[smackos]

I think a lot of people have the "wrong" idea of what Netflix actually is and what's its real strengths are. I hear a lot of disappointed folk complain about the lack of film content on it and I think that NetFlix themselves haven't marketed themselves right.

Net"Flix" (U.S) conjures up images of the latest film titles available to stream and when people subscribe they see a load of old titles plus a couple of trophy signing type films like Toy Story 3 and Tron Legacy. The truth is, NetFlix is actually far more akin to a major Tv Network than a film rental company.

If you fancy signing up and going through the very minor hassle of swapping over to the U.S version of the site you'll be confronted with tv show upon tv show. For me this is just perfect, it's now our bread and butter tv at home, all on demand. I dare say I'm not the only one using it for this now. Below are some of the shows available..

24
90210
30 Rock
A Touch of Frost
AirWolf
Ally McBeal
American Dad
Angel
Archer
Army Wives
Arrested Development
BattleStar Gallactica
Battlestar Gallactica 1978
Being Human
Being Human(Us)
Better off Ted
Black Adder
Black Books
Blue Mountain State
Bones
Breaking Bad
Buck Rogers
Buffy
Burn Notice
Caprica
Charmed
Cheers
Columbo
Criminal Minds Suspect Behaviour
Damages
Desperate Housewives
Doc Martin
Doctor Who
DollHouse
Downtown Abbey
Eureka
Family Guy
Farscape
Father Ted
Fifth Gear
Flashpoint
Frasier
Friday Night Lights
Futurama
Gallactica 1980
Ghost Whisperer
Glee
Greys Anatomy
Hawaii five-0
Hercules
Heroes
How I met your Mother
In Plain Sight
Jericho
King of the Hill
Kingdom
Kyle XY
Law and Order
law and Order Criminal Intent
Law and Order SVU
Lie to Me
LilyHammer
Lost
Luther
MacGyver
MadMen
Malcolm in the Middle
Married with Children
Medium
Melrose Place
Merlin
Midsummer Murders
Mission Impossible
Monk
Mr Bean
Murder she Wrote
My Name is Earl
Nikita
Nip/Tuck
Numbers
One Tree Hill
Parks and Recreation
Peep Show
Phineas and Ferb
Primeval
Prison Break
Private Practice
Psych
Quantum Leap
Raising Hope
Reaper
Reno 911
Rescue Me
Robin Hood
Roswell
Scrubs
SeaQuest DSV
Shameless
Sherlock
Skins
Sliders
Sons of Anarchy
South Park
Space Precinct
Spooks
Star Trek DS9
Star Trek Enterprise
Star Trek TNG
Star Trek Voyager
StarGate Atlantis
StarGate SG1
StarGate Universe
Supernatural
Surface
Survivors
Teen Wolf
That 70's Show
The A team
The Cleveland Show
The Dead Zone
The event
The guardian
The Incredible Hulk
The IT Crowd
The Kennedys
The Larry Sanders Show
The Munsters
The Office
The Rockford Files
The Twilight Zone
The Vampire Diaries
The Walking Dead
The Wonder Years
TopGear
Torchwood
Twin Peaks
Ugly Betty
Waking the Dead
Warehouse 13
White Collar
Wings
Wire in the blood
X-Files
Xena


..use Netflix for everyday Tv.. and a decent pay per view movie service alongside, itunes/Zune/Vudu etc and you'll have a GREAT set of services at home that compliment each other nicely.

[KRW]

There are a lot of TV shows on there, but I've found I've seen most of them and I might be in a minority but I don't often watch TV shows more than once. I've either seen all those shows, don't want to see them, or could see them for free on 4Od or Iplayer.

Nice to see Larry Sanders on there, though. If they added Seinfeld I could pretend it was 1997 again and do double bills.

I find it more useful to catch up on the old films I should have seen by now but for one reason or another haven't. It's worth £6 or so a month for that for me. If you're expecting all the latest movies for 20p a day or whatever, you're deluded.

[tausifs]

I think Netflix is good value but for streaming unlimited movies on demand, its best paired with Lovefilm Instant, even if the latter is not in HD.

I think I will be upping my Lovefilm sub to include streaming.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by tausifs

I think Netflix is good value but for streaming unlimited movies on demand, its best paired with Lovefilm Instant, even if the latter is not in HD.

I think I will be upping my Lovefilm sub to include streaming.

