Redbox vs. iTunes vs. Netflix vs. Blockbuster
Published on - February 18th, 2011 (Modified on - September 25th, 2011) (by April Dykman) This post is from staff writer April Dykman.
Sometimes I think that Netflix was the best thing to ever happen to me (er, besides my wonderful husband, of course). You see, when I was a Blockbuster customer, I was notoriously bad about racking up late fees. I would flat-out forget I even had a movie to return. There’s no telling how much money I wasted in late fees.
So when Netflix came on the scene, I was elated. Sure, it was another monthly bill, but I didn’t have to leave the house to rent movies — or return them. And these days I can watch every single episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer through the “watch instantly” queue, along with all of the foreign and indie films my heart desires. I’m not big on regular TV and don’t have cable, so the service allows us to watch the stuff we like, commercial-free.
But now there are even more options out there. Redbox, different offerings from Blockbuster, and iTunes all offer slightly different ways of renting the newest release and snuggling up on the couch with some reasonably priced popcorn. Happy with Netflix, I haven’t really looked into the others, but I thought it was about time that I did.
Redbox
Redbox offers almost 25,000 kiosks for customers to rent and pickup movies. You can order and pay for your movie online and pick it up at a specified location, or you can show up to the Redbox and rent a movie directly at the kiosk, though your options will be limited. Swipe your credit card, and you’re done. To return the movie, bring it to any Redbox kiosk by 9 p.m. the day after you rent it. If you keep it longer, you’ll be charged the nightly fee plus applicable tax. After 25 days you’ll be charged for the price of the DVD, and it’s yours to keep.
Cost: $1–$1.50 per nightly rental
Is it right for you? Redbox is cheap and there are probably kiosks near you. I see the kiosks at supermarkets and drugstores even in small towns. Also, you’re not on the hook for a monthly bill, so if there are months when you’re so busy that you don’t have time to rent a movie, you’re not out any cash for an unused subscription. The downsides are that you don’t have the option to watch movies instantly online, and if you’re bad about remembering to return movies, it won’t be so cheap anymore.
iTunes
You can rent movies from the iTunes Store to watch on your Mac or Windows computer, iPhone, iPad, or iPod, as well as on a TV with Apple TV. When you select a movie to rent, it will begin to download and you’ll have 30 days to watch it. Once you start watching it, you’ll have 24 hours (in the US) before it will disappear from your library. If you don’t start watching it within 30 days, it will disappear from your library and you’ll have to rent it again to view it.
Cost: $0.99–$4.99 per rental
Is it right for you? Like Redbox, a major advantage is that you don’t have to be a member and sign on for a monthly subscription fee. iTunes is pricier, but if playing rentals on your mobile devices without a wi-fi requirement is a selling point, it might be worthwhile. I could see myself renting a movie from the iTunes Store to watch on an iPod or iPhone during a long trip.
Netflix
Ahhh, Netflix. Most people are familiar with how it works. For a monthly fee, you get unlimited rentals sent to your mailbox. Keep them as long as you like, and then mail them back. There’s also a wide selection of “watch instantly” shows that you can stream to your computer, iPad, iPhone, or internet-ready TV. There are no contracts.
Cost: For online-only viewing (no mailed DVDs), the membership is $7.99 per month. One mailed DVD at a time plus unlimited instant watching is $9.99. Two DVDs plus instant watching is $14.99, and plan pricing increases from there.
Is it right for you? Netflix is great if you use it enough to make the monthly fee a good deal. I view the watch instantly shows and movies quite a bit, so it’s worthwhile. Plus, we live out in the country — we usually don’t want to leave the house just to rent a movie. Downsides? Sometimes new releases have a very long wait, and if you’re busy or go out of town, you probably aren’t going to be renting as many movies. (Edit: Readers have pointed out in the comments that you can put your account on hold when you’re on vacation or too busy to view movies. I think I just fell in love with Netflix all over again.)
