[mythtv-users] Netflix's new Roku product.

[Josh White]

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 9:03 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 4:37 PM, Scott D. Davilla <davilla at 4pi.com> wrote:
> <SNIP>
> >
> > Reading the reviews, only 10 percent of the catalog is available for
> > streaming and that does not include any current DVD releases.
>
> That's all technically true but there's 'current' releases vs 'new'
> releases. There are pleanty of current that suit me. I watch about 5x
> as many hours of NetFlix streaming as I do our Myth boxes. The NetFlix
> Watch Instantly library is great for picking up documentary releases
> as well as foreign releases - both things my family won't allow in
> terms of DVD delivery but obviously makes no difference to them if I'm
> watching here in my office.
>
> > It only
> > has 64MB of ram with no other temp storage so pure streaming. Their
> > software will detect your bandwidth and you need better than 2Mb for
> > 480p. Only 480p is supported right now. HD content is promised
> > (there's that word again) for when Netflix moves to HD content and
> > Roku provides the firmware update.
>
> I will only compare my AMD64 machine running Myth vs Watch Instantly
> using our PCR-150/250 back end. No comparison in picture quality -
> Watch Instantly's quality crushes ivtv/Myth recordings off of analog
> cable. It's a very different beast as it takes 20-30 seconds to jump
> around where Myth can do it almost instantly, but for watching
> streaming media front to back as in movies without commercials it's
> far, far better. We've gone so far here as to stop recording movies
> almost completely with Myth and just take what we can get from Watch
> Instantly. Additionally since the move to 0.21 Myth stutters a lot
> whereas the same hardware works flawlessly with Watch Instantly.
>
> >
> > And forget about streaming your content -- not possible.
> >
> > My bet is that once Netflix starts to see the costs related to
> > on-demand streaming they will have to rethink their pricing
> > structure. They will sell many boxes but I'm staying away. Burned too
> > many times with Roku.
>
> I am personally guessing you have it backwards. NetFlix used to limit
> the number of hours we could use Watch Instantly and made it
> unlimited. I suspect that not having to keep DVD media and not paying
> for envelopes and postage is probably cheaper than sending me the DVD.
> I guess we'll only know over time but for huge amounts of so-so media
> - documentaries, TV shows and to some extent things not everyone wants
> to watch it's a great service and has enhanced our DVD watching as we
> only get new releases for the most part as DVD's now.
>
> Just my views,
> Mark
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This looks quite interesting to me.

If more people have these, it's very likely the online library will expand.
Neftlix' original business plan was for internet distribution, the only
problem was that the internet wasn't ready.  This will by no means replace
my myth setup, but for $100, it would seem like a nice addition.  I already
have a netflix account, so I think I may go for this.

It would be really nice if there was some way to tie it in with the myth
interface (it would make the mythflix plugin MUCH more attractive).

I'd like to hear more from myth users and what they thing of the
device/service.  Since I don't have a windows PC in my house, it's currently
rare that I use the service myself.
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