Netflix

Post by **TPRJones** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:59 pm

Is there a limit to the number of active streams? Like if you are watching one show on your computer can your wife watch another on the TV with the same account at the same time?

WSGrundy · Post by **WSGrundy** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:20 pm

TPRJones wrote:Is there a limit to the number of active streams? Like if you are watching one show on your computer can your wife watch another on the TV with the same account at the same time?

Not sure if there is a limit but two works.

Doing anything other than streaming on one device or any other internet related activities does hurt the quality a bit.

Edited By WSGrundy on 1299727265

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:29 am

You can watch on up to 5 devices, all at the same time. If you have more than 5 (like we do), you have to remove something from your list and add a new one. We have:

BD player
Xbox 360
My PC
Wife's 2 laptops

If I'm on the road and want to use my laptop, I have to remove a device.

Oh ya, my iphone is in the mix and the Wii was taken out of the list due to lack of HD connectors. Small inconvenience to swap around, but it's pretty quick and painless through their web interface.

Post by **GORDON** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:54 am

I want to hear Leisher's thoughts on Netflix after he's used it for a week or two.

Personally, I am surprised how much I like it.

Post by **Leisher** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:54 am

Multiple users/devices was going to be my next question.

Thanks!

Post by **TheCatt** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:32 am

This + ESPN on my XBox, and I'd be done with cable.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:35 pm

Is Netflix running like shit for anyone else, tonight? My internet otherwise seems fine, so I was wondering when they would oversell their network.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:47 pm

Finally got around to connecting the kitchen BD player and added it to my Netflix device list. They bumped the limit up to 6 devices now, so I didn't have to remove an old one.

So, they support 6 devices now. Which is cool.

I have not experienced constant network delays from them. I have on occasion tried to watch something, and got a 'network is busy, try again later' message. But, I would try to watch something else, and it would stream. I'd go back to the other thing and get the message again. This implies that the server hosting that show was unavailable, or something. We've had other times where it would have issues and lower the picture quality to match the current download speed, only to bump it back up to normal shortly after. That could be anything between me and Netflix though. I just live with it as being part of how the Internet acts.

Oh, and we can play Sudoku on our BD player. I bet the PS3 and Xboxes can't do that!

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Post by **GORDON** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 5:09 pm

I'd never seen network problems on Netflix. I figured it was Saturday night, and their network was overloaded. I couldn't even connect to it, and the one time it finally did connect prior to 11pm all of the "Recently watched" queue was blank and I couldn't get anything to launch.

If it happens again they will receive a polite yet somewhat strongly worded email. Proper feedback, really. I mean, it IS only $8 a month...

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Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:01 pm

Whenever anything goes weird with my internet services, 9 times of 10, it's my internet (not service) provider fucking up.

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Post by **GORDON** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:21 pm

And that was my first thought, but every other internet service I tried was fine, including my phone.

Could have been Time Warner peering/routing, I suppose.

Post by **Leisher** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:10 pm

I want to hear Leisher's thoughts on Netflix after he's used it for a week or two.

Personally, I am surprised how much I like it.

So far, I'm very pleased with it, but I do have some negative things to say:
1. I don't love limiting the number of devices. I have two Blu-Rays, a PS3, an X-Box 360, an iPad, an iPhone, two laptops, and one main desktop. All those devices are in my home behind one router. No reason they shouldn't all be enabled for the same Netflix account. If any were to leave the house, I'd be ok with the limited number of devices.
2. Thus far, I'm not a fan of the Netflix browser for a number of reasons. First, I don't like how it categorizes movies. Second, I hate how limited your shown choices are as opposed to your actual choices. For example, if I look at "Movies" there might be 250 boxes I can look at, but in reality I might have thousands to choose from, but I have to search for them all by letter. I found Alice in Wonderland by simply searching for "A". Never did see a box cover for it. I have yet to see a box cover for any season of Buffy except for #1, yet I searched by letter and they're all there. However, I've seen the box cover for every season of Scrubs, and they were randomly thrown around in the TV shows box covers, which is another complaint. Third, list those box covers by "something", I guess I'd prefer by date of release as the newer ones would obviously be what folks are looking for rather than movies from the 50s. Fourth, the browser should have a list of new titles every time you long on. You're telling me Grown Ups has been the most recent title they've made available for streaming in the last few weeks?
3. This is minor, but I don't like the rating system. I'd prefer to see it change. 1 star for hated it? No, I'd prefer giving it 0 stars. 2 for disliking it? I'd prefer 1. 3 for liking it? I'd prefer 4. 3 should be for mixed feelings. 5 for loving it. Also, comments wouldn't be horrible or the rotten tomato rating or a meta score of critic's reviews or a link to the imdb page...

I do love how quickly it streams. I love how many older titles are available. I'm sure I'll be watching Airplane II and Robocop really soon. I love how it's trying to learn my tastes and recommend films. I love how simple it is to quickly scan through a movie you stopped the night before the find where you left it.

Are there parental controls? Can you assign a user ID and password to your kids different from your own that limits them to certain films?

Post by **GORDON** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:33 pm

Couldn't connect again, tonight. Tried at 8:45, 9:30, and 11:15. Couldn't even log in. Rest of the internet working fine.

edit - Just now I was able to start a show on my PC, but the TV and shit is all off so I can't check to see if it is still dead, there.

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Post by **Leisher** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:03 am

Down for me too tonight.

Post by **GORDON** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:09 pm

Just got this in email:

Dear steve,

Recently you may have had trouble instantly watching TV episodes or movies due to technical issues.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. If you attempted and were unable to instantly watch TV episodes or movies yesterday, click on this account specific link in the next 7 days to apply your 3% credit to your next billing statement for your Watch Instantly Unlimited plan. Credit can only be applied once.

I never even got around to complaining.

Post by **TPRJones** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:23 pm

It wasn't just you. Apparently it was down for everyone for several hours. There's news stories and whatnot.

Post by **Leisher** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:05 pm

Here's one of the news stories.

Post by **GORDON** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:50 pm

Leisher wrote:Here's one of the news stories.

Says they are removing Dexter completely.

Thanks, Showtime.

Post by **Leisher** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:56 am

Says they are removing Dexter completely.

Thanks, Showtime.

I fully expect to see a lot more of this in the future.

Think about it, Showtime would make a hell of a lot more money getting a Dexter fan to subscribe or buy the DVD set than watch the shows on Netflix.

Does Netflix even carry HBO shows? And I expect this trend to carry over to all network and cable network shows.

I think what we'll start seeing is shows that aren't as successful and/or don't sell well on DVD appearing on Netflix, but the big name stuff being held off until their popularity dies down. Perhaps they'll even figure out a way to charge extra money for the "popular" shows.

Post by **GORDON** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:00 am

Thing is, they would have gotten SOMETHING from Netflix, and it increases exposure to the show for new fans.

I'm still going to see Dexter, but now I'm not going to pay a thing for it.

Originally streaming music/video was seen as a way to combat piracy, and offer stuff at a price peeps would be willing to pay instead of expensive DVD sets. Now they are going the other direction, again. This move will only encourage more piracy of Showtime products, nothing more.

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