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Subject: Netflix
Posted by: Boxman
- [571114225] Fri, Jul 04, 2008, 21:29
I decided to take the plunge and get Netflix. Since my wife and I were staying inside tonight instead of going out for the 4th we thought this would be a good night to try it out and watch a movie streamed from the internet. We also just got done redoing 3 rooms in the house and one of them was the home office (now more of a rec room) where I bought a 42" LCD 1080p TV as part of the setup.
OMG WTF does setting up Netflix suck. I signed up for the base package that's $5 per month where you get 2 movies and 2 hours of online watching per month. I signed up for Netflix on my laptop and set up my queue pretty quickly. So far so good.
So we went into the rec room to watch a movie on our PC that's plugged into the new TV. Long story short I am now over an hour into the process of upgrading my Windows Media Player, installing security updates, Norton's having a panic attack over seemingly everything, installing something else from Netflix and now I have a 1/2 hour countdown until the movie starts.
Netflix tells me I can't do immediate playback because my internet connection is too slow. I have cable broadband. WTF do they need?
I understand that the player upgrade, etc. is probably a one shot deal, but at least display something prominently when I setup the account in the first place. After I set the account up, we ate dinner and went for a walk. If I would've known about this second God forsaken process I would at least have started it during dinner and gotten most if not all of it done before we actually sat down to watch the movie.
I'm regretting this already. |
| 1 | Tree
ID: 261031
Fri, Jul 04, 2008, 22:07
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i dont even bother with watching "live". still too new of a technology.
but you cant beat the convenience of your queue.
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| 2 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Fri, Jul 04, 2008, 22:15
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The queue does look promising.
i dont even bother with watching "live". still too new of a technology.
Save yourself. Don't do it. It's too late for me.
As I'm posting this I'm reloading the movie (11 minute countdown this time) because we wanted to pause the movie and the screen had this "Loading" banner on the bottom with a countdown of an hour and a half. Once I clicked on play the movie started right up again but the loading banner wouldn't go away even in full screen mode. It took up the bottom portion of the screen making the movie unwatchable.
The best part is that my wife and I are now actually laughing at this. When I call Netflix tomorrow I'm going to thank them (seriously) because we're honestly laughing at how crappy this is.
I'm waiting for Candid Camera to walk in the room any time now.
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| 3 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Fri, Jul 04, 2008, 22:54
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Now things are getting "good" in a Guantanamo Bay sort of way. On our second time trying to watch the movie I got on the internet on my laptop. Honest to God, 3 seconds later our Netflix on the PC pops up with a message "Your internet connection has slowed. We are adjusting playback to avoid further interruption." There is now a countdown of 1 hour to continue the movie.
We are now rolling on the floor laughing at this. My wife and I have had more in depth conversations allegedly watching a movie than we've done in the past 3 days. Thank you Netflix for this golden family moment. During our brief intermission we're thinking about waxing the cars, playing a board game or watching a DVD on the TV in the living room.
All this with a cable broadband internet connection. Laughable.
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| 4 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Fri, Jul 04, 2008, 23:35
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It was fun while it lasted. Calling Netflix sealed the deal for me. I was transferred 3 times and wound up talking to a supervisor. I cancelled the account. What a piece of s#it service.
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| 5 | WiddleAvi
ID: 323531619
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 08:50
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I watch online through netflix and never had a problem. Movie starts within 20 seconds. I love netflix. I was one of those people who rented from blockbusted and then didn't watch the movie for a week or 2 and had a crap load of late fees. I have kept netflix movies at time for 2 months until I finally watched them.
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| 6 | angryCHAIR
ID: 561401810
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 10:18
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I, too, enjoy Netflix. Never a problem for almost 3 years. I have never tried the live feed, though.
Odd way to spend the 4th BM.
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| 7 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 10:54
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Odd way to spend the 4th BM.
True. We were wiped from the work around the house we've been doing the last few days so decided to hang inside.
