My review of the new Instant on From Netflix

[RadiclDreamer]

Well, I noticed last night that my account had the new Instant watch capability so i took a stab at it just to see how it was.

To my amazement its actually really good! It downloads a small (less than 1mb) player that embeds into the netflix site and plays your movie from there. It does some sort of a speed test before playing (and if playback hiccups which i forced it does another) and bases your content quality on that. With the highest setting I got what to me looked very near DVD quality video. With the middle setting (I turned the speed down on my wap) i got a slightly washed out video and with the lowest a very washed out look, but still viewable.

Im not an audiophile by any means but the audio did not sound bad to me at all.

The only down side is the library is a little light, however it isnt just limited to the latest blockbuster releases, for example I watched the 1987 "Matewon" last night. I'm sure as time goes by this will change, but for now it just makes me value my membership that much more since I have this new feature that didn't cost me a dime extra.

You get 1 hr per dollar that your membership costs, so if you have the 3 movies at a time package you get 18 hrs of video per month.

I know this sounds like an ad, but I just wanted to share what an awesome service this is!

 

[CptObvious]

Excellent. Hopefully I can use this while stuck at work on Fridays when everyone else has gone home *looks around*

 

[rsd]

I've had it a little while and watched several movies. Overall it works well with good quality, its just that the selection is fairly slim.

 

[funboy6942]

Well you peek my interest enough to go check that out, and maybe sign up again, if it seems worth it.

 

[desk]

i don't want to spam, but a company i'm writing for (see my sig) is in the streaming video market. they are still really small and don't have anywhere near netflix's content, but the quality of their video is excellent (they claim dvd-quality). they use a p2p setup.

i dunno if they'll survive, as it's getting to be a crowded marketplace, but they did just sign a deal with Lionsgate, so they are apparently making some good progress.

anyhow, check 'em out if you want: ReelTime.com

 

[RadiclDreamer]

We apologize. An unexpected error occurred while trying to permit your grid player to watch the requested title and/or log in. It's possible that the player didn't install properly.

Please try the following as possible courses of action:
* close the grid application
* Right click the grid player on the taskbar and type Exit Powergrid
* If this does not work, uninstall and reinstall the player.

Please log this error at the Support Center




Error Message
System.Exception: No GUID specified! at ReelTimeTV.BusinessObjects.ScreamNetworks.SetMediaPermissionLevel(Int32 mediaID, DateTime startUtc, DateTime endUtc, String guid) at ReelTimeTV.TitleDetails.LaunchMovie(Int32 mediaID)Critical Data Values: mediaID=270,StartTime=4/18/2007 7:44:57 AM,EndTime=4/18/2007 9:44:57 AM,COOKIE_GUID=


Hmmmm......yeah, not to be rude, but ill stick with netflix after getting this when trying to view the demo on their site

 

[lytalbayre]

Cooool, just logged in and found out I have that feature too.... It doesn't work with firefox (maybe I need to update). But IE is fine.

Unfortunately, I don't have adminsistrator rights on my PC at work so the installer can't load the appropriate software... too bad, because at work is probably the only time I would use this feature...

 

[desk]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
We apologize. An unexpected error occurred while trying to permit your grid player to watch the requested title and/or log in. It's possible that the player didn't install properly.

Please try the following as possible courses of action:
* close the grid application
* Right click the grid player on the taskbar and type Exit Powergrid
* If this does not work, uninstall and reinstall the player.

Please log this error at the Support Center




Error Message
System.Exception: No GUID specified! at ReelTimeTV.BusinessObjects.ScreamNetworks.SetMediaPermissionLevel(Int32 mediaID, DateTime startUtc, DateTime endUtc, String guid) at ReelTimeTV.TitleDetails.LaunchMovie(Int32 mediaID)Critical Data Values: mediaID=270,StartTime=4/18/2007 7:44:57 AM,EndTime=4/18/2007 9:44:57 AM,COOKIE_GUID=


Hmmmm......yeah, not to be rude, but ill stick with netflix after getting this when trying to view the demo on their site

hehe...it only works on windows xp and 2000 right now. is that what you're running?

 

[Thraxen]

Wait... so this is essentially a "free" add-on? We don't pay anything extra for the service, we just get a limited number of hours per month? Seems like a good service if that's true. Could certainly come in handy for people that travel often.

 

[ScottFern]

Yeah I just checked out the watch now movie selection and its pretty terrible. I guess I will wait until the selection gets better.

 

[2Dead]

Hmmm, I'll give this a shot. Didn't notice it before.

 

[loup garou]

It's pretty nice. They need to hurry up and leverage their relationship with MS to get it on the 360/Media Center interface like NOW though.


...oh and get some more worthwhile content on there!

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: rsd
I've had it a little while and watched several movies. Overall it works well with good quality, its just that the selection is fairly slim.

yeah, they have a nice amount of movies but they're mostly crappy old b-movies. I watched Kelly's Heroes and parts of some other ones, but they just sucked so bad it wasn't worth it. Kelly's Heroes was pretty good though.

quality wasn't bad for me. i don't need the latest HD crap to enjoy my movies.

i don't think i saw any new releases there, heck, i'm not sure there were any movies newer than the late 90s.

 

[ultimatebob]

I just noticed that they just added the entire Dead Like Me series from Showtime to the Watch Now section! Cool!

 

[iRONic]

Thanks, OP. Watching "Stop Making Sense" right now.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
Wait... so this is essentially a "free" add-on? We don't pay anything extra for the service, we just get a limited number of hours per month? Seems like a good service if that's true. Could certainly come in handy for people that travel often.

Yup, completely free if you have an account. You get 1 hr free for each $ you spend per month in the normal membership

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: ScottFern
Yeah I just checked out the watch now movie selection and its pretty terrible. I guess I will wait until the selection gets better.

If you havent already, check out "Matewon" one of the best movies ever.....or maybe I'm biased because im a WV native

 

[fLum0x]

is netflix really worth it? I watch a movie about once or twice a week, but i usually buy them :x

 

[toekramp]

Do they have roll over hours?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I think so, I like the fact that whatever i want is always in, i dont have to bother with going to the video store, standing in line, returning on time. Plus with the new "on demand" thing, its a complete no brainer for me

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: toekramp
Do they have roll over hours?

Unfortunately no

 

[BornStar]

I've checked several times and I can't find anything about this on my Netflix account. I always access it in Firefox so maybe that's my problem?

 

[JujuFish]

Originally posted by: desk
i don't want to spam, but a company i'm writing for (see my sig) is in the streaming video market. they are still really small and don't have anywhere near netflix's content, but the quality of their video is excellent (they claim dvd-quality). they use a p2p setup.

i dunno if they'll survive, as it's getting to be a crowded marketplace, but they did just sign a deal with Lionsgate, so they are apparently making some good progress.

anyhow, check 'em out if you want: ReelTime.com

The quality is good, but the selection sucks. I glanced quickly through, and I don't think I saw one thing I wanted to watch.

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: BornStar18
I've checked several times and I can't find anything about this on my Netflix account. I always access it in Firefox so maybe that's my problem?

i just accessed it through firefox, click on the Watch Now tab

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Not everyone has the ablility at this time, they claim in summer everyone will have it