GOING NUTS WITH NETFLIX

After looking forward to Netflix' big rollout of service in Mexico..........after getting the necessary box to hook up to the TV...........after then reading about the company seppuku moves on the news.....and finally, looking at the site and hearing reports on TOB and elsewhere, it appears that the company decided that what primarily English speaking, somewhat deaf expats want is mostly movies with subtitles avaiable in Portuguese. Or so it seems.

Anybody out there having any luck with Netflix? Any techie suggestions?

Translation: Seppuku is the Japanese work for suicide.

David wrote:Translation: Seppuku is the Japanese work for suicide.

Yup. That's correct.......and that's what Netflix is doing, as a company.
Optimists might figure their stock is a "good buy" right now. I figure that Amazon might find the carcass tasty at some point.
LOL. .

Do you suppose if you have a Laredo address and your mail is then relayed down here, could you do the regular 'by mail" rentals thru Netflix?

Splashingcolor wrote: Do you suppose if you have a Laredo address and your mail is then relayed down here, could you do the regular 'by mail" rentals thru Netflix?

I tried that about three years ago using my MBE Laredo address with Netflix and had an agreement they would send me a few movies at a time to that MBE street address in Laredo. I got the first six or so movies forwarded from Laredo to my MBE P.O. Box here without a glitch and then new movies they mailed to the Laredo MBE address started disappearing without being forwarded here or even acknowledged as received by Laredo. I complained to the MBE people in San Antonio Tlayacapan and they disclaimed any responsibility. After some ten or so movies sent by Netflix in several different shipments to MBE Laredo disappeared from the face of the earth, I cancelled the service and have not done business with MBE since. The San Antonio people were absolutely no help at all.

Your experience may be different.

Ok, good feed back. I think I"ll pass on that route!
Gracis!

I used Netflix back in San Miguel where there was a private mail box service in which on of the owners muled back and forth about three times a week to Texas. Bliss. It all worked fine.
Then I moved to Ajijic and got MBE. Same experience as the Dawg. Bad. Went to Handymail and the movies quit disappearing, but the turnaround was so slow I gave up.

Recommendation: Find out how to go around the system so that you can get streamed movies from the U.S. from Netflix. Amazon has them also. I am quite incapable of explaining how that's done. I'll bet Lehrer knows, though.

Supposedly one can get (either paid or for free a VPN (virtual provider network) that will give you a legitimate "address" in the US through which, with a Roku box, one can stream Netflix from the US directly to your TV. Or so those who know better than I have said... Lizzy

As an opening gambit, we bought the Roku box and have now enjoyed access to movies that are older than I am, and a few that aren't. Last night we enjoyed a Zorro from the 30's and a Japanese sci-fi involving a savior Starman whose cloak billowed behind him as he crossed space in a sort of swimming motion. Gave up on that one. Finally, it was "Born to Win" with Steven Segal and Karen Black. She was strange: he was GOOD.
Tonight? Who knows? Wish we could find a Fred and Ginger.

Are you using a VPN? L

There seems to be some confusion with Netflix. Netflix is now strictly (only) a streaming service that is now supposed to be legally available in Mexico. One should not need to use a VPN. I do understand that there have been some typical start up problems.

The DVD rental service was formerly the foundation for Netflix but it has been spun off to a separate operation called Qwickster: http://qwikster.com/

As I understand it, you would still have to use VPN's with services such as Hulu and others?

We discovered that what was available to Mexico users was not what we wanted. We have a semi-deaf person in the family and subtitles in Portuguese are not really useful. IMO, Netflix did not do their market research before rolling out service in Mexico.
Check out what's available with English subtitles and you'll see what I mean.

They are very canny about the normal ways to hide your location. They KNOW.

CG. VPN is necessary to stream US Netflix. They have different content. Lizzy

Still lovin' and usin' Graboid...download to computer...watch on the TV when we want to.

Is there a specific reason why others don't? If it wasn't for sports, we'd never use Shaw/Starchoice.

...and yes, you can download Fred and Ginger.

Whoa.....what are you downloading? Movies or TV? Are you able to get subtitles if you want them? How are you getting it to the TV?

Yeah... what she said. I wanna know too. Puh-leeez enlighten us, o furry one. L

How about a little educating:
http://www.graboid.com/

we use netflix with a VPN.

