Wii and Netflix

apc

My daughter has a Wii and I hear Netflix can be streamed using the device. We don't have an account yet, but is it worth a try given the limited IQ of a Wii vs a 360 or PS console?

tcrossma

I guess it depends on what you are wanting to use it for. I've had no trouble with the Wii streaming, and it looks quite respectable on my 34" CRT HDTV. Couldn't really tell you about sound as I just have it running through the TV.

The only semi-annoying thing is that the NetFlix disc has to be in the drive when streaming.

apc

OK. We are used to DVD (not Blu Ray) quality. I was just wondering how the images may compare on a 50" plasma.

Kex

There's a thread about this somewhere (try searching the Roku term, for the Roku box that is frequently used for streaming Netflix), but I think if you're interested in streaming Netflix you're going to have to check if you have a premium broadband service (probably at least 3MB) and, if you want to use it wirelessly, a very good "N" router too.

apc

Wow, not sure about that. Thanks for the heads-up. I have a "N" router but doubt I pay for a premium broadband service.

bobman1235

You most certainly do not need a "very good N router" to stream Netflix.

802.11g streams at 54Mbps. It's quite a bit faster than your 3Mbps internet service.

I got the disk from Netflix a few weeks ago, and the quality is OK, definitely not DVD quality but it's OK.

apc

Thanks. That's what I was fishing for - a comparison to DVD picture quality. Might be worth trying on the trial basis. I'll contact Netflix about acquiring a disk.

AsSiMiLaTeD

+1 on what Bob said, mostly:

Mine works fine with a G router, 54 mbps is much faster than your internet connection is anyway. The only advantage I think you may have with a N router is distance, as I wanna say the range is longer on them, though to be fair I'm not certain on that, worth looking up though.

Kex

bobman1235 wrote: »

You most certainly do not need a "very good N router" to stream Netflix.

802.11g streams at 54Mbps. It's quite a bit faster than your 3Mbps internet service. ...

Perhaps it's more a question of managing expectations, a preference rather than a requirement, but following that same logic, a wireless B router would also be sufficient. Try using a laptop wirelessly with a B router or B wireless card on a 1.5MB broadband connection: it will work "fine" depending on your expectations, but a G router or wireless card will still work better in many cases (if not always), even though the service is limited to 1.5MB to begin with.

YMMV, especially if there are other wireless devices sharing the connection at the time. It's worth doing a bit of research, but apc says he already has wireless N anyway.

tcrossma

Doesn't the Wii just have a built-in wireless B/G adapter anyway?

As far as quality, probably not DVD quality but pretty darn close for me, at least on my 34" TV. Obviously the larger you go the more you'll notice, so it might not look as good on a 50".

Plus, I believe NetFlix adjusts its quality based on your connection speed, and also on their current bandwidth usage. So if you're asking to stream a movie at prime-time, you might get slightly less quality.

yepimonfire

apc wrote: »

My daughter has a Wii and I hear Netflix can be streamed using the device. We don't have an account yet, but is it worth a try given the limited IQ of a Wii vs a 360 or PS console?

i use this all the time and it looks just as good as a dvd, no 5.1 though, if you have Dolby Pro Logic II, its no problem, just set it to movie mode, it does an outstanding job of re-creating a surround field from 2ch.

and there is no macroblocking or compression artifacts visible.

Mike Kozak

I told my Dad about this a couple weeks ago, he got the CD and he loves it! He has a Poloroid 46" TV with a pretty darn good picture. Never knew Poloroid even made TVs.