I love Netflix, and I’m a big fan of their Watch Instantly feature. Like lots of folks have pointed out, there are some limitations to that functionality: it requires Internet Explorer which means you have to sit in front of a computer or laptop to watch streamed movies. That’s why there was lots of buzz since Roku and Netflix announced a set top box for $99 that lets you watch these streamed movies.
Thanks to Lifehacker’s Adam Pash for an excellent post about how you can use a Media Center PC, the vmcNetflix add-in and an Xbox 360 as an extender for watching streamed movies in your living room. Adam also includes a YouTube video from Mike K. (you rock IMHO) at hackingnetflix.com where you can see it in action. Lifehacker also shows everything you need and a step-by-step process for setting it up.
I know what I’m doing when I get home.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I love netflix and have been a subscriber since they were in beta. I love the “watch now” feature and I use it a lot. I used my laptop with an S-Video out to connect to my TV and then use a standard mini-phone to RCA cable to output the audio to either my TV front inputs or to my stereo. This allows me to watch the movies on my regular television. All you have to do is set the screen to full. I don’t have an HD TV so the signal looks as good as regular TV or a DVD. I also am about 30 feet and two walls away from my wireless router signal and can only connect at “good” and it still streams without hitches. I built a custom entertainment center that has a special place to set the laptop so it’s pretty convenient for me, but if you don’t mind a few extra cables temporarily around your set, it’s a good way to output the video and audio without too much effort.