DISH / Blockbuster Announcement Discussion Thread!

[Lord_Vader]

OK, so I was pretty excited about this when I heard about it. I have the Netflix streaming (dropped the Quickster) for $7.99/mo. My kids use a lot of the Netflix streaming, lots of kid shows from TV & movies as well. It works great on my Bluray Player and the Wii, with the Bluray player being hardlined into my router upstairs to our secondary TV, main TV being downstairs, where my 722k is and Wii (wireless streaming no HD). I thought if I could drop Netflix & just pay $2 more per month and get movies, games & streaming what a deal.
I have not subscribed as of yet, but am I correct in understanding the earlier posts where people cannot access whatever the Blockbuster Streaming is? I am trying to find out what they have streaming wise. Currently, when I go to the Blockbuster movie pass it just shows the premium channels I have (Starz, HDNet, etc). If I choose an HD movie, I wait about 20 minutes or so before it is ready and some up to an hour; SD seems to only take a few minutes. I am only at one bar on the "streaming quality" meter. I'm assuming this is because I am connected via wall plug upstairs to my 722k downstairs (I am planning on running Cat6 in the near future) and people that are hardlined into their sat receiver experience better results.
Is there any way to view Blockbuster's streaming library or do we know when it will be available?
I agree the UI is horrible with this, but I'm hoping it gets better. My 4 year old can use the Netflix menus, all movies/shows they see are free and included with my membership, I do not have to worry about them choosing something that would cost me money or try to explain to hit the * button to see what they can choose from. Big let down at this point, but I am hoping it gets better soon. On a side note, I found out I could stream independent shows on TV1 & TV2 at the same time.

I decided to drop the DVD by mail part of netflix and keep the streaming. I already had platinum so it saved me some money. Once I told the kids that streaming didn't change, they couldn't care less.

I told them that the envelopes will be blue now instead of red.

 

[thamac]

I decided to drop the DVD by mail part of netflix and keep the streaming. I already had platinum so it saved me some money. Once I told the kids that streaming didn't change, they couldn't care less.

I told them that the envelopes will be blue now instead of red.

I'm doing the same.

 

[whitewolf8214]

how can you stream blockbuster movies on your pc? ty for help

 

[ralfyguy]

So I tried to stream a show and since almost 2 hours it says available to watch in approximately 11 minutes. This varies from going from between 8-20 minutes. The router shows hardcore activity from the 722 and pretty much sucks the entire bandwidth out of my 6MB DSL. There is no option to stop it, so I just pulled the ethernet plug on the 722 to make it stop. Works just great! NOT!

Is it streaming or downloading or what the heck is it doing?

 

[Hall]

Well not quite like it you have to first find what you want to watch then pick it to down load then go out and into where it said rental then maybe start streaming it must have taken a long time to think a brilliant sequences like that. the tv shows are still wait hours, No its nothing like Netflix streaming

I'm happy it's working like that for you but it's definitely not for me. It's still the same as before--download and wait...........and wait. And if I'm lucky eventually it does download. I have been succesful in having one start right away but then after a couple of minutes it's doing the buffer thing, just like it always did. Over and over again. Dunno, maybe it's my internet service which is only a bit over 6 mps down and .75 up but NF streams fine and their HD looks great. Sure hope mine ends up performing like yours.

So much for this fancy, new data center, huh ? Earlier today, it streamed "properly", that is, within a minute or two, even an HD movie, the show started. Later, like now, it's back to download-and-wait

 

[gadgtfreek]

I dont think the data center goes online until Nov.

 

[Hall]

They should have waited for this then or at least put it in a 'limited' mode, i.e. give it to a small # of customers. They could even include a pop-up that says "Try our new service...". If someone really used it a lot, keep them on (Dish knows if you use it). If someone doesn't, they fall off after a week or so and a new group comes on.

What's sad though is, how many average customers know about this ? I'll bet very few... yet the service is pretty much unusable on a Saturday afternoon. What will it be like on a Friday or Saturday night ??

 

[gadgtfreek]

I still think streaming is small potatoes. Yeah, sure, plenty of you guys use it, but the rest of the country is generally discs. This deal is where they are very smart and will matter more in the short term, which is why I think they went ahead with it.

It allows me to combine two services, and get a lot more, for $3. In this economy, thats good stuff as long as they market it well. I also think with them trying to get Hulu, there are big streaming plans just around the corner.

 

[meStevo]

I still think streaming is small potatoes. Yeah, sure, plenty of you guys use it, but the rest of the country is generally discs. This deal is where they are very smart and will matter more in the short term, which is why I think they went ahead with it.

It allows me to combine two services, and get a lot more, for $3. In this economy, thats good stuff as long as they market it well. I also think with them trying to get Hulu, there are big streaming plans just around the corner.

