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Mates,
I've recently joined the ranks of Netflix- now on the third week of my "free" trial.
"Free" is in quotes because:
1. Samsung BPD-1600 Blu-ray player which has built-in Netflix streaming capability: $250 retail- $120 on ECrap
2. Samsung proprietary wireless LAN adapter: $80 retail, to me $55 off of ECrap
3. Belkin "N" wireless router: $80 retail, $40 off of you know where
So, in order to have the streaming receiver and wireless network just to try Netflix, there's was a commitment of $220. This seems to me expensive for the purpose of cutting $20-30 from the cable bill. Because Netflix is $9 per month, the amortization is 15 months,..
Peocedure: Make a Netflix "Instant" queue of movies to stream > have the computer on where the wireless network is connected, select the Blu-ray player inpout > on the TV select "Netflix" from the Samsung menu > select the movie from the queue > press "play".
Still, this system works well and the picture on my 2005 Sony 32" Wega CRT is as good as I've ever seen it. The Samsung Blu-ray too makes a much better picture from DVD's than my previous $100 Sony DVD/VHS combination player- as it should. As you might notice, I'm not very TV oriented- the TV sits next to my the main ARC SP10 > D115 audio system but is not connected- I'm not burning 35 tubes for Harry Potter or CNN!
The system works well, but the problem is that, as Victor mentioned earlier, I can find few items on the streaming section that I really want to see- it's either something I've seen before or never saw out of choice. So far I've seen old favourites, "Yojimbo, "All about Eve", "Sanjuro" and a newer one I missed in the cinema, "Love is the Devil"(< Derek Jacobi plays painter Francis Bacon), and the only other movie new to me so far, the newer "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" -mainly because I liked the Walter Matthau/ Robert Shaw original and think action movies are a good way to judge video quality. It was reasonably good, but John Travlota as a violent securities speculator on meths wore me out quickly- he kind of quacked that stilted dialogue. I did enjoy, "Up in the Air" on DVD, and thought "Star Trek" was well done, but I think I'm moving away from mainstream science fiction- perhaps someday I will be an adult after all!
While it works easily and well, I'm not over the Moon with joy with the selection, and actually am not finding a lot on the DVD list that I'm excited about. Actually, at the moment, both my instant and DVD queues are empty. My problem is that I have a strong memory for movies- and when I see a listing for a movie I've seen, I can often just run it quickly in my mind and therefore don't have to see it. The other factor in this kind of thing is over-choice - too many possibilities and of course, the aspect of not being able to ask for something that I don't already know about. I've tried searches of all kinds- all the Truffaut, Kurosawa, Bunuel, submarine and train movies, everything with Charles Laughton, great TV series like "Jewel in the Crown" and so on, but again I just haven't been hitting on a lot of titles I'm excited to see and very few that can be streamed.
Still, as compared to the rubbish on the 25 premium movie channels I'm not using- I watch more on TCM, IFC, and Sundance than HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax- I think eventually I'll do well with Netflix- movies that I choose, when I like, and with pause, fast-forward and so on is still a better potential. One side benefit, with the Blu-ray player, I could liberate the old Sony DVD/VHS to use with the bedroom TV- my lifetime 4th TV and the first time I've ever had two sets at once.
A tentative three and a quarter "Bambis" for Netflix.
Anyone else thinking of using Netflix or new to it?
Cheers,
Bambi B
Follow Ups:
I noticed many, many interruptions, and then it struggles to restore the connection, and usually switches to lower quality level.
In fact I have not seen quality lever 4-dot in a while, and last night it barely crawled at 2-Dot "one notch below lousy" quality...
I suppose with the streaming becoming more popular their servers are quickly falling behinder and behinder.
Victor!,
I had a visitor last week and haven't been using Netflix streaming except for "All Above Eve". The quality bar is always all but three bars- does that equal a "7"?
