Netflix

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FooD

New member
Anyone here use Netflix and use their streaming movie service? How good is it? Can you use your pc or do you need to purchase their box to hook up to your tv?
 
Been using Netflix for almost a year now. Very cool.

You can watch the streaming video on your PC easy enough. To watch it on your TV, you’ll need a video card with video outputs so that you can pipe the picture over to your TV.

Or you can buy the Roku player which is awesome. We’ve got Roku, and absolutely love it. It’s really one of the best entertainment investments (toy) I think we’ve ever done.

The streaming videos Netflix offers aren’t super current. That is, you’ll not be finding many new releases available. They are constantly updating the streaming library, and it’s very impressive as it is, but again, not super current. But there is still a LOT to be had. I just finished watching Season 2 of Dexter (Showtime series) last night. Great stuff!
 
Oh, and as for quality, the streaming video is outstanding. Some movies even stream in HD (but not many). Roku hooks up via Composite, S-Video, Component, or HDMI. I’m using HDMI, and the picture is outstanding.

One thing to be aware of. You need at least a 1.5 meg pipe in the download direction for basic streaming. For HD streaming, 4 meg down or higher is recommended.


Test your DL rate here: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
 
buzzard767 said:
I have the same setup as Keltin. The Roku box picks up WiFi. I hook up with HDMI too and it works great.
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Yeah, the WiFi link is fantastic. My router is back in the "office", and Roku is in the Living Room. No wires, and the performance is excellent! I love that little box! :smile:
 
This system sounds like the way to go, with the Roku box and wireless as my router is located in another part of the house.

My pirate satellite receiver box stopped working due to some recent satellite system switchover and until a new file download is available for my box I'm down to just local channels for the time being. I'm not really after the most recent films and I don't know how extensive the Netflix library is but I would like to be able to watch some fairly recent and classics films on demand.
 
The streaming library does have movies from this year, usually a few months old, lots of movies from the past 10 years, and tons of classics and even black and whites. Not to mention TV series galore. You can easily find a LOT to keep yourself entertained. My Instant Watch Queue has 175 movies in it that I have to make my way through eventually….and I keep adding more! :lol:

Go to Netflix and select “Watch Instantly. That will put you on “that side” of the service. From there, all the movies you see are available for Roku. You can browse by genre, title, newest release, etc.
 
Ditto what was said above, great little box to have. You just put the movies in your instant watch queue on the PC then you can browse thru them on the box and select which one to watch.
Cool stuff, and I love anything wireless in this small house, LOL.
 
OK, I finally subscribed to Netflix and have been enjoying it for a few days now. I don't have the Roku box, I have my laptop connected to my TV via a 15' VGA cable and receiving my signal through my wireless router. The pic quality is so so and on occasion the streaming video stalls and has to re-buff due to "slowed internet connection". I wonder if this is due to my old Lynksys router. I'm thinking of running a long ethernet cable instead to see if there's any difference.
I wonder if the Roku box will give me significantly better pic quality than my laptop set up. My TV has HDMI ports as well.
 
FooD said:
OK, I finally subscribed to Netflix and have been enjoying it for a few days now. I don't have the Roku box, I have my laptop connected to my TV via a 15' VGA cable and receiving my signal through my wireless router. The pic quality is so so and on occasion the streaming video stalls and has to re-buff due to "slowed internet connection". I wonder if this is due to my old Lynksys router.
I wonder if the Roku box will give me significantly better pic quality than my laptop set up. My TV has HDMI ports as well.
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Picture quality with my Roku box is excellent and have no problem with video streaming. Keltin talks about http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ for checking out your Internet speed. Mine is about 5300 kbps.
 
Two things:

1. What is the DL pipe on your home connection. Go to http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ and test it there. You need at least 1.5 meg down for smooth SD streaming. For HD, 4 meg or more is recommended.

2. What is the wireless rate of your router. If it’s a real old one and only supports 802.11, then that is your most likely culprit. Those things were way too slow for streaming video. If it supports 802.11b or higher, then it’s probably something else. What is the make and model of that router?

VGA isn’t a bad connection, but running a 15 foot cable can be problematic if it comes near any other electronics that produce an EM field. Plus, you have to realize your video will be affected by the quality of your video card. If the card doesn’t have the ram or dedicated CPU power to match the native resolution of your TV, it’s refresh rate, etc, then expect picture degradation. On a 15” monitor for Internet, it’s no big deal and hardly noticeable….but on a 32 or 42 inch HD TV, all imperfections are magnified.

Roku connects via Composite, S-Video, Component, or HDMI. To be such a small box, it has all of the connections. Rather impressive.
 
FooD said:
Thanks,
My downstream speed is 3008 kbps. I think my router is causing the intermittent slowdown. I have no problems viewing on my laptop when it's hard wired in my office.
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3 meg down is fine and should result in excellent picture qaulity. It sounds like your router. Is there anyway you can hardwire the laptop to the net and still have it reach the TV so that you can eliminate the WiFi connection? Might be easier to just move the TV?