Netflix accounts for like 23% of all bandwidth used in the US... There's nothing small potatoes about streaming. Maybe it's small potatoes for DISH...But that's the last thing all the people who are posting in the thread bout canceling their Netflix subs want to hear.

 

[Hall]

Dish didn't buy Blockbuster for the stores and the disc-mailing service !

 

[gadgtfreek]

Netflix accounts for like 23% of all bandwidth used in the US... There's nothing small potatoes about streaming. Maybe it's small potatoes for DISH...

Yeah, but you gotta have perspective. How much Bandwidth does Netflix use in one shot streaming, compared to all these people surfing the net and facebooking, or still using dialup?

What you have is a small percentage using a lot of bandwidth, compared to a large percentage using very little, which ultimately is small potatoes.

Put 10 fat people in with 90 normal people, and you'll think chocolate cake is most important food in the country


I also think with the people that are hurting right now, that streaming number is even higher. Folks like my dad who cancelled everything but HSI and netflix streaming, and thats ALL he has to watch.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Angry ?? Haha !! Not one bit.... I think it's hilarious.... Just count the # of posts you made

What EVER.

 

[barco13]

I think if a person had platinum anyway, this is fine. For this being billed as a stream come true and such, it falls a little short right now. It is early though, and I'm hoping good things are coming, maybe in November.

 

[cloudy]

To those of you thinking this should be free if you already get Platinum HD for free, I think your'e asking for a Bit Much.
You've been getting 20 HD channels for a while now that you Used to have to pay $10 for. Now you think you should keep getting them free, along with being able to stream all of their content for free, and get DVDs/Games in the mail for free.
Personally, I would have been willing to start paying $10/month again, if they had decided to start charging for Platinum again.
AND it'll be nice to FINALLY be able to stream Starz content. I got sick of seeing their adverts for it, and never being able to do it.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Well not quite like it you have to first find what you want to watch then pick it to down load then go out and into where it said rental then maybe start streaming it must have taken a long time to think a brilliant sequences like that .
the tv shows are still wait hours,
No its nothing like Netflix streaming

Same here. I noticed it still has to be downloaded and then sometimes it plays and then buffers. I have up to 20 mbps connection according to Time Warner cable, and Netflix runs brilliantly as well as HBO go over my google revue unit. So I know it isn't my internet connection. I tried to down load a Free movie out of the Plat pack and it caused my receiver to reboot three times over a 20 minute period. I finally pulled the plug and it came back with Block Buster pass and no internet connection. So I reset the turbo plug and it is now working . I'm trying once again to download movies and it is saving them to the hard drive for later viewing. So far I haven't seen any thing like instant Netflix streaming . And when it does play instantly it will play for a few minutes and then Buffering , buffering. I think Netflix has NOTHING to worry about in terms of Blockbuster being a threat to them.

 

[cloudy]

I am dissappointed to hear it's such a pain of a process to get a stream started.
Do they AT LEAST have a good selection of Video Games?

 

[ray78]

OK so i have changed my account now to the 10.00 movie pass. I have a 622vip but don't see the blockbuster option. Still says dish platinum. When I select a movie it still says 1 day 6 hours to download...Something I'm doing wrong?


Thanks
Scott

I also have a 622. I got the BB mail service setup just fine and enrolled for movie pass, but 8+ hours later it still says dish platinum on my DVR menu and 10+ hours to download.

 

[lern4483]

I am dissappointed to hear it's such a pain of a process to get a stream started.
Do they AT LEAST have a good selection of Video Games?

From what dish told me. you need to select what you want from online?
Huh, even Netflix you can download from tv.

Im a big dish fan but this new service seems clunky to say the least.
When I was at Blockbuster Movie pass online it appears that you can
only order dvds?
Are the streaming movies from Blockbuster all ready to download from dvr??

Confused.

 

[Sgunter5]

just chatted with a CSR...
Ashton: Have you pressed the DVR?

Scott Gunter: yes

Ashton: Then please select "Blockbuster Movie Pass"

Scott Gunter: still says dish platinum....no blockbuster movie pass

Ashton: Thank you for letting me know about that..

Scott Gunter: done a hard reboot...no change

Ashton: As the promotion got installed today, the system has not get updated.

Ashton: We apologize for the inconvenience.

Ashton: We have a known issue with Video on Demand.

Scott Gunter: so how long till a fix is in place?

Scott Gunter: for the 622 receivers?

Ashton: Unfortunately, we do not have any updated time frame.

Ashton: This is a known issue with all the receivers and not only with 622.

Ashton: However, this will be resolved soon.

Scott Gunter: soon? really?

 

[ashutto20]

first time user of bb disc by mail...can I use the bb app on my droid x???