I'd have no problem with what's on offer from LoveFilm instant (had it for a month when the instant only package launched in January) if it wasn't for the terrible picture and audio. If your hoping to run it on anything bigger than a 32" tv I would'nt bother mate, or at least go for a free trial first if I were you. If your able to work a decent vpn into your system then give Vudu a go in the US. It is pay per rent but the quality is much better, pricing dollar/pound means its also not bad value. For example they do a promotion on a film each day which you can rent for the equivalent of 63 pence.. Todays is "Fast Five" for example. New releases are roughly £3.15 for 720p and older releases are roughly £2.50. Also worth remembering that they're New releases are obviously a little ahead of what's available over here, "Hugo" for instance isn't out till 2nd April here but will be available for rent on Vudu from next Tuesday. Another example this week, in Hd you can rent J.Edgar.. Which you can't even pre-order yet on amazon UK. :o)

[tausifs]

I have read the PQ is not great , I don't plan to watch it on my plasma though as I don't have a device that I would want to connect to it. Is it not even SD quality ?

But I hope the PQ is acceptable for viewing on an iPad. If not i will soon downgrade my subscription to PAYG again.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by tausifs

I have read the PQ is not great , I don't plan to watch it on my plasma though as I don't have a device that I would want to connect to it. Is it not even SD quality ?

But I hope the PQ is acceptable for viewing on an iPad. If not i will soon downgrade my subscription to PAYG again.

To be fair on something like an ipad the lovefilm service will probably be alright, its not quite Dvd quality but on a smaller screen that won't show up as much. I view on a 116" screen so you can imagine how bad that looked up on that. Disappointed wasn't the word. Hopefully someone with an ipad and lovefilm will chime in on how they're getting on with it.

[andyc11]

Originally Posted by smackos

To be fair on something like an ipad the lovefilm service will probably be alright, its not quite Dvd quality but on a smaller screen that won't show up as much. I view on a 116" screen so you can imagine how bad that looked up on that. Disappointed wasn't the word. Hopefully someone with an ipad and lovefilm will chime in on how they're getting on with it.

Chime in time. It's actually a good picture on the iPad. Have watched a number of films now and had no complaints.

[tausifs]

Poor PQ aside, I think Lovefilm does whoop the derriere of Netflix for movies given the range of titles on Lovefilm although some are not available on Lovefilm anyway, and the Lovefilm unlimited streaming is similarly only another nominal £5/6 or so (as is Netflix) , or included with some Lovefilm packages.

Lovefilm really should offer HD streaming too I think.

I do have Netflix and Unblock US, BTW.

I'm not that into TV series so could see myself dropping Netflix eventually.

[rodd1000]

I think it's difficult to compare as Lovefilm doesn't seem to offer all of their film catalogue on their streaming service, the vast majority seems to be DVD/BD by post. At least when you browse Netflix, you know everything is available instantly, although i admit the film choice isn't fantastic, even from the US.

I wouldn't mind paying twice the price(£12?) for a streaming service that offers a large selection of recent film releases as well as well as TV series. By recent i mean from the last 0-3 years (not necessarily new releases). It would still offer better value than Sky.

[smackos]

The problem now is that because of NetFlix's early success in the streaming field its led others to want a slice of the pie too. We're seeing things like amazon on demand, HBO GO, Commcast's Streampix, Starz own service all start up in the states plus obviously Lovefilm and Sky Go here. All these services are now competing to bring these films to they're platforms and because of the laws of supply and demand it's putting the prices to license content through the roof. The studios themselves love it but its eating massively into the likes of NetFlix's profits so in return we're getting very little film choice because they cannot afford the ridiculous prices being asked..and its only going to get worse, no matter what service we're talking about.

[Marty Moose]

I've had my Lovefilm subscription for around 2-3 years now, and have managed to sit through a grand total of about fifteen minutes worth of streaming. I found it unwatchable, even on a netbook. It's roughly akin to watching an awfully compressed pirate DVD. It's a shame because they have a wealth of decent material available, but I just couldn't put myself through it.

[bosque]

Originally Posted by smackos

The problem now is that because of NetFlix's early success in the streaming field its led others to want a slice of the pie too. We're seeing things like amazon on demand, HBO GO, Commcast's Streampix, Starz own service all start up in the states plus obviously Lovefilm and Sky Go here. All these services are now competing to bring these films to they're platforms and because of the laws of supply and demand it's putting the prices to license content through the roof. The studios themselves love it but its eating massively into the likes of NetFlix's profits so in return we're getting very little film choice because they cannot afford the ridiculous prices being asked..and its only going to get worse, no matter what service we're talking about.

