Quickflix coming to NZ

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17104 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#604224 2-Apr-2012 23:14

+ having a 'new release' marketing category that could be more accurately described as 'recent release'.

IMHO it is an encouraging and competent launch. It will give good value and convenience for many people, just not me. At least not yet anyway.

ArcticSilver

729 posts

Ultimate Geek

#604227 2-Apr-2012 23:30

KoolKiwiNZ basically sums up my response nicely. (well said)

@semigeek
By no means do I expect perfect, but I do expect a certain minimum level of service from any company. If they imply to have a wide range of movies, I am disappointed when I do not consider to to be a wide range. That being said I did not expect a huge range with this sign up.

I wasnt trying to winge or be a "proverbial pom", I was just outlining my issues with this service in this discussion (can we not discuss its issues, only its strengths?). Its one thing to say a service is "crap" and another to construtively post detailed and justified criticism's about it. I never said the service was crap, all I did was outline my issues and why I would not be staying.

This is not to say in the future, if they fix these issues that I will not come back! But these are my concerns at present.

@nickrout
I believe some things, such as 3D and HD may not have such a great place in streaming, at present (especially 3D) as it requires quite a bit more bandwidth and data. A lot of people do not mind SD either. Personally I had no problem with the streaming quality. Just my 2c anyway.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#604320 3-Apr-2012 08:58

NonprayingMantis: for those of you complainingabot the range of content, some good news (maybe)

When I looked onlaunch day there were fewer than 360 movies on the 'watch now' section (i.e. excluding pay per view). (I didn't count, but I selected to show 120 items per page, and there were only 3 pages. anybody know exactly how many there were?)

When I looked again tonight, there were 4 pages! woop woop. the last page only has 13, so there are now 373 movies.

Ok, so it isn't huge. But it does at least mean they are adding content, and after only a few days of being live. I don't know which titles are new though. there doesn't seem to be any easy way of sorting by how recently they were added, which will prove frustratng in future

Just had another look, and their now appears to be 374 movies.

why they would add only 1 movie I don't know.

does anybody know of a way to recieve updates on when new movies/tv shows are added? RSS feed/Twitter/Email or something??

old3eyes

9119 posts

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Subscriber

#604325 3-Apr-2012 09:02

semigeek:

How many things though start out being perfect? Was the XT network perfect on startup? Is your ISP perfect?

Technically there were issues but from a market launch there were none which is the problem that Quickflix has. Technically and marketing it's underwelming..

Regards,

Old3eyes

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#604337 3-Apr-2012 09:35

old3eyes:
semigeek:

How many things though start out being perfect? Was the XT network perfect on startup? Is your ISP perfect?

Technically there were issues but from a market launch there were none which is the problem that Quickflix has. Technically and marketing it's underwelming..

yeah, I have to say it did feel a bit rushed.

normally with these kinds of lanuches you have a whole load of pre-launch build up for a few weeks before hand, you might have TV ads, viral stuff etc etc

with quickflix we got a rumour that it might be launching at some point, and then a press conference on the day it actually launches. pretty low key for something like this.

reven

3743 posts

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Trusted

#604342 3-Apr-2012 09:46

on their twitter page they are saying samsung tv support isnt fair away.

nickrout

219 posts

Master Geek

#604654 3-Apr-2012 17:14

NEVER buy tech on the basis of support being "just around the corner" !!

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crackrdbycracku

1168 posts

Uber Geek

#604662 3-Apr-2012 17:46

Ok, lets see how QuickFlix compares to the alternatives.

iTunes

Good - Big range, streamed or download options, HD or SD available.

Bad - Expensive, PPV, DRM, if you don't like Apple too bad, you pay for the bandwidth you use.

NetFlix + VPN

Good - Big range, unlimited streaming, reasonably cheap, HD available.

Bad - No tech support all DIY, it violates Ts&Cs (but is not illegal), you pay for the bandwidth, you have to buy another modem and set it all up yourself.

Sky

Good - best most up to date TV range possible (legally), sport, biggest range of content all round, no bandwidth required, can get PVR, HD available.

Bad - By far the most expensive if you want the premium content, you pay for stuff you don't want, you don't control the schedule.

Torrents/Piracy

Good - Big range, it's 'free', HD available.

Bad - you pay for bandwidth, it's illegal.

QuickFlix

Good - reasonably cheap, unlimited streaming, watch what you want, don't pay for bandwidth if you are on the right ISP.

Bad - lack of content, quality less than SD, undisclosed "admin charge".

Looks to me like NetFlix + VPN still leads the pack. It's more expensive and more of a pain to set up than QuickFlix but the advantages out weigh this.

If, when, QuickFlix can match NetFlix + VPN on content they should beat them on tech support and the zero rating.

At that point I would pay double what they are currently asking for the service as it is NZ based, say $40 a month. Until then I'll be like QuickFlix... any day now.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

reven

3743 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#604667 3-Apr-2012 17:58

Netflix + Hulu + unblock-us + vudu
Good
- unblock-us is easy to setup just a DNS setting, can be done on router or device.
- Full speed with DNS so HD streaming isnt an issue provided your connection is fast enough.
- Cheap netflix is $10 NZD roughly a month, unblock $7, hulu is free (hulu+ is trickier and costs, i spent about $50nzd for 3 months of hulu+ via prepary cc)
- get access to most shows after they air in US
- works with xbox, ps3, HTPCs (no linux for netflix)
- vudu is usd$1.99 for SD tv episodes after they air in the US (how i watched the walking dead season 2)
Bad
- Pay for bandwidth
- not every ISP supports unblock-us, if yours doesnt just switch though ( i recommend snap )
- ps3/xbox a little tricky to setup to get apps on console, since requires an american account, but there are easy to follow guides and its not that difficult
- doesnt work on TV sets in NZ (unless u imported a tv set from the US).

if you are going to go down the hulu/netflix route you should really use a DNS service like unblock-us over a VPN, the speed benefits and the cost is so much better. if you're ISP doesnt support it, switch ISPs.

just my 2 cents.