I'm going to look at Blockbuster's base rental package which doesn't have online viewing but is cheaper to reflect that.
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| 8 | angryCHAIR
ID: 561401810
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 12:01
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cool
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| 9 | J
ID: 38554714
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 13:01
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I just signed up for netflix (trial still) and haven't had problems.
I've been through seasons 1 and 2 of Weeds, so its not been a full movie but the load times haven't been bad at all.
One time it did say it would take a while, I just closed the window and tried again, worked a lot faster.
Now....how exactly do you connect a laptop to a TV???? :)
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| 10 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 13:59
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Now....how exactly do you connect a laptop to a TV???? :)
In my case, it's a PC connection to a TV. Either way, I suppose it's the same where you get a VGA cable to plug into the back of your TV.
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| 11 | sarge33rd
ID: 99331714
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 17:35
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soooooo you're blaming Netflix for your apparently questionable quality i-net connection which is provided by a different source, yet it is somehow in your mind, Netflix fault?????????
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| 12 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 17:52
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soooooo you're blaming Netflix for your apparently questionable quality i-net connection which is provided by a different source, yet it is somehow in your mind, Netflix fault?????????
You bet Jimbo. My 360, PS3, and iTunes all work like aces and when I'm downloading video podcasts on iTunes while online gaming with the 360 or PS3 I don't have a problem.
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| 13 | biliruben
ID: 4911361723
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 18:46
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I've had nothing but great experiences with netflix, either mail or download, for 4 years now.
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| 14 | Tree
ID: 261031
Sat, Jul 05, 2008, 23:45
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same here. been a netflix customer for 3 years, and no issues....
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| 15 | GoatLocker
Leader
ID: 060151121
Sun, Jul 06, 2008, 03:32
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I've kept movies for 2-1/2 months or better.
No comments or anything.
We do enjoy it.
Never tried live though, so don't know about that.
Get three at a time and take them in the Motor Home all the time.
Different strokes for Different Folks.
Cliff
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| 16 | sarge33rd
ID: 76442923
Sun, Jul 06, 2008, 09:49
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3 at a time here too. rotate every week, 3 new flicks, each and every week(end), something like $20/m. *shrug*
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| 17 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 18:22
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Spiderman 3 is on the way from Blockbuster. I'm looking forward to it.
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| 18 | Tree
ID: 466331418
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 19:35
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so did you get Blockbuster to hook up and do what you wanted NetFlix to do?
(btw, i watched another episode of Dexter online via Netflix last night)
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| 19 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 19:38
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Blockbuster doesn't offer online streaming, but their basic package is cheaper to reflect that at $3.99 per month.
I keep hearing that Dexter is great. I need to make time to watch those.
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| 20 | biliruben
ID: 52561217
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 19:42
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Yeah, I watched the first Dexter online too. It was good, but not good enough to make my cut, imho. I really liked the actor in Six Feet Under, however.
The streaming is great to preview series to know if you want to watch more.
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| 21 | sarge33rd
ID: 76442923
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 19:43
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Spiderman3 blew. Sorry, but it was by far the worst of that serial.
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| 22 | Tree
ID: 466331418
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 21:14
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dexter is fantastic. bili - watch it for longer than an episode. it gets cooking around episode 3, and episode 8, it's blowing your head off...
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| 23 | holt
ID: 341542412
Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 22:53
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netflix rocks. they've got a nice selection of old tv shows (taxi, the dana carvey show, mr. show, for example), standup comedy, concerts, old cult movies (like el topo or le magnifique, for example). there's a lot more to pick from than just the lastest releases.
the new videos come very quickly. they ship from a city close to you. just put it back in the envelope they give you and drop it in your mailbox. if you use the plan where you have 3 at a time then you can basically have a new movie in your mailbox every day.
