Netflix/Streaming on an iPad

[ame]

My MIL would like an iPad for her Xmas gift, and we went to Apple today so that she could play with it and confirm she really liked the iPad or just wanted a tablet or newer machine. She REALLY likes the iPad. So I am getting the iPad4 with LTE/Cellular (based on her intentional use, she needs service and Wifi will not cut it), when thats out. She has been considering dropping her cable service at home, and getting a Netflix account. I am not sure how that works, we've never had Netflix. She asked about streaming and is there an app, how does it work. I have no idea.

How does it work?

 

[Hera]

You download the App and then you pick movies/tv shows to watch. It downloads and you watch the show. It's very easy.

 

[AmeliaG]

Yes, once you have the app, you can browse and click on a film and Netflix streams it to your iPad. This means the iPad has to be connected to the internet and you can watch the movie immediately.

I find the playback speed too slow without a home wireless network. Also I found that downloading apps like Netflix is slow torture without a home wireless network or a direct cable hook up to a computer with Internet access.

Movies rented from the Apple Store are downloaded to your iPad and can be watched even without an Internet connection but they take a long time to download. I wouldn't download one unless I was able to hook up my iPad directly to a computer with Internet access. Even the home wireless network is too slow for movie downloads.

I hope your MIL likes her iPad. My dad got one and loves his.

 

[manderz]

If she intends to get rid of cable, and stream a lot of data, be careful with the amount used. With the new plans through Verizon, overage charges can add up quickly.

 

[kenny]

Netflix is not an Internet connection.

Don't forget that "dropping cable" means you'll have to pay a carrier a monthly fee for an Internet connection and pay attention to the data rate or limit, since video is very data-intensive.

It may be cheaper to keep your cable connection but set up a wireless router or wifi hot spot in the home that communicates with the iPad and if you do this you can save money by buying the wifi iPad with no monthly service fee.

Do your homework.
Call apple and ask all these questions.

 

[AmeliaG]

Your MIL may get frustrated with a wireless-only iPad. She won't be able to access her email or favorite online apps away from home unless she goes to a public hotspot like Starbucks or a Barnes & Noble cafe and their networks are very slow.

I recommend getting the 3G + wireless iPad. It accesses a wireless network when it can to save money and the 3G network when no wireless network is available so she'll always be connected.

 

[ame]

My MIL would like an iPad for her Xmas gift, and we went to Apple today so that she could play with it and confirm she really liked the iPad or just wanted a tablet or newer machine. She REALLY likes the iPad. So I am getting the iPad4 with LTE/Cellular (based on her intentional use, she needs service and Wifi will not cut it), when thats out. She has been considering dropping her cable service at home, and getting a Netflix account. I am not sure how that works, we've never had Netflix. She asked about streaming and is there an app, how does it work. I have no idea.

Amelia I think you misread my post, which I quoted above. She's absolutely getting the one with the cellular. I am buying this for her and it's going on my plan.

I just have no idea how the netflix thing works and since it's definitely a wifi-requiring thing and not like just downloading a movie and being able to play it later like through the iTMS system (ie renting one and syncing to the iPhone/iPad) itll be a little more intensive than she's expecting so Ill have to go through some educating with her. And I have a pretty good feeling she won't bother with it at all bec it's going to be a pain in her butt and too many steps. She also does not have wifi in her house, and that will require me and DH going out and getting her either a new modem or a new router and setting it all up for her.

I have an iPhone so I am adept at a lot of this. I just didn't know how entailed the netflix stuff was, and frankly I think it sounds like a waste of time and money, if you already have internet through the cable company, why bother paying for two services. But that's me.

 

[MsP]

edited based on your response.

Netflix is a pretty cheap service that had a lot of TV/movie content... I think it's like $7/mo. It's streaming... you cannot download and "save" for offline use, and 3G is usually too slow to stream it. Or at least that's been my experience.

Regarding, education, make sure your MIL is aware of data usage on 3G. There are lots of quick/free/simple apps that will tell you where you are in regards to your allowed usage.

 

[ame]

As well as a nagging daughter in law telling you "hey lady, quit streaming sh!t." lol

 

[Hera]

Yes, definitely check the usage caps for the internet. You could also suggest movies through Amazon. If she pays for Amazon Prime for $80 a month (free if you're a student) then she could get free two days shipping on Amazon purchases and access to free movies and TV series. Some of the offerings are different than Netflix. She could look at the site and see if she likes what they have to offer. I believe it lets you know what's free to Amazon Prime members.

 

[Hera]

Yes, definitely check the usage caps for the internet. You could also suggest movies through Amazon. If she pays for Amazon Prime for $80 a month (free if you're a student) then she could get free two days shipping on Amazon purchases and access to free movies and TV series. Some of the offerings are different than Netflix. She could look at the site and see if she likes what they have to offer. I believe it lets you know what's free to Amazon Prime members.

correction: $80 a year for Amazon Prime.

 

[AmeliaG]

My MIL would like an iPad for her Xmas gift, and we went to Apple today so that she could play with it and confirm she really liked the iPad or just wanted a tablet or newer machine. She REALLY likes the iPad. So I am getting the iPad4 with LTE/Cellular (based on her intentional use, she needs service and Wifi will not cut it), when thats out. She has been considering dropping her cable service at home, and getting a Netflix account. I am not sure how that works, we've never had Netflix. She asked about streaming and is there an app, how does it work. I have no idea.

Amelia I think you misread my post, which I quoted above. She's absolutely getting the one with the cellular. I am buying this for her and it's going on my plan.

