Netflix watch instantly :: Recommendations Thread

[Six]

yeah?

Yassir.

[Chux]

Hide yo wife!

Netflix streaming works in PR now! I was about to subscribe, but I hear that you need mad speeds for this. What's the recommended speed for decent streaming? I don't mind waiting a few minutes for a movie or show to load, and I'll probably end up watching most stuff in SD anyway.

Mad speeds? I can do it on a 3g network. Post your speedtest results.

[A Robot Bit Me]

I can't play on XBL reliably with my mark-ass connection, but I can stream in HD 9/10 times.

[Dunlap]

Bandwidth vs Latency, IMO.

You're going to want 1.5 Mbps to stream in SD, double that if you want it to look okay. Double that if you want it in HD.

[Mzo]

Seriously, they have the first episode of Star Trek's The Menagerie but not the second? Giant blue balls right there.

[cka]

is "the cage" up? you get the jist of menagerie II (and bonus 1960s sexism) but without pike all be-boppin and boopin during the trial

edit: and I forgot, the most amazing warp speed montage

[gamevet]

Netflix streaming works in PR now! I was about to subscribe, but I hear that you need mad speeds for this. What's the recommended speed for decent streaming? I don't mind waiting a few minutes for a movie or show to load, and I'll probably end up watching most stuff in SD anyway.

I have Verizon Fios with 13 + MBPS and it would vary. I would watch HD stuff that would start out fine, then all of the sudden the resolution would adjust for download speeds. WTF?

[Josh]

is "the cage" up? you get the jist of menagerie II (and bonus 1960s sexism) but without pike all be-boppin and boopin during the trial

It is!

[Dyne]

Want Netflix streaming AND DVD's by mail? Pay for both at $7.99 each. No more combo pack.

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/20...w-799-each.ars

Netflix users who want both streaming content and DVDs delivered to their homes will now have to subscribe to two separate plans at $15.98 per month. Netflix announced the changes to its pricing structures on the company blog Tuesday, pointing out that there are now completely separate streaming-only and DVD-only plans, and none that include both. The changes go into effect in September for existing subscribers, or immediately for new Netflix members.

Netflix made a name for itself by offering unlimited DVDs delivered to subscribers' houses, but soon became popular for its instant streaming offerings that were rolled into the normal DVD plans. In November of 2010, the company finally decided to offer a streaming-only plan for $7.99 per month—$1 less than the previous streaming and one-DVD-at-a-time plan—with DVD plans as a $2 add-on. So, for unlimited streaming and one DVD at a time, users could still pay $9.99 per month to get both.

No longer is that the case, though. Now, there will be a $7.99 streaming-only plan and a $7.99 DVD-only plan, and if you want both, you'll have to subscribe to both. That's $5.99 more per month than the previous plan for similar features, or $71.88 more per year.

Netflix VP of marketing Jessie Becker wrote that the company had never intended to offer DVD-only plans until after the streaming-only plan went into effect. "Since then we have realized that there is still a very large continuing demand for DVDs both from our existing members as well as non-members," she wrote. "Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have, treating DVDs as a $2 add on to our unlimited streaming plan neither makes great financial sense nor satisfies people who just want DVDs. Creating an unlimited DVDs by mail plan (no streaming) at our lowest price ever, $7.99, does make sense and will ensure a long life for our DVDs by mail offering."

Now, movie lovers will really have to decide whether the DVD option is worth the extra money—when it was only a $2 add-on, it was easy to toss in, but an extra $8 might be harder to swallow. Netflix's streaming library is growing at a much faster rate now, but the best movies are still usually limited to DVD on Netflix for quite a while before they become stream-able.

Meanwhile, Amazon continues to add more titles to its own streaming library tied to Amazon Prime, and Amazon's service is still cheaper than Netflix's streaming-only service by about $17 per year. Amazon, however, doesn't offer any sort of DVD rental option like Netflix, so Netflix may still have the widest overall appeal, even with the subscription price increases.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

I cut the dvds in the mail part off when I realized I had kept The Road for three months.
Someone let me know when Amazon's library overtakes netflix. I'll jump over like rats sinking a fleeing ship.