(Screenshot: Lifehacker)
According to blogger Adam Pash, you only need four items:
1. An Xbox 360
2. Windows Vista with Vista Media Center
3. A Netflix subscription
4. The freeware vmcNetflix plug-in
These items, plus what appears to be about 30 minutes of work, will let you stream as many movies as you like, from a selection of 10,000 directly to your TV.
The effort will also save you $100, which is the cost of a Roku, along with the wait for the device, which was sold out last time I checked.
Actually, it appears from Pash’s post on Lifehacker that your enhanced Xbox will do more than an actual Roku. Here are the features it will support:
* Stream WatchNow movies directly to the Media Center player.
* Download WatchNow movies to a “Watch Later” gallery.
* Support for Vista Extenders on both x86 and x64 platforms.
* Support for Netflix Instant Queue.
* Support for Episode listings.
* Search for movies by keyword.
* Browse DVD and WatchNow movies by genres.
* Sort Gallery by Title, Year, or Star Rating.
* View your queue, history, and recommendations.
* Add, remove, move movies in your queue.
* Supports DVD/Movie Parental Controls
I would actually try this myself, but I lack two of the four required items: a PC that runs Vista and a Netflix subscription. I’d be curious to hear from readers about how well this works.
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