So I just got a Roku box, and I'm debating on which of the services listed in the subject I should go with. Here's my opinions so far:

Netflix - largest selection, but they don't seem to have a lot of new TV series available

Amazon Prime/Instant Video - cheapest, but smallest selection. Not everything instant is available free to Prime members

Hulu Plus - Newest shows available along with seasons, but--ads, really? On top of that a lot of the stuff that's available for *free* with ads on their website is not available through Plus yet.


If Hulu Plus included everything on Hulu *plus* more I would go with it in a heartbeat. I don't actually watch a whole lot of tv (which is one of the reasons I don't pay for cable), but without one of these services Roku is really only good for watching the news and Break.com videos. Amazon Instant Video by itself is nice since I can rent movies and buy shows/seasons, but without something like Prime I could end up paying $50+ for a season of a show that's available on Netflix or regular Hulu.

What are people's thoughts/experiences?

3/4/2011 4:48:54 PM

Netflix is a beast. I watch all kinds of shit I didn't even know existed on there. From my experiences, its better to go with an open mindset rather than having a specific show or movie in mind, and then being disappointed when its not on there.

Think 'Sci Fi shows' or 'Cop Buddy Movies', rather than 'Firefly' or '48 Hours', and you'll be fine.

3/4/2011 4:53:22 PM

The problem with Netflix streaming is that it looks fucking horrible. My roommate watches it almost exclusively and the artifacts make me want to stab myself in the eyes.

I don't mind mediocre video quality if I'm getting an out-of-town hockey game for free, but a pay service should at least look decent.

3/4/2011 5:02:16 PM

netflix looks clear as shit for me via xbox

3/4/2011 5:03:20 PM

^^ what device, internet speed, and TV is he using?

Our netflix streaming is almost as good quality-wise as the HD we had with cable (not quite as good as the crystal clear HD we get with satellite).

I'll clarify: On our plasma and nice LCD a roku or PS3 with an 8Mbps connection has the clear quality I described. In our exercise room we have a low-level 32" LCD (it was free and it is just used in the exercise room) and the roku streaming in there is noticeably lower quality than the other TVs and I think it is has a lot to do with the TV. It also is the farthest away from the router and all devices are wireless, so that probably plays a big factor as well.

[Edited on March 4, 2011 at 5:08 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2011 5:04:05 PM

Quote :

"netflix looks clear as shit for me via xbox "

3/4/2011 5:05:45 PM

bought a wireless n bridge for my ps3 and netflix has looked really good on it

3/4/2011 5:17:23 PM

Quote :

"The problem with Netflix streaming is that it looks fucking horrible."

I suggest you stop stealing internet from your neighbors and get a job.

3/4/2011 5:27:41 PM

I was kinda disappointed with the picture quality when I watched The Karate Kid last night streaming on 360

But I gave it a pass since it was made in 1984 or whatever

3/4/2011 5:28:45 PM

Anyone who complains about Netflix quality either A) steals internet, B) pay for extremely slow internet, or C) lives in Cumberland County

3/4/2011 5:28:48 PM

Yeah I am continuously impressed with how good netflix looks streaming on a 56inch tv from an atv2. Also looks pretty good on a smaller older 24 inch tv from a wii.

3/4/2011 5:35:51 PM

Yeah netflix streaming looks almost as good as the HD I get through cable and certainly way better than a DVD on my 50" plasma, if it looks terrible you're doing it wrong

3/4/2011 6:19:35 PM

Quote :

"C) lives in Cumberland County"

hahaha nice


although, it does work fine for me in Cumberland County

3/4/2011 6:24:19 PM

Netflix looks great through anything that isn't the Wii

3/4/2011 6:45:10 PM

Ya, I've watched Netflix on a Wii hooked up to a 1080p tv, and I wanted to gouge my eyes out. It looks much better on other devices, but I've never actually watched any HD content on Netflix either. I actually care more about content than video quality anyways.

3/4/2011 6:57:20 PM

I heard Hulu Plus struck a deal with Criterion to carry a bunch of their titles as well as extras that were never released on DVD.

3/4/2011 8:22:19 PM

Quote :

"The problem with Netflix streaming is that it looks fucking horrible. My roommate watches it almost exclusively and the artifacts make me want to stab myself in the eyes."

You clearly don't understand how it works. The quality of the picture is entirely dependent on the speed of your connection. Netflix adjusts the level of compression based on the speed of the connection to err on the side of continuous play over quality which is the lesser of the two evils.