Blockbuster
Blockbuster seems a bit like a dinosaur in the world of movie rentals, but the giant actually has the most options for customers. You can rent movies in the store, have them mailed to you, and return them at the store or through the mail, regardless of which method you used to rent them, minus due dates and late fees. You also can rent games and Blu-ray movies for no extra fees, and certain new releases are guaranteed to be in stock.
Blockbuster also offers On Demand rentals that you can stream to your TV, Blu-ray player, TiVo DVR, or mobile device. Similar to iTunes rentals, On Demand rentals come with a 24-hour viewing period and up to a 30-day storage period.
Cost: For $11.99 you get one disc at a time, plus unlimited movie, TV, and game rentals and five in-store exchanges. Two discs is $16.99, and three is $19.99. On Demand is a separate service that offers rentals and purchases starting at $1.99. Payment is on a per transaction basis.
Is it right for you? Blockbuster seems to offer everything that the first three services offer, all in one membership (plus extra for online viewing). Still, if you use online viewing a lot, you might be better off with Netflix.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a responsible GRS post without pointing out the cheapest solution of all: your public library. Titles might not be new releases, but you can’t beat the price. For us, however, Netflix still seems to be the best option.
How do you rent movies? Are there any other pros and cons to consider for the various rental options?
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We definitely love Netflix. My biggest worry is that they’re going to phase out the CD portion so it will be more difficult to get my (legal) anime watching in for the stuff that isn’t on animenewsnetwork. I’m also hoping that one day their streaming allows more functionality, like the ability to watch in original languages, closed captioning (since we need that when my parents visit), and the availability to watch on multiple speeds.
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There is another major player actually. Amazon has its Video on Demand service. The advantage there is that the service works well on Linux, Mac and Windows unlike Netflix and iTunes streaming service.
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I have a hard time even paying $1 for a DVD rental. Our public library has a great collection of films and tv shows available for free.
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This is a good apples to apples comparison of costs, for those who only care about popular new releases.
I have been a Netflix subscriber since 2003. I watched all 100 AFI top movies, and am now watching all the Cannes palme d’or winners. Netflix is truly the only choice right now for non-mainstream movies. Maybe the others will improve their titles eventually.
I occasionally use Redbox when I have guests and we want to pick the movie that night rather than 2 days in advance.
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I go with our public library for movie rentals. My wife goes through half a dozen DVDs a week. It works for us.
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I use to work for Blockbuster in high school. It was only ten years ago. The place was thriving. It was the place for parents to go on Friday or Saturday night. They would make, in my estimation 1/3 of there money just from late fees during that time. Then there was the lawsuit and they had to refer to late fees as “Extended Viewing Fees.” Then they did away with late fees entirely, which might have been a big mistake. The other factor people usually forget is that Blockbuster itself is still profitable, but during a merger (With pararmount i believe? aol?) a ton of bad debt was put onto Blockbuster because the powers that be probably thought Blockbuster was strong enough to handle it. Instead, more options came into play. That is why Blockbuster had to file bankruptcy. In all reality once they get past that bad debtload they might be ok as a much smaller version of itself. However, they will never be (in my opinion) the giant they once were. They should also bone up on online content like Netflix because that seals the deal for me every time.
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People always talk about checking out DVD’s from the library but you need to remember that is not always an option. I live in a metro area of some significant size and our large library system does not offer DVD’s. They have only offered Audio Books for the last 5 years or so. So…for us, Netflix is the best deal. We have only had it for a few months (signed up when we ditched cable) but I really have been very, very happy with the service and don’t miss cable at all.
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Cable guy is coming tomorrow to cancel my cable service! Netflix trial was started last week. I love saving 40 bucks a month by getting rid of my cable. What worries me most is if they switch internet fees to a usage based system. I know they tried to do it in Canada recently, but it got overturned.
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If you have att, be advised terms of service now does charge more when you go beyond allotted usage (I think it’s 150gb but terms of service gives u a website where you can check)
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This is good overview of options, but we don’t have as much available here in Canada (booo!) One thing I have been able to take advantage of is Blockbuster’s Favourites package. For $10 a month (plus taxes here), you can rent all the older movies and TV shows you want. (You can only take one out at a time though).
