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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. 

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Comments

 

I have streamed several movies from Netflix to my PC and have been very pleased with the quality and content. The small PC screen isn't an issue with me but it would be more comfortable to watch them on the TV.

billeast (Posted 01.14.08 11:57 AM) Report Abuse

Oversea's users of Netflix aren't able to access the streamed movies.

Holly (Posted 01.14.08 11:57 AM) Report Abuse

The selection is very limited, although it did work very well. I suppose with the announcement coming from Apple they will open up their selection list even more.

Shawn (Posted 01.14.08 11:57 AM) Report Abuse

I have stream movies from Netflix a few times. The quality was pretty good BUT there is a very limited selection of movies. It offers quite a few TV shows - but don't look for any of the big hits from the last couple of years. I hope they add to the library of films available by streaming - right now I have trouble finding films I like by well know stars.

Janice (Posted 01.14.08 11:58 AM) Report Abuse

I have streamed and it works well...Picture quality is good and there were no hiccups during streaming.  The only drawback is the size of the picture.  It's pretty small.

ChuckD (Posted 01.14.08 11:58 AM) Report Abuse

We've used this service several times with good results.  I've been pleasantly surprized by picture quality and how quickly the movie loads.  Only downside (and not too surprizing) is that if you're already using other devices on your home network at the same time you can experience delays.  This only happened to us once and Netflix seemed to manage it on their end pretty well.  (One interruption).  I hope they get a better inventory of movies.  Most of what they've got on line right now isn't that appealing.

John (Posted 01.14.08 11:58 AM) Report Abuse

We just recently started using this feature through our Netflix service. I think a good deal of the 6,000 movies available are pretty much movies that no one has heard of, or would care to watch. I had no problem with watching the movies that I found. It is nice to know that I can now watch as many of them as I'd like.

Jules Houston (Posted 01.14.08 11:59 AM) Report Abuse

I have tried streaming Netflix movies on my PC. It works well. But the only problem is that they don't have any latest movies for streaming. Most of the 6000 titles are movies that are quite old or unheard of

C Joshi (Posted 01.14.08 12:00 PM) Report Abuse

We use this service from Netflix - watched the whole first season of Heros via streaming video on our cable internet. We like it a lot. It fills in the gaps between movie shipments. We got a cable to hook our laptop to the TV - makes it a better viewing experience. We have the 4-at-a-time Netflix plan. We recently switched from Blockbuster, who doubled their rates over a 4 month period late last year.

amber (Posted 01.14.08 12:01 PM) Report Abuse

I've streamed maybe ten movies. The picture is okay, and I've occasionally had small stutters that it recoveres from quickly, but I enjoy the service. I'd probably use it more if I had a computer monitor in my living room. As it is now, I have to watch at my desk in another room.

Nina (Posted 01.14.08 12:01 PM) Report Abuse

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