Apple TV for $99

[jcarter]

I know nothing about TV stuff, but do know that our kids have Netflix and love it.
They do it thru the mail however.
But this new Apple TV unit, looks like it streams Netflix movies thru it to your own TV. Only a small cost.

Anybody have this, or know if it works like they say?  Might be nice for a long winter.
The Comcast choice of movies is not very good.
Jane

[kimmer]

We have a Roku unit, but the Apple TV unit does work with Netflix. You still need a Netflix acct to stream from them.

http://www.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevices...amp;lnkce=nrd-d

http://www.apple.com/appletv/

[jcarter]

OK this is something that we should look into this winter, with some doubt. We dont watch enough movies to warrant a subscription to Netflix.
So what do people like us do, if we have a particular movie we want to watch. Especially if its a musical or an older movie for the grandkids that isn't on the cable stuff, or isnt easy to buy.
Its sort of confusing, I guess you just buy the movie on a DVD from Amazon, and this seems the easiest way.
Or share a subscription with family.
I shall have to look into it, but it doesn't seem economically sensible for us at the moment. So we will just buy what we want to see.
Jane

[Xairbusdriver]

Sounds like a DVD rental might be your best bet. 1 day delivery, no time limits on watching and you can watch it as many times as you want. They certainly don't make it easy to find out what the limitations are for the streaming capability. First of all, don't expect to be able to download the video to anything else. Is there a time limit like Apple has for their movies? What are the rates for the 1/2/3/4/etc. per month views? The whole site seems geared to get you to sign up and "we'll tell you the details later."

No matter how many titles they have, I don't think I could stand to watch (much less pay for!) more than two or three dozen movies ever made. And our grandkids are too old to watch many 'kids' movies already. We still have several brick and mortar stores and even Red Box locations, so I can't get excited about any kind of 'subscription' plan, especially after noting that unused monthly views do not roll over to the next month...what kind of deal is that?

Of course, if you watch one movie per month, that should easily be cheaper than buying one a month from the Big A. Unless you get all twelve at once so you'd get free shipping...

Good luck!

[gunug]

It sounds like something destined to be far more costly than the $99 a person would pay for it.  Also most of the people Twitting  (sp?) it seem to be only interested if it is hacked to do something  "else". . .I'm holding out for a iced coffee brewing machine or something  to bake perfect little loaves of bread (healthy bread) for sandwiches!  

[kimmer]

This is my fault as I focused solely on the Apple TV since you asked about it; plus I was logged in to my Netflix acct when I pulled the link and I didn't go look to see what a non-member would see; and yeah, Netflix doesn’t make some things easy. So ...

THIS LINK takes you to the the main page for Instant Watching through Netflix. As you scroll down you'll see all the devices you can use to Instant Watch movies/shows from Netflix. You might already own one.

THIS LINK takes you to a page with a ton more info on Netflix.

Here are the membership plans (and I had to login in order to find this info!)
Unlimited Plans:
[attachment=1984:Unlimited_plans.png]

Limited Plans:
[attachment=1985:Limited_plans.png]

Jane, if your kids have a Netflix acct, they have the ability to Instant Watch as long as they have a device that will do so, along with enough DSL speed to handle it. We did have to bump up our DSL service.

Also the $8.99 per month for "one movie out at a time" unlimited plans means you could watch possibly 8-10 movies/tv shows per month depending on how fast you watch and return them, and that's cheaper than buying one movie from Amazon. Plus you don't have to store it, dust it, keep track of it, etc.

Now ...

QUOTE

So what do people like us do, if we have a particular movie we want to watch. Especially if its a musical or an older movie for the grandkids that isn't on the cable stuff, or isnt easy to buy.

If you have a ROKU BOX, you have access to all their channels. Some you must pay for (most of the sports and others), but many are free.

We've also used the Amazon channel (you set it up with your Amazon acct ahead of time) and "rented" movies and watched them on our TV. Similar to using the iTunes store and the Apple TV to rent a movie. Surprisingly, we've rented (at $2.99 per 24hr period per movie) movies from Amazon that are NOT available to buy on DVD, aren't on the domain-free channels, our library doesn't have them, etc.

Oh, and there's another option for you -- check your local library. Most have DVD's that you can check out, and if they do inter-library loan they can often get you a movie from another library. Our library doesn’t charge extra for movies, and yours probably doesn’t either -- but check it out.

