If you've got an XBox 360, then you have instant access to Hulu Plus. You can get a free week trial to Hulu Plus to see what this instant streaming TV and Movie system is like.

I will first note that we're die-hard Netflix fans. We've used them for years. So part of what we were curious about is how this compared with Netflix, which we've used on our PS3, XBox 360, and Wii systems.

First, it takes a LONG time to download all the Hulu Plus software and install it. Be prepared with a cup of coffee or wine until it's all set. This is of course just a one time setup thing.

You also have to sign up for the trial offer for Hulu Plus if you don't already have a Hulu Plus account. This won't work with the free version of Hulu. You have to have the Hulu Plus account. You'll get a week for free. They will want your address and credit card number before they activate. If you want not to pay, you have to remember to cancel within that week.

How does it work? We were quite impressed. They have a TON of TV shows - both very old and quite new - as well as a selection of movies in their system. While we're more impressed with Netflix's movie selection, we were extremely impressed with the Hulu TV offering. While Netflix tends to have out-on-DVD options, Hulu has items that just came out last week. You can stay up to date with your favorite shows by having Hulu and nothing else.

The quality was quite great as well. We did have problems with our Dlink bridge, with it timing out, but once we switched over to our Netgear connection we were all set. We were testing on an XBox 360 without built in wireless. It's likely that the built in wireless on a new XBox 360 wouldn't have any issues.

The video quality was crystal clear and it supported high def for shows that were filmed that way. I nearly got sucked into several shows while doing my testing.

There's the usual stop / pause / fast forward options that are easy to access and use.

We a DVR to record all shows we watch, so we can watch them on our own schedule. We don't "miss" shows. So in our household we don't have a pressing need for Hulu. However, for households without cable, or with a tendency to miss shows and want to catch up on the lost episodes, Hulu is a great option! And of course I'm saying this from the perspective that we already pay for Netflix. So for shows that are already out on DVD, or movies, we use a similar service to get access to those items. So I do think the idea in general is a good one.