Dante Posted May 20, 2008 Posted May 20, 2008 Wondering what people think of this. We have NetFlix and I would consider this. For $100 it's not a bad option at all
plenzmd1 Posted May 20, 2008 Posted May 20, 2008 Wondering what people think of this. We have NetFlix and I would consider this. For $100 it's not a bad option at all Think it looks cool, but not till they get the 5.1 and hi def rolling, then I might be in
ajzepp Posted May 20, 2008 Posted May 20, 2008 Yep, I won't have much interest in it until they get to the HD and 5.1 availability, but this is damn exciting. I've been a Netflix customer since 2001 and it looks like I'll be one for a long time into the future.
John Adams Posted May 20, 2008 Posted May 20, 2008 Wow. So I can download movies to my TV. I wish I could do that now.
ajzepp Posted May 20, 2008 Posted May 20, 2008 Wow. So I can download movies to my TV. I wish I could do that now. Have fun payin' four bucks a pop!
Dante Posted May 20, 2008 Author Posted May 20, 2008 Have fun payin' four bucks a pop! Nice selection for the price as well.
RayFinkle Posted May 20, 2008 Posted May 20, 2008 Wondering what people think of this. We have NetFlix and I would consider this. For $100 it's not a bad option at all This might be a dumb question, but why not just hook your laptop up to your TV? Do people not realize you can do that now?
Dante Posted May 20, 2008 Author Posted May 20, 2008 This might be a dumb question, but why not just hook your laptop up to your TV? Do people not realize you can do that now? I guess you can just stream any movies you want to your tv without a laptop You can access all of NetFlix library for no other charge except the monthly fee you pay already.
kegtapr Posted May 21, 2008 Posted May 21, 2008 I guess you can just stream any movies you want to your tv without a laptop You can access all of NetFlix library for no other charge except the monthly fee you pay already. All of Netflix "Instant" library, so don't expect popular new releases.
stuckincincy Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 I heard a blurb on my radio this morning about this. It made me think about a post here a while back - by Fezmid, IIRC. It was about some ISPs wanting to charge more to folks that are heavy users of "bandwidth". I certainly have limited knowledge of internet things, but I assume that a lot of people watching a streaming movie could slow things down for others. I picture one of those all-you-can-eat buffets, where there is a small group that continually shoves food down their throat, and constantly jumps up and crowds the line to get more and more - making others wait, and slowing them down.
WVUFootball29 Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 great idea. its just too bad the movies aren't in HD yet. Another year or so and this product could really take off
In-A-Gadda-Levitre Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 I heard a blurb on my radio this morning about this. It made me think about a post here a while back - by Fezmid, IIRC. It was about some ISPs wanting to charge more to folks that are heavy users of "bandwidth". I certainly have limited knowledge of internet things, but I assume that a lot of people watching a streaming movie could slow things down for others. I picture one of those all-you-can-eat buffets, where there is a small group that continually shoves food down their throat, and constantly jumps up and crowds the line to get more and more - making others wait, and slowing them down. You are basically correct and ISPs like Comcast have invested heavily in tools that allow them to see what users are doing and how often. The advantage of the box is that it buffers the content, so you don't need a whole lot of instant-on bandwidth. What will happen if 100s of thousands of Netflix subscribers buy this box and start watching movies is hard to predict. I think the reality is that the vast majority of customers will sit down, watch a movie for 2 hours and then go do something else, so we're not going to turn into bandwidth hogs. Activities like P2P downloads and lots of YouTube end up using much more over a longer time frame.
stuckincincy Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 You are basically correct and ISPs like Comcast have invested heavily in tools that allow them to see what users are doing and how often. The advantage of the box is that it buffers the content, so you don't need a whole lot of instant-on bandwidth. What will happen if 100s of thousands of Netflix subscribers buy this box and start watching movies is hard to predict. I think the reality is that the vast majority of customers will sit down, watch a movie for 2 hours and then go do something else, so we're not going to turn into bandwidth hogs. Activities like P2P downloads and lots of YouTube end up using much more over a longer time frame. Thanks - are you saying that this Netflix box is acting like a tv cable DVD recorder when one purchases a PPV flick...downloads it onto the DVD box hard drive? That's certainly different than streaming.
Chilly Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 Thanks - are you saying that this Netflix box is acting like a tv cable DVD recorder when one purchases a PPV flick...downloads it onto the DVD box hard drive? That's certainly different than streaming. Similar, yes. The real bottleneck would be the cable infrastructure in residential areas (where bandwidth is shared). Cable companies haven't done much upgrading of the infrastructure used in these areas, and as a result, those areas could suffer. Cable internet is the place where there is a potential for issues. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/15/224258
stuckincincy Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 Similar, yes. The real bottleneck would be the cable infrastructure in residential areas (where bandwidth is shared). Cable companies haven't done much upgrading of the infrastructure used in these areas, and as a result, those areas could suffer. Cable internet is the place where there is a potential for issues. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/15/224258 Soooo...if I'm surrounded by a bunch of Netflickers watching their stuff, their pleasure could be my pain, even though we all more or less pay the same price of admission?
Chilly Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 Soooo...if I'm surrounded by a bunch of Netflickers watching their stuff, their pleasure could be my pain, even though we all more or less pay the same price of admission? If it is combined with a bunch of other stuff (the bandwidth from netflix streaming wouldn't even be close to enough to bottleneck it), and you're using cable internet on the same node as them, yeah.
In-A-Gadda-Levitre Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 Thanks - are you saying that this Netflix box is acting like a tv cable DVD recorder when one purchases a PPV flick...downloads it onto the DVD box hard drive? That's certainly different than streaming. No, it is still streaming but there is a storage medium in the box (chips or a hard drive). You request a movie, it sends the beginning to the box and you sit down to watch. As you are watching, the box and software are requesting the rest of the movie and it's stored (buffered) as it's received off the network. Video on Demand or PPV doesn't require a DVR recorder to watch a movie. That is also streamed to the set top box and buffered in similar way. The key fact is that you don't have to wait. A feature film is gigabits in size. Regardless of your network connection, it would take many minutes to download and play a movie. Streaming is inherent in all of this.
stuckincincy Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 No, it is still streaming but there is a storage medium in the box (chips or a hard drive). You request a movie, it sends the beginning to the box and you sit down to watch. As you are watching, the box and software are requesting the rest of the movie and it's stored (buffered) as it's received off the network. Video on Demand or PPV doesn't require a DVR recorder to watch a movie. That is also streamed to the set top box and buffered in similar way. The key fact is that you don't have to wait. A feature film is gigabits in size. Regardless of your network connection, it would take many minutes to download and play a movie. Streaming is inherent in all of this. I appreciate the clarification.
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