It's a movie business model designed by people who don't watch movies, based on the premiss that enough people will watch absolutely anything if it sounds cheap and is claimed to be easy to access. The quality of the content is not an issue which has been included in the model, and it will appeal to people for whom the quality of what they watch is irrelevant.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by bosque

It's a movie business model designed by people who don't watch movies, based on the premiss that enough people will watch absolutely anything if it sounds cheap and is claimed to be easy to access. The quality of the content is not an issue which has been included in the model, and it will appeal to people for whom the quality of what they watch is irrelevant.

..appeal to people for whom the quality of content is irrelevant?? I'm all for obliterating Big Brother and Keeping up with the Kardashians from existence but surely isn't "quality" a one mans poison, another mans wine situation..

Hulu plus has a subscription model AND adverts, it also has a far more limited set of viewable devices and still manages a far smaller volume of shows to watch. It also STILL cannot get the likes of HBO onboard, or even half of Fox's content for that matter. It too has movies on demand.. and they're every bit as bad as the worst that NetFlix can offer. Its even partly run by the studios themselves! Yet for some reason people are happy giving Hulu a pass where as NetFlix gets hammered for giving more shows AND at least SOME half decent films occasionally. If Hulu can't give people what they want what chance has NetFlix got!

[bosque]

Originally Posted by smackos

..appeal to people for whom the quality of content is irrelevant?? I'm all for obliterating Big Brother and Keeping up with the Kardashians from existence but surely isn't "quality" a one mans poison, another mans wine situation..

Hulu plus has a subscription model AND adverts, it also has a far more limited set of viewable devices and still manages a far smaller volume of shows to watch. It also STILL cannot get the likes of HBO onboard, or even half of Fox's content for that matter. It too has movies on demand.. and they're every bit as bad as the worst that NetFlix can offer. Its even partly run by the studios themselves! Yet for some reason people are happy giving Hulu a pass where as NetFlix gets hammered for giving more shows AND at least SOME half decent films occasionally. If Hulu can't give people what they want what chance has NetFlix got!

You can't have it both ways. You try to nitpick over my use of quality, "a one mans poison, another mans wine situation.." then talk about what you call "decent" films in the next sentence.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by bosque

You can't have it both ways. You try to nitpick over my use of quality, "a one mans poison, another mans wine situation.." then talk about what you call "decent" films in the next sentence.

..fine, change the words "half decent" to "critically acclaimed and widely regarded, box office hits" then..!
To be fair I am talking specifically about the U.S store mind which does have some very highly rated modern films to watch. Things like "The Fighter" and "True Grit" for instance. I'm not about to even pretend the UK store has anything remotely like that to offer us as yet, don't get me wrong but give them chance, it takes time to put deals in place let alone when there's already major services that have already got exclusive contracts in place.

Netflix is basically a tv network, they're spending millions on producing they're own tv shows, "LilyHammer", "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black" being the first lot. They're also in talks with CBS to jointly make some more shows as well.

There are 5.5 million households in the UK with sky tv. That means there are 21 million potential households that have'nt seen the likes of 24, Bones, MadMen, Breaking Bad, 30 rock, Battlestar Gallactica, Burn Notice, Lost, Supernatural, Sons of Anarchy, Prison Break etc. For the vast majority of folk without sky thats a pretty decent amount of content for the money!

If all you want from your viewing is films then maybe its not the best option. If you want an everyday replacement for sky on the other hand for a lot less money then why not..

[tausifs]

Agree, Netflix has/is morphing into a TV network and its name has become a misnomer.

[KRW]

Originally Posted by smackos

There are 5.5 million households in the UK with sky tv. That means there are 21 million potential households that have'nt seen the likes of 24, Bones, MadMen, Breaking Bad, 30 rock, Battlestar Gallactica, Burn Notice, Lost, Supernatural, Sons of Anarchy, Prison Break etc. For the vast majority of folk without sky thats a pretty decent amount of content for the money!
.

