Henry Lubong's Journal

I reactivated my account with Netflix two weeks ago to try out the new video-on-demand they have available for Tivo. While it is convenient to watch streaming videos, I don’t believe that Netflix is ready for prime time yet. They are heading in the right direction but it definitely needs more work to truly satisfy the videophiles. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Instant movie at your fingertips
• No more DVDs to wait for in your mailbox
• Easy to setup and use
• Streams instantly. I didn’t experience any lag at all.
• Plays in acceptable HD (720p) quality (may pixelate depending on internet connection)
• No limit on the number of videos you can watch
• Movies can also be streamed directly to your PC

Cons:

• Videos are streamed in stereo mode only (no surround). It’s okay for movies with not a lot of sound effects.
• HD is still in 720p. I know 1080p maybe too much for streaming but still…
• I still have to go to Netflix site to add the movies I wanted to watch.
• Some movies are out of sync (video and sound). Sometimes, it can be easily fixed by restarting the streaming.

I’m happy with this service so far. My main gripe is the quality of the sound. If they can stream the movies with surround sound then I’ll give it a score of 95. With my experience with Tivo, I’m sure this will get fixed eventually. Overall, I highly recommend Netflx on Tivo.