Netflix Watch Instantly: Review

Netflix introduced the Watch Instantly for customers with any one of their unlimited plans. This offering is available via your computer or streamed directly to your television via a Netflix ready device available on the Netflix website and beginning in December the streaming service will also be available to TiVo Series 3 customers.

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Watch Instantly offers over 12,000 movies and television episodes with more being added weekly. For less than the cost of admission to your local theater, the one-movie-at-a-time unlimited plan offers countless hours of Watch Instantly movies for your viewing pleasure.

Without a Netflix ready device to stream the movies to your television you will need to stream them to your computer. You can still have them shown on your television if your computer has a graphic card which supports cloning your monitor or running dual monitors and you have an S-video connection. There are other connection types such as the DVI to the HDMI. You should consult your computer and television manuals for the correct connections for your computer and television.

Netflix Watch Instantly is limited only by the speed of your Internet connection. In this review, using a high speed cable connection, slow playback was only experienced on one occasion. After checking several connections and talking to cable representatives, it was determined that the problem was most likely a congested network - a high peak time for the network, not my cable or computer setup. All other playback - 3 days of movies from 9 in the morning to midnight - was flawless.

The Roku - the only Netflix ready device for streaming to television that also offers wireless setup - will free my computer up for other tasks while still allowing access to the Watch Instantly selections. The Roku is an economically priced at $99 with both HDMI and S-Video capabilities and a remote control for accessing Netflix. It also offers pause, rewind and play anytime - all features available on DVDs.

There are 2 other Netflix ready devices; however they are in a higher price bracket due to their additional functions. Both are blue-ray and both also play DVDs. Unless you are looking to replace your DVD player with Blu-Ray, the Roku is the most economical option.

Now that you are set up to use Watch Instantly, either streaming through a Netflix ready device or through your computer all that is left is for you to log in and start browsing. Watch Instantly is divided into categories and subcategories just like regular Netflix movie rentals. There is also a queue to put your movies in that you plan to watch.

Overall Netflix Watch Instantly is an excellent movie alternative to renting movies every weekend. The selection is great and you can always find a movie that you haven't seen or haven't seen in many years. The selection of television programs is wonderful, what a treat to watch the Alfred Hitchock classics. The service is free to any of the Netflix Unlimited Plans - even the under $10 one-at-a-time unlimited plan. Netflix has produced a winner with this service and with the improvements coming soon such as streaming to TiVo and Mac compatibility, Blockbuster Video needs to up its game.