Have a Netflix-Ready Device? What do You Like or Dislike About It?

Jeffrey writes, "I have been shopping around for a new Blu-ray player that will stream NETFLIX (and other content as well), and I have read a bunch of reviews on ALL of them. Do you have any recommendations as to what you think is the best one. It seems a lot of people have had problems with the firmware updates on some of the Samsung models, and the LG models are limited on what else they can instant stream thru their players. The one I really like is the Sony BDP-N460. Most reviews are quite favorable, and besides NETFLIX, this particular model offers up Blockbuster On Demand, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Crackle, Fear.net, and a host of others. I’m just checking with you to see if you have heard of any problems where this device and NETFLIX instant streaming is concerned since that will be my major application for this unit."

While I own a total of 7 Netflix-ready devices (2 Roku's, 2 Windows Media Center PCs and an Xbox 360), I only have 2 Netflix-ready Blu-ray players (PS3 and Insignia). I really like the PS3 for Blu-ray as it includes WIFI and also plays games, but the Insignia is just a basic Blu-ray player with WIFI. I've played with other Blu-ray players, but  Jeffrey is looking for feedback from people that own the different devices.

Do you have a Netflix-ready device, such as a Roku Player, TiVo HD, Blu-ray player, TV, home theater system, PS3 or Xbox 360? 

What do you like or dislike about the way it works? Have you had problems? What could be improved?

Comments

[Bumpeshine]

Been playing around with the new Roku HD-XR (full review is coming), I really like it so far, but I wish it the ability to add to my Netflix Queue from the box itself and I also wish it could stream Starz live.

[Kevin Bachelder]

I recently bought the Insignia NS-WBRDVD which normally sells for $180 but it is currently on sale at Best Buy for $120. It does Netflix streaming, it has built-in wifi and it also allows you to connect a USB flash drive so you can play AVI and other video files.

[Guy]

Carol et al,

Rather than waiting for the LG BD390 unit to detect my true network speed or playing "dummy" content like I mentioned in my original post, I've started to fast forward just a bit after the "low bandwidth detect" content finishes buffering and starts playing. When the unit rebuffers after fast forwarding it usually immediately picks up the true, high quality network speed. Clunky, but beats waiting for 5-10 minutes.

-Guy

[idylld]

I'd like to know if anyone has had pixelation problems with their LG BD390. We really like the machine, which we just got this week, but when we use Netflix streaming, we get pink/green splotching every few seconds. Maddening.

[Jeffery McDowell]

I have the Xbox 360. Since day one i havent had one problem(well except for the T2 issue everyone else with the 360 was having). I love it. I am getting a Sony BDP-N460 soon . I dont want to wear my game system down. The Sony has more streaming channels than any other model(25 as of now,including Pandora,YouTube, Blockbuster, FeaR.Net,and Crackle)and the firmware updating is a breeze(hear that Samsung)

[Japzone]

I have a Roku Box and I'm quite satisfied with it's features. The only thing I have to Con about it really is the Somewhat lack of Youtube support. Currently the only way to watch Youtube videos with the Roku is with MediaTribe but it requires a $2.99 a month subscription fee. You people may say that playing Youtube on the TV isn't worth it because of Low quality but a lot of Youtube videos are now in High Definition. As proof I downloaded a Youtube HD video and played through my TV and it looked great.

[dduff617]

i have Samsung blu-ray player. player works for a while with netflix, then eventually it gets into a bad state. it stops (freezes) about every 3-5 minutes. to unfreeze, you have to FF or REW. not would not be terrible, however, the regular-speed player and window that you see when you use FF or REW don't agree on where i am in the movie. thus, i hit FF for the shortest possible time, release, it re-buffers and then starts playing at a point 5 minutes EARLIER in the movie.

doing a forced reset of the player seems to make the problem go away, at least temporarily.

[Jenni]

We have a sony bravia enabled tv and the quality is HORRIBLE. It was fine at first, but I haven't been able to watch anything for longer than 1 minute in the past month! It just freezes up and the tracking gets screwed up REALLY bad. Like, people will be talking and their lips don't move until a full 15 seconds later.
Does anyone else have this problem with the enabled flat screens?

[Rowelle]

I have a TiVoHD. The only thing I don't like about it is the user interface. It's just the list of my instant queue. I would love the ability to browse titles from the screen instead of having to go to my computer to do it.

[pete]

I have a samsung bd1600. I live in an area that only has 1.5mb dsl service and I have a 63" plasma. The netflix streaming sucks horribly. it would be great if for people like us there were a way to just download the movie to the box, and after 2 days or something it deletes out, then we can order another one. We could tell it to download overnight and and be ready to watch the next day. thanks

[BT]

Have a Samsung 1600 and absolutely love it - we have Cable internet, so it's pretty darn fast and our quality is awesome (Especially on HD titles) - have suffered no freezes or any of that.

[Chris M.]

As an owner of both the Xbox 360 and PS3 I have to side on the Xbox360 for now. While yes, you have to pay $50 for 12 months of Xbox live, most Xbox360 owners will tell you that they were paying it before Netflix came out on the Xbox. For me, what makes the decision, is that currently the PS3 version downscales widescreen standard content to 4:3 480p. The PS3 physically changes the video stream from 720p to 480p. On the Xbox widescreen video is shown in correct aspect ratio and never changes the video feed(1080p). I can't go with the PS3 when widescreen content looks the same as watching a standard definition cable/satallite channel displaying cut down to 4:3 HD 16:9 content(black bars on sides and on top/bottom). At least that's how it is for my PS3(Last of the 80G that had software back compatibility for games). All standard widescreen content will be watched on the Xbox360 until they fix it on the PS3. If a program was filmed in 4:3 that would one thing, but this is not the case.

