Well, that’s fancy: HBO launches Netflix-like HBO Go for subscribers

HBO has dipped its toes very tentatively into the waters of online content in the form of HBO Go, a service available only to those who subscribe to traditional, TV based HBO.

As a subscriber of both Verizon Fios and HBO, I was able to log in and give the service a spin this morning. I’m not big on streaming content to my laptop- I generally get too distracted by the existence of the internet to appreciate watching movies on it. But with 600 hours of content versus HBO on Demand’s 150, it might come in handy even for those who subscribe to the HBO on Demand service. Yes, the offerings are still anemic compared to HBO’s vast quantity of awesome shows. True Blood is a notable absentee, as is the often pants-peeingly hilarious Curb Your Enthusiasm. (I’ve always wanted to check out Deadwood, too, and that’s missing.) While I’d like all the HBO stuff I’d ever want to watch available whenever I want to watch it, I’m not surprised or even disappointed that HBO has decided to protect some of its more valuable properties just out of the gate.

On my current setup, just an average Dell laptop that’s stingy with resources and prone to having hissyfits when I want to do two things at once (for instance, posting in WordPress and running iTunes) I was able to quickly buffer an episode of Big Love and the longer documentary By The People in just a few seconds. Even with about twenty tabs open in Google Chrome, and Pidgin and Google Talk running in the background, there were no noticeable blips or interruptions in the stream of video. The picture was clear and the audio fine, and a simple, clean interface doesn’t get in the way of content when using the service.

All in all, while it’s been pointed out that HBO Go could be better, open to non-subscribers, offer more content and so on, I don’t think this is terrible for a first foray into streaming content for HBO. Yes, it could be more fully featured, but it’s not even out of beta yet. If you already pay for HBO every month, this is a nice perk- it would be nicer if it meant I never had to miss an episode of True Blood when I’m not home on a Sunday night.