Holy crap! I think I just found a reason to get rid of cable! Netflix has all of the series I watch and I can watch them instantly, no need for DVDs in the mail! It you know anyone with an Xbox you seriously need to go check this out!
I noticed that last night when I flipped the Xbox on. Have you actually tried it yet? Know any of the details (I didn't have time to check)? I assume you need a normal Netflix subscription and you it'll link up to your XBL account for some sweet streaming video madness?
This will make my job of firing cox communications even easier. It beats s-video/audio cables from the laptop to the receiver. =]
quote:
Originally posted by tulsacyclist
I noticed that last night when I flipped the Xbox on. Have you actually tried it yet? Know any of the details (I didn't have time to check)? I assume you need a normal Netflix subscription and you it'll link up to your XBL account for some sweet streaming video madness?
This will make my job of firing cox communications even easier. It beats s-video/audio cables from the laptop to the receiver. =]
it is amazing. To test something I knew the quality of I put Heroes Season 3 in the queue and let it rip. Yes you have to wait for a little buffering but then here it comes, commercial free. Glorious.
At this point I just need to get Channel 2 to create a video podcast of their Segment 2s so I can sync them to the Zune and then I'm pretty sure I can eshew Cox altogether.
One side note, the aholes at Sony decided to pull all of the licenses to stream their netflix movies from Xbox because their POS PS3 can't do it. Talk about sore losers. But I guess that's what the snail mail DVD option with netflix is for. Sony doesn't realize their childish moves just resulted in increased piracy of their movies.
with the new interface upgrade it is like everyone just got a new Xbox for free.
The netflix instant movie selection isn't a whole lot better than hulu as far as I can tell. That said, I did subscribe to the free trial the other week and found a few things. I will probably just wind up using hulu again though.
Doesn't one or more of the consoles get Hulu as well?
I know someone who is a media junky like myself working on severing cable/satellite completely and replacing them with internet services.
I -THINK- that someone made a plugin for MCE that can play Hulu, if so I can play that through the Xbox MCE extender. If so then I am pretty much done with Cox cable. I love their HD service but I am not pleased paying for non HD channels I never watch. I expect they will beg me and offer me a sweet deal when I go to cancel. If it is reasonable enough I may stay. But $9 a month for all you can eat netflix is a strong offering compared to the recycled junk on Cox.
Inteller, are the items available on the Netflix/XBL setup the same as what you will find on the 'Watch Instantly' tab at netflix.com (minus the Sony stuff, I guess)?
My wife likes to watch House, I didn't see that in the Watch Instantly tab, so that's kinda why I'm wondering.
I just signed up for the free trial, so I'll be able to check it out when I get home, but I'm just curious and anxious to kick Cox out.
quote:
Originally posted by tulsacyclist
Inteller, are the items available on the Netflix/XBL setup the same as what you will find on the 'Watch Instantly' tab at netflix.com (minus the Sony stuff, I guess)?
My wife likes to watch House, I didn't see that in the Watch Instantly tab, so that's kinda why I'm wondering.
I just signed up for the free trial, so I'll be able to check it out when I get home, but I'm just curious and anxious to kick Cox out.
yes, actually you still go through Netflix to set up your queue, so no learning curve there. And yes if it isn't in watch instantly you can't stream it so maybe no house for you.
You will need to download the Netflix dashboard, then it will give you an activation code to enter on your computer. Then you are done.
There is a UPnP server called PlayOn that does Hulu to Xbox. $30...that is like half of a monthly charge to Cox.
Sweet. The firing of Cox is getting easier and easier.
I'm intersted in this but don't currently own a game console but this could be a selling point.
(XBOX360 w/ guitar Hero 3 for $199 on Black Friday at walmart is one option)
I don't think that has a hard drive. Hard drive is required for NXE.
quote:
Originally posted by tulsacyclist
Sweet. The firing of Cox is getting easier and easier.
My Cox bill for just cable is $81.
$972 a year
So if I were to buy a brand new Xbox, plus $40 for Live Gold you are looking at:
$269 one time charge
$148 yearly reoccuring charges
That setup would pay itself back in less than half a year.
