Even though Roku has recently broadened their line of digital video players, they still pretty much offer only one product. Now if you’re looking for a simple way to bridge Netflix Watch Instantly or Amazon Video On Demand
Triple Play: 3 Digital Video Players from Roku
Netflix Watch Instantly on Xbox Experience
We listed our potential improvements wish list for the Netflix interface on Xbox Live a while back, and it’s encouraging to see the results that came with Microsoft’s Xbox Experience upgrade. Read More
Roku Adds More HD Content
The folks at Roku have been busy lately. When the first Netflix-enabled set-top Roku Digital Video Player debuted last June, its singular focus, easy interface and $99 price tag made it a popular early choice for getting internet video on the big screen. As more and more people are turning to the internet to watch their favorite content on demand, we’re seeing more content sources online — and Roku is moving quickly to keep up. Read More
Netflix on Xbox Live
With the new Xbox Live release, Blockbuster vs Netflix: Online Movie Rental Plans Compared
It’s been a couple years since we started renting movies over the web at our house. And while we’re having fun playing in the early stages of the full-video-access-over-the-web revolution, renting DVDs via the mail will probably be a vital part of our home entertainment world for a while to come. And even though the we’ve been satisfied with our current rental plan, every once in a while the age-old question pops up, and it’s as relevant in 2008 as it was four years ago: Which is better, Netflix or Blockbuster
?
Hulu opens its doors: Free streaming TV and movies for all
Hulu announced yesterday that they’re exiting the private beta stage of development and opening their free online video service to “anyone in the U.S. with a broadband internet connection and a computer” though there are workarounds for the “in the U.S.” part.
So now it’s easy access for all, and more content to boot. They’ve added a substantial amount of new TV episodes and full-length movies to the site. For what is essentially a brand new public site, there’s a wealth of shows worth watching — all in decent resolution. With its easy-to-use site search and navigation, Hulu’s hard to beat for free streaming TV and films.
Graboid: Laptop Video Speeds Ahead
We’re regularly testing a number of web TV solutions, looking for the best combination of video content (quality and variety), usability, speed and value. So far, one of the best all-around choices for accessing commercial movies and TV online is Graboid, a free video service which offers a huge selection of full-length content, available via streaming or viadownload at the fastest speeds available on the web.
Hulu Keeps the Buzz Alive
Hulu looks to have smoothed out some of the bumps in the road in its current invitation-only beta version. They continue adding new content — having tripled the size of their library since opening last October — and they’ve improved their site navigation options, expanded their distribution into additional online sites, and have dialed in on managing capacity and demand.
Side by Side: Apple TV and Vudu Compared
With Apple TV’s new upgrade and features, including online movie rentals and lower pricing, it’s getting easier than ever to bring high quality and high def movies from the web to your TV. And as much as we like Apple, we like to see a robust, competitive marketplace even more. Netflix recently announced their plans to develop a new set-top box.
Meanwhile, Vudu, which introduced its video-store-in-a-box just last October, has already had to slash $100 off the retail price and expand its hi-def library to keep competitive with Apple’s latest.
Reviewing Netflix Plans: Which One’s Best for You?
In our house, even though we don’t spend a ton of time watching TV, we’re big fans of online movie rentals. When we get a chance to hang out and enjoy a show, we’re rarely in sync with when the network slots our favorite shows, so good programming available on our schedule rules.
Netflix Plans:
DVDs + Unlimited Streaming
Limited Plans
Sure, we could opt for cable and a Tivo, but we don’t spend enough time on the sofa to justify paying over $1000 a year for hundreds of channels when we’re only interested in a few good ones — especially when there’s so much variety available on demand online.
With over 100,000 movie rentals available via DVD and streaming, Netflix
is a big part of our online entertainment solution. To get the best deal from Netflix for your needs, think about your movie preferences in terms of:
Let’s take a closer look.
You Want It When? Recent Releases or Instant Viewing
The first two issues — what you want and when you want it — are inextricably linked.
Since the film studios are still trying to figure out how they can squeeze the most money out of the rapidly changing entertainment world, Netflix’ selection of streaming online movie rentals isn’t as broad as their DVD rentals by mail. Even though the days of guaranteed profits from DVD are history, film studios are still hesitant to allow early-release online streaming.
So if you’re driven by a need to keep up with the new releases, no worries. Just be prepared to keep a constant supply of DVDs in red envelopes flowing through the mail. Netflix has a great selection of dvd rentals by mail (over 100,000 titles) including a slew of recent releases from major studios. Great selection, less-than-convenient delivery.
On the other hand, if your idea of “fast” is how long until the opening credits (rather than how long since it’s been released), you’re still good. The Netflix streaming Watch Instantly selection is growing steadily — already about 15% of all available titles, it’s one of the largest online selections available, with a decent collection of new releases via Starz Play. And the monthly-fee-for-unlimited-streaming cost structure makes this option hard to beat. Just plug in a Netflix-ready device and let the streaming begin.
How Many Disks: the “Queue and A” Session.
The last two items to review — the number of people in your household and your available monthly budget — also go hand in hand. Because sooner or later, sharing a DVD queue is going to fail.
A personalized queue is the Netflix list of DVDs rentals which will be mailed, one at a time, to the queue’s owner. As disks travel back and forth in the mail, it’s just about impossible to maintain each person’s position in the queue.
Since each person in your household has their own distinct and individual tastes in what’s entertaining (and what isn’t), it’s essential to give everyone equal access to the movies and shows thay’re interested in. This is the single key to maintaining video happiness with Netflix: to give every member of your household their own DVD rental queue.
Multiple queues can be set up in a single account, with each person having complete control over their own video destiny. (Within reason. It’s actually quite simple to add ratings restrictions onto queues for the kids.) So if you’re setting up a Netflix account and there are 4 people in the house, make no mistake: unless your plans are to live almost exclusively off of Watch Instantly, you should go directly to the “4-at-a-time” DVD plan, and set up a queue for each family member.
While this may seem more expensive at first blush, we’ve seen our CPM (cost per movie) drop with the additional queues — everyone in the family gets easier access to the next movie they want to see. We’re on the 4-dvd plan, and pay $6 a month per person, about 25% of the comparable cable expense. In our house, teenagers who fail to mail back their disks at least twice a month run the risk of losing their queue.
If you’ve already set up your account and want to get a better handle on your actual usage and costs, give FeedFliks a try. Even though the interface is, er, less than elegant, you can get a quick read on your Netflix
cost per movie, and check up on your mail-vs-streaming stats. When I ran our stats, it was sweet to see we’re paying less than $.59 per movie. If you find a better deal, let me know.