2011-06-26

Blu-Ray User Plays Blues Clues

Blu-Ray disks came as a gift and necessitated adding a Blu-Ray player.

They're inexpensive. A simple LG BD630 Blu-Ray player from Amazon runs about $80. This device has built-in Netflix service. Activate the unit with Netflix's magic device code and it happily streams video.

The interface is far simpler and more restricted than the browser-based version. Big, squishy icons and a presumption that the only input device is the player's remote. No way to enter text except through a pick-a-letter matrix. Responsiveness is sluggish, about 300 msec between click and action.

Most maddening: hovering over a title to get additional info causes the system to hang while it waits for Netflix's servers to fulfill the request. Eventually (3-10 secs), the movie's details fill in. No matter; really, when "Watch Now" works great via computer.

The major point of contention, however, is that the entertainment system has been rewired again, which was deemed Confusing by She Who Must Be Obeyed:

Even though it's simpler, it necessitated adding another fix: