Amazon or Netflix Official Add-In

[RedCoat999]

Amazon VOD is officially supported on Roku, TiVo, and a Sony device. Netflix is officially found on Wii, Xbox, Roku, WD TV, BluRay players etc.

The front end GUI are very nice for each of those (I use Netflix over the Wii), and easy to navigate. Here we have to use the PlayOn add-in and the interface is not so great in my opinion, although I do use it. WAF and KAF no so high in these areas - I tell them they can get to Netflix through Sage, but they go and grab the Wii remote and Netflix-Wii disk and do that instead.

What would it take to get to get a more official add-in for each of these providers (and even get HD Streaming for instance). It this even remotely possible?

I am soooo looking forward to dumping Dish in 17 days (yes I am counting) and switching to Sage exclusively with OTA-HD by the way...

Thanks

[melluap]

I use Playon and the Sage plugin - works great. I have hulu / netflix /amazon VOD and a bunch of others.

Because of this I would be surprised if Sage is working on an "official" plugin.

Now 4 mos without cable, I don't miss it one bit with playon / sage / OTA.

[Ericft]

for those who have abandoned cable....what about the HD channels like SciHD, CNNHD, AMCHD, GOLFHD and premiums like HBO/Showtime...going OTA can't you only get the major network channels ABC/NBC/FOX/CBS/PBS??? I guess it is all about what you watch...

[melluap]

I had to include HULU / Netflix Instant / Amazon VOD to get everything I watch. People ask me if it will work for them, I say look at the sites - if you see all your shows (and at times you can live with 480 resolution) then yes. If you always need 720 or better and/or your shows aren't on those three sites (or on the air) then it won't work out.

As you said, it is what you watch...

A thought: If you are only missing a show or two, will buying a DVD or two get what you where missing? Still saves money in the long run plus the feeling of independence, and the elitist feeling of saying, "I don't have/need cable" at cocktail parties .

[RedCoat999]

Originally Posted by melluap

Still saves money in the long run plus the feeling of independence, and the elitist feeling of saying, "I don't have/need cable" at cocktail parties .

My final straw was Dish cancelling Disney Channel. That was the only "cable" channel my kids watched! 90% of the shows we watch in my household are on OTA, so, bite the bullet and switch.

We are in the process of watching several Showtime shows (Weeds, Nip/Tuck) through Netflix on Sage

[wrems]

What other sources have you found online to augment going cable-less or dish-less?

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by melluap

I use Playon and the Sage plugin - works great. I have hulu / netflix /amazon VOD and a bunch of others.

Because of this I would be surprised if Sage is working on an "official" plugin.

Now 4 mos without cable, I don't miss it one bit with playon / sage / OTA.

I've got an Xbox setup w/ Netflix, and it puts the playon functionality to shame. I greatly admire what EvilPenguin has been able to do within the bounds of the online section, but it doesn't compare to a native interface. Being able to see which shows in a series you've already watched, and resume from where you left off is HUGE.

I dumped Dish around a year ago in favor of Broadcast + Netflix, and I am seriously looking at buying one or two of the Roku boxes because I spend so much of my time watching Netflix now.

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by Slipshod

I've got an Xbox setup w/ Netflix, and it puts the playon functionality to shame. I greatly admire what EvilPenguin has been able to do within the bounds of the online section, but it doesn't compare to a native interface. Being able to see which shows in a series you've already watched, and resume from where you left off is HUGE.

Is your memory really that bad? I always remember whether I have seen a particular episode or movie at least ever since I gave up drinking

[Suntan]

Athough I use and apprechiate the play on plug in that EP made for us, I too woud love to see native Netflix support added (hulu not so much I could happily live with the playon plugin for hulu as we don't use hulu much.) That woud be enough to push me to replace the HD100 and HD200 with HD300s.

Play on is high maintence. 1 out of every 3 or 4 nights I go to use it the queue does load properly or some such. 15 minutes later it works, but when you just want to watch a quick (20 minute) show before going it sleep, it defeats thepurpose. Pus, 1 out of every 9 or 10 shows stops during playback. Play on aways says it's a problem with your network, and that maybe true, but I've never had a program crap out mid stream when running Netflix directly on the PC or the PS3.

As for other ways to offset cable, vudu offers a la cart video for movies and tv (never used them.)

In addition, you can always get tv serieses by disc from Netflix. I prefer to rip them to disc and cache the whole season before we start watching. Bumping your Netflix account up to 3 discs at once for a month or two can fill up your "in house" queue for a long time.

-Suntan

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Slipshod

I've got an Xbox setup w/ Netflix, and it puts the playon functionality to shame. I greatly admire what EvilPenguin has been able to do within the bounds of the online section, but it doesn't compare to a native interface. Being able to see which shows in a series you've already watched, and resume from where you left off is HUGE.