[Jason Henderson]

We watch Netflix on the Xbox 360 so much that this has become our default way of consuming movies, especially because a) the service includes Starz Play, and b) they've been adding more material like MST3K. Still, I have one major headache: why, why, is there now a Search function on Watch Instantly? I know the reason will be "well, we don't want to disappoint people when they search for something we don't have," but sheesh. I don't want to go back to my web queue. I want to search for "A-Team" and find it and watch it from the Xbox 360.

[Jason Henderson]

Argh-- make that "why is there NOT a search function." My bad. :)

[Steele]

I've had the Samsung BDP3600 for a few weeks now. Mostly love it! However on the weekend evenings we start getting the freezing picture. Have to ff or rw but sometimes it just keeps freezing. Then I just turn it off and watch regular tv. :(

[Dan]

Does anyone have the Sony BDP-S560 and know a work around or way to help me connect to Netflix . . . I have contacted both Netflix and Sony support to no avail, including no mention that they would provide a fireware update so I could connect to get streaming video (which I do not understand given that this is the most current Sony Blueray model . . . Anyone have any suggestions ? ? ? ?

[Frustrated to no end]

Is anyone out there at all having problems viewing Netflix movies DRM content on their Mac? (Mine is an Intel mac running Leopard). Since this has been implemented, I, Apple and Netflix have not been able to solve this problem (error 8152) and I am at my wits end!

[Matt]

I just picked up a LG BD370, and the Netflix HD streaming looks pretty good. But I am getting annoyed trying to find HD streams on the website. There is no "HD" indicator like when shown in the queue on the LG player.

I see there is an HD genre to browse on the website, but then you can't sort by sub-genre like comedy, documentary, etc.

Also, it would be nice if you could browse all available movies right from the Netflix device.

[MCNB]

We're a military family serving overseas and Netflix won't stream outside the U.S. on the Roku, which I would like to buy. Maybe they could allow streaming to U.S. military if the shipping address on the account is to an APO/FPO box. We get regular TV/movies through the Armed Forces Network and the copyright owners are okay with that, so maybe they could figure out something for the 1.3 million service members and their families -- many have Netflix rather than buying a PAL DVD player...

[Vidkun]

I have the Sony Bravia Link and the PS3 which both support Netflix streaming. It works nicely, however, it would be nice if they developed it out enough so that you could browse and add movies to your queue directly from the device. Amazon's Video on Demand allows for browsing their selection directly from the device, so it is not entirely far fetched. I hate having to add movies to my queue from the computer and then go over to the TV to watch them. Just my thoughts.

[Tammy]

One thing I don't like about Netflix is that it takes shows out at any time, which, mind you take out shows some people actually watch. My daughter and son watch "Angela Anaconda" every morning before they start the day, then all the sudden one day it wasnt there. I looked it up to see if I could pull it up again but was no where to be found. Please put back in my children's show, they really miss it. They have been nagging me, would you do me that favor to put it back in.

Thank You,
-Tammy

[Richard Schlup]

We bought the LG BD390 for chrismas from Amazon.com and were really happy with it but when you log into netflix for the first time you have to go to the computer and enter a code so it recognizes the blu-ray player so it can stream the content. The trouble is it doesn't hold the information we have to keep reentering new codes if we don't watch it for a couple of days. We have Verizon Fios and it is extremely fast. I am not sure where the problem rests. In tha player ,the wifi, or fiosor something else. Any suggestions?????

[BryanC]

What do you have to do in order to achieve full HD while playing Netflix IW on a LG BD370? It seems that everyone is having problems with connectivity.

[Roger]

I am considering purchasing a ROKU HD-XR as a Netflix compatible device. I have Verizon FIOS TV and Internet with an Actiontech MI424WR router and MoCA Motorola NIM100. Any comments on installation problems or performance would be appreciated.

[Burt]

I have the Roku and LG BD390. Bought my daughter the new Insignia (Best Buy house brand wireless). Netflix worked great out of the box. It has a different interface -- movie and TV tabs, and icons for recent streaming adds. Just select one and it loads. Any idea if other devices will have similar interface? I like not having to go back to computer.

[32gb micro sd card]

The Sony BDP-N460 is a great piece of equipment. Down grading it because it doesn't have 1 GB of on board storage is absurd when you can buy 4 GB for $16.00 or less. Furthermore, what's the big deal about not having built-in wifi when the the absolute best you can get off a wireless network is 54 Mbips. If you are buying the unit to stream Netflix, then use a wired ethernet connection that runs at 400 Mbips or faster

[A girl]

I have one of the LG BD300 players and it plays netflix great I like the display muh better than running on the xbox 360 it is a little more user friendly. I haven't had any problems with streaming or playback but my disc tray stopped working and now it says that the tray is open all the time so it won't let me do anything. I have tried to play with it and nothing. Nothing like a $300 machine that doesn't work.

[Kawikka]

I have the Roku, PS3, and Wii.

1. The PS3 has the best interface in my opinion, but it is a pain having to use the disc.

2. The Wii also requires the disc to use, but has all the same functions on netflix as PC except SEARCH, which is the most important in my opinion.

3. The Roku has an easy interface, no disc, the unit is relatively small and good picture quality, but you are limited to ONLY what is in your instant queue, which is a hug pain as far as I'm concerned.

[air yeezy]

Where not to eat bread with tears, people do not know the taste of life of people.

[air yeezy]

Where not to eat bread with tears, people do not know the taste of life of people.