good, considering that it's streaming. That I don't have a problem with. For me it's the relative lack of good content.

 

Have you tried this website?

http://instantwatcher.com/

It's easier than searching on Netflix.

 

Wait and see

I am going to hold off on streaming NetFlix for a while. I am satisfied with the DVD version of NetFlix. Yes, it's a tiny hassle messing with mailing discs but I have bigger things in life to worry about.

I am intersted in hearing about how everyone likes the streaming NetFlix since they are pushing that service, big time.

Scott

 

That helps a lot, thanks for passing it along!

 

You can already try it out right now though, it's included as part of your current package.

 

Thanks for the tip ! That site rocks !

 

General movie selection on the streaming side is pretty "meh." My wife and I find the choices are much better in the areas of tv shows and documentaries.

 

Streaming comes free with a mail-in membership. You don't have to choose.

 

You can stream every episode of Monty Python & Fawlty Towers.

They also have many episodes of MST3K.

 

It depends on what genres you like. I got on a classic film noir kick and was able to watch a lot of films I'd never seen via Watch Instantly. There are also some great documentaries available. If you're looking for recent blockbusters, though, you'll be disappointed.

 

My current subscription includes streaming video. It's how I watched 5 seasons of Weeds in a week, and am currently watching Dexter, though I may give up on it. No, it's not as all-inclusive as I might want, but it's something to do between DVDs in the mail. You probably don't have to do anything special to stream Netflix. I have the one-DVD-at-a-time, and streaming is free (they should use Blondie in a commercial).

 

I sort of like Netflix choice of streaming movies. Okay, of course it would be great to have every movie under the sun available, but I find the more esoteric selection of foreign and Indie movies making me watch stuff I wouldn't have otherwise seen (and enjoyed). I really don't need to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lawrence of Arabia or The Godfather for the five hundreth time. Netflicks choices are helping me not be be lazy about watching old familar material. And as it costs about a quarter a day, I'm not expecting to flip it on and see True Grit, Inception and Ironman 2 immediately. Now, I just sorta relax, flip something on and if I dig it I'll keep watching. If not, I'll find something else. People don't complain about what comes on regular television over which you have NO control.

 

Shutter Island and City Island are both available via streaming. Guess they like movies on an island.

 

Saw Renoir's Rules of the Game & the recent Italian movie I Am Love streaming on Netflix and I'm a happy camper.

 

City Island was surprisingly good. It helps if you like Julianna Margulies (which I do).

 

My biggest complaint is the lack of 5.1 sound on most streams. Only a handful of selections have it as an option.

A_L

 

What's with all the George Carlin listings?

 

Yeah, once they get you all moved over to streaming they can lay off all those
human types that put a damper on the profit structure......

 

Not many comments on the actual PQ w/ streaming. I tried it for two weeks, and wasn't impressed by either the available selection or the PQ of what I did watch. I have a gigabit network from the wall forward, so lack of bandwidth not an issue. But until they can improve both HD selection & Sound & Picture quality, I don't see our household subbing to it as is.

 

What I can't figure out: We have both a Wii and a Playstation 3. Streaming Netfliks on the Wii, movies look fantastic - as good as a DVD. Streaming the same movies on the PS3, the don't look anywhere as good. Why would that be?

 

Very cool site! I just added a few things like the Harry Nilsson documentary.