You actually only need a $12 a month account for unlimited access to the streaming feature (though you only get 2 DVD rentals at a time). The video quality is decent, identical to a DVD so far as I can tell (a 90 minute movie, works out to be about 3 gigabytes) though you only get stereo sound. The performance is good as well, over my 8Mb connection there is typically only a 10sec delay before the video starts and no hitching or buffering thereafter.

To be honest though, as it stands the selection is pretty weak. There are some good films and television shows available, but most of those 10,000 titles aren't much use unless you enjoy exercise videos and TV shows like Charles in Charge. After a couple months of regular use, I have largely exhausted the possibilities. Apart from requiring Windows and the use of IE, it seems like a good platform for streaming films over the internet. Since I can connect my laptop to my television, I don't see much value in a dedicated box though, at least not until there is enough quality content for it to largely replace DVD rentals.