We're downloading both TV shows and movies. If the TV shows are current, then they show up the next morning after being aired. The movies that are in the theatre now can be seen too but they've been recorded using a camcorder and are not always great. Wait `til it comes out on DVD then amazing...have already seen ``The Help``.

Subtitles I'd have to look up but nearly everything is in English when it first comes out...then in another language afterwards (like German). I know how to get rid of subtitles in another language...learned that from their great forum...and then they added customer service with a real person to talk to if needed.

Haved learned some other tricks too...whaddya wanna know?

Connection to the TV from the laptop with an HDMI to HDMI cable....

[quote="CheenaGringo"]How about a little educating:
http://www.graboid.com/[/quote

Things are not always as simple as they may seem. Graboid, amongst many other "solutions" has already been examined and found wanting. Some of them are as much fun to watch as the kind of pirated movies made by hand held camcorders, complete with time-lagged subtitles, or none at all.

Requirement: Must make movies available WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES which match the movie and which can be watched at a time selected by the user on the television screen in the living room.
Hearing problem makes subtitles a necessity. Popcorn optional.

This result will require that money as well as time be rubbed on the problem, including a ROKU box and a rather expensive router. Following this.......a paid subscription to a truly reliable VPN. VPN's are not all created equal.

For many people, this will also require hiring the services of a techie to put the whole dang thing together.

Costco sells some tiny hearing aids. Wouldn't it be easier to get some or is the hearing problem beyond that?

Chapalagringa wrote:Costco sells some tiny hearing aids. Wouldn't it be easier to get some or is the hearing problem beyond that?

If you ever develop a serious hearing problem, which I would not wish on anyone, but which happens to people who had to deal in bad noise situations or who have a genetic component involved, you would quickly discover the need for subtitles "for the hearing impaired". It is way beyond the need for volume.
The hearing impaired person in my family has been wearing various "aids" up to and including the kind that cost thousands of dollars, for the past thirty years and will continue to need them simply to function in normal situations. 'kay?

Tell me more about tiny hearing aids... that looks interesting. There are times when volume might just help keep the peace. Lizzy

Someone in our family went deaf too young and so we understand too well about the expense of hearing aids as the family pitched in to buy them. As was my reason for my comment if the problem was beyond the simple hide a away hearing aids.

Lizzy, I realize you live in the trailer out in the boonies part of the year Is there a Costco or even a Walmart near you? Walmart in the states carries hearing aids at least. Costco has a very nice display in Guadalajara. My mother has had difficulty with one of her ears since I was born. She had a wire placed in her ear in the 70's. Recently, she went to see if perhaps another could be installed but was told a simple hearing aid would fix the problemo. They are very tiny and it does have a thin clear tube like deal that slips around the back of her ear. You can't even see it. Plus she wears her hair down around her ears anyway. What a difference! I no longer have to sit, walk or stand on her "good" side. :) She no longer has to rattle the house to hear the boob tube. That's about all I know about it. Probably online info too: http://shop.costco.com/en/In-The-Warehouse/Hearing-Aid-Center/Styles.aspx

I don't know which pair she has. She said it was really high tech even for highs and lows and is pretty amazing.

Hearing aids come in different flavors, depending on the nature of the problem and how much the client can afford. I would recommend going to a local audiologist because they often require many adjustments after purchase........unless you enjoy a long drive to Costco or have one nearby.

For those who live in the Lake Chapala area, there is a very good and caring audiologist who is based in Guadalajara but who comes to the Lake Chapala Society twice a week for the day. Membership in LCS not required. His office is in the back building with a sign up list outside for appts. He can also make repairs.

Hearing aids: (And this is from a laywoman's POV) There are very expensive ones which fit so deeply into the ear that they are almost undetectable by the viewer. There are the kind for more severe hearing loss that have a pocket control.
There are some that have the "guts" behind the ear and a tiny plastic thing that fits into the ear. Cosmetically, hair helps to hide the guts. There is everything in between.

Volume is part of the problem........but hearing often loses part of the spectrum from high to low tones without losing the rest. Distinguishing between sounds, like "P" or "T"; "S" or "F" in speech is part of the problem. The hearing aids are designed to take care of the individual need. Once you get a hearing test, they'll tell you which kind you can use. The hearing aids will cost some serious bucks, so be ready for that. Worth every penny, not to mention increased peace in the family. LOL