Actually Netflix streaming looks better on this set (Sony 32" CRT, 2005) than DVD's on my $99 Sony DVD/VHS player. So far, and none of the 4 movies had technical problems- nor the 3 DVD's. In fact, that's been a refreshing change from my usual Time-Warner cable service which has a noticeable defect- pixelation or delay in every 30 minutes, and a freezing/modem reboot every week or two.
With my set I suppose I'm running at 480p, which may make a difference- perhaps I'm not so near bandwith limits.
Are you streaming at 1080?
What is your wireless network or are you wired? Shopping for the wireless router, I read that the only standard to use is the "N" or "N+". The older- last month- "G" routers, which I think do 54Mbps, apparently have not enough bandwidth for streaming HD. I bought a $75 Belkin [236-4] that supposedly can do 300Mbps using "N+"- 802.11n (draft 2.0). I've read a number of places suggesting Belkins are the thing for Netflix.
> Interesting that in the 21st C. anything that's remotely fun still requires so much work and technical understanding! Not too mention the cost. There's an old Russian Proverb, "Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes",..
Cheers,
Bambi B
Forget the 1080, 720 or even 480P - the quality we were getting last night was below your typical bad VHS tape, and I shit you not.
I just checked my Internet speed - 22MBps, not bad at all. Will check it again when the Flix service kicks the bucket, but at that time the computers were running fine, so I am definitely inclined to think this is the demand thingy.
We are up to *7* discs at a time. But we're going back down to 6 soon.
A lot of what I watch are TV shows I get from them. Currently it's Babylon 5, Northern Exposure (a show that looks into America's and Alaska's quirky side) and Detective Lynnley Mysteries.
Sure, we get a bunch of movies, watched Zombieland this weekend.
But my typical day has me watching a scifi show over dinner and that is
all I typically watch on a weekday.
I think it's fantastic. BTW you could've saved yourself about $100 by connecting your internet directly to your blu-ray player. Even a long ethernet cable is cheaper than buying the router and memory device.
Anyways, I've been very happy with only 5 or so unplayable discs, remarkable considering they go through the mail and certainly no worse that renting locally. I've found the selection is much better than any Blockbuster and my turnaround time is very fast. If I mail a disc on a Monday morning I have a new one on Wednesday. Instant viewing could have a bigger selection, but the issue is the royalty agreement with the studios on discs sold, not with the capability of Netflix. In time the selection will expand.
Baba-Booey to you all!
I suspect their servers are now struggling, as we routinely (2-3 times per movie) get the download service interruptions.
Victor!,
I'm not sure I alone could manage hogging Netflix bandwidth, but I have noticed more frequent problems with the TV cable service- pixelations and an annoying delay message- "Such and such Channel is not available" which is on screen only three seconds- it seems to remind me how fragile the system is. About once every two weeks, the modem reboots in the middle of something and this takes 3-4 minutes and requires turning it back on. I'm really fed up with Time-Warner- every day there are more defects in the service and while it declines in quality, they just raised the price for me $18 per month.
Your problem with defective discs is a new concern- I've only had three and the sleeves and discs do look rather ropey. As there's is really almost no protection in those lightweight envelopes, actually I'm surprised there aren't more problems.
Will be seeing "Andrei Rublev" on DVD in the near future. You must know this great Tarkovsky movie- the story of the 15th Century Russian icon painter who has a creative crisis and organises a village cast a new church bell- which is big as a house. It's been 25 years since I saw it but I still remember the wonderful photography. It's kind of beautifully austere and quiet - really good.
I wish Tarkovsky had done a treatment of Rasputin- are there any very good ones?
Cheers,
Bambi B
...here is the nice Bonny M song for ya!
You might want to look at Agoniya:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081991/
PAINTING: Man pulling his Beard
Victor!,
Thanks do much! Yes, I've been searching for years for a good disco song about Rasputin- from which I learned he was "big and strong"- as poetic as disco gets. Hoever, I think the lead singer was confusing "Rasputin" with "Rastafarian".