I dumped Dish around a year ago in favor of Broadcast + Netflix, and I am seriously looking at buying one or two of the Roku boxes because I spend so much of my time watching Netflix now.

I am pretty sure with ep latest you can have watched status..plus native is nice but there are better an cheaper options then xbox for that I mean come on charging for a live membership for netflix is just robbery.

[Suntan]

Originally Posted by MCE-Refugee

Is your memory really that bad? I always remember whether I have seen a particular episode or movie at least ever since I gave up drinking

I've got about 5 or 6 different shows in my que. Sometimes I don't watch one for weeks or months at a time. Yes, knowing which ones have already been watched (without having to look it up separately with my phone) would be nice to have.

-Suntan

[GKusnick]

I'm not clear on what's being wished for here. I agree that having Netflix handled natively by the server would be great, so that it would be available seamlessly on any client. But what makes that a "SageTV Media Extender" issue?

I could also see how standalone HD200/HD300 users would want Netflix functionality built into the box. But again, that would be Media Player mode, not Extender mode.

I would not be particularly thrilled by any solution that requires rebooting the device from Extender mode into Player mode every time I want to watch Netflix. As a SageTV Media Center user, I want to leave my extenders in Extender mode and have the Netflix function integrated into the server.

[mistergq]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

I'm not clear on what's being wished for here. I agree that having Netflix handled natively by the server would be great, so that it would be available seamlessly on any client. But what makes that a "SageTV Media Extender" issue?

I could also see how standalone HD200/HD300 users would want Netflix functionality built into the box. But again, that would be Media Player mode, not Extender mode.

I would not be particularly thrilled by any solution that requires rebooting the device from Extender mode into Player mode every time I want to watch Netflix. As a SageTV Media Center user, I want to leave my extenders in Extender mode and have the Netflix function integrated into the server.

The Playon plugin of Netflix is significant inferior comparative to the native version found with Xbox or BluRay players. I would like to see the addition of Netflix without having to go through Playon. I would not mind seeing Hulu or Hulu+ added to extender.

If that means reboot to use the features of Netflix and Hulu with HD, while annoying, that would be acceptable. If Sage built it in, that would be awesome!

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

I'm not clear on what's being wished for here. I agree that having Netflix handled natively by the server would be great, so that it would be available seamlessly on any client. But what makes that a "SageTV Media Extender" issue?

I could also see how standalone HD200/HD300 users would want Netflix functionality built into the box. But again, that would be Media Player mode, not Extender mode.

I would not be particularly thrilled by any solution that requires rebooting the device from Extender mode into Player mode every time I want to watch Netflix. As a SageTV Media Center user, I want to leave my extenders in Extender mode and have the Netflix function integrated into the server.

Yeah I see no reason they can't integrate it into the extender mode as long as they are still using the drm it wouldn't matter.

[Beefcake550]

The other huge reason (for me at least) is that the video quality coming out of PlayOn is pretty crappy, even on my meager 46" Samsung LCD. The native versions of Netflix on Xbox360 (and even the Wii, lol) look better.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Beefcake550

The other huge reason (for me at least) is that the video quality coming out of PlayOn is pretty crappy, even on my meager 46" Samsung LCD. The native versions of Netflix on Xbox360 (and even the Wii, lol) look better.

Probably because they handle the "HD" of netflix and playon does not.

[Beefcake550]

PluckyHD - That is definitely it. I've known the problem for a long time. I just wish the playon decoder had a "HD" setting or something....

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by RedCoat999

My final straw was Dish cancelling Disney Channel. That was the only "cable" channel my kids watched! 90% of the shows we watch in my household are on OTA, so, bite the bullet and switch.

Dish still carries Disney, they just removed the HD feed (until they finish the contract re-negotiations). It was actually Disney's doing, not Dish's. They want to charge Dish a premium for the HD feeds. It's not like Disney has a whole lot of leverage either. I, for one, don't think my 4 year old can tell the difference between the SD and HD versions (or if she can, she doesn't care).

[RedCoat999]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Dish still carries Disney, they just removed the HD feed (until they finish the contract re-negotiations).

I have the use-to-be-every-other-commercial-on-TV "TurboHD", which means I do not get any SD channels, even Disney, which is not what the CEO of Dish said, when he said every Dish customer can still get Disney on SD. I was on the phone with Dish in India of course for an hour trying to get Disney in SD,..... Nope.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by mistergq

If that means reboot to use the features of Netflix and Hulu with HD, while annoying, that would be acceptable. If Sage built it in, that would be awesome!

For us, rebooting would be more annoying than putting the Netflix disc in the Wii is.

--John