3/4/2011 9:01:56 PM

i just came in to post that netflix on my ps3 looks amazing and you can't tell the difference between it and if i have a dvd in

3/4/2011 9:34:01 PM

^^Again, this. Honestly on my HD set I can stream the kids TV shows like Thomas & Friends and it looks pretty decent.

I stream all week when I'm in Raleigh since I don't have a TV at the apartment and it looks great on a 10Mb connection (I think). Again its all about what equipment you have, what internet connection speed you have, and how its connected to the computer. The instant availability is getting a lot better (I am currently watching Dexter, Weeds, Family Guy, My Name is Earl, and Futurama on Watch Instant) and you have no ads or other bullshit interrupting you.

I personally think Netflix is easily the best of all three services, esp. for the price. The watch instant only plan is like half the price of fucking Hulu Plus, which is still chocked full of damn ads.

3/4/2011 9:44:41 PM

If you have the HD cables, netflix on the Wii looks fine.

3/4/2011 10:49:30 PM

netflix

3/4/2011 10:57:50 PM

My parents have netflix, I just bum off their account since they never stream it. Now they want get in on the streaming fun since they added a whole bunch of old British shows online. Might get them a netbook with ION for streaming. I've seen some old ones for like 200ish now. Really good price and exactly what they need.

Is netflix on the wii any good? I'm hearing mixed results.


Also, I just wish damn internet cable had a better upstream ability. 44KB/sec is fucking slow as hell. I have a sling box at my parents place to watch basic tv, but I might as well just keep on doing netflix, hulu and torrents for tv watching.

3/5/2011 5:51:19 AM

We love streaming netflix through our HD TiVo

it doesn't look shitty at all

3/5/2011 10:08:31 AM

^^ it does, you just have to pay for it.

3/5/2011 10:27:13 AM

Netflix quality is not appropriate for HDTVs. Better on computer monitors. I have fiber internet, so bandwidth is not the issue. It's just not a high quality picture.

3/5/2011 10:36:03 AM

I suppose if you have bionic eyes that is the case. I have had several people comment on the quality of netflix streaming to both our 42" plasma and 47" LCD (the LCD particularly). In particular, my father-in-law who has a very nice TV setup (55" LED that looks absolutely fantastic) couldn't believe when I streamed something for him down here that it was streaming content. He was impressed enough to order it himself and loves the quality as well.

It is definitely high-enough quality for HDTVs for most people. The only reason it wouldn't be is if you are some ultra-purist. I mean hell, the HD netflix streams are almost better quality than DVDs being played on my TV if we used a regular, non-upconverting DVD player, it certainly rivals the HD clarity I had with Charter cable TV and is worlds ahead of any SD channels via satellite or cable (I assume you never watch any SD channels since they aren't appropriate for your TV?)

Sure it doesn't look as good as Blu-ray or the HD that I get with Dish now but I mean come on, most of us grew up with VHS on CRT TVs and paid a few dollars per movie to rent at VHS quality. Saying that netflix HD streaming isn't "appropriate" or good enough to view seems just silly to me for the price paid and the catalog available for instant streaming to your TV.

[Edited on March 5, 2011 at 11:11 AM. Reason : ]

3/5/2011 10:53:20 AM

^agree. i stream directly through my 47'' lcd sony bravia and it looks great. even the non hd selections look good. i think it looks much better on my tv than my laptop, you have to be nitpicky to say otherwise.

3/5/2011 1:50:53 PM

Quote :

"Netflix quality is not appropriate for HDTVs"

we use netflix often on our 50 inch HDTV and it looks great.

3/5/2011 6:04:42 PM

I, too, love the HD quality of Netflix

3/5/2011 6:43:26 PM

Yea using component connection with our Wii to our 42" plasma with the onboard wireless by the Wii and we see very good results. We also have my computer connected to the TV which is hardwired to my network and has an HDMI connection, and while it does look better, for many of the kids shows and stuff it is barely distinguishable. Now if its an HD stream then you can tell some difference, but its not a big deal.

3/5/2011 6:56:58 PM

Admittedly, we have shitty internet at my house, but my roommate pays for it and I'm hardly here so I don't complain.

I used her account info at my friend's house and the picture is much better...but still not great. Meh.

3/5/2011 7:25:05 PM

Amazon Instant is free to Prime members -> Prime is free to .edu accounts (lots of benefits here otherwise as well)

Otherwise netflix FTW!!!!

3/5/2011 9:47:55 PM

Amazon instant is only free to paid prime members. if you have the edu prime account its not free

3/5/2011 10:39:14 PM

Well, maybe it's something else or you guys have shitty eyes or you guys are watching low motion video. Especially in areas where there is supposed to be a smooth gradient, you can see the huge blocks. High motion also kills it. It doesn't come close to blu-ray. I too have a 55 inch TV.