Klipspringer

2385 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#604679 3-Apr-2012 18:26

I see it like this:

Tivo (Freeview, free) + Netflix + Hulu + Vudo = Unbeatable. Any new company (Sky included) is going to have a very hard time competing unless they can offer similar services with unmetered bandwidth at similar or slightly higher prices. People already using this see Sky as a total waste of money.

For most of us Geeks here on geekzone, we all too familiar with how to set the above up. So therefore none of us, or very few of us are going to be happy with something like Quickflix. A lot of us have already been using the above services now for some time and they have become the new norm.

Quickflix is not a replacement for Sky. What I have described above is (except for Sport of course)

Quickflix is going to suite the non geeks. Or people who can't be bothered with setting the above up themselves. As people buy new compatible TV's, they will be creating quickflix accounts. And so they will be slowely switching off the Sky movie channels. (But probably keeping Sky basic)

Sky needs to up its game. Because they loosing customers by the day. I know a few Sky customers who have dropped the movie channels since Quickflix arrived. If Quickflix manages to get some new TV series shows as promised, I see people dropping the Soho channel as well. And good on quickflix if they can do this.

KoolKiwiNZ

18 posts

Geek

#604693 3-Apr-2012 18:51

crackrdbycracku: Ok, lets see how QuickFlix compares to the alternatives.
iTunes
Good - Big range, streamed or download options, HD or SD available.
Bad - Expensive, PPV, DRM, if you don't like Apple too bad, you pay for the bandwidth you use.

QuickFlix
Good - reasonably cheap, unlimited streaming, watch what you want, don't pay for bandwidth if you are on the right ISP.
Bad - lack of content, quality less than SD, undisclosed "admin charge".

iTunes 1080p HD near Blu-ray quality or very good HD 720p = $7.99 PPV (or $5.99 see below), older HD titles = $5.99 PPV (or $4.49 see below), or good quality SD = $4.99 PPV (or $3.74 see below).
vs.
QuickFlix less than SD quality = $6.99 PPV

So not seeing the "iTunes Bad Expensive" / "QuickFlix Good Reasonably Cheap" argument here?

Although I'd concede that if you don't care at all about picture quality (or have a small old CRT screen), then the selection of titles you can watch for $10 per month would be the only "Good" for QuickFlix. Given a whole QuickFlix movie is only 0.79GB, the "don't pay for bandwidth" possibility isn't a big deal either (unless you are on a very small usage plan).

Can't really comment on the "iTunes - Bad if you don't like Apple", although I'm not sure how that factors into the service best value equation.

One "Good" bonus with iTunes is that your can regularly find the ongoing 2x "iTunes $20 Gift cards for $30" deal (effectively a 25% discount). If like me, you only buy iTunes content by using Store credit taking advantage of these discount deals, it means your actual 25% discounted Movie rental cost with iTunes is: $5.99 PPV (instead of $7.99) and $4.49 PPV (instead of $5.99) for the older titles. Even cheaper ($3.74 discounted PPV) if you go for the SD rentals.

Of course with the iTunes solution you do need to spend the one-off cost of an Apple TV. But then you also get lots of other streaming capabilities for your money (Music, iTunes U, YouTube, Photo streaming etc.).

So with iTunes you can actually get 1080p near HD quality Movies for just $5.99 PPV, instead of QuickFlix $6.99 PPV for low quality SD and limited range.

GeoffisPure

459 posts

Ultimate Geek

#604694 3-Apr-2012 18:55

I'm a little confused about accessing Netflix (Hulu etc..) over a VPN. To those who are doing it, do you apply the DNS settings in your router so that ALL your internet traffic is affected, or you change the DNS settings on your PC only when you want to access these services (and then change them back)? Also, someone above mentioned needing a new/separate modem?

jbard

1377 posts

Uber Geek

#604695 3-Apr-2012 18:58

GeoffisPure: I'm a little confused about accessing Netflix (Hulu etc..) over a VPN. To those who are doing it, do you apply the DNS settings in your router so that ALL your internet traffic is affected, or you change the DNS settings on your PC only when you want to access these services (and then change them back)? Also, someone above mentioned needing a new/separate modem?

You are getting confused between using a VPN and changing DNS.

I use a VPN which basically routes all my traffic through a server in a different country.
I have a little app on my computer which i switch on to be in USA, then when the stream starts again I switch it off. That is basically it.

It gets more confusing when you want to watch the programs on your PS3/Xbox as they can't run the VPN app. Then you need a router which can run the VPN software or lets you change DNS (most routers do the second one).

Hoe that helps.

GeoffisPure

459 posts

Ultimate Geek

#604696 3-Apr-2012 19:01

Thanks JBard. I just ordered a Roku box from Amazon, so will I have to use the Router DNS option? If so, will this effect my general internet speeds?

Handle9

11386 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#604697 3-Apr-2012 19:04

GeoffisPure: I'm a little confused about accessing Netflix (Hulu etc..) over a VPN. To those who are doing it, do you apply the DNS settings in your router so that ALL your internet traffic is affected, or you change the DNS settings on your PC only when you want to access these services (and then change them back)? Also, someone above mentioned needing a new/separate modem?

There are alot of different ways to do this. If you want to there is plenty of info out there and IMO it's well worthwhile.

This is one way to do it on a single router and works well for me.

http://strongvpn.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=968

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