I’m curious to try Netflix now that we have it here in Canada, but I think upgrading my internet package will be too pricy to make this a cost-effective option.
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I counted the DVD’s at the library—that would be 126. Of those—10 are current movies:<(
Ours is a small county library that is packed daily for the free wi fi- but has no budget:)
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I’ve used Redbox tons of times (for a while there it was very easy to free coupon codes for free rentals). The only problem I occasionally had was that the disks themselves were sometimes really scratched up.
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The free library option is a no-go for us as well since I would still have to drive 15-20 minutes into a very congested part of a college town to get there (four 20-minute trips is out of the way, IMO). And since college-aged persons abound, you can imagine how rare it is to be able to rent a current movie.
We like Netflix.
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Netflix for us, we love it. Our library charges $2.00 for anything current, plus they are closing in a couple months due to our city’s loss of revenue.
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It should be pointed out that a combination might be the best route. We have the $12 or $13 netflix plan with blue ray and streaming and take advantage of both services frequently. We also use one of the 40 some redbox kiosks around our house for last minute pick ups. I would try Blockbuster, but they have moved on from my city.
We have also used xbox live on demand and amazon on demand.
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One downside to Redbox is that they pretty much only stock new releases. So, if you’re in the mood to watch The Swiss Family Robinson, for example, you won’t be able to get it from Redbox.
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We have used Netflix for several years. We just have the one disc at a time option. We watch quite a bit through streaming. We also watch some shows through Hulu or the networks website. We occasionally rent through Redbox, I like the on-line reservation feature. Our public library charges $2.50 per DVD, for a two day rental. I have used the Amazon Video on Demand, but unless it’s a special (price) I think they’re expensive. You have 30 days to watch something. One you start it you have 48 hours left to your rental (it sounds similar to iTunes).
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I’ve had Netflix for close to 10 years now. I started for the same reason as April: late fees.
I use Redbox A LOT, but I’ve only paid for one or two rentals. I follow savings blogs like thefreebieblogger.com and watch for free codes. I signed up for their text service, and get a free code on the first of every month. Kroger also has a deal that when you buy 3 participating items, you get a free Redbox rental through the Catalina coupon system. I’ve actually gotten so many at times (hubby drinks a lot of soda) that I’ve given them away or not used them prior to expiration. The current ones I get don’t have expiration dates on them.
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Like a fool, I mostly rely on cable for my viewing pleasure. If I were to cut (or at least cut back) cable, Netflix would be the best option. As it stands, I seldom rent movies and this has made Redbox my top choice. The problem is that they don’t always have the movie that I am looking for at the time.
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Just a note about netflix. It is very simple to put your Netflix account on a vacation hold. If you’re expecting a busy season at work, going out of town or anything else where you won’t be using your subscription enough to pay you just log in to your account and select vacation hold. You then choose a date to end it and voila, no bill and no movies during that period of time. We’ve done it when we’ve had emergency expenses to add more cushion to the budget.
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We are avid library users. We can request a DVD or book online. If it’s a popular movie we will have to wait for it but that’s fine with us. We aren’t usually in a rush to see something. If there is a movie we really want to see we monitor the release date and can submit a request pre-release and get into the queue early. We know the folks at the library well so they will hold the movie for us, if we can’t get there right away. Also, it exposes the team members to more books so we usually get some of those while we are there. Audiobook, books, DVDs all free — what’s not to like about it?
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While this article has some great general information on the services, I don’t think you really helped anyone decide, because you’ve missed some very key points here.
First, you forgot about Amazon’s online service.
Next, DVD based companies offer a solution for people right now. Everyone (well most everyone) has a DVD player hooked up to their TV and that’s how they watch movies. Redbox and Blockbuster [in-store service] allow you to do this right now! You don’t have to wait a day or two for Netflix to mail you the disk. Additionally, if the disk is damaged, you can simply return it and get another one, thus saving date night. The same is not true for companies who have to mail you disks.