How do you work that out? Mad Men-BBC4, Breaking Bad/30 Rock-C5, 24-BBC2? That's where I first came accross them all. The others you mention, Ive no idea, but they're not ones I'd watch anyway apart from BSG and I saw that on DVD. I've tried watching the likes of Supernatural and Sons of Anarchy and I wouldnt call them quality TV by any means. It might put me in a minority, but I wouldn't get out of bed to watch them.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by KRW

How do you work that out? Mad Men-BBC4, Breaking Bad/30 Rock-C5, 24-BBC2? That's where I first came accross them all. The others you mention, Ive no idea, but they're not ones I'd watch anyway apart from BSG and I saw that on DVD. I've tried watching the likes of Supernatural and Sons of Anarchy and I wouldnt call them quality TV by any means. It might put me in a minority, but I wouldn't get out of bed to watch them.

Your probably right about those shows specifically but since the whole point being that the list in 1st post contains some 140 odd shows.. (Thats not all of them on netflix and also doesn't count mini series) I'll think there's plenty there for a lot of folk even if not You. Also how many times do things like Breaking Bad, MadMen, Parks and Recreation and Friday Night Lights pass people by because they hear about them word of mouth, by which time they've already missed a series or two and don't bother watching it half way in.

You make a great point about BSG, the cheapest you can get that in HD is around £70 or around 8 months of Netflix plus unblock access. Its a shame, perhaps if you'd have had access to Netflix you could have just waited till they were showing it.

..and your point doesn't counter what I said when I created this thread, it IS a tv network.. that just like channel 5, Sky One etc also happens to show the odd film too. If its not for you fine, if you can justify paying sky tv literally hundreds a year more for the same sort of content then go for it. This is even less than the cost of a tv license which you require for even Freesat. I'll just save my money if its all the same and enjoy the same content for far less.

[silent ninja]

Originally Posted by KRW

How do you work that out? Mad Men-BBC4, Breaking Bad/30 Rock-C5, 24-BBC2? That's where I first came accross them all. The others you mention, Ive no idea, but they're not ones I'd watch anyway apart from BSG and I saw that on DVD. I've tried watching the likes of Supernatural and Sons of Anarchy and I wouldnt call them quality TV by any means. It might put me in a minority, but I wouldn't get out of bed to watch them.

Well the main allure, let's say, of instant on demand content is that you watch it when you want. If I missed the first couple of episodes of 24, chances are I won't watch the series. Now though, you can go back and watch from the beginning-- especially good for multiple series shows.

Supernatural is actually quite good. Well the first 3 or so series are. It has horror and genuine humour rolled in to one, and it has a dark indy feel to it. You also mention Breaking Bad-- one of the finest series in the last few years. The BBC only ran two of four series and then on obscure channels/times. I certainly never came across it on TV. Mad Men only got slightly better treatment. I discovered it near the end of series 1.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by silent ninja

Well the main allure, let's say, of instant on demand content is that you watch it when you want. If I missed the first couple of episodes of 24, chances are I won't watch the series. Now though, you can go back and watch from the beginning-- especially good for multiple series shows.

Supernatural is actually quite good. Well the first 3 or so series are. It has horror and genuine humour rolled in to one, and it has a dark indy feel to it. You also mention Breaking Bad-- one of the finest series in the last few years. The BBC only ran two of four series and then on obscure channels/times. I certainly never came across it on TV. Mad Men only got slightly better treatment. I discovered near the end of series 1.

I think what scares a lot of people about this on demand subscription model is that overnight it near rubbishes a lot of peoples hard earned tv collections in one foul swoop. I've collected for example the X-Files boxsets on DVD and shy of the last few have all of them, now I can find all those episodes with a simple click on my telly..my boxsets aren't going anywhere but they're not going to be used ever again lets face it.


EDIT: Couldn't agree more about Breaking Bad.. brilliant show! I'm only just discovering the brilliance of MadMen, loving that too at the minute. Think I missed out on that one at the time because I was confusing it with 2 and a Half men lol.

[silent ninja]

Originally Posted by smackos

I think what scares a lot of people about this on demand subscription model is that overnight it near rubbishes a lot of peoples hard earned tv collections in one foul swoop. I've collected for example the X-Files boxsets on DVD and shy of the last few have all of them, now I can find all those episodes with a simple click on my telly..my boxsets aren't going anywhere but they're not going to be used ever again lets face it.

EDIT: Couldn't agree more about Breaking Bad.. brilliant show! I'm only just discovering the brilliance of MadMen, loving that too at the minute. Think I missed out on that one at the time because I was confusing it with 2 and a Half men lol.

That's very true. There's a lot of stuff I just won't buy anymore. I've seen all Star Treks but it's great to have 20+ series on hand instantly!

