FINALLY! NXE is off and running. As SpoonThrash has already posted, NXE is chalk full of new features including a new interface, a new Xbox Avatar system, and Netflix. I had a chance to play around with the Netflix option last night, and I must say: I am pleased.
Not being a Netflix subscriber, I found this to be the perfect opportunity to join. I signed up for the free 2 week subscription as soon as I installed the NXE. After a quick and easy setup, I was ready to go online to start browsing the titles they have available to stream straight to my Xbox. While Netflix offers more than 100,000 movie and television titles to choose from, only about 10% of those are available to stream.
After debating with my fiance about what to watch; Hanna Montana Season 1 or CSI: Las Vegas Season 9, We finally decided on CSI. After selecting the title on Netflix.com, the option was immediatly available on my Xbox. The option came with 6 expisodes to watch. We selected the first episode, which brought us to a screen that confirmed our internet connection. After determining our network speed, the episode started loading. It is worth noting that I have my Xbox hard wired into my modem. With that being said, I was shocked to find that my network connection was very low [2 bars filled out of 5]. It took about 3-4 min for the episode to load and start. The video quality was very low, with the picture being grainy and blurry. We decided to suck it up and just watch the episode like that. Throughout the show, I was a little unimpressed to find such bad quality, and a bit dissapointed that the network speed was so slow. I have pretty fast internet otherwise, as watching television programs on my laptop has been nothing but perfect. Is this the way it was always going to be?
Being the troopers we are, we finnished the episode. Deciding that one was not enough, we decided to watch another epidode. We selected the next one, and was supprised to find that the network connection was 4 out of 5 bars, and the epidode loaded in under a min (and as a confirmation of the recent NXE that SpoonRock posted, yes the episode was in HD!). A few seconds later our epidode started with the crispest picture I have ever seen in a streaming video. There were no more doubts in my mind that this wasn't the best thing ever. We watched 4 more episodes after that with only one minor stall in playback, which lasted all of 5 seconds (if that).
All in all, I am very pleased with the decision Microsoft made with teaming up with Netflix. It allows the system to be more than a gaming system, more of a focal point of your entertainment center.
RUMOR: After writing this post, SpoonRock has informed me that Sony has pulled all of their movies from Netflix-Xbox Access.........to which he says, and I quote: "[those] dicks!"
