Tell me about the Netflix-to-TV deal

[Luv2Scrap]

I understand that if I have an Xbox 360 and a Netflix plan, I can somehow set it up so that I can get certain Netflix movies instantly to my TV.

So how does one set it up if they also have a cable box? I ended up having to move my Tivo box into the bedroom because I never could get it to communicate with the cable box, even with the silly little cable things that Tivo sells, and they told me would work. Will I have as much trouble with this?

Or, even better, would it get picked up on my wireless router instead?


Also, I am really curious to know if there is a good selection of movies available for instant TV watching.... thoughts on this?


And I would have access to this even with the $8.99 plan, correct?


thanks!

 

[FireDancer]

As long as you are an Xbox Live Gold member and have Netflix you can stream movies to the device. I do not have either but listen to enough tech podcasts to know it is pretty popular in the tech community.

Hopefully someone with first hand knowledge will chime in with their experience but some info is available here and here.

 

[HM]

We use our BluRay for watching Instant Netflix. It's great. Not sure how to do it on your Xbox360...but you do have to have a cable connection to the Xbox360 (we have a Xbox360 but don't use it for Netflix)

Go to Netflix FAQs, there is good information about the service. Plus you can Browse the Instant movies/tv shows on the site before you do anything and even set up a queue for the ones you want before you even set up your system (I believe).

 

[N.Bailey]

First off, I have 4 cards that allow people to join Netflix for 1 month free. If you're interested (or anyone else for that matter), send me a PM and I will send you a code. I don't get anything for handing out these cards (I'd just give you the code rather than the card), so feel no sense of obligation whatsoever. They must be activated by 10/31/2009.

We have an Xbox, and I believe it would stream thru the actual Xbox rather than your cable box. You should be ok. If not, cancel your account right away and you won't be billed further (and I give it to Netflix, their billing dept is awesome - this is 1 company that I really trust and I don't say that lightly). Hubby is more into the Xbox though, and he and his pals can watch movies together (not that they do that much, but they think it's cool).

I'm on the 3 DVD at a time plan and have really enjoyed my membership for the past couple of years. I sometimes hold the hard copies for up to a month because I get so wrapped up in instant watch. I don't know if there is enough to make it worth your while, only you can answer that really. Try it free, if you feel it's not worth it, cancel within the month and you're out nothing.

It's hard getting around the site to see what is available, but I visit another forum and they keep a running list of movies you can watch instantly. Some movies/tv shows are only available for a limited time, and this site keeps up on that as well.
http://instantwatcher.com/

 

[java]

Xbox Live Gold membership
Netflix membership
and an Xbox360
oh and a tv
are all you will need to get it going. It goes right onto your xbox (there is a NETFLIX box that you click on and you just pick the movies or tv you want to see.)

They are very very limited imho in what is available to instant watch. But it took us a little while to get through what we wanted to see. Now we are just waiting for them to add some interesting new stuff. (Holy smokes recently they have been racey movies imho) The classic selection is pretty good.

We use it at least once a week. If you go to netflix and click on watch instantly - you'll see the kind of stuff that's available.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

Xbox Live Gold membership
Netflix membership
and an Xbox360
oh and a tv
are all you will need to get it going. It goes right onto your xbox (there is a NETFLIX box that you click on and you just pick the movies or tv you want to see.)

They are very very limited imho in what is available to instant watch. But it took us a little while to get through what we wanted to see. Now we are just waiting for them to add some interesting new stuff. (Holy smokes recently they have been racey movies imho) The classic selection is pretty good.

We use it at least once a week. If you go to netflix and click on watch instantly - you'll see the kind of stuff that's available.

So what do you hook the xbox 360 to? A cable cord? What about my cable box, then? Sorry, I'm just trying to get all the facts ahead of time, so I don't have any surprises, like I did with the Tivo!

 

[AshleyW]

So what do you hook the xbox 360 to? A cable cord? What about my cable box, then? Sorry, I'm just trying to get all the facts ahead of time, so I don't have any surprises, like I did with the Tivo!

We connect our 360 right into our TV with an HD cord. Our TV has 3 different HD plug-ins, so we never have to worry about switching out devices.

And I know a PP said that the Instant Viewing had a limited selection of stuff to watch, but I disagree. I guess it depends on if you watch a lot of TV or not. I work 2nd shift, so most shows I don't get to see. I watch a lot of TV shows on Netflix Instant Viewing, especially Showtime shows. The shows I rotate between are The Office, Lost, Dexter, The Tudors, Californication, Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch .. there's a lot on there. Normally new release movies aren't on there, but I think there's a decent selection on there. I suppose it does depend on what types of movies you like, though.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

Cool, thanks for the info! I was able to find where I could see what's available and it looks like there's enough there to keep us busy for a while, anyway!

 

[FireDancer]

So what do you hook the xbox 360 to? A cable cord? What about my cable box, then? Sorry, I'm just trying to get all the facts ahead of time, so I don't have any surprises, like I did with the Tivo!

You'll need to hook the Xbox to the internet but the connection to the TV doesn't have to change. If you have an Xbox live account you should already be hooked up anyway.

What is available is a product of the arcane distribution contracts that the movie industry still uses. A streamed movie is licensed different than a rental so some movies available to rent via Netflix are not available for Netflix to stream. The movie industry is way behind on the technology curve so there is a lot of red tape for companies like Netflix to cut through before they can make streaming movies available.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

You'll need to hook the Xbox to the internet but the connection to the TV doesn't have to change. If you have an Xbox live account you should already be hooked up anyway.