Moving on, you need a decent high speed Internet connection to stream movies, or Apple TV for their service, all an added cost. If you’re on someone like Comcast who caps your bandwidth and / or data transfer, you need to be careful. I hate they do this because stay at home Moms who want to stream cartoons from Netflix for their kids all day are left out in the cold. More importantly, most people want to watch movies on their TV. This means they either need to buy special adapters to make their existing computer connect to it, and / or relocate it, or they need to buy an HTPC (home theater PC). Netflix offers the Roku and there are several other similar boxes out there that allow for streaming, but they too cost additional monies.
Lastly, Redbox has one of the most forgiving coupon code systems out there, and requires no monthly fees. A quick Google search should give you a handful of coupon codes for free rentals. I’ve used Redbox and coupon codes to rent more than 5 dozen movies over the last year or so, as long as they are back within a day, they are free.
To properly choose which service best fits your household needs, you need to evaluate the entire picture. I know some people in small apartments who have 27″ iMacs and utilize that as their TV, so streaming only providers are ideal. Some people have 65″ plasma televisions hung on their walls, which they’d prefer to watch over their 15″ laptop screens. Evaluating the total cost to implement streaming services for on-demand watching, compared to walk in and rent, compared to have physical DVDs mailed to you should help most people decide.
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Hulu is starting to become a real player in the online streaming movie market.
Criterion just announced it was ending it’s relationship with Netflix and switching to Hulu Plus (the pay version of Hulu). Criterion puts out a lot of really great classic and hard to find foriegn movies. They were frustrated with Netflix’s search and didn’t feel supported by it. According to the press release I read Hulu Plus has a Criterion section and also Criterion plans to really showcase some obscure and hard to find movies -somethings that may not have been seen in any form since origional release.
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I’ve never used Redbox myself since I don’t usually watch current movies. But everytime I go to my grocery store on a weekend the kiosk (a 2 dispenser kiosk) seems to be full. Plus you actually have to drive the movie back the next day. I just enjoy my Netflix subscription a lot more. I get one disk at a time for viewing items that don’t stream. I usually stream tv shows to my tv and I have the option of streaming to my desktop or my iphone. No videos to return and I don’t have to leave the house. I don’t think I’d last very long if I had to wait in line while people try to decide what they want.
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I feel the depreciation curve for movies is pretty steep, so if you wait a few more months you can buy a DVD, watch at your leisure, and resell on Amazon / ebay / craigslist to recoup the cost. This was the favored strategy of an old roommate of mine.
Personally, I admit to using the library holds system like a netflix queue. So The best option is probably a well funded public library, but direct ownership seems like a strong competitor for 2nd place.
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I think paying for entertainment is a huge waste of money. I personally don’t waste cash on television or cable or movies or anything like that. Someone suggested getting movies for free from the public library, but that still costs money in having to take some form of transportation to get to the library. The closest library to me is several miles away, so driving there will still cost me about 45-50 cents in gas money, and that price just isn’t worth it to be “entertained” by some movie.
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“Downsides? Sometimes new releases have a very long wait, and if you’re busy or go out of town, you probably aren’t going to be renting as many movies.”
Netflix has a convenient option where you can put your membership on hold (no charges). We’ve used this option a few times when, just as you said, we were otherwise busy and weren’t going to be wanting to rent movies.
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We have(had) Movie Gallery in the south and I rented from them until I exhausted their collection of foreign films, independent films, and documentaries. Then I turned to Netflix. I didn’t want to, but I lived in a small town and the selection just wasn’t there. I don’t care about big budget Hollywood blockbusters.
My mom lives in another town and I “gifted” the DVD portion of my Netflix subscription to her. I finally got high speed internet last summer so I use the streaming portion, and I have DVDs sent to my mom. She’s elderly and doesn’t have a computer and she looks forward to getting movies in the mail. I am liking streaming so far, but I miss some of the features as someone mentioned above. I don’t have hearing impairment but I still turn on closed captioning. I prefer subtitles to dubbing and I like listening to commentary and watching the special features. When I watch a movie on DVD, I watch EVERYTHING that’s on the DVD!