I just have no idea how the netflix thing works and since it's definitely a wifi-requiring thing and not like just downloading a movie and being able to play it later like through the iTMS system (ie renting one and syncing to the iPhone/iPad) itll be a little more intensive than she's expecting so Ill have to go through some educating with her. And I have a pretty good feeling she won't bother with it at all bec it's going to be a pain in her butt and too many steps. She also does not have wifi in her house, and that will require me and DH going out and getting her either a new modem or a new router and setting it all up for her.

I have an iPhone so I am adept at a lot of this. I just didn't know how entailed the netflix stuff was, and frankly I think it sounds like a waste of time and money, if you already have internet through the cable company, why bother paying for two services. But that's me.

Ok maybe I'm not getting you. For your Mil it won't be complicated at all. Once Netflix is on her iPad, she opens the app, finds a movie and starts streaming. She may have trouble streaming when her iPad is too far away from a wi-FI network, but the only thing she can do is to take her iPad to a faster connection which is usually her wi-FI. That's annoying but not complicated.

I didn't have wi-fi at first but i ran out of the minutes on the cellular plan halfway through the month and it was expensive to keep up internet access by paying for extra minutes. My cable Internet offers unlimited minutes so installing a wireless network was cheaper even with paying for two plans. So I wouldn't give up the cable Internet until she's positively sure she won't need it.

Am I getting nearer to what you are asking? For you and your DH, setting up the wi-FI will be more complicated but its a one-time deal.i haven't had to do anything with my wireless since I set it up.

 

[EricaR]

I think streaming to the iPad across the cell network will end up being $$$$$$$$$$$$$! If you are streaming in HD, one hour of content requires just about 1.5 gb of data.

When I've taken my iPad somewhere and relied on 3G (before the LTE iPads) as my primary internet connection I've hit my data plan cap (250mb) within two or three days. And that was just with basic email/facebook/web browsing. When I was taking a class at a community college last fall, I frequently used between 3 and 5gb of data each month. That was just with web browsing and using the Wikipedia app during my 4 hours of class each week.

Keep this in mind if she is planning on using the iPad as her primary way of connecting to the internet. I'd hate to see you end up with a $500 bill your first month!

 

[ame]

I will have around 4-6GB to use with the iPad and the iPhones on the account. I barely use 1GB a month, DH barely comes near 200MB, and the rest will be iPad use for her.

She wants to ditch the internet access at her house and just have a landline phone. Which we are trying to convince her NOT to do, but she isn't interested in that opinion. We're trying to explain that she needs the internet still if she wants netflix at all, iPad app or not. But she'll need faster internet and a better modem/router situation anyway.

As for her ease of getting to this stuff....she is going to need some training. Ill be setting up her internet favorites (email), she doesn't use facebook though we will see if she does now, but we'll see what she figures out on her own. I might set up an appointment at Apple for her to have a little training session, she's really techno averse.

 

[manderz]

I think streaming to the iPad across the cell network will end up being $$$$$$$$$$$$$! If you are streaming in HD, one hour of content requires just about 1.5 gb of data.

When I've taken my iPad somewhere and relied on 3G (before the LTE iPads) as my primary internet connection I've hit my data plan cap (250mb) within two or three days. And that was just with basic email/facebook/web browsing. When I was taking a class at a community college last fall, I frequently used between 3 and 5gb of data each month. That was just with web browsing and using the Wikipedia app during my 4 hours of class each week.

Keep this in mind if she is planning on using the iPad as her primary way of connecting to the internet. I'd hate to see you end up with a $500 bill your first month!

This was my concern as well, though stated much more eloquently and thoroughly. Fi and I have the unlimited data plan from Verizon for just our cell phones ( and I don't think we're by any means high end users) and we respectively use 7 and 4 gigs of data per month, on average. The iPad will be capable of streaming higher quality video, which means more data.

The netflix app itself is pretty easy to use; I don't think Apple would allow it to not be It's about a season behind for many popular shows, so if she wants current stuff, she'd be better off to get hulu, too. You can search for what you'd like to watch, or browse by genre (movies or tv). It also starts to suggest other things, based on your viewing. Fi and I have been using nextflix lately to watch Breaking Bad, and a couple other shows.

 

[ame]

My guess with her is that she will watch mostly things like documentaries. She's not much on sitting down to watch shows, besides (and my husband just rolled his eyes so far back in his head he can see 20 years ago) Real Housewives (HAHA!). But she isn't regularly following much of anything, she rarely watches TV or news. I use the SIRIUS app but I use it on Wifi on my phone, when I use it, simply bec I do know that streaming on that would kill me on my plan. I was I guess thinking I needed to confirm that Netflix was the same.

So she'll need to like...rent a movie on iTMS or something for a flight if she wants to do that or something and download through the computer and sync it. I will need to talk to DH about this plan more bec she cannot get rid of her computer totally and we might really need to still update that machine for her to do some of this. That computer is like...OLD. Maybe he needs to give her his old one (I say old...3 years old) so she has a newer one that she can use iTUNES on easier.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

You don't even have to download the app. I just go to Safari and log into Netflix and watch movies instantly that way!

ETA - I didn't read all the details before posting. Just wanted to add that we have wireless wi-fi in our house... Also, Amazon Prime was mentioned above. That is a GREAT deal. We began using that last month and I've been able to watch many shows that I couldn't get through Netflix and/or that my DH doesn't want to watch and I can use it on anything...I can use my lap top connected to my TV or watch on my Kindle Fire. Tons of options with that!