I've watched some comedy stuff using the broadband streaming video. it works ok. I wouldn't use it to kick back and watch a movie, but if you're hanging out on the computer and want to watch a few minutes of Sam Kennison (or whatever) with your buddies, then it's a nice little bonus. if you have a problem with the streaming video (don't expect it to look awesome) then the problem is most likely on your end in some way (not all of their catalog is available as streaming video btw).
beware, you may end up with hundreds movies in your queue. the more you watch, the more you get to see. the very nature of netflix encourages you to watch a lot of movies.
haven't tried blockbuster or even looked at it.
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| 24 | Tree
ID: 53631155
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 06:35
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Holt -
i've got 191 things in my queue, and that doesn't even include the multi-disk sets for The Wire season five and Dexter season two, which don't come out until next month.
there is a post office 3 blocks from my apartment. if i drop the netflix envelope there, it is usually at netflix the following day, and the day after that the disc is sent out to me.
phenomenal turn around time.
i haven't even bothered with blockbuster either.
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| 25 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 06:44
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i've got 191 things in my queue..
How are you able to watch all that? Do you not watch network TV at all?
I've got 7 or 8 in my queue at Blockbuster and I'm probably good for 2 months.
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| 26 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 06:45
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Does this type of service have a "crack addict" effect like a Blackberry? ;)
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| 27 | sarge33rd
ID: 76442923
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 07:49
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7 or 8 would last us about 10 days, maybe 12 including turnaround time and Sundays w/o mail service.
For the most part, I find that network TV pretty much svcks. Reality TV, 1/2 different versions of the same show. Then you have 1/2 different versions of Law n Order, or CSI. Nope...dont watch much TV these days. Its an in-home movie screen for when Netflix new movies arrive.
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| 28 | Tree
ID: 3533298
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 09:53
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THIS is what you need with netflix, box.
i am thinking about getting one.
am i ever going to get to the 191st movie on my list? no, probably not. but i know that at some point i might wanna watch it, so i'll bump it up.
and i rarely watch network tv. heroes, lost, cops sometimes, america's most wanted, prison break, and one or two other series i can't remember now.
a lot of what is in my queue are tv series i've never seen, but wanted to, so that can be several discs, easy.
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| 29 | Boxman
ID: 337352111
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 11:59
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If you order a season of a TV show, does that count as 1 disc or are the discs that make up that set counted separately?
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| 30 | Tree
ID: 33611515
Tue, Jul 15, 2008, 16:02
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1 disc is 1 disc. so if a show takes up 4 discs, each disc is separate.
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| 31 | Boxman
ID: 571114225
Sat, Jul 19, 2008, 11:12
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That box looks pretty cool Tree. Spiderman 3 showed up. It looked great on Blu Ray, but it sucked. It double sucked because I watched it a couple hours after I got home from The Dark Knight.
This is a pretty cool service and for $4 per month it's great.
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| 32 | Boxman
ID: 337352111
Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 16:38
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Blockbuster got Spiderman 3 pretty quickly and sent out Vantage Point the next day. My queue said that Vantage Point would be a "Long Wait", but I didn't think 1 day was bad at all. I'll be done with my 2 movie allotment for this month by the end of Saturday. Oh well.
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| 33 | Steve
ID: 3374812
Fri, Aug 08, 2008, 13:04
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Folks.. The Internet Connection has slowed message is typical of cable modem service. It may be "faster" than DSL, but it's not as consistent. It's a shared resource. When everyone else logs in to stream some video or audio, your connection is slow.
If you use DSL or FiOS, you will almost never see this problem. Your connection on those media is not shared.
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| 34 | Raptor
ID: 40751221
Tue, Aug 12, 2008, 22:05
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'Your internet connection is too slow for instant viewing'.
This is the message I have been getting lately when trying to watch instant viewing. I have high speed cable modem, and was previously able to watch these movies right away. The problem is in either:
1. My ISP is restricting access to Netflix
or
2. Netflix servers are too busy in the evenings and they are blaming the problem on viewers 'slow internet' connection.
Can somebody explain what is going on?
Thanks
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