Question about Netflix and Wii

[mrudman]

I've been seeing commercials about how Netflix can now be streamed through a Wii system.

For the last year or so, dh and I have been debating giving up our U-Verse.. we rarely watch TV, and what we do watch is usually older movies. And dd's, when they do watch, is usually shows such as I-Carly, Phineas & Ferb, etc..

I looked at the Netflix site, and looks as if all these shows can be watched (even if they are older shows, dd's don't care.. they continually watch re-runs through our DVR anyway).

My question though.. we have a Wii that's set up in our living room.. probably 80% of our TV watching is in that room.. but we do like to watch TV at night in our bedroom also.. Would we need to get a second Wii system in our bedroom to watch Netflix.. or is there something that can be done to get it in there also?

Just thinking that we really are not needing to pay $60/month for U-Verse anymore with the type of shows/movies we watch. None of us are hooked on any "new" shows that we'd watch weekly.. and if we could save $50/month by switching to Netflix, it might be well worth it.

Also, for anyone who does stream it through the Wii, how is the quality of the picture? And speed? Does it every freeze up as it's loading, etc?

Thanks,

 

[Dax]

The Wii/Netflix combo cannot be streamed to another room...so if another TV needed it, then you would either need to move the Wii or get another..

As for the quality...My DH loves it. He said everything is in good quality, and the load times are pretty short too

 

[Gina]

My question though.. we have a Wii that's set up in our living room.. probably 80% of our TV watching is in that room.. but we do like to watch TV at night in our bedroom also.. Would we need to get a second Wii system in our bedroom to watch Netflix.. or is there something that can be done to get it in there also?

Also, for anyone who does stream it through the Wii, how is the quality of the picture? And speed? Does it every freeze up as it's loading, etc?

Thanks,

I signed up for Netflix a couple of months ago, because DS needed to watch a movie for a summer assignment before school started. I saw about the Wii streaming thing, so ordered that disc to try it out. SO glad I did!!! Oh man, I can't even remember life before that little disc now.

DS and I have found sooooo many shows and movies we love (A billion episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000!!! )) and it's just so stinkin' easy. We get on the computer, load up a ton of stuff to our queue, then watch to our heart's content. You can watch stuff in whatever order you want -- doesn't have to be in the order you queued them up. The picture is as good as anything on regular tv, everything loads up super-quick, and we haven't hit any glitches whatsoever.

You do have to have the disc in the Wii, and use the Wiimote to control what you're watching, so I think it wouldn't work in your bedroom without a second Wii. But you'll be awfully happy with the tv in your living room.

 

[boltfan]

I don't know about getting it in another room, but we love getting netflix through the wii. It does freeze sometimes, but usually when we have multiple internet devices working in the house or during bad weather. Picture quality is usually good, except on the workout videos I do through the wii. Not much offered with new videos, but I love the old stuff, so I love it.

 

[Microcell]

My friends did that and do not miss satellite at all! I would like to but we signed some dumb contract with our cable provider.

 

[CleoPahd]

If you want to be able to stream netflix to your bedroom, you don't necessarily need to get a second wii. Most tivos now stream netflix, or you could purchase a roku box for about $100 that will stream netflix. There are also several inexpensive blu-ray players that stream as well. There are several threads about this on the boards where you might be able to find more information. We stream on several tvs in our home. Also, through the blu-rays & tivos we have never had a problem with freezing. We haven't really used it with our wii much because we have so many other devices that stream that are more convenient to use.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Definitely do not buy another Wii for streaming netflix. Go with a cheaper option, such as a Roku box. Amazon recently had them on sale for $79.99. I just checked the roku website and Roku HDs are now selling for $69.99:

http://shop.roku.com/Roku-Digital-Video-Player-Options-W5.aspx

Additionally, a Wii does not stream in high definition while a HD Roku does. If you have a high def tv, the Roku picture quality is excellent.

 

[SoCalDCLfan]

I highly recommend the Roku. We cancelled our cable and have a Roku box for the living room tv and a wii for the other TV. Netflix streaming has been great on both. We also bought a cable to connect our TV to our laptop so we can watch programming from online sources. Hulu.com and many of the networks have full episodes available online. My husband even figured out how to watch live college football. It's been terrific!!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I highly recommend the Roku. We cancelled our cable and have a Roku box for the living room tv and a wii for the other TV. Netflix streaming has been great on both. We also bought a cable to connect our TV to our laptop so we can watch programming from online sources. Hulu.com and many of the networks have full episodes available online. My husband even figured out how to watch live college football. It's been terrific!!

Can you let me know how he is able to watch college football? Thanks Jo

 

[littlezar]

We stream on several tvs in our home.

So if I have a Blu-ray and a Wii, both can be used at the same time for different shows/movies?

 

[CleoPahd]

So if I have a Blu-ray and a Wii, both can be used at the same time for different shows/movies?