Redbox wouldn’t work for me because I need more than 1 night to watch a movie. Plus I question whether their selection would satisfy my unusual taste in movies. Same for the public library.
I don’t have cable now, and only the limited basic when I did subscribe. But the amount I am “saving” on cable is just being spent on my high-speed connection so I don’t really see it as a net gain. But the difference is that I feel like my money is spent on something I actually get a lot of value from.
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I use Netflix because of their selection of documentaries and foreign films. I could never get those with Redbox. And streaming options do not always work well with subtitles. When I first started out with Netflix, I decided it would be instead of any cable and tv. Not watching advertisements and having so much available for instant view has been well worth the monthly fee.
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We love Netflix. We don’t go to the theater much, so waiting an extra month after a movie is released on DVD isn’t a huge deal for. We too don’t have cable, but can watch cable shows (Man vs Food) w/o commercials. Plus there are tons of documentaries for our children who are homeschooled.
You forgot to mention you can watch Netflix instant streaming on your computer. This is especially handy when you’re out of town on business.
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I used to have Netflix then got mad at their frequent renter policy and switched to blockbuster, then got divorced and blockbuster went with ex. Started Netflix again and am cancelling this month for library. We’re just not huge movie people, our library has an EXCELLENT online service that delivers books, dvd’s, etc to the branch of your location and there’s a tiny little branch in my train station. Win times a million.
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My wife & I watch a lot of movies, at the tune of 1 a day, so Netflix makes the most sense to us. If it’s not movies it’s cable shows from previous years (w e don’t get cable). Right now we finished season 2 of Californication (ok, but not that great), and waiting for the future DVDs of Boardwalk Empire to see what all the fuss is about.
We’re really movie people, we’re passionate about watching and actually make videos for a living, so watching keeps us current. We actually change our Netflix plan from month to month– we’ve gone from 8at a time when we lived in the boonies to stream-only when things get really busy– and even put the subscription on hold when necessary. The streamable plan is $8 a month (or going up to $9?) and it offers a lot of good stuff. For another extra dollar you can add DVD rentals. The price flexibility is great.
Netflix really offers every movie available out there; from early silent films to Sundance short programs to the whole Kino and Criterion collection; some years ago we used to get Green Cine (based in San Francisco) but dropped it because they ceased to have the edge over Netflix, and it was slower and pricier.
Redbox is repellent to me: while their rentals are cheap, they offer drecky movies exclusively. I mean big budget special effects films, Jennifer Aniston movies, the worst of today’s brain-dead Hollywood. Thanks but no thanks. I’ll read a book instead.
Blockbuster: do they still have stores? I thought they had gone under. My local store closed something like 2 years ago. I never liked their selection (same as Redbox), and while they might have online offerings we’re already used to Netflix.
The library is great, we use our local city and university libraries to supplement our watching, but they don’t have everything we want, so it cannot be the main supply channel to feed our vice.
Buying DVDs: too much to pay, a hassle to sell, too much clutter to keep. Pass. Buying online: too much $$ to buy 1 a day.
Here’s a new contender though: Hulu just announced they are adding the whole Criterion Collection to their offerings. That’s about 800 or so of the best movies ever made, and they add titles every year. They just put their first batch online and will keep adding. The whole thing will be available to Hulu+ subscribers ($8/mo), and they will feature a few on rotation for free users. I tested their subscription for a week, for free, and found it worthless. However, this is a game changer. Having the whole Criterion library at your fingertips (including the extra discs, interviews, documentaries, etc) is like a dream come true. I’m not ready to jump in yet, but I’ll keep an eye on them. Maybe in the summer.
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ps- @ 22 ali-
you said Criterion is *ending* its relationship with Netflix? Noooooo! Please say it isn’t so. You mean no more DVDs??? Or just no more streaming? I can live without the streaming, but no DVDs will make a grown man cry. And that’s tears of blood.