Bluray is a much higher bitrate and no magic codec exists that will close that distance.

3/6/2011 1:15:19 AM

^Agreed. I've tried about every codec and still can't match Blu-ray either...

3/6/2011 1:32:53 AM

this just in

netflix streaming is not the same as blu-ray video

you heard it here first

3/6/2011 1:47:26 AM

^.

I guess skokkian doesn't watch anything that isn't available on blu-ray. That must suck to have such sensitive eyes.

3/6/2011 8:51:45 AM

Quote :

"Bluray is a much higher bitrate and no magic codec exists that will close that distance."

I don't think a single person here would argue that Netflix has quality that rivals Blu-ray. If that is your quality standard then yes you'll never be happy with Netflix. However, I would also assume that you never watch regular DVDs or cable/satellite television either due to quality. And if that's the case then you're definitely in an extreme minority.

3/6/2011 10:20:23 AM

So I linked my roku with my gf's netflix account for the time being. She might drop it sometime in the near future because she never uses it. I also found out that I can get a 30-day Hulu Plus trial (instead of the normal 1 week) with my roku.

3/7/2011 11:33:03 AM

Amazon instant is cool if you're buying/renting a single thing. Amazon free instant for prime folks is very limited in whats available for free. And most of it is bad. That may change over time.

Hulu plus is gay.

Netflix streaming is pretty much the best there is right now. Especially if you're going to be watching enough that the cost of Amazon instant > the cost of netflix streaming


[Edited on March 7, 2011 at 11:49 AM. Reason : a]

3/7/2011 11:47:15 AM

Skokkian probably never even looks outside because it can't match the quality of blu-ray. Every window is replaced by an hdtv that loops portions of Avatar and the national geographic Earth specials from a blu-ray player

3/7/2011 12:20:28 PM

I don't even bang my girlfriend because she's only 720P

Instead, I beat to blu ray quality Vivid productions while she toils away in the kitchen

Its the best of both worlds

3/7/2011 12:30:02 PM

I have shitty eyes

3/7/2011 12:38:28 PM

is there actually any kind of standardized TV streaming service beyond Hulu? I wouldn't mind using it but it doesn't have 1/2 of the shit I watch

3/7/2011 12:45:22 PM

Quote :

"Anyone who complains about Netflix quality either A) steals internet, B) pay for extremely slow internet, or C) lives in Cumberland County"

D) has a 20 inch 480 tv

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

[Edited on March 7, 2011 at 1:50 PM. Reason : lulz]

3/7/2011 1:50:02 PM

^ or E) has Comcast, which I guess falls under B)

3/7/2011 3:25:52 PM

I got comcast. 20 down 4 up. I can stream in HD

3/7/2011 3:28:16 PM

Am I correct in understanding that Hulu Plus does NOT actually have all the content that is available on Hulu.

For instance; my wife couldn't get her Extreme Makeover: Home Edition fix watching Hulu Plus but she can watch EM:HE on regular Hulu.

If all of Hulu is available on Hulu Plus then it gets the edge (since I use my PS3 as my primary media streamer) but until then it's Netflix (great selection, available on PS3, good price).

3/7/2011 3:42:43 PM

Quote :

"Am I correct in understanding that Hulu Plus does NOT actually have all the content that is available on Hulu."

Correct.

list of shows: http://www.hulu.com/plus#content

from the Hulu Plus FAQ:

"Why are some of the shows I watch on Hulu not available on devices?

We understand that the content difference can be confusing, and at times frustrating for our users, so we hope this explanation is helpful.

For background, when we launched the free Hulu.com service, we obtained licensing to stream content direct to the PC – and only to the PC. With the launch of the subscription-based Hulu Plus service, we had to start from scratch and acquire licensing to stream content on TVs, smartphones, and tablets as well as PCs. We tried to get as much overlap as possible. (We want it all, of course!) But there are still some exceptions that we are working to resolve.

Today, Hulu Plus includes hundreds of shows, some of which haven't been available online before, and full runs of many of them. (To see a full list please go to Hulu Plus Content page)

Still, we understand it's disappointing when you can't access some of your favorite shows on your favorite devices. Please know that we are working diligently to include as much content as possible in Hulu Plus so you can enjoy more of your favorite shows where and when you want, and we're confident the offering will improve over time."

3/7/2011 3:48:25 PM

Hulu Plus is frustrating to me because I think it could be a lot better than it currently is... I guess a lot of it really is licensing and straight $$$. I don't think enough people have set-top boxes like the Roku to make it a more worthy investment.

3/7/2011 4:06:04 PM