What is available is a product of the arcane distribution contracts that the movie industry still uses. A streamed movie is licensed different than a rental so some movies available to rent via Netflix are not available for Netflix to stream. The movie industry is way behind on the technology curve so there is a lot of red tape for companies like Netflix to cut through before they can make streaming movies available.

See, this is where I think I will have a problem. I have cable internet. How can I hook this up to the cable internet, and the cable box up to the cable?

I don't have an xbox live account now - don't even have the xbox yet.

 

[jel0511]

I have a Tivo, which I use to access the online Netflix selection. You'll need a wireless router to hook your xbox to to access the internet to get access to Netflix, that's how we do it with our Tivo. When we got our Tivo box, we ditched the cable box and got a cable card, so now it's our cable box as well, we just lost on demand. My only complain with online netflix is that you have to go online using your computer first and put the movies in your "watch instanatly" queue before you can access it from your tv.

 

[AshleyW]

See, this is where I think I will have a problem. I have cable internet. How can I hook this up to the cable internet, and the cable box up to the cable?

I don't have an xbox live account now - don't even have the xbox yet.

Do you have wireless internet set up in your house, or is everything wired? If you have wireless, xbox sells a wireless adapter that you can plug into your 360 and it will pick up your wireless internet signal. When I bought mine, it was $99, I think.

 

[FireDancer]

See, this is where I think I will have a problem. I have cable internet. How can I hook this up to the cable internet, and the cable box up to the cable?

I don't have an xbox live account now - don't even have the xbox yet.

Your cable somewhere in your house plugs into a Cable modem which, in turn, you plug your computer into. Between your computer and the cable modem you will need a router. Once you install the router you can either run an ethernet cable to to television and plug your Xbox in or install a wireless adapter on the Xbox. If you are going to purchase the Xbox wireless adapter make sure to get the Xbox 360 adapter because is supports WPA encryption while the standard Xbox adapter will only support WEP which is easily broken.

If you don't have an Xbox yet and you are getting it only for the Netflix functions and not gaming I would suggest the Roku player. Not only can you watch Netflix on it but also Amazon VoD. With companies like Media fly porting web content to the device it is only a matter of time before you will be watching video podcasts (Leo is already working on getting some TWiT shows onto the device), Youtube and Hulu. I know other video aggregators like Mevio will be porting content to the device soon.

A podcast all about the Roku player is available here.

Of course you can use software to do all of this yourself with Media Servers and Boxee, but it is much less plug and play.

When we got our Tivo box, we ditched the cable box and got a cable card, so now it's our cable box as well, we just lost on demand.

FYI, this will only work if your cable provider uses the CableCARD standard. If your doesn't (Comcast in most areas does not) the TiVo will not work without the box from your provider.

 

[N.Bailey]

See, this is where I think I will have a problem. I have cable internet. How can I hook this up to the cable internet, and the cable box up to the cable?

I don't have an xbox live account now - don't even have the xbox yet.

This is really for people who have an Xbox Live account. I just assumed you already had that connection. If you do, you're all set. There are no other cables to run at all. When you log in to your Live account, you'll see the Netflix tab thingy from the dashboard.

If you don't have a Live account already, really, I think you'd be better off buying the Roku. I say this because, in addition to the monthly fee from Netflix, you'd also have the yearly fee to have the Live account ($50 a year and a good deal, but prolly not so much so if you're only using it for Netflix).

 

[N.Bailey]

I have a Tivo, which I use to access the online Netflix selection. You'll need a wireless router to hook your xbox to to access the internet to get access to Netflix, that's how we do it with our Tivo. When we got our Tivo box, we ditched the cable box and got a cable card, so now it's our cable box as well, we just lost on demand. My only complain with online netflix is that you have to go online using your computer first and put the movies in your "watch instanatly" queue before you can access it from your tv.

We actually keep don't run a wireless network because the speed is better with the wired. I know it's outdated though, but I will stick with wired (so wireless isn't a requirement).

You also don't have to add the movies on the computer anymore. You initially did, but when Xbox did that big upgrade they changed this. You can view it all on Live now. This was a big selling point for hubby and son. My daughter and I watch most things via the computer anyway, so was no biggie for us.

 

[N.Bailey]

I don't know what you'd need to get set up, but there is a way you could link your TV to your computer and just watch Netflix movies that way. I don't know all the specifics of going that route, but I'm sure there are many people out there who could help you set that up. I'd imagine it would only require running a cable from the computer to the TV.

Since none of this deals with your cable company at all, I don't see why your cable box would be any trouble at all.

To watch Netflix, you steam it via, the Xbox directly, the Roku, or the computer, not your cable company or whichever TV provider you might have.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

We have it and it is our primary source of entertainment. We have enjoyed so many shows that we would not otherwise see. LOVE it.

 

[bicker]

We have Netflix on our TiVo, and we did go the wired route because that's more reliable. Unfortunately, they don't support closed captions, so for us (my wife is hearing impaired) it's like they don't even offer the service.

 

[Papa Deuce]

You can buy a wireless adapter for the XBOX. I bought one years ago... never really used it much, but I am about to hook it back up... it was easy to hook up.

 

[justhat]

We had an Xbox, but sold it a couple of years ago when we got the PS3. So we just got the Roku and it works very well and was really easy to set up. In fact, we're at my mom's house this weekend and my husband brought it with us and set it up on my mom's tv in a couple of minutes.