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We must love dinosaurs, because we still use Blockbuster. My children love watching a movie multiple times once we get a disk, so any of these services that demand you watch within 24 hours is a failure for us. I have also heard from friends here in the Orlando area that downloading can be an issue–some have no problem, others have major issues.
Our schedules also make it so that having the disks (we do the $19, 3 at a time deal) means we don’t have to worry about trying to fit our schedule around any restrictions from the service (again, the 24 hour deal—great if you know you want to watch something this very moment–bad if you never seem to have that time).
As long as Blockbuster has stores around us (and they still do in Metro Orlando, at least for now), then we can also take our movie to the store and exchange it. That is also great for my girls who want to have a certain movie. We also get coupons for free rentals that allows us to pick up a second movie (three children rarely agree on what to watch).
Lastly, I am just enough of a Luddite that I want to actually HOLD the DVD/Blu-ray in my hands. If I have it, then I won’t find myself having to hassle with my ISP provider or computer or wireless to figure out what happened to the download, or why the movie quit 2/3rds of the way through. Of course, I feel this way about all of the “cloud” nonsense that as seemingly swept everyone into a delirium.
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My husband and I love Netflix, we especially love watching foreign movies since we are a multilingual family, and watch at least 1 movie/documentary a night on our ipads/tvs/computer.
Where else can you get unlimited streaming movies in Korean, Hindi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Indonesian, Spanish,Thai, etc for $7.99 per month?
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While I think your article is excellent in what it covers, I think one point was left out that makes the difference for me: on Netflix you can start a show, stop it, and come back a week later to finish. Or a month, or whenever. You aren’t limited to 24 hours to finish the movie or be forced to rent it again.
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I use a combo of Netflix, BLockbuster by Mail, and online video. I have had the Blockbuster by mail since they started it several years ago and am lucky to be on a grandfathered plan. For $21 a month I get unlimted movies, I like the instant gratification of being able to exchange the mailed movies in the store and can get my hands on new releases, this also cuts down on the waiting time. I also do the Netflix on demand option only for $8 a month, I like that I can catch up on TV shows, right now I am on season 4 of Bones, never seen the show before and wanted to catch up before starting with the current season.
Sometimes I wonder why pay for both but at $29 a month but it is WAY cheaper than cable, which I cancelled a few years ago. Basic service runs $50 and that is before DVR and digital add ons. We have a desktop computer hooked to our LCD tv with a wireless mouse and keyboard as our remote and works amazingly. From the couch I can pull up Netflix and other video hosting sites. Utilizing the internet I can watch shows on MY time.
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We. Love. Netflix!
We don’t have cable, and never watch over the air TV. We have a Wii and a Bluray DVD player, both of which can stream Netflix. Between teh streaming and the 2 DVDs-at-a-time plan, we NEVER have nothing to watch.
Less than $18 a month, worth every penny and cheaper than cable (something I do not miss and haven’t for over 2 years now).
And Carl, the videos/movies do not DOWNLOAD via netflix, they stream. Hackers have been trying for YEARS to figure out how to hack it so they can DL the movies for themselves. It can not be done. They still haven’t figured it out. it is safe, fast, legal, and the choices of movies and TV shows from almost any TV channel are available (Sure you will be a season behind, but big deal)
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I have used Netflix for over 5 years now and still think it is the best option for us. For the first time in years, I borrowed a documentary on DVD from our library last week and that worked out great. We just cut the cable cord. We continue to use the Netflix one DVD at a time plan to get the latest movies on DVD in the mail and to instant stream on our new ROKU box. We also bought an HDTV Over-the-Air indoor antenna so we get all the major networks, ABC, CBS, NBS, FOX, and PBS in better digital quality than we did with cable for free. It was an added one-time cost to buy the antenna and ROKU, but it more than pays for itself in the first month and a half with no cable bill to pay.
The company I work for, Abundatrade.com, allows customers to trade in their used DVDs (as well as books, CDs and Video Games,) for cash to your PayPal account or via a check in the mail or you can even opt for store credit so you could then buy different movies or music for your own collection.