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Oct 1 2010, 04:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

First of all, don't expect to be able to download the video to anything else. Is there a time limit like Apple has for their movies?

Let's see .. this is about Netflix ... no, you can't download the video to anything else. No time limit with an acct, but some movies are only available as Instant Watch for a certain period of time (per the studio's request).

QUOTE

We still have several brick and mortar stores and even Red Box locations, so I can't get excited about any kind of 'subscription' plan, especially after noting that unused monthly views do not role over to the next month...what kind of deal is that?

Not sure I understand what you are talking about with the "don't roll over".

QUOTE(gunug @ Oct 1 2010, 06:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It sounds like something destined to be far more costly than the $99 a person would pay for it.  Also most of the people Twitting  (sp?) it seem to be only interested if it is hacked to do something  "else". . .I'm holding out for a iced coffee brewing machine or something  to bake perfect little loaves of bread (healthy bread) for sandwiches!  

I think it all comes down to what you want in your life. For us, the Roku box was a good investment as we watch a lot of movies and Sneakers has had a blast investigating all the old public domain stuff and other things. Yeah, some "twitters" are twit's and are only out for what they can steal. Sorry, but these are the same folks that rip off software, take art work as their own, rip off patterns and sell them, etc. Those kind of folks have always been around and always will be -- something for nothing and they deserve it all is their motto. And that's all I'll say about that.

As to iced coffee: Buy some good coffee (I prefer Peet's Coffee), and an AeroPress, brew a strong cup of java and carefully pour over ice. Or, brew several "shots" and keep in fridge for a few days (no more than 2!).

Healthy homemade bread: use a healthy recipe and make by hand, bake in bread pan or loaf pan. Easy.

[jcarter]

Yup, Peets coffee.
About Netflix, forget it for us, we watch about 6 movies a year, and we could easily buy them thru Amazon if we really wanted to see it more than once.
I did buy the one about Ray Charles, and a few others that the kids like. Yes, we have South Pacific and the Sound of Music and a few more classic movies.
So I will just go ahead and sort thru the ones that we want on Amazon and go from there. The kids are getting old enough to buy some that we would like, so thats enough for us.  We can pass them around thru the family. Seems silly to keep them after youve seen them once, so pass them on or give them to the library or thrift shop.
Thanks for the tons of great information!  I will pass it on to my husband, as he does most of the TV stuff.
Jane

[gunug]

QUOTE

As to iced coffee: Buy some good coffee (I prefer Peet's Coffee), and an AeroPress, brew a strong cup of java and carefully pour over ice. Or, brew several "shots" and keep in fridge for a few days (no more than 2!).

Healthy homemade bread: use a healthy recipe and make by hand, bake in bread pan or loaf pan. Easy.

I can get "lots" of iced coffee but unless it's "well-brewed" I can tell the difference. . .I don't like coffee so much as the experience of iced coffee with "real cream" and I'll settle for the little blue packets or the little yellow ones but never the pink ones that give lab gophers the heeby-gebbies or whatever.  Yes, I would like real sugar too but I concede the battle is lost there if my wife is around.  I have a recipe for some nut raisin bread (whole wheat and amaranth flours).  My stepmother has one of those bread machines that works great if you exercise caution with the recipes; but it is really technologically a lazy man's load!

Likewise the whole "movie" experience is best in a real and old movie theatre with comfortable seats and a good sound system and a projectionist that is old enough to know how to run big format movie prints.  I can remember seeing Ben Hur on a big screen like that and the chariots seemed headed for my lap without the aid of 3D glasses!  I used to date a lady projectionist back in the early 1980's that caused me to miss countless plot points in many movies watched from the projection booth!  If I rent I like to go to Liberty Hall Video in Lawrence where people at least talk about film and know what is what.  I'm not a purist about the medium I rent or buy on and can watch old VHS or new Blue Ray somewhere in the house. I wasn't very interested in Blockbuster and Netflix wasn't really an improvement on the concept of home movies.  We're going to have to go "full digital" sooner or later because all of our optical and magnetic media is too fragile (just ask the Library of Congress).

[dolphin]

We have Netflix and stream movies to our TV through our Wii console.  You can also stream through a PS2 or 3 I believe, and also Nintendo.