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Netflix lifts limits on streaming movies

Posted Jan 14 2008, 06:24 AM by Kim Peterson
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Netflix does most of its business by mail, but the company is getting ready for the future by spending $40 million on a video streaming service for customers with high-speed Internet connections. Today, the company is lifting restrictions on that service so that customers can watch as many movies and television shows as they want from Netflix's library of 6,000 titles.

Netflix previously set time limits on how much customers could watch per month, presumably to save money on bandwidth and the fees it must pay Hollywood when a movie is streamed. Today's move could be costly, because the company isn't raising its monthly rates to compensate for the added expenses.

Why the sudden burst of generosity? We probably have Apple to thank. If the rumors are true, Apple is set to announce movie rentals over iTunes tomorrow at its Macworld Expo. Apple hasn't been much of a competitor to Netflix before, but with a movie rental service the company becomes a threat.

Netflix's unlimited streaming could take off later this year when the company debuts a set-top box by LG Electronics that will stream movies to TVs.

Not everyone can use the unlimited streaming feature. Customers on Netflix's $4.99-a-month plan aren't invited. Mac users are out of luck as well, because the service only works with Windows.

So is the streaming library any good? At the top of Netflix's Top 50 streamed list are full seasons of "Heroes," "The Office" and "30 Rock." Films on that list include "Pan's Labyrinth," "The Italian Job" and a bunch of movies I've never heard of.

Has anyone streamed Netflix movies to their PC? How did you like it? Share your experiences in the comments. 

Comments

 

I have streamed movies on netflix.  Most of the titles seem like B movies to me

I've watched several movies on Netflix. The quality is decent and there wasn't much loading time for films. The library is kind of limited. It contains many films from the 80's and 90's that you may have never heard of. Lots of straight to DVD stuff here. There are a handful of films in the library worth watching though as well as many TV shows. I watched the whole first season of 30 Rock while recovering from a surgery. Decent service, just needs more variety.

I watch movies from netflix on my pc. The service is great. Don't have to wait on the mailman. I have high speed internet 6mbps, had no problems with the video stream. The selection of movies for instant view are very abundant. I will continue to use netflix instant movie service, it's great!!!

I've streamlined movies, and even with a high speed internet connection, you miss bits and pieces of action.  Hopefully the new software will improve the movie, but I wouldn't advise watching an action flick via the internet.

Most of the movies they have for streaming are not very good movies...

Like you, it's stuff I've never heard before. But it's still a neat idea.

Service is a very good idea, but needs more movies.  Most in there are really obscure and bad (B and C rate, think Bikini Carwash and such).  I have used it for the TV shows (can watch episodes without tying up the queue with 4 disks) and some cartoons for my son.  It's missing pretty much all of the hit movies  you want to see, but has some gems, such as "12 o'clock high" and old Voltron cartoons (that brought back memories :-) ).  Video quality is good enough, even for the lowest quality.  It checks your connection and sets one of 3 quality levels, have not seen what the top 2 look like, but the lowest is just fine at the small screen size and even full screen it's perfectly watchable.  Not a very long wait before the movie starts.  Great service and implementation, but needs more quality content.

I have used this and found it a great benefit if you have a high speed internet connection.  I even bought a device that links my computer to my television so I can watch the movies on my tv.  Only caveat is that when my internet connection changed unexpectedly thanks to Comcast the movies would stop part-way through to upload again.  Sometimes it took 5 minutes, sometimes 30.  Faster connection is best, but it's still a great deal!

Its nice for the few movies they have that are worth watching.However, most of it is garbage. The Office season 1 and 2  is the only thing they have going for them.

I've recently streamed movies from Netflix.  I like the ability to watch movies online so that I  can free up room in my queue.  The only draw back, and I don't know if anyone has experienced this, is that I can only stream to one profile on my computer.  Unfortunately, it's my girlfriends profile.

It seems like 95% of the movies available for downloading are either movies I've never heard of, or movies I've seen dozens of times already.  Just three times have I actually found something I wanted to watch, so the promise of unlimited hours doesn't do much for me.  I was barely dipping into my allotted timespan as it was.  

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