I have great incentive to make this work.
can anyone confirm if you HAVE to get basic cable to keep cable internet? I thought the requirement had changed.
i thought if you had JUST cable internet, basic cable came with it...
quote:
Originally posted by brunoflipper
i thought if you had JUST cable internet, basic cable came with it...
well, but "came with it" and "getting charged for it" are two different things. If they are throwing it in with the internet charge that's fine, but if it is a separate line item I want it gone when I cancel the rest of the cable.
I have this bad feeling they are going to say "sure, we'll cancel your cable, but your internet charge will incrase to $60" or some ****.
You are not required to get cable to have their internet.
AND they have a crappy speed for 19.99 they don't advertise (768/512)
Why do you have to have the Xbox Live to stream netflix?
the netflix streaming goes over their servers I guess. But I need Live Gold for other reasons (such as playing games) so it is a requirement for me anyhow.
looking at the prices it appears the preferred tier I get by itself is $41.95. I need the phone still so it will be $54.95 and they do some bundle discounting in there.
Still doing the research to make sure I can get all of the shows I currently get via the internet. I may have to spring for the $30 PlayOn server to get some content from HULU but the economics still work.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
Holy crap! I think I just found a reason to get rid of cable! Netflix has all of the series I watch and I can watch them instantly, no need for DVDs in the mail! It you know anyone with an Xbox you seriously need to go check this out!
Welcome to TiVo 6 months ago, only with an OTA antenna capability for those times when there's something on broadcast TV you want to watch before it's released on DVD.
quote:
Originally posted by nathanm
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
Holy crap! I think I just found a reason to get rid of cable! Netflix has all of the series I watch and I can watch them instantly, no need for DVDs in the mail! It you know anyone with an Xbox you seriously need to go check this out!
Welcome to TiVo 6 months ago, only with an OTA antenna capability for those times when there's something on broadcast TV you want to watch before it's released on DVD.
well yeah, I could do OTA with my MCE box a looong time ago. But I have yet to see a movie released on broadcast TV before DVD so not worried about that.
quote:
Originally posted by nathanm
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
Holy crap! I think I just found a reason to get rid of cable! Netflix has all of the series I watch and I can watch them instantly, no need for DVDs in the mail! It you know anyone with an Xbox you seriously need to go check this out!
Welcome to TiVo 6 months ago, only with an OTA antenna capability for those times when there's something on broadcast TV you want to watch before it's released on DVD.
and $15/mo
Why do you need a phone thru Cox?
If you are going to VOIP phone anyway....
http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp
quote:
Originally posted by TeeDub
Why do you need a phone thru Cox?
If you are going to VOIP phone anyway....
http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp
alarm. I can't rely on voip systems that depend on the reliability (or lack thereof) of the internet.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
quote:
Originally posted by TeeDub
Why do you need a phone thru Cox?
If you are going to VOIP phone anyway....
http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp
alarm. I can't rely on voip systems that depend on the reliability (or lack thereof) of the internet.
Cox phone
is VoIP, unless they started stringing copper pairs to peoples homes.
notice the way I worded my comments. Cox's system is separate from the Internet traffic. If a DNS server goes down or a router blows up somwhere on the Internet, my Cox phone will still work.
quote:
Originally posted by TeeDub
If you are going to VOIP phone anyway....
http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp
Might want to avoid that product.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9818928-1.html
Read user comments. It provides a clue why the website is so sparse about useful information.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
Cox's system is separate from the Internet traffic. If a DNS server goes down or a router blows up somwhere on the Internet, my Cox phone will still work.
I got it. Cox works within it's own infrastructure.
quote:
Originally posted by patric
quote:
Originally posted by TeeDub
If you are going to VOIP phone anyway....
http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp
Might want to avoid that product.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9818928-1.html
Read user comments. It provides a clue why the website is so sparse about useful information.
that is something else to keep in mind, your VoiP company going out of business. Like the people with SunRocket were SOL. There is currently a Vonage death watch. I'd rather stick with a company that will be around. I don't want to find out from the alarm company "well we tried to call but your phone company went out of business!"
