Christmas came early this year

Back in January I wrote an entry extolling the virtues of the Playstation 3. According to my list, the second best reason to own a PS3 is watching movies:

"The PS3 is a very capable Blu-Ray and DVD player. It even upscales DVD’s to near-HD resolution. You can also purchase or rent movie downloads from the PlayStation Store, although I find the current selection and prices underwhelming. I am envious of the Xbox360’s ability to stream Netflix movies. If Sony can get their act together and make this happen, it would truly make the PS3 the end-all-be-all home entertainment device."

I am very pleased to report that as of last week, Sony has “[gotten] their act together.” As long-time Netflix subscribers, getting up and running was pretty simple. Here's how:

1. Go to this page. If you are already logged in to your Netflix account, you will see a button to request your free Netflix streaming disc for PS3. Click this button. You should receive a confirmation email shortly thereafter.
2. A few days later, your PS3 streaming disc should arrive in the mail. It comes in a familiar red envelope. Open that envelope, fire up the PS3 and insert the disc. Select the “Netflix” option under the Video menu once it appears.
3. The Netflix streaming interface will eventually display. You will be prompted on screen with a 5 character alphanumeric activation code and a netflix.com URL to visit. Go to the URL provided and enter your activation code. A few seconds later, the Netflix interface on your PS3 will spring to life.
4. The first screen you will see is your “Instant Queue.” If you have ever streamed movies through Netflix on your computer, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, any movie that you have added to your normal mailing queue that is also available for streaming will automatically show up in your Instant Queue. You can also add movies directly to your Instant Queue. Navigating the on-screen menus is fairly straightforward. When you’re ready to watch a movie, just highlight it and press Enter (on your Blu Ray remote) or Down (on your PS3 controller).
5. When you select a movie to watch, it will take about 10 seconds up to a minute to buffer before playback starts. After that, it’s more or less like watching a DVD.

So far, these are my impressions of this service:

Pros

• Free with a Netflix subscription
• Easy to set up; easy to use
• Playback is smooth (no lag; once started, the video never stops to buffer)
• Episodic content (TV shows) is handled well
• There’s always something to watch!

Cons

• Selection could be better (not everything is available for streaming)
• Quality is about on par with standard definition TV
• Navigating is a bit cumbersome when you have a lot of movies in your queue
• Requires the disc to be in the PS3 during playback