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ForumsDiscussion Forum → Netflix - Feedback
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Netflix - Feedback
2010-07-22, 10:54 AM #1
I'm looking into Netflix, primarily to save money on watching shows that I like, but don't really want to buy. Not to mention the movies.

Anyone have any bad experiences with Netflix?
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-22, 10:59 AM #2
Netflix streaming is epic. I just wish they had everything available like that...
woot!
2010-07-22, 11:02 AM #3
I love Netflix. If you're into pirating, it's probably not worth it, for for us honest folks, it's great.
2010-07-22, 11:04 AM #4
The only problem ive ever had with netflix was they sent me a dvd that was a little scratched. Other than that ive had no problems and get to see tons of movies and shows for cheap, and they update the streamable ones every week or 2.
I'm proud of my life and the things that I have done, proud of myself and the loner I've become.
2010-07-22, 11:10 AM #5
Originally posted by Steven:
I love Netflix. If you're into pirating, it's probably not worth it, for for us honest folks, it's great.


Pirating hasn't been worth my time and effort since I established an income. Sure, it was great when I was in High School and had no income (or barely any).

Anyway, anyone use the Blu-ray service? $2 more a month seems worth it... I'd probably use that more for newer movies than anything else.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-22, 11:10 AM #6
bad experiences...

sometimes they will receive a movie but not ship a movie the same day like they are supposed to and i have missed a couple new releases this way

one cracked disc (race to witch mountain bluray)
one wrong disc in the sleeve (star trek insurrection disc in star trek nemesis sleeve)

also i'm very annoyed by these bull**** deals netflix is making to add more streaming **** at the expense of month long delays on new releases (a delay that NO OTHER RENTAL SERVICE OR VIDEO STORE IN THE US HAS (that i know of))... and not too long after that fee increase for bluray

other than that the service is great... takes one day for movies to go me <-> netflix (blockbuster's mail service takes 2 days each way and they have no streaming...)
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2010-07-22, 11:11 AM #7
I've been a member for almost 3 years now. The worst I've had is a very rare scratched DVD that doesn't work. I live close to one of their centers, so the turn around time is about a day for DVDs.
Pissed Off?
2010-07-22, 11:17 AM #8
Bad experiences? Nope, never. Had it for a few years, never gotten a bad DVD or blu-ray. On very rare occasions they've had server issues that have caused streaming to not work for a little while, and every time that's happened I've gotten an e-mail a day or two later offering a small credit back on my account for that month.
2010-07-22, 11:33 AM #9
On the rare occasion something will be wrong with the disk (and considering their volume, even 99% effectiveness, some bad ones will get through. But their success rate is pretty damn close to 99%), you just send it back and they send you a correct one. It's not a huge deal.

My family has been using it for probably about 4 years. Instant is the best thing ever, though (like everyone), I wish they'd get more up there. It's frustrating when they only have half a series on Instant (especially because I live 3k miles away from my family, but can still use their Instant account... but can't use their dvds!)
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2010-07-22, 11:49 AM #10
For TV shows, instant streaming is okay. They have a lot of shows, but most of it is just network television or stuff that no longer airs.

The instant streaming movie selection is MUCH worse, and it's extremely rare to see any movies made in the past 3 years to be on instant, unless it's some B-rated crap.
2010-07-22, 12:00 PM #11
Yea it's definitely very hard to find recent releases streamed which is my biggest beef. But it's pretty sweet overall.
A dream is beautiful because it remains a dream.
2010-07-22, 12:07 PM #12
One would imagine that it's fairly easy to rip streamed media from Netflix, and send it through the P2P channels. That's probably the reasoning behind not having new releases streamed.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-22, 1:36 PM #13
it's worth it. i have it on the wii and it kills a lot of time when there's nothing good to watch on 300 tv channels
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2010-07-22, 1:47 PM #14
Originally posted by KOP_AoEJedi:
One would imagine that it's fairly easy to rip streamed media from Netflix, and send it through the P2P channels. That's probably the reasoning behind not having new releases streamed.


I don't know about that. The DRM on the SilverLight player is pretty hardcore. I haven't heard of anyone cracking it yet, but admittedly it's not something I care about at all so if it has happened I probably wouldn't know about it. The DRM on the old Flash player was pretty worthless though, but that's long since been phased out.