2 and a Half Men confused with Mad Men? Lol they couldn't be any further apart! 2 and a Half Men I find crude and so run-of-the-mill predictable. I just don't understand it's popularity. I really have given it a chance but it's just not funny.

[smackos]

Originally Posted by silent ninja

That's very true. There's a lot of stuff I just won't buy anymore. I've seen all Star Treks but it's great to have 20+ series on hand instantly!

2 and a Half Men confused with Mad Men? Lol they couldn't be any further apart! 2 and a Half Men I find crude and so run-of-the-mill predictable. I just don't understand it's popularity. I really have given it a chance but it's just not funny.

Lol I know I know..

+1 for Star Trek, will also add in all the StarGates too and whilst I'm at it FireFly, Gallactica and... Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct..

[bosque]

Originally Posted by smackos

I think what scares a lot of people about this on demand subscription model is that overnight it near rubbishes a lot of peoples hard earned tv collections in one foul swoop. I've collected for example the X-Files boxsets on DVD and shy of the last few have all of them, now I can find all those episodes with a simple click on my telly..my boxsets aren't going anywhere but they're not going to be used ever again lets face it.

Maybe netflix looks as good as your DVD collection but you're not trying to pretend this streaming is anywhere near as good as a Blu-Ray presentation of (say) Mad Men ?

[smackos]

Originally Posted by bosque

Maybe netflix looks as good as your DVD collection but you're not trying to pretend this streaming is anywhere near as good as a Blu-Ray presentation of (say) Mad Men ?

No I've always stated that if you want the BEST picture and particularly audio possible then right now Blu-ray wins, just don't write off streaming now because the likes of Silent Ninja will agree services like the U.S Vudu service are very, very close in performance now to blu-ray and in a different league to 720p Sky Hd for example.

[KRW]

Originally Posted by smackos

Your probably right about those shows specifically but since the whole point being that the list in 1st post contains some 140 odd shows.. (Thats not all of them on netflix and also doesn't count mini series) I'll think there's plenty there for a lot of folk even if not You. Also how many times do things like Breaking Bad, MadMen, Parks and Recreation and Friday Night Lights pass people by because they hear about them word of mouth, by which time they've already missed a series or two and don't bother watching it half way in.

You make a great point about BSG, the cheapest you can get that in HD is around £70 or around 8 months of Netflix plus unblock access. Its a shame, perhaps if you'd have had access to Netflix you could have just waited till they were showing it.

..and your point doesn't counter what I said when I created this thread, it IS a tv network.. that just like channel 5, Sky One etc also happens to show the odd film too. If its not for you fine, if you can justify paying sky tv literally hundreds a year more for the same sort of content then go for it. This is even less than the cost of a tv license which you require for even Freesat. I'll just save my money if its all the same and enjoy the same content for far less.

I don't disagree with a lot of that.

I've been streaming stuff for years. It's not a new thing here, I had a Mubi subscription the day I got my PS3 and I've never looked back. I've now got netflix and lovefilm and, yeah, it is just a TV channel to me. I don't think its going to have the mass appeal you think it is though - a lot of people I've mentioned it to at work over the years just look at me blankly and say, 'why would I pay for it, I just download it now?'. The ones that don't download just watch online on various sites. Not overtly techy people either.

The biggest problem with it, for me, is its unreliability. Those watching Lovefilm on a PS3 were without it for weeks when PSN got hacked and it's all very well having 40 episodes of whatever on there, if the licence runs out when you're on episode 9 and it goes somewhere else.

Wanted to watch Arrested Development tonight but its all gone down, so I dug out the DVD. Sums up streaming for me. A budget alternative TV channel but not as good as Iplayer or a DVD.

[silent ninja]

Originally Posted by KRW

I don't think its going to have the mass appeal you think it is though - a lot of people I've mentioned it to at work over the years just look at me blankly and say, 'why would I pay for it, I just download it now?'. The ones that don't download just watch online on various sites. Not overtly techy people either.

Downloading stuff is still for the more tech minded people imo. Ask the general population what a torrent is and they'll talk about water!!
Downloading via PC then watching on your TV still has a stigma attached to it-- a bit like using your PS3 with a control pad rather than the remote. It doesn't 'feel' right unless it replicates the living room television experience. I think once devices like the WDTV and smart televisions become the norm, allowing you to stream directly to your living room TV, these streaming services will become very popular.
I've had several friends and relatives come over that have been surprised at how well Netflix works on my TV. They've all shown interest in