Measuring about six inches square and two inches high, the Netflix box is apt to become the smallest device in your equipment rack. Fans of keeping things simple will be pleased to know that installation and use of the Netflix player could not be easier. Plug in an HDMI cable and connect to your home network – wired or wireless – and you’ll be streaming in no time.
Once you’ve made your connections, a setup wizard asks you a few questions (including TV shape) and presents you with an activation code. At this point, you’ll need a computer to log on to netflix.com, input the code and link the player to your account. Once done, the device will be able to play anything you have sitting in your “Instant” queue on Neflix.com. If it sounds complicated, it isn’t. After opening the box, I was ready to watch something in about five minutes. Take note: the Netflix player is directly linked to your “Instant Queue” which you manage on the Web site using a computer. This means you’ll need to add content to that queue before you can watch anything on the player.
Although I was initially inclined to knock the player for its reliance on a computer and its inability to browse all instant titles, my stance has softened a bit after living with it. Confining your viewing options to what’s in your Instant Queue does make for an extremely simple user experience. Plus, if visiting the Netflix site is already part of your daily or weekly routine, managing a second queue isn’t out of the way. Sitting on the sofa with my laptop, I counted about five seconds from the time I added a title to my queue before it magically appeared on my television as a choice. Nice.
In order to use the Netflix player, you must be a Netflix customer and you must subscribe to a plan which offers unlimited rentals. At press time, the cheapest entry point was the $8.99/month plan which gives you unlimited DVD rentals (one out at a time) and unlimited streaming. The important thing to remember is that the video streaming is essentially a bonus freebie. Apart from the modest $100 cost of buying the box, there are no monthly charges or additional costs associated with streamed offerings. Contrast this with video on-demand (VOD) boxes from Vudu ($295) and AppleTV (from $229) – where every movie or TV episode you watch means a $2-6 charge – and you’ll see why the Netflix player has more than a few eyebrows raised.
Before you toss your DVD player, it should be noted that the number of quality titles available for instant streaming is rather small. Although I was thrilled to find a number of great TV series available – Dexter, The Office, Heroes and 30 Rock to name but a few – Grade A movies and new releases are few and far between. I checked out a few episodes of The Office plus Civic Duty and Seraphim Falls to get a taste for the unit’s video capabilities.
With a fast connection, playback looked solid and steady but it definitely fell short of DVD quality. Rewinding and fast forwarding is impressive and includes thumbnails for reference, but some buffering does occur when jumping around. If your network bandwidth is slow – which mine was one evening – video quality decreases automatically to near VHS levels. It’s still very watchable and the video doesn’t stutter, but a Blu-ray Disc it isn’t. That said, I’ve seen cable TV look a lot worse and the ability to watch something NOW coupled with its price tag earns this player a lot of leeway.
Roku and Netflix have indicated that this player is “HD-ready” so it’ll be able to handle high def content if and when Netflix makes it available. In the meantime, the Netflix player by Roku is still worthy of serious consideration. If you’re already a Netflixxer, $100 seems like a small price to pay for instant access to their growing library of instant content. If you’re not yet a customer, something tells me this little box may be just the thing that gets you off the fence.