MagicJack is praised by Clark Howard and has been for some time, but they are a shoestring company.
The alarm thing is what has kept me with Cox for a phone line for a while as well. I called TnT the other day to ask about it and they said they do offer a cellular option (CellNET). They install a cellular device in your alarm box and can monitor/call home via that. The product is $149 installed and then, I believe $7.99/month in addition to your current monitoring. Not sure if it is worth it or not, I don't remember how much the phone/internet combo from Cox is to do the numbers.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
quote:
Originally posted by nathanm
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
Holy crap! I think I just found a reason to get rid of cable! Netflix has all of the series I watch and I can watch them instantly, no need for DVDs in the mail! It you know anyone with an Xbox you seriously need to go check this out!
Welcome to TiVo 6 months ago, only with an OTA antenna capability for those times when there's something on broadcast TV you want to watch before it's released on DVD.
well yeah, I could do OTA with my MCE box a looong time ago. But I have yet to see a movie released on broadcast TV before DVD so not worried about that.
Sure, but that's another item to pay for. Of course, there's no monthly fee, but an HD TiVo is cheaper than an MCE box, even after the lifetime fee.
I've been using my PS3 to stream stuff from my computer for a while now. (I used an Xbox running XBMC when I was OK with SD only) It works pretty well, but it's probably not as put together as the 360+Netflix deal.
I'm still not getting rid of Cox, though. I (and my SO more so) watch a lot of stuff other than films.
yes, the SO empasse is also where I'm at right now.
quote:
Originally posted by tulsacyclist
The alarm thing is what has kept me with Cox for a phone line for a while as well. I called TnT the other day to ask about it and they said they do offer a cellular option (CellNET). They install a cellular device in your alarm box and can monitor/call home via that. The product is $149 installed and then, I believe $7.99/month in addition to your current monitoring. Not sure if it is worth it or not, I don't remember how much the phone/internet combo from Cox is to do the numbers.
You're not going to find phone service for $7.99 a month
quote:
Originally posted by MDepr2007
quote:
Originally posted by tulsacyclist
The alarm thing is what has kept me with Cox for a phone line for a while as well. I called TnT the other day to ask about it and they said they do offer a cellular option (CellNET). They install a cellular device in your alarm box and can monitor/call home via that. The product is $149 installed and then, I believe $7.99/month in addition to your current monitoring. Not sure if it is worth it or not, I don't remember how much the phone/internet combo from Cox is to do the numbers.
You're not going to find phone service for $7.99 a month
you can strip off all of the cox BS on the phone plan and get it down to $13. versus $8 for cell monitoring I think it is reasonable to keep around.
You don't get the full 120,000 titles from NetFlix. You get about 12,000 though.. which should satisfy your every day "I wanna see just recent movies" sort of family.
quote:
Originally posted by izmophonik
You don't get the full 120,000 titles from NetFlix. You get about 12,000 though.. which should satisfy your every day "I wanna see just recent movies" sort of family.
yes and considering it would take me years to watch the 12000 movies (while the library continues to grow) I think that is enough.
Same here which is why I'm subscribing.
Same here, we're loving it so far.
quote:
Originally posted by izmophonik
Same here which is why I'm subscribing.
I would probably subscribe again if Netflix hadn't screwed me a few years back. I was on a $15 a month plan that allowed 4 movies at a time with unlimited movies per month. My credit card expired and rather than notify me of that fact and provide me the opportunity to update the expiration date, they just canceled my account and refused to put me back on the old plan. I wasn't about to pay $20 a month for four or $15 a month for three.
Sad, too. I loved them. I had been with them essentially from the beginning, shortly after they started offering their unlimited plans instead of the 1 week rentals. I even have a Netflix-branded plastic rack they sent me to hold the DVDs and the return sleeves.
COX Cable went through the alley in my neighborhood and cut cable to all of the garage apartments that did not have a direct hook up. All of these apartments are on the same lot as the main house and most homeowners have run cable from the house to the garage. I would not have thought that this was illegal, but I guess COX needs the revenue from every garage, shed and dog house.
quote:
Originally posted by izmophonik
You don't get the full 120,000 titles from NetFlix. You get about 12,000 though.. which should satisfy your every day "I wanna see just recent movies" sort of family.
