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Netflix on your TV

post #1 of 21
5/20/08 at 3:05pm
Thread Starter 
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/0....ap/index.html
CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...0334f9e9e9.htm
Time: http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...807157,00.html

I just worry about the streaming aspect. The Time article mentions

Quote:
Twice, the movie paused for a few seconds to buffer the video stream. That's a buzz kill — the Roku folks say it can happen when your broadband speed drops below 1 megabit per second. (My standard Comcast connection is usually above 2 megabits per second, but congestion, I guess, happens.)
1 megabit? I'd have to upgrade my shitty home internet connection to take advantage of the service. Regardless, I'm excited about this prospect.
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post #2 of 21
5/20/08 at 3:10pm
Just one more step towards the inevitable.
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post #3 of 21
5/21/08 at 12:20am
Until 1080p hits this, my Blu-Ray player will be just fine.
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post #4 of 21
5/21/08 at 6:31pm
This is what the focus group I went to about a year ago was all about (the original thread got hosed). One of the complaints I submitted to them was the lack of HD, the lack of content, and that you only had so many hours of viewing per month. When Netflix pulled the "$/month = #/hours of viewing" and made it unlimited, I figured part of that move was because of this impending release.

However, I did applaud the fact that you could pretty much take the box with you anywhere with an internet connection and a TV and watch movies. When we go to the beach once or twice a year, we always rent a house, and 99% of the time, they have high-speed internet access. So you could take this with you and have movies on demand, essentially.

I have been pleasantly surprised lately at the availability of some older movies for "Watch it now"...and that they added a "Watch it now" queue also. AppleTV looks great and all, but I'm not shelling out $300 plus an additional fee per movie/TV show when I have an HD DVR and HD pay channels and PPV.
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post #5 of 21
5/21/08 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 
Do you know/remember if the device only streams the video, or if you can pause it and allow it to build up a buffer (similar to what you can do with the "Watch Instantly" service on the PC) so you don't have to worry about pauses/hiccups?
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post #6 of 21
5/21/08 at 6:41pm
If I remember correctly, I believe they said you could use it just like the "Watch It Now" option--pause it, then come back to it later.
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post #7 of 21
5/21/08 at 7:00pm
Just impulse bought one. Not sure if I made the right decision, but will find out soon enough.
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post #8 of 21
5/21/08 at 7:05pm
I can already do this. It's called hooking a PC up to your TV. Almost all HDTV's have PC hookups in the back. It's not difficult.
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post #9 of 21
5/21/08 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
From the Netflix FAQ (you have to sign in to get the nitty-gritty details):
Quote:
What is the picture quality?

Your Netflix ready device automatically analyzes the speed of your Internet connection whenever you start a movie or TV show and chooses the optimal image quality for your connection. For fast connections (3 Mbps or more), picture quality is comparable to DVD quality.
So that answers one of my questions. Unless I upgrade my internet connection, I'll be stuck with picture quality that is mildly annoying on a small computer monitor. This guarantees it will really suck on a big HDTV. Oh well.
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post #10 of 21
5/21/08 at 7:13pm
So what, you'd need 10mbps connections to watch an HD movie anyway?
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post #11 of 21
5/21/08 at 7:18pm
This may be a dumb question, but does this eat up a lot of bandwidth? I'm assuming that it does based on the speed it needs. My provider is hassling me about using too much bandwidth and I told him that this is what I am doing on my PC and he says that doesn't account for the amount that I am using.

Does this kind of thing or XM radio online use a lot of bandwidth or are they just trying to jack me.
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post #12 of 21
5/21/08 at 7:33pm
Thread Starter 
Streaming radio is a bandwidth sponge.
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post #13 of 21
6/5/08 at 12:23am
So has anyone used on of these yet? Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
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post #14 of 21
6/5/08 at 1:11am
I can't wait till they finally get off their asses and get the Xbox 360 connectivity working.
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post #15 of 21
6/11/08 at 8:49am
A little more info here:
http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/
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post #16 of 21
10/1/08 at 4:13pm
I mentioned this in the Netflix thread, but between the new Netflix deal and the announcement that Roku is opening up the box to any one who wants to put their service on it, I can't imagine a better way to spend $100.
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post #17 of 21
10/1/08 at 7:10pm
But judging by your sig, you already own an XBox 360. You'll already be able to do this.
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post #18 of 21
10/1/08 at 11:34pm
In my defense, I bought one before the Xbox 360 deal was announced. Still, if it follows through on its potential I won't regret the purchase.
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post #19 of 21
10/4/08 at 3:16am
So I'm messing around with some of the new features. One of them allows you to do a live stream of Starz. Interesting, but I never really cared for Starz and the movie playing is PRIMEVAL, so no shit given. I do notice that MIDNIGHT RUN is up for viewing, so I add that to my queue and head over to watch it on the TV. The Roku box informs me that there's a movie playing, and that DRM restrictions won't allow for more than one to play. I go to turn of IE, and go back to the box, but again am denied viewing. I restart the comp, and once again denied viewing. I get frustrated and call tech support. He tells me that there's a bug in the system that makes it to where the Starz stream can not be stopped and that I have to wait 2 hours before the stream expires. So not only can I not watch my movie, I'm not able to watch my movie because of PRIMEVAL.
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post #20 of 21
1/6/10 at 5:53pm
Got 1 for my mom for Christmas, and I have yet to get the thing to work. Sometimes I get a "cannot connect to Roku" error (this is after it's detected my wireless fine and connected to the net) or it "cannot connect to local network."

I'm starting to get pissed. It was supposed to be super easy. Anyone have any idea what the problem might be? I'm especially concerned about the "cannot connect to Roku" crap.
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post #21 of 21
1/6/10 at 6:01pm
I don't have Roku, but I found this thread on their forum that sounds like the same problem you're having. Hope it helps!
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