The real reason is simply licensing. I imagine the licensing cost for the streaming rights to a new release are insanely high because the movie studios want to make up the money they would lose in blu-ray/DVD sales by allowing the video to be available via subscription streaming (vs a la carte streaming models like iTunes, Xbox Live, etc.) as soon as it's released on DVD/blu-ray. This of course assumes that the movie studio even offers the streaming rights when the movie first comes out to begin with.
2010-07-22, 2:01 PM #15
I got it recently and have been using the instant streaming to watch shows and movies pretty much around the clock since I signed up. Great bargain, in my opinion.
If you think the waiters are rude, you should see the manager.
2010-07-22, 2:16 PM #16
It's really great for watching TV series. I've gotten all caught up on Chuck, Dexter, Big Bang Theory, Pushing Daisies, Burn Notice, Spartacus, MST3K, and a slew of others. Most of them on Instant.
2010-07-22, 2:20 PM #17
Love netflix. We have the bluray plan + we use streaming all the time. In fact, we probably watch 80% of our stuff on streaming. It's just a better way. New releases come in the mail on bluray, the rest we watch on streaming (plus some new shows on there). The 30-day delay doesn't bother me at all, if I wanted to see it right away I would have seen it in a theatre. For $25/month or something for 3-at-a-time + streaming, I couldn't be happier with it.
2010-07-22, 4:04 PM #18
netflix

+1
"Nulla tenaci invia est via"
2010-07-22, 6:52 PM #19
I'm a huge fan of Netflix. I have their cheapest plan because I primarily use the streaming service but I also pay the additional fee for BluRay (for those movies where every pixel counts). I've had fewer than 5 damaged discs in about 5 years which is excellent considering that for the first 2-3 years I received about 6 or so movies per week. It's true that the streaming service is limited but it's updated frequently, will be updated more frequently in the future (as they begin to move away from snail mail service) & I never have difficulty finding something to watch. It's one of the few services in this world that I recommend to everyone.
? :)
2010-07-23, 12:52 AM #20
Originally posted by KOP_AoEJedi:
One would imagine that it's fairly easy to rip streamed media from Netflix, and send it through the P2P channels. That's probably the reasoning behind not having new releases streamed.


Not as easy as ripping the DVD.
2010-07-23, 7:28 AM #21
Originally posted by Vin:
Not as easy as ripping the DVD.


Pfft, that would be taking the easy way out!
2010-07-23, 8:55 AM #22
Originally posted by Vin:
Not as easy as ripping the DVD.


That just depends on if you have the right software. DVD ripping is easy, but takes plenty of time, and can kill disc drives (killed one of my Lite-On drives back in the day).

It would seem something like Fraps could run right over netflix and record, and I'm sure there's something to guard against it, but there's always a workaround. Not that I care, I can actually afford things so why bother.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-23, 9:02 AM #23
Originally posted by KOP_AoEJedi:
That just depends on if you have the right software. DVD ripping is easy, but takes plenty of time, and can kill disc drives (killed one of my Lite-On drives back in the day).

It would seem something like Fraps could run right over netflix and record, and I'm sure there's something to guard against it, but there's always a workaround. Not that I care, I can actually afford things so why bother.


Umm, yeah, ripping DVDs doesn't break DVD drives. If your DVD drive wore out from ripping a DVD, you just had a crappy drive that was going to die anyway probably.

Trying to record live Netflix streaming would be stupid. It's going to be lower quality than a DVD or blu-ray rip (for HD stuff) because the streams are lower quality (not to mention if you're not recording to a raw uncompressed video file, you're losing quality there too) and it would require recording in real-time. Ripping a DVD or blu-ray can be done much faster than real-time because you're just extracting the video files.

Seriously, it's inefficient and lower quality, that's why no one does it. There are much quicker ways that result in much higher quality results.
2010-07-23, 9:04 AM #24
Originally posted by Darth:
Umm, yeah, ripping DVDs doesn't break DVD drives. If your DVD drive wore out from ripping a DVD, you just had a crappy drive that was going to die anyway probably.

Trying to record live Netflix streaming would be stupid. It's going to be lower quality than a DVD or blu-ray rip (for HD stuff) because the streams are lower quality (not to mention if you're not recording to a raw uncompressed video file, you're losing quality there too) and it would require recording in real-time. Ripping a DVD or blu-ray can be done much faster than real-time because you're just extracting the video files.

Seriously, it's inefficient and lower quality, that's why no one does it. There are much quicker ways that result in much higher quality results.


Mr. Expert over here? ;)

I think it killed my drive in part because it was a Lite-On, and secondly because I was running rips for nearly 24 hours a day for several days on end... Back then it took 4+ hours to rip one disc.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-23, 9:42 AM #25
+1 for Netflix. Used it off-and-on for about five years now.
the idiot is the person who follows the idiot and your not following me your insulting me your following the path of a idiot so that makes you the idiot - LC Tusken
2010-07-23, 9:58 AM #26
Originally posted by KOP_AoEJedi:
Mr. Expert over here? ;)

I think it killed my drive in part because it was a Lite-On, and secondly because I was running rips for nearly 24 hours a day for several days on end... Back then it took 4+ hours to rip one disc.