I would like to point out that well over half of the 12,000 available currently are movies that you would find in a dollar bin at Wal-mart, stuff you have never heard of before. You want to see recent movies? You don't really get that either. All the new online releases for the last three weeks since I subscribed have been oldies movies and weird Bing Crosby stuff(Not to be down on Crosby work, but it just wasn't for my generation). Not even interesting 70's or 80's oldies either. On the plus side, they do actually have Superbad; but because it is a Sony/Columbia title it is blocked from playing on the xbox anyway. I am not trying to be a downer on Netflix, but I really wish it did work like you think it works.
quote:
Originally posted by carltonplace
COX Cable went through the alley in my neighborhood and cut cable to all of the garage apartments that did not have a direct hook up. All of these apartments are on the same lot as the main house and most homeowners have run cable from the house to the garage. I would not have thought that this was illegal, but I guess COX needs the revenue from every garage, shed and dog house.
Are they separate dwellings occupied by someone paying rent? Chances are you shouldn't have run the cable out there, if so.
Whether cutting the cable, being the homeowner's property, is legal is an entirely different matter.
quote:
Originally posted by nathanm
quote:
Originally posted by carltonplace
COX Cable went through the alley in my neighborhood and cut cable to all of the garage apartments that did not have a direct hook up. All of these apartments are on the same lot as the main house and most homeowners have run cable from the house to the garage. I would not have thought that this was illegal, but I guess COX needs the revenue from every garage, shed and dog house.
Are they separate dwellings occupied by someone paying rent? Chances are you shouldn't have run the cable out there, if so.
Whether cutting the cable, being the homeowner's property, is legal is an entirely different matter.
Might've been a good move to let the occupants know it would happen by a certain date and allow them to sign up. By cutting the cable they've given the garage apt folk a reason to shop around. Sounds a little spiteful to just come around and surprise them.
CP, any idea if there was any notice given to the garage apt addresses?
quote:
Originally posted by brianh
quote:
Originally posted by izmophonik
You don't get the full 120,000 titles from NetFlix. You get about 12,000 though.. which should satisfy your every day "I wanna see just recent movies" sort of family.
I would like to point out that well over half of the 12,000 available currently are movies that you would find in a dollar bin at Wal-mart, stuff you have never heard of before. You want to see recent movies? You don't really get that either. All the new online releases for the last three weeks since I subscribed have been oldies movies and weird Bing Crosby stuff(Not to be down on Crosby work, but it just wasn't for my generation). Not even interesting 70's or 80's oldies either. On the plus side, they do actually have Superbad; but because it is a Sony/Columbia title it is blocked from playing on the xbox anyway. I am not trying to be a downer on Netflix, but I really wish it did work like you think it works.
no that's not true, Columbia movies are back up for Xbox.
There are lots of interesting and new titles. Are there titles that just came out last month? No, but considering I haven't been to a movie theater in 7 years I'd say there is plenty for me to watch.
quote:
Originally posted by Townsend
quote:
Originally posted by nathanm
quote:
Originally posted by carltonplace
COX Cable went through the alley in my neighborhood and cut cable to all of the garage apartments that did not have a direct hook up. All of these apartments are on the same lot as the main house and most homeowners have run cable from the house to the garage. I would not have thought that this was illegal, but I guess COX needs the revenue from every garage, shed and dog house.
Are they separate dwellings occupied by someone paying rent? Chances are you shouldn't have run the cable out there, if so.
Whether cutting the cable, being the homeowner's property, is legal is an entirely different matter.
Might've been a good move to let the occupants know it would happen by a certain date and allow them to sign up. By cutting the cable they've given the garage apt folk a reason to shop around. Sounds a little spiteful to just come around and surprise them.
CP, any idea if there was any notice given to the garage apt addresses?
No advance notice, appears to be a guerilla disconnection.
quote:
Originally posted by carltonplace
No advance notice, appears to be a guerilla disconnection.
If that's Cox's strategy to get new customers, they would be better off with DirecTV or U-Verse.