Early Adopter
So I picked up one of the new Netflix Instant players for the very pregnant wife on a spur of the moment decision last week. I’m not normally one to rush and get something as soon as it comes out - instead, I carefully consider all the options for weeks, read numerous reviews, and consider whether something provides the best bang for the buck. When I read the news releases and initial reviews for this thing though, it just sounded like they got it right.
So I ordered one for $99 that I had in my Paypal account (which is like free money anyway, right?). After two days, I can tell you they got it right.
The player is about 5 inches on each side and maybe 2 inches tall. It’s light and feels like there is not much to it. You plug it in, connect to one of your TV’s video inputs (it supports old skool composite video, RGB, s-video, and HDMI), and plug the power in. It connects with wired or wireless networks. In my case, I chose wireless.
From the start, it guides you through connecting to your wireless network, asks you for your Netflix account, and then after an easy online activation, it loads your Netflix Instant Queue (the Play It Now movies you’ve selected online). Now, all you do is use the little remote to scroll through whatever movies and choose the one you want to play.
I was most worried about quality or Internet dropping and I have to say, I haven’t encountered an issue with either. Now we don’t have a flat panel super-high resolution TV because but it appears to be DVD quality to me and I’m happy with that. I also have not encountered a single issue with the movie stopping because of the Internet connection. That’s what this device does, by the way, there’s no hard drive or anything. It’s just a conduit to stream movies over the Internet from Netflix to your TV.
Technically, once the unit is activated, you can bring it anywhere there’s a broadband connection and connect it to a TV and you’re off and running.
I suppose the only “flaw” (that really isn’t a flaw because I understand how different studios negotiate deals) is that Netflix doesn’t have lots of new releases as Instant watch movies. Being that Alisa and I watch a lot of independent films and documentaries, along with new releases, it’s the perfect supplement to a Netflix account. Watch the newer movies on DVD still while not “wasting” DVDs on movies available on the Instant queue.
I’m eager to see how the Netflix service evolves as more and more people trust the technology. With the automatic software updates the device receives, I imagine it’s possible they could form deals with other streaming media outlets to provide more content. Certainly it does seem like this would remove the pain-in-the-ass factor out of things like Hulu and abc.com. That’s probably more up to Roku and other device manufacturers.
I’ve read that this is just one of several devices that will support the Netflix Instant play feature. This first Roku player, though, is already all you need.