Your drive was a POS. It should never, ever take longer to rip a disk than it takes to /play/ it. That would just be silly.
2010-07-23, 10:22 AM #27
Well, it was probably a slow drive too. This was probably sometime around 2002.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-23, 10:25 AM #28
Originally posted by Darth:
Trying to record live Netflix streaming would be stupid. It's going to be lower quality than a DVD or blu-ray rip (for HD stuff) because the streams are lower quality (not to mention if you're not recording to a raw uncompressed video file, you're losing quality there too) and it would require recording in real-time. Ripping a DVD or blu-ray can be done much faster than real-time because you're just extracting the video files.

Seriously, it's inefficient and lower quality, that's why no one does it. There are much quicker ways that result in much higher quality results.


you seem to assume when people talk about ripping DVDs they are talking about doing a straight rip of the disc and not reencoding to something like h.264 (which is what we should be assuming since this line of discussion started with a post that mentioned file sharing)

if you were able to capture the stream directly the video quality would actually be pretty good compared to a DVD rip (or a 720p BD rip in the case of HD streams) in fact most DVD rips you would find on the internet tend to have a lower average bitrate than a netflix SD stream

but one major thing is the audio... netflix streams are 128kbps 2ch AC3 while a DVD rip can include any surround tracks that might be on the DVD and even those that only have stereo the bitrate of the audio will be higher (usually 192-256kbps)

Originally posted by Cool Matty:
Your drive was a POS. It should never, ever take longer to rip a disk than it takes to /play/ it. That would just be silly.


if you're reencoding the video with multiple passes on a slow computer yes it will
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2010-07-23, 10:30 AM #29
Quote:
if you're reencoding the video with multiple passes on a slow computer yes it will


YOU'RE assuming he's encoding. Rip != encode. Rip = you get an ISO/video_ts folder.
2010-07-23, 10:32 AM #30
4+ hours... it's safe to assume he's encoding
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2010-07-23, 10:35 AM #31
Oh yeah I wasn't getting ISOs. It was .AVI, usually DivX.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-23, 10:41 AM #32
It still stands that the actual ripping doesn't take long nor break drives. It probably just wore out.
2010-07-23, 10:57 AM #33
There's also nothing wrong with Lite-On. It probably broke because, uh, it's a drive with stupid moving parts and they break.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2010-07-23, 11:06 AM #34
Originally posted by Emon:
There's also nothing wrong with Lite-On. It probably broke because, uh, it's a drive with stupid moving parts and they break.


IIRC Lite-On and Plextor were the drives, back in the day...rich people bought Plextor and everyone else bought Lite-On. :P
woot!
2010-07-23, 11:10 AM #35
Originally posted by JLee:
IIRC Lite-On and Plextor were the drives, back in the day...rich people bought Plextor and everyone else bought Lite-On. :P


I've had more than one Lite-On drive die on me in the past, only one was mechanical. I stopped buying Lite-On, I stopped losing drives. I also don't buy Western Digital hard drives, after having two die for seemingly no reason and losing all my data. Maxtor never failed me, and I expect nothing less from Seagate.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-23, 11:26 AM #36
You have a very backwards experience with hardware.

Lite-on is typically very good. Maxtor was crap, and it actually made Seagate crap after Seagate took it over. WD is pretty much all I can trust anymore. I say this even after having a WD drive fail me.
2010-07-23, 11:33 AM #37
You call it backwards from your personal experience. Mine has not shown me the same perspective.

The only other hard drive I've had fail me is a 7 year old Samsung drive. Which I still say was a decent drive for how old it was.
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
2010-07-23, 11:36 AM #38
As far as Seagate goes, no I'm not calling it from personal experience. Seagate has a bad reputation lately, especially with the 1.5TB drive fiasco, and similar issues still in the lines.
2010-07-23, 11:40 AM #39
Originally posted by Cool Matty:
YOU'RE assuming he's encoding. Rip != encode. Rip = you get an ISO/video_ts folder.


This.

Ripping a DVD != re-encoding/transcoding it. If you're trying to argue that, you're splitting hairs.

Not to mention with modern hardware, ripping and transcoding a DVD to something like DIVX or h.264 still takes less time than real-time.
2010-07-23, 11:46 AM #40
Anyway, we're ruining this thread...

So, overall the only bad experiences with Netflix are the occasional bad disc and less than perfect Instant selection? (I'll mostly use the Instant for TV anyway)
Quote Originally Posted by FastGamerr
"hurr hairy guy said my backhair looks dumb hurr hairy guy smash"
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