[wushuliu]

The new Roku 2 is now available...

http://shop.roku.com/

[eclein]

Oh man.....that little box is pretty cool, I'm sorta kicking myself for not doing this last year when I almost pulled the trigger, You buy the box and thats it??? Obviously Netflix and services like it are your subscription stuff but they(Roku) are tuning this thing up for games....HHHMMmmm interesting!!!

[jermmd]

Slightly off track, Does Hulu get MacNeil Lehrer Report or CNN? Do you get Live shows and sporting events? I would love to cancel Cable and just have internet.

[Big Red Machine]

Oh man.....that little box is pretty cool, I'm sorta kicking myself for not doing this last year when I almost pulled the trigger, You buy the box and thats it??? Obviously Netflix and services like it are your subscription stuff but they(Roku) are tuning this thing up for games....HHHMMmmm interesting!!!

I'll sell you my box.  I never use it and it does not give me good picture quality in my system.

[jeffh]

I canceled Netflix streaming yesterday and keeping the one DVD out plan.  Current streaming content is weak.

[wushuliu]

Slightly off track, Does Hulu get MacNeil Lehrer Report or CNN? Do you get Live shows and sporting events? I would love to cancel Cable and just have internet.

Don't think so. All this is very much in its infancy, no one device does everything.

[ctviggen]

That is an excellent question.  Is cable TV delivered differently that streaming video?

Best,
Ed

Of course it is.  Cable is a one-to-many system.  At a single location, they broadcast many channels to many subscribers but (ignoring pay per view and the current streaming content they have) that's all they have to do.  And the entire system is setup to do that.  On the other hand, even with the limited number of DVDs Netflix has for streaming, anyone with a subscription can ask for any DVD at any time.  Netflix has to keep track of all that info and send the correct data at the correct time.  Netflix is a many-to-many system.   And they do not control the internet between were they are and the customer is. Not to mention Comcast (my internet customer) only allows 250 GB/month download.  Considering a Bluray is around 30 GB (all data), that's not many Blurays, so we won't see Bluray quality for many years. 

[ctviggen]

Looks like we're canceling Netflix.  We're on the one Bluray at a time deal, but we've rarely watched any due to having two small children.  On average, we watch one movie a month (if that).  The streaming options are too few  to continue to do that, and the quality is poor, especially on a 92 inch screen.  So, we're going to save the $10/month. 

[ajzepp]

I'm sorry, but you guys who are saying the Netflix streaming content is weak are off your rockers.

If you go to www.instantwatcher.com, I'm sure you'll be able to add hundreds of titles to your queue right off the bat. Netflix typically does't offer the newest releases via streaming (yet), but there are a ton of other great choices.

[wushuliu]

I'm sorry, but you guys who are saying the Netflix streaming content is weak are off your rockers.

If you go to www.instantwatcher.com, I'm sure you'll be able to add hundreds of titles to your queue right off the bat. Netflix typically does't offer the newest releases via streaming (yet), but there are a ton of other great choices.

Does remind me a little of the Louis CK bit about someone getting frustrated with using technology they didn't know existed until 30 seconds ago. Now people are clamoring about o 5.1 audio streaming and 1080p. What were the options 2 years ago? Hulu is neat but you still gotta deal with ads for some content and they are going to bend over for the networks and whoever buys them = there will be even more ads and/or premium pricing for (mostly) ad-free content (I don't think they'll ever be totally ad-free). The rest of the competition come and go or are too niche. Til now the Netflix streaming/dvd deal has been as close to free lunch as you can get, And Netflix has been warning about the price increase for at least a year. So I don't know why people are in shock. No free lunch with this medium. Ever.

[ebag4]

Of course it is.  Cable is a one-to-many system.  At a single location, they broadcast many channels to many subscribers but (ignoring pay per view and the current streaming content they have) that's all they have to do.  And the entire system is setup to do that.  On the other hand, even with the limited number of DVDs Netflix has for streaming, anyone with a subscription can ask for any DVD at any time.  Netflix has to keep track of all that info and send the correct data at the correct time.  Netflix is a many-to-many system.   And they do not control the internet between were they are and the customer is. Not to mention Comcast (my internet customer) only allows 250 GB/month download.  Considering a Bluray is around 30 GB (all data), that's not many Blurays, so we won't see Bluray quality for many years.

Duh.. , of course, makes sense.  Then you have "On Demand" and "Pay Per View" programming from the cable operator, that is probably working in the same manner as Netflix streaming since anyone can watch whichever video they choose from the list ( of course after rereadng your post you already mentioned that).

Best,
Ed

[IonMoon]

I love Netflix. We have two dvds out at a time plan and don't necessarily watch enough this time of year for it to be "worth it" compared to just stopping at Redbox, however their selection of foreign/independent films more than makes up for that.

I can get dvds from them that I just don't have access to anywhere else.

[Scott F.]

I kinda like Netflix myself. I have to say I've only signed up for the $8/mth plan but I think it's a pretty fair value for the money...assuming use it the way we do. On the low budget plan you guys are right, not many movies to choose from but on the other hand, they have TONS of old TV series to choose from. They also have a fair amount of documentaries to pick from too.

On the series side, you can watch all of the iterations of Star Trek, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Dr Who, and scads of others. Heck, I was watching Rat Patrol the other day. This I laughed myself silly at Faulty Towers (my wife hates British humor).

We watch it through the Logitech Revue
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/revue

Not sure if you guys are familiar with this device but it's pretty cool. It runs on the Android platform. You can surf, stream music and movies. It's wireless (which was a big plus for me) and has an HDMI output (1080p) and a spdif out along with a pair of USB ports.

We watch over a 63" plasma and the picture is fairly decent through an Integra 9.8 pre-pro.

If you use Netflix for mainly TV series (and they have ones you are interested in), it's one heck of a value IMO. With all I have in my queue, we've got a solid two years of entertainment ahead of us 

[acninja]

just a suggestion, but you can just keep signing up for free trials over and over