Yes, but it can't just be any blu-ray, it has to be one the supports netflix streaming. Also, your internet speed will play a role in how well you can stream on more than one device at a time. We have high speed internet through comcast and have never had a problem multi-streaming. Out entire house is networked, and someone is always on a computer and we don't have problems with bandwidth.

 

[LilyWDW]

Can you let me know how he is able to watch college football? Thanks Jo

I know that some internet providers allow for access to ESPN online. My boyfriend and I used this to watch World Cup matches. They have live streams and game replays. You would need to check if your provider is a part of it though.

 

[KaiLovesTheMouse]

Another option is the new Apple TV. It is very small and only $99. It streams all of your movies, pictures, videos from iTunes and has Netflix built in. You can also get a disc from Netflix to use on a Playstation3. You can check it out at Apple's website.

 

[SoCalDCLfan]

Can you let me know how he is able to watch college football? Thanks Jo

He started with this link after he googled "watching college football online" : http://www.ehow.com/how_2117366_watch-college-football-online-free.html. It gets you to a forum called P2P that lists available games. He had difficulty getting the Michigan game link to work (the site says not all will work), so he ended up going to ESPN3.com and it worked. Next week may be different as the game is on NBC. He's going to try the P2P forum links again.

For now, this is a work in progress as he figures out how to get each week's games. Good luck! We'd be interested in additional options if anyone comes across one.

 

[littlezar]

Yes, but it can't just be any blu-ray, it has to be one the supports netflix streaming. Also, your internet speed will play a role in how well you can stream on more than one device at a time. We have high speed internet through comcast and have never had a problem multi-streaming. Out entire house is networked, and someone is always on a computer and we don't have problems with bandwidth.

Thanks ~ my blu-ray supports netflix and we have high speed internet as well. Think I'll take the plunge once my hubby gets home from his current deployment. Good to know that he can catch up on some of the shows he missed and the boys could be watching something else.

 

[momtosam]

Wow! I've been wanting to sign up for Netflix for Wii for awhile now. You just sold me on MST3000!

I signed up for Netflix a couple of months ago, because DS needed to watch a movie for a summer assignment before school started. I saw about the Wii streaming thing, so ordered that disc to try it out. SO glad I did!!! Oh man, I can't even remember life before that little disc now.

DS and I have found sooooo many shows and movies we love (A billion episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000!!! )) and it's just so stinkin' easy. We get on the computer, load up a ton of stuff to our queue, then watch to our heart's content. You can watch stuff in whatever order you want -- doesn't have to be in the order you queued them up. The picture is as good as anything on regular tv, everything loads up super-quick, and we haven't hit any glitches whatsoever.

You do have to have the disc in the Wii, and use the Wiimote to control what you're watching, so I think it wouldn't work in your bedroom without a second Wii. But you'll be awfully happy with the tv in your living room.

 

[Gina]

Wow! I've been wanting to sign up for Netflix for Wii for awhile now. You just sold me on MST3000!

LOL, glad to meet another fan!! In fact, in your honor, I think we're going to watch the "Secret Agent Super Dragon" episode tonight we've had queued up for a while.

 

[mrudman]

Thanks everyone for the replies!! We've just signed up for the 30-day free trial... and so far love it! The only thing that was a little disappointing to dd's is that I had thought the ICarly episodes were able to be streamed.. but looks like they're all dvd, so I put them on our queue (sp?) list, and we'll see how long it takes to get those.

So far I have not cancelled our U-Verse.. we'll try this out for the month before we do anything that drastic, lol, and I'm thinking we're going to need an HD TV now also, cause the measurements on most of the shows were not compatible with our old TV (the people look way too skinny, like it's stretching it up and down).

But so far so good, so we'll try it out for a few wks now, and thinking we might be changing over to it for good.

As I was browsing all the movies, I had forgotten about so many of them that I remember watching when I was younger... will be fun to be able to watch all of them again!


Oh, and dh mentioned to me while he was at Walmart yesterday, he saw a blue-ray player that also plays regular dvd's, has internet capabilities, and does streaming also.. for $98... so I had him go back and get that today.. figured we could put that on our 2nd tv (cheaper than another Wii)... tested it out tonight on our main TV, and think we might actually leave it out there, lol... love the pandora feature on it (music).. and seemed to be much easier to navigate through netflix than using the Wii.

 

[4mickey2]

is the movie playing only as good as your internet. i have watched netflix movies on my computer and well, my speeds aren't the best. it would skip and well, you could just see how the timing was off on them.

so, if i bought a wii or a blue ray dvd player would it still only be as good as my internet? i'm just a little confused...

 

[LilyWDW]

is the movie playing only as good as your internet. i have watched netflix movies on my computer and well, my speeds aren't the best. it would skip and well, you could just see how the timing was off on them.

so, if i bought a wii or a blue ray dvd player would it still only be as good as my internet? i'm just a little confused...

Yes, it would come down to your internet speeds.