Rasputin is fascinating to me- and had one of the best dodges I know- perfect religious logic: in order to be more religious I must sin like hell with sex and alcohol so the nature of sin is familiar and so as to provides more repentance opportunities. Brilliant, and something I intend to try when the economy improves!
I did see Agoniya years ago, but it seemed unusually flat- a very static film that did help understand the sequence of events that led to his relationship with Alexander & Co, but didn't depict the kind of hypnotic presence and intrigue- the manipulation of the Czar's family- I was looking for after reading a Rasputin biography.
Forget the discount, infantile magic of Humpy Potter when there was a real sorcerer that influenced world events- and took about 5 methods to kill.
Someone should do a really strong Rasputin treatment- unfortunately it would probably star Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka the child molester- again.
Cheers,
Bambi B
For some reason his figure does not hold much fascination for me. He also preyed on the weak and not too bright, so his powers are grossly overstated. Many people actually saw him for what he was. I think there is tons more depth in the characters like Ostap Bender, fictitious as he, is he sparkles with brilliance and good humor.
PHOTO: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin
Victor!,
I suppose it's the fascination of the mysterious, but on another level I find Rapsutin interesting as a cult figure. You're right, he was crude, brutal, and hated by many who felt challenged by an unwelcome outside influence. I'll wager there were plenty in the Bush administration who resented Karl Rove's influence on policy and political logistics- because Rove was so extremely good at his work.
Rasputin though relied not on analysis but a shrewdness and a mysterious, hypnotic quality that supposedly landed him in the bed of hundred's and some plum jobs advising the Czar through Alexandra. Alexandra saw him as a prophet and miracle healer - What his name's Hemophilia- and so on. I don't know current thinking, but I'd read somewhere there were rumours that Rasputin had added Alexandra's knickers to his trophy cabinet. In all that, Rasputin was an early iteration of a celebrity TV evangelist only without the Platinum Rolex- and Rasputin didn't have have to pay for the sex.
Certainly, Rasputin was a reprehensible figure, but his personality and the Svengali-like cult of celebrity that grew up around him is a reminder that empty, ambitious, manipulative, stupid and/or evil people can rise to the top in any era.
However, I'm convinced we have never gotten the real picture. Rasputin's history was shaped entirely by his enemies and is heavily skewed. In this portrait, Rasputin was pure evil, a gluttonous, smelly, Satanic Angel/Devil that seduced 1000's of 12 year olds- and 12 year old Scotch- that had to be stopped for the noble causes of the murderers- who stood to lose power and/or money. Possibly true, but there are also those diametrically opposed accounts of Rasputin believed he was helping, being generous, liked by children, and kind, never greedy for money, was cheerful, and a bit shy!
This is why I'd like to see a good movie treatment of Rasputin- his story needs the complexity he seems to have had. "The Grigori the Great Teddy Bear Story: Episode Three: Cuddles at the Winter Palace", or what do you think of "The Evil and the Cuddly"
Rasputin, as a character for study is also useful as a symbol of the decadence of the Czarist era. Rasputin is backwards-looking, representing the Old Russia that Peter the Great tried to eliminate: not the feudalism, but the superstition, moral/ethical remoteness of the ruling class, wearing beards, and religious zealotry. These were all the things the Revolution wanted to abolish again and 250 years later.
Rasputin was a timely prophet of the Czarists' doom, murdered on December 29, 1916. At that point Nicholas and Co. and the 500+ year Czarist era had only a couple of years left.
There's an old Russian Proverb I'm sure every Russian knows, "Если только богатые человек имелии уродских дочеи, то царь бы былдревесин-тюнером" > "If only rich men had ugly daughters, the Czar would be a wood-turner."
I don't understand it either. I'll have to wait for the movie.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Supposedly there were scores of more beautiful women.
Be it as it may, I am still not fascinated by that guy... having seen Jones, Koresh and others in action - whatsa big deal about yet another such crook?
That "Russian" proverb apparently has spent long time in on-line translation, believe me, I tried to absorb it... but... :) I failed you, man! :(
I like that.
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