Thursday, June 24, 2004
Netflix (movie rentals)
Since I have seen many rumors going around about Netflix, I thought I would share my experiences with the service. First of all Netflix has made a lot of improvements over the last year. Last summer I got annoyed as many of the movies I wanted had a wait. The whole point of using a service such as Netflix is to be able to watch a lot of movies...if most of the movies you want are not available you might as well quit.
However, this is no longer a problem. In the last 30 days I have been shipped 13 DVDs (on the 3 out at a time program). Even with this high level of activity I have almost never had a movie with any kind of wait. A couple months ago I did have a movie that was listed as short wait, but by the time it got to the top of the rental queue it was shipped immediately. This shows that active renters are no longer punished (as people have claimed in the past).
Netflix is very easy to use. You simply make a list of the movies you want to see (in an online queue), and Netflix will send you your top 3 movies in the mail. After you watch a movie you simply put it in the postage paid envelope that Netflix provides when you are shipped the DVD, and put it in your mailbox. When Netflix gets the DVD back they immediately send the next one on your list. They almost always ship it back out the same day they receive your return disk. Since there are distribution centers all over the USA the turn around time is short. It generally takes around 3 days from the time I mailed a DVD back to Netflix to get my next DVD in the mail.
As for selection, they have every movie I have ever searched for. I have heard that they don't have all the independent films, but I mostly stick to mainstream so that is not a problem for me. I like the fact that as you rent and then rate movies, Netflix provides recommendations. I have found that many times the movies they recommend are things that I want to see (but had forgotten about). I also like the fact that when a movie is in the theater, they go ahead and load it into their database. That way you can set it to be automatically added to your queue as soon as it is released on DVD.
But by far what I like most about Netflix is the TV shows it has. Unlike my local Blockbuster, Netflix buys the DVDs of TV shows that are released on DVD. This is a huge bonus, as it can be expensive to buy those DVDs yourself. I have rented all of the Band of Brother's episodes, the early ER seasons, 24, Alias, and many others. In my opinion this selection makes it impossible for brick and mortar stores to compete. My local Blockbuster and my local Hollywood video have both started unlimited rental programs...but I will stay with Netflix because of their selection of TV shows, and their rental queue.
If you only rent a couple DVDs a month, Netflix is not worth it...but if you spend at least $20.00 on rentals, Netflix is a far better solution than your neighboring blockbuster.
However, this is no longer a problem. In the last 30 days I have been shipped 13 DVDs (on the 3 out at a time program). Even with this high level of activity I have almost never had a movie with any kind of wait. A couple months ago I did have a movie that was listed as short wait, but by the time it got to the top of the rental queue it was shipped immediately. This shows that active renters are no longer punished (as people have claimed in the past).
Netflix is very easy to use. You simply make a list of the movies you want to see (in an online queue), and Netflix will send you your top 3 movies in the mail. After you watch a movie you simply put it in the postage paid envelope that Netflix provides when you are shipped the DVD, and put it in your mailbox. When Netflix gets the DVD back they immediately send the next one on your list. They almost always ship it back out the same day they receive your return disk. Since there are distribution centers all over the USA the turn around time is short. It generally takes around 3 days from the time I mailed a DVD back to Netflix to get my next DVD in the mail.
As for selection, they have every movie I have ever searched for. I have heard that they don't have all the independent films, but I mostly stick to mainstream so that is not a problem for me. I like the fact that as you rent and then rate movies, Netflix provides recommendations. I have found that many times the movies they recommend are things that I want to see (but had forgotten about). I also like the fact that when a movie is in the theater, they go ahead and load it into their database. That way you can set it to be automatically added to your queue as soon as it is released on DVD.
But by far what I like most about Netflix is the TV shows it has. Unlike my local Blockbuster, Netflix buys the DVDs of TV shows that are released on DVD. This is a huge bonus, as it can be expensive to buy those DVDs yourself. I have rented all of the Band of Brother's episodes, the early ER seasons, 24, Alias, and many others. In my opinion this selection makes it impossible for brick and mortar stores to compete. My local Blockbuster and my local Hollywood video have both started unlimited rental programs...but I will stay with Netflix because of their selection of TV shows, and their rental queue.
If you only rent a couple DVDs a month, Netflix is not worth it...but if you spend at least $20.00 on rentals, Netflix is a far better solution than your neighboring blockbuster.
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I'm still having all kinds of problems with Netflix. First of all the 1-2 day shipping is not true. I live within 2 hours of the nearest center (Birmingham, AL), and on average it takes 5 full days after I mail my movie before they get it back and vice versa. That's how long it took when I used Blockbuster, and they were being mailed to Kentucky. Secondly, I can't seem to get new releases. I've had 40 Year Old Virgin and Cinderella Man at the top of my list for at least the last month. I check my Queue every day, and not once have either of these movies been available. So far Netflix has been about worthless, but I'll give them another week or two before cancelling.
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# posted by 
: January 27, 2006 2:59 PM
: January 27, 2006 2:59 PM << Home
