Netflix/Wi Fi Question

bdtae5656

Im thinking about buying a new blu ray player so I can go wi-fi and get netflix, but before I do I have a couple of questions.

1. How many movies do BR players usually/on average store when downloading movies?

2. How long does the the download take on average ? 10minutes or 2 hours ?

3. When watching a downloaded Netflix movie is there DTS or TrueHD ? Or is it like renting a ppv movie on Directv

4. How much difference is there with Blu Ray movies from the player and downloaded movies from netflix ? Sound, Picture, etc

Thanks,

treitz3

1 - They don't actually store the movie. Just the link to the movie, if you will.

2 - Depending on your speeds, I usually have the movie up and running in minutes. More during heavy traffic times and buffering can be a pain at times also when traffic is heavy. It seems with me, it either is fast with no issues or a pain in the rear. No in between.

3 - Better than PPV but not quite HD. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

4 - Big difference with both. If I want a Blu-Ray type quality, I order or rent one.

nwohlford

1. As noted above, the movies are streamed real-time. The interface differs a lot by player.
2. If you have hi-speed internet, you will usually find that Netflix is the main bottle neck (unfortunately, this means that you are most run into problems on Friday and Saturday nights).
3. Most movies are either 720p (those listed as HD) or DVD quality. Netflix does Dolby Digital and DTS, but I never seen any mention of TrueHD.
4. Given the equipment you list, I am guess you will notice the difference between Netflix and Blu-ray. (I tend to do most of my streaming on a 32" TV with a lesser sound system so I don't notice that much of a difference.)

If this is one of you main reasons for getting a blu-ray player, I would do some research on the Netflix interface in the Blu-Ray player.

Right now I have Netflix streaming from my Sony TV, TIVO (HD and premiere), blu-ray players (Samsung and Sony), and AppleTV. I tend only to use the TIVOs and the AppleTV. I love that AppleTV lets you select from any movie available for streaming (most only let you select from movies in your instant queue). I think that the TIVOs have the best viewing experience (the movies almost never stop for buffering - I am guessing that this is advantage of a large harddrive). I find the blu-ray apps clunky, but I have heard some of the newer players have better apps.

zingo

Netflix streams very well one my wireless Vizio TV, as well as my hardwired Sony Blu-Ray player. I highly recommend hard-wiring your streaming device and it is the best and most reliable internet connection, but wireless works if that is your only option. Usually it only takes a minute to start the movie stream at my house, and I think only three times has it paused or stopped, so good enough speed and reliability in my opinion.

bdtae5656

Thank you for the insight everyone! One thing that I didnt realize is that the Netflix movies are played in real time (For some reason I thought or read that you could download your movies so there wont ever be a buffering problem?) But yes wireless is my only option, but wish it wasnt.

heiney9

I use a ROKU box to stream Netflix and in my new house I have had zero issues. In my old place, an apartment, it was spotty all the time. Actually I had cable issues a lot, not Netflixes fault but my sevice provider who always tried to blame someone else.

I just switched to Dish Network for TV and downgraded my cable internet service to 6MBps down from 12 and last night I watched (2) HD streaming shows with zero problems. I was worried dropping down from 12mbps to 6mbps might cause some streaming issues with Netflix, especially HD content.

So if one is having issues, don't always assume it's Netflix. As stated all the interphases work differently depending on the player.

heiney9

bdtae5656 wrote: »

But yes wireless is my only option, but wish it wasnt.

Why? Wireless is the best. No more running cables everywhere. I'm waiting for wireless TV content, as in no more wires running to cable/satellite boxes, etc.

heiney9

zingo wrote: »

I highly recommend hard-wiring your streaming device and it is the best and most reliable internet connection, but wireless works if that is your only option.

I've never had issues with wireless that I didn't also have with a wired connection. Although if one's wireless router is older, or really cheap, or if you have interference in your particular area, wired is obviously better. But, all things being equal there is no difference. Wireless for me everytime.

H9

bdtae5656

heiney9 wrote: »

Why? Wireless is the best. No more running cables everywhere. I'm waiting for wireless TV content, as in no more wires running to cable/satellite boxes, etc.

