The XBox 360 “New Xbox Experience” launched today, providing a slew of new features and improvements to the console’s user interface. As a Netflix (Gallop Forum) subscriber, I was particularly interested in the newly added ability to stream any of Netflix’s 12,000 online titles to my HD-TV. I gave it a shot, and here is what transpired.

First, the update is wonderfully quick and painless; the XBox automatically prompts me for an update when I turn it on and it takes less than 5 minutes to download and install. Good start. That done, I get to sit through a short but well done CGI sequence and then select a 3D avatar. I didn’t spend too much time there but you can customize the avatar quite a bit. Once at the welcome screen, I intuitively go to Video Marketplace, and there is the Netflix tab. Great. I select it and it tells me that I need to upgrade to a Gold membership (more on this later). No surprise there; I am ready to upgrade. This is where I ran into some small hurdles.

First, instead of allowing me to upgrade then and there, it tells me to go to their website (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/netflix/default.htm). That’s a bit annoying, but no problem. I go there, follow the “Upgrade to Xbox LIVE Gold” link and what do you know? I get forwarded to a page saying the requested page cannot be found and giving me a search box asking “Looking for something at Xbox.com?” Why yes, I’m looking to give you some of my money! Help!

I proceed to try to sign up for Gold through other links on their web site, but I find their site too complicated to navigate to a membership upgrade and decide to instead try doing this again through the console itself. I have better luck there, but have to drill down a bit. Go to My Xbox > (your gamer name) > manage account > memberships > Xbox Live Silver Membership > Modify Membership, and there you can upgrade to Gold pretty easily. Now why couldn’t they just give that right from the start? You can sign up for $7.99 for 1 month, $19.99 for 3 months or $49.99 for 12 months. I signed up for 1 month, and after a reboot, I’m good to go.

So I go back to the Netflix tab on the Xbox, hoping to browse their huge selection and find something to watch while eating breakfast, but alas! You need to add your movies through the Netflix web site. You cannot browse for titles on the Xbox itself. This may not seem like that big a deal, but remember the first iteration of the Apple TV? It didn’t do well, and Apple attributed that failure in part to the fact that you still needed to use your computer to make it work, while consumers want to be able to do everything straight from their TV.

Now on to the (very) positive part of this review. After adding the show to my instant queue, I go back to my Xbox and select it. The Xbox detects my connection speed (I’m on Comcast cable) and decides to show it to me in HD. Sweet! And it looks great. Really great. The video and sound quality are impeccable, the controls easy to use and intuitive. When you add a show, it has the good sense to add the whole season at once, and you can select any episode that you want at any time.

Now as I mentioned, this does require a Gold membership. If you’re using the lowest Netflix plan that allows unlimited streaming ($8.99 / month), the upgrade almost doubles your monthly fee. Also, I tried to cancel my Gold plan a few months ago to save money after I stopped playing videogames, and let me tell you, it takes work. You can’t do it online; you have to call Microsoft, and I’m sure you know what it’s like to call the support line of a big corporation, especially when it’s to downgrade your membership…

But is it worth the money? Absolutely, in my opinion. The sheer amount of quality content available is just amazing. If you subscribe to Live Gold for 12 months and select the cheapest Netflix plan, you’re looking at 12,000 titles for a little over $13 a month. I just don’t see how you can get a bigger bang for your buck. Once you’re past the small initial hurdles, you’re in for many hours, days and months of quality entertainment at an affordable price.

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