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Blockbuster edits their films for content.
What they had to edit out of “The Wonder Boys”, I’ll never know, but that alone made me drop them.
I joined Netflix and never looked back.
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I think each option has its pros and cons. Some require you to leave your home to get/return the movies. Some require you to watch the movie on your computer (unless you are super tech-savy and can hook your laptop up to your computer). Etc. Personally, I don’t use any of those options but that is mainly because I am just not a big movie watcher… I do browse the cable listings now and then and DVR any movie that looks interesting and then, when I have time, I watch it.
If you are interested in saving money, keep in mind that some services like Redbox offer free coupons now and then. If you are on the lookout you can sometimes score a free movie!
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For Netflix, if you know you are not going to use it for a while you can always suspend your account so you don’t waste money! It’s under account and all and it’s a very good idea for travelers, like me!
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I scanned and didn’t see Hulu mentioned! Even in the later incarnations, there is a good amount of free and updating content available. I don’t know if any of the movies are still available without Hulu plus, but it is a decent contrast with Netflix if it has the right shows and enough content for you.
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The article neglects to mention bittorrent at all, even though it’s probably more widely used than any of these services, even with a word of caution around it. People are going to shout, “but that’s stealing! It’s immoral!” at me, but seriously tell me how it’s different from using the library? In either case the movie’s producers make no money (nor do they lose any).
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I don’t know if other people have them, but there is also Blockbuster Express. That’s right. Blockbuster has its own kiosks like Redbox. It’s the same price ($1), and I actually kinda like it better than Redbox. Better selection where I am.
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My name is Katy and I am a Netflix addict.
I watched seven seasons of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” over a 3 month period. That’s 7 X 22 = 154 episodes at 42 minutes apiece.
And I am completely unapologetic.
Team Netflix!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out,. make it do or do without
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We love Netflix, stream TV shows and movies from them through the Xbox all the time.
I wonder if they don’t have a teeny tiny loophole in their service model. While my daughter is away at college in another state she uses my password to watch Netflix on her computer on my account. I’ve wondered on occasion just how long she’ll be able to piggyback on my account, if she’ll ever need an account of her own, and just how many people in how many places can watch movies off one account… Anybody want to share?
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I use Amazon on Demand and Netflix DVDs. The think I like is that for most movies at Amazon, you get the movie for a time period rather viewing number.
It’s often I want to watch a movie but the other family members aren’t home but will want to watch it later. If you use the view once option with Blockbuster, no one else gets to watch it.
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I definitely go with Netflix as my favorite, but I’ve used all of these except itunes. I especially love getting instant stuff through our kids’ Wii. Not all the cool stuff is available, but we have learned to appreciate some of the great old movies that have been forgotten about! Redbox seems really handy and affordable at first, but this is assuming that you are organized enough to remember to take it back right away. I know many people who end up spending $5 or more to rent a movie because they are too busy or forgetful to take it back. With the charges accruing only in little bits each day, its easy for people to say, “oh, it’s just a buck or two. I’ll do it tomorrow”.
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We don’t have cable – or Netflix. I simply don’t understand how movies and television have become a home necessity.
Don’t get me wrong, we do go to see films – we either go to the library or go something we’re REALLY interested in. Even then we only go to the theatre maybe once every 2-3 months. And we take our own snacks…
I’ve never understood how folks are too busy to do things like exercise, volunteer in the community, etc. but they’ll happily spend multiple hours in a week watching a tv series.
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The main downside of redbox is you can watch only the latest “movies”. It is fine if you watch only movies and watch them as they arrive, but if you want to watch a classic or a TV series, you are out of luck. Nothing beats redbox on price though, with a coupon (which is almost always available) I have never paid for a redbox rental.
The next best option is Netflix streaming + discs for stuff that is not available on streaming. Sometimes amazon streaming works out great with coupons too.
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If I could watch Itunes movies on my TV using my WD Live Plus media player like I can with Netflix, I’d be interested. For now, the Netflix 1 DVD per month and unlimited streaming is the way to go.
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