Netflix - how to?

[cat6man]

my non-technical neighbor has fios and recently purchased
a roku box and after only 1 hour on the phone with tech
support in india, he was able to run netflix on his home system.
netflix streaming is a low priority item in my house but just in case
my tech-cred is questioned with my neighbor having a
functionality lacking in my houseold, i thought i'd investigate
streaming netflix via sagetv and hd200.

i've searched around the forum here and it seems
that the upnp browser plugin works fine with playon
as a method of accessing Netflix but playon requires both a
purchase fee AND a yearly fee (hey, i already pay a monthly
fee for netflix), which is not what i am looking for.

is there another way currently to access netflix via sagetv?
if not, can someone explain the technical issues of why
an intermediary like playon is required and what functionality
playon provides that a sage plugin cannot not do on it's own?
(i assume the roku box must perform that function as well?)

thx

edit: let me guess, it's DRM right? and playon and roku
have agreed to play by DRM rules/fees?

[sic0048]

You are pretty much spot on with your initial post. Since SageTV isn't paying Netflix for the right to stream it to their system, some resourceful individuals have found a way around it. But it certainly is not officially supported by SageTV (similar to the way we have comskip in SageTV through user supported addons).

Anyway, the work around does require Playon to work. Up until May 20, 2010, you could buy a lifetime license from Playon for somewhere between $20 and $40 (depending on if you got it on sale). It is their "basic" service and it won't include a lot of the newere stuff/channels that Playon is supporting now. But it at least got you the major networks and a few cable stations for that one price and no yearly subscription fees.

However, Playon has changed their pricing model now. As you have noticed, it required a yearly subscription fee now. But it will allow you access to a lot more content. It is $39.99 for the first year, and then $19.99 each year after the first. So basically a $20 initial fee and $1.67 per month (although they do NOT bill that way). With the new Playon plugin for V7, you should be able to access any of the playon feeds that you get through SageTV.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by cat6man

my non-technical neighbor has fios and recently purchased
a roku box and after only 1 hour on the phone with tech
support in india, he was able to run netflix on his home system.
netflix streaming is a low priority item in my house but just in case
my tech-cred is questioned with my neighbor having a
functionality lacking in my houseold, i thought i'd investigate
streaming netflix via sagetv and hd200.

i've searched around the forum here and it seems
that the upnp browser plugin works fine with playon
as a method of accessing Netflix but playon requires both a
purchase fee AND a yearly fee (hey, i already pay a monthly
fee for netflix), which is not what i am looking for.

is there another way currently to access netflix via sagetv?
if not, can someone explain the technical issues of why
an intermediary like playon is required and what functionality
playon provides that a sage plugin cannot not do on it's own?
(i assume the roku box must perform that function as well?)

thx

edit: let me guess, it's DRM right? and playon and roku
have agreed to play by DRM rules/fees?

I used the old netflix plugin for sagemc, and when it used to work it was awesome. You could manage everything in netflix and watch now worked great even after netflix went to a silverlight player. I'd love to see a new version of this plugin, but since netflix keeps changing their site and the plugin author no longer maintains the plugin we are left with playon. I have yet to try it, but I just hope it is compatible with the HD netflix stuff and I will be content with it at that point.

[mayamaniac]

umm, you can get a roku player for $100 if you don't want to pay the PlayOn fee. Also, netflix works through the Xbox360 and PS3.

[cat6man]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

umm, you can get a roku player for $100 if you don't want to pay the PlayOn fee. Also, netflix works through the Xbox360 and PS3.

yes, i could, as my non-technical neighbor/friend did...................but what is the fun of that? (it's a low priority for me anyway.........and i already have 2 hd200 and am waiting on purchasing an hd300 one of these days.......don't need no more boxes)

cheers

[Keo]

Does the playon plugin work on the sageTV extenders as well?

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Keo

Does the playon plugin work on the sageTV extenders as well?

Yes. But you can only use Playon with one extender at a time. Not a problem for most people.

Gerry

[subhadipsas]

As per my experience, Play On's functionality and picture quality for Netflix integration is far inferior to the dedicated solutions. For example, watching the next episode of a series, resuming multiple movies where left off did not work for me with Play On. I finally gave up even after paying the fees to Play On and settled for the PS3 plug-in. The picture quality and functionality is far superior.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by subhadipsas

As per my experience, Play On's functionality and picture quality for Netflix integration is far inferior to the dedicated solutions. For example, watching the next episode of a series, resuming multiple movies where left off did not work for me with Play On. I finally gave up even after paying the fees to Play On and settled for the PS3 plug-in. The picture quality and functionality is far superior.

Yes, playon does leave a lot to be desired. The interface could be improved, but the video quality is not changing until playon changes it. I think someday we will see an official netflix plugin, but we won't know a thing about it until it comes out.