But, new Belkin routers are cheap these days (less than 40), so an update may be in order.
 
Thanks Keltin. I'm convinced it's my old router. It's an old Lynksys wrt54g (I'm not at home so I'm going by memory on that).

I think I'll just go ahead and get a new router and the Roku box and use the HDMI cable. I think I'll be much happier this way.....not to mention the hassles of connecting my laptop to the TV every time I want to use Netflix.

I'm actually pretty happy with their on-demand selection so far....although I have no idea how often they change, add, or shuffle their selections.
 
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You'll love Roku. It's so darn easy, and the quality is excellent. The streaming selections stay up for 3-6 months easily. Longer for the more popular ones, but I have had some older obscure titles rotate out on me within 6 months like old Boris Karloff movies…..but 3 months later, I’ve had them rotate back in. Either way, there is more than enough to keep you tied up for days on end.

If that router is the WRT54G, it should be capable of 802.11b meaning no problems with streaming video. But…….what kind of NIC have you got in that laptop? If it’s older and only does 802.11, that could also be the problem.

If you get a chance, and I mean this for all Roku users, check out the TV series “Legend of the Seeker”. The 1st season was made last year, and there are 24 episodes, all on Roku for instant viewing. Very, very good series. Highly addictive, and it can eat up your weekend!! It’s a sword and sorcery series, which is my kind of thing, and it’s G to PG rated (backed by Disney) so suitable for the whole family…..but don’t let “family friendly” turn you off. It’s really excellent. Season 2 starts this November, and I can’t wait!
 
Thanks for all the info!

I ordered the Roku box this morning. I think the intermittent internet slowdown might be caused by the distance between the router and the tv (about 30 feet & through 4 walls). When I get the box and still have this problem I'll try to move the router out in the open and closer to the device.
 
FooD said:
Thanks for all the info!

I ordered the Roku box this morning. I think the intermittent internet slowdown might be caused by the distance between the router and the tv (about 30 feet & through 4 walls). When I get the box and still have this problem I'll try to move the router out in the open and closer to the device.
Click to expand...

Cool! When installing Roku, it searches for all available WiFi channels and displays them onscreen with a strength indicator, so you'll instantly be able to see how good the box is receiving the signal.
 
FooD said:
Thanks for all the info!

I ordered the Roku box this morning. I think the intermittent internet slowdown might be caused by the distance between the router and the tv (about 30 feet & through 4 walls). When I get the box and still have this problem I'll try to move the router out in the open and closer to the device.
Click to expand...
Where did you order yours from FooD?
I already have netflix but have not used the download option because I didn't want to watch it on my laptop.
I saw it on amazon for 89 and from Roku's main site for 99. I'm probbably going to get it from The Roku main site, at least that is the way I'm leaning now.
 
Doc said:
Where did you order yours from FooD?
I already have netflix but have not used the download option because I didn't want to watch it on my laptop.
I saw it on amazon for 89 and from Roku's main site for 99. I'm probbably going to get it from The Roku main site, at least that is the way I'm leaning now.
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I ordered mine directly from Roku for $99 + tax + shipping. I saw that Amazon deal for $89 through a third party but I was hoping for Amazon's free shipping deal from their own inventory which I no longer saw this morning. I remember seeing the box for $99 with free shipping a while back. Now that would have been $99 all total, no shipping, no sales tax.
 
Thanks. They must be in your state for you to have to pay sales tax. :eek:
Normally sales tax vs shipping you come out close to even. I hate paying sales tax on any internet purchase.
 
I got mine directly from Roku. They ship fast! If you ordered today, you should have it by the weekend.
 
Keltin said:
Told ya'! They don't play!

Awesome, welcome to the world of Roku! Have you set it up yet?
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No, not til tonight when I get home from work. I had it shipped to my business addy.
I don't think I have a HDMI cable laying around. I do have an extra set of component video cables which I can use. Do you think using a HDMI cable will be noticeably better than using component video cables?
 
FooD said:
No, not til tonight when I get home from work. I had it shipped to my business addy.
I don't think I have a HDMI cable laying around. I do have an extra set of component video cables which I can use. Do you think using a HDMI cable will be noticeably better than using component video cables?
Click to expand...



Honestly, there is not a whole lot of different between Component (RGB) and HDMI for regular SD streaming. I ran Component on Roku for a LONG time myself and had great picture. HDMI cables are expensive! That is, until I found out my computer guy is selling them for 15 bucks per 10 foot cable!!! I bought five!

About the only time you can tell a slight difference (HDMI being just a bit better) is when you play an HD movie. There aren't many HD movies on Roku right now, so you should be pleased with Component – and even when you switch to HDMI, the improvement is negligible and based on your TV.

Just make sure to set your Display Type in the Roku menus to HDTV. The options are 4:3, 16:9, and HDTV. Definitely select HDTV if your TV can do 720p.
 
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