Comments on: Look out, Apple TV: The $100 Netflix Player has arrived

The long-awaited "Netflix box" has finally arrived, but is this barebones product worth the $100 asking price?

[AlienEric]

Apple have a bigger market in the iPhone and with people doing amazing stuff to make the iPhone more and more like the modern mini laptop, you can only guess their profit keeps going up. Source: http://www.eaonlineshop.com/index.asp?action=showProductInformationFrame&productID=1

[dgrimmster]

The Netflix Player is to Apple TV as Zune is to the iPod!

[rajeshmail201]

and as Apple Fanboys are to Apple... Apple makes such great products- but the Apple fanboys really leave so much to be desired. No class-always riling the competition. What do you want? No company to compete with? then you end up being like MS.

[mammalthedog]

I agree. Superior in every way.

[seangerlis]

Does this product support closed captioning? (I'm not talking about subtitle option, but a real closed caption.)

[jpfalcone]

@ seangerlis: I just checked this, and the answer appears to be "no." (Queued up "The Wild Bunch," turned cc on, and got nothing.)

[seangerlis]

jpfalcone - Drats! thank you.

[as206155]

I have discovered that CC does not work with HDMI. CC will often work with a composite video connection.

[christianbusch]

I think i'll get one of those - i love Netflix on Demand - and for $100 you can't really go wrong

[sinerasis]

I'm glad this actually got produced. Netflix is really a great service with a reasonable cost, isn't that what most consumers are looking for? iTunes for movies is not reasonably priced, it just doesn't cut it. I've been using a Media Center plug in which allows the WatchItNow movies to be played and it's really great. The most wanted movies and tv shows aren't there yet, but I would hope they support it with new releases. From what I hear HD content is in the works (nothing yet) which could increase it's "cool" factor and also kill a lot of bandwidth.

[stupidjonas]

I would definitely buy this at that price. Right now I have an old Sony PC hooked up to my TV that I've watched Netflix movies on, but it studders and buffers too much. And I love the normal service, I haven't been to a video store in 4 years.
I would just caution them to keep a simple model as they go forward, because I wouldn't want a blu-ray/DVD/etc, because I and many others already have that covered.
As for Apple TV, I've absolutely no interest.

[basketcase421]

To the last poster, the stutter and buffer is most likely due to your internet connection. I have the same setup (not a sony viao, though) and it runs great on TV. I really do like the service, but the selection is pretty poor. I mean, sure... they say they have like 10,000 movies to watch instantly. But, about 95% of them are movies that are either really old or I have never heard of. Unless they broaden their selection, the box is a waste of money. I will say, their selection of tv shows is pretty nice, though still not great. http://www.custompcmax.com

[The_Decider]

Just because the movie is old or you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it is not worth watching. expand your horizons a tad.

[edgedesign]

If I cannot transfer the movies to my iPhone and/or iPod then I'm not interested.

[NProszkow]

Then you can pay more for a movie with the iTunes store, and we'll save money and open competiton with Netflix. Apple's great products are ALWAYS limited to ONLY APPLE software.... a great shame.

[llungster]

I Love Netflix!; but I don't think I'll be buying one of these any time soon because I just took an old unused Shuttle PC and hooked it to my TV purely to watch Netflix movies. But if I hadn't done that, I think $100 is well worth the cost. As a package, Netflix is awesome; far superior to B&M renting or watching TV on an undersized pocket toy. If you watch a lot of movies, this is hard to beat. If you watch only occasionally, then the pay-per-download model is likely better. The limited selection of movies is a definite downer. Most are older movies. But I find that this gets me to watch movies I would normally ignore; and there are some real gems out there.

Netflixers out there who want to get a better feel for their Netflix activity should check out FeedFlix.

FeedFlix is a free service that will allow you to monitor your Netflix usage patterns and tell you how much you are paying per movie. You also get graphs and stats about how long you tend to keep movies etc.

Here's a recent write-up about FeedFlix: http://consumerist.com/5009822/use-feedflix-to-monitor-your-netflix-usage-patterns

[ArtInvent]

Wondering why this or Apple TV etc is even necessary at all. I ran a 50' component cable from my pc to my hdtv. A bluetooth keyb/mouse combo works perfectly on the couch. Sound is already hooked up to the stereo. So I can watch/listen to anything on my computer, the internet, Netflix, network feeds like ABC's site . . . browse the TV Guide site, explore Google Earth, give photo slide shows, run any program on my computer, answer email, etc, etc, etc. Can't for the life of me see why anyone needs a dedicated one-company TV appliance when your full-powered computer is sitting there idle.HERE's what's really needed to make this easier: a wireless HDMI connection or something like that would be the bomb to hook this up for those who aren't able to run the monitor cable.

[jmcgrath35]

What I'd like very much to see is Netflix streaming available in the PS3.

The PS3 has a good browser and wifi built in -- I imagine this could be accomplished with a firmware update. It would be a mutually beneficial deal for both companies, with no real downside.

[AXG]

Netflix instant watch movies are old, really old. Some of these have been beaten to death on network television, others are just plain flops which you would have to pay someone to watch. The better movies, even the old ones, are not on the instant watch list. So what is the point of this player again?

Other problems with Netflix instant watch is I cannot fast forward or rewind the movie, there are no closed captions, the download speeds are horrible and movie keeps pausing, the quality is far worse than that of a DVD.

[pts103]

Al I want to know is when will Netflix "watch now" be Mac compatible? The Netflix wonks really dropped the ball when they entice you to join up without informing you that you can't watch it now unless you're on a PC.

[ccroucher]

Like several other contributors I LOVE Netflix. It has a wonderful library of content and the price can't be beat. I also have my laptop audio and video connected via HDMI to my large HDTV and just love the quality of the video and sound. I connected via WiFi and never get any buffering artifacts. While I'm very happy with the setup I intend to give the RoKu a spin although I don't like the limitation of having to load up the Netflix instant Queue with titles in order to be able to select them from the RoKu. This is a design flaw that should be corrected.

[jhamaker]

I've been a Netflix subscriber for 6-7 years. I've been watching movies via their watch instantly feature and I recently purchased the set top box so that I could get the movies to my upstairs TV. The only thing this feature is missing is more titles. However, I think they are on to something big and it's only going to improve from here.

[johntwice]

Netflix has really made a great move here. This shows they are a forward thiniking company that is able to move with trends. Online streaming of moviews is going to become more popular in the coming years. http://openamf.net/cheap-bowling-balls/

john

[zipityzap]

Save your money. You can connect your PC to your HDTV and then rent movies from anyone your want.
[CNET editor's note: Prohibited spam deleted.]

[wwwilliam]

And, as of this date, the NF box isn't looking like such a good deal, alot of dissatisfied would be users out there. This thing is going no where pretty fast right now.

[mamakat209]

Roku boxes are awesome, and now they are even cheaper. $79.99 (with free shipping!) check out the deal-
www.roku.devhub.com