For streaming movies and new downloads for the Marantz

heiney9

Why don't you want wireless?

bdtae5656

heiney9 wrote: »

I use a ROKU box to stream Netflix and in my new house I have had zero issues. In my old place, an apartment, it was spotty all the time. Actually I had cable issues a lot, not Netflixes fault but my sevice provider who always tried to blame someone else.

I just switched to Dish Network for TV and downgraded my cable internet service to 6MBps down from 12 and last night I watched (2) HD streaming shows with zero problems. I was worried dropping down from 12mbps to 6mbps might cause some streaming issues with Netflix, especially HD content.

So if one is having issues, don't always assume it's Netflix. As stated all the interphases work differently depending on the player.

Which ROKU do you use?

heiney9

The HD capable one, the middle one I think. I've had it for almost 2 years now and the choices have changed a little bit.

H9

P.s. ROKU - XD

bdtae5656

So just plug and play on the ROKU?

heiney9

bdtae5656 wrote: »

So just plug and play on the ROKU?

Yep.

HDMI out; Wireless in from a wireless router. Onscreen set-up for configuring your wireless router.

H9

dkg999

bdtae5656 wrote: »

So just plug and play on the ROKU?

You have to connect it to your wireless router or wired network, have your Netflix, Amazon, and HulaPlus accounts set up (whichever ones you want to subscribe to) and then link the Roku box to those accounts. It' all pretty painless.

Sherardp

AppleTv has a nice interface, add to that it can also be used to stream all your other media on the network. Will give you access to movies in Itunes, Netflix, Youtube, and more for $99.00. Just another device to consider.

carwashguy

The Apple T.V. is great. Stated with one and have bought two since, not only can I stream movies, but also unlimited music through Pandora and also my own iTunes library. For $99 unbeatable, would have gladly paid 5 times that.

bdtae5656

Carwashguy tell me about this Apple tv....So you purchase the Apple tv for $99 and thats it??

bdtae5656

While its on my mind WHY Apple TV or ROKU ?? Doesn't a Wi Fi blu ray player do the same thing other then ppv movies

GoBigBlue

You can purchase a refurbished Apple TV for $85 from the Apple Store. I have both the Roku and Apple TV, but the Apple TV doesn't support Hulu Plus at the time. If/when Apple TV gets the Hulu service, it will be far superior to Roku. Personally, I like the PS3 for streaming Netflix, and Hulu in HD on top of Blu-Ray capabilities.

carwashguy

99 bucks and that is it. I like it mainly for music. You can stream music from a computer, iPod, iPad etc. It has a ton of quality internet radio stations that play unlimited music, best of all I can stream Pandora. If you are not familiar with it Pandora will let you name an artist, then will play music by that artist and other related artists, literally tens of thousands of songs for FREE. Music quality is fine, will never be SACD level or anything, but definitely decent. Best $99 I ever spent.

heiney9

GoBigBlue wrote: »

If/when Apple TV gets the Hulu service, it will be far superior to Roku.

Why is that? Far superior, please explain. If you mean because it can stream i-Tunes, that's not of interest to me. I hate i-Tunes and it's bloated platform.

H9

heiney9

carwashguy wrote: »

99 bucks and that is it. I like it mainly for music. You can stream music from a computer, iPod, iPad etc. It has a ton of quality internet radio stations that play unlimited music, best of all I can stream Pandora. If you are not familiar with it Pandora will let you name an artist, then will play music by that artist and other related artists, literally tens of thousands of songs for FREE. Music quality is fine, will never be SACD level or anything, but definitely decent. Best $99 I ever spent.

All the streaming from internet and Pandora can be done on the ROKU as well. All internet streaming is pretty poor quality compared to cd. Also you have to pay a small subscription fee to Pandora for it to work as you describe. It's still cheap (like $4 a month or something like that), but not free in order to get the best advantage of what Pandora offers.

H9

dkg999

For video I like my Roku box. For audio I'll stick with my SqueezeBox(s) for now. There's a whole new generation (or a rebirth) of the traditional audio tuner coming that will incorporate legacy broadcast, HD/Digital broadcast, Satellite, Internet, and streaming muisc formats into a single piece of gear. It will be interesting to see if they get that done and what capabilities get delivered to the consumer.

bdtae5656

Im going to be using strictly for movies, sounds like Roku box might be the way to go or I might just buy a new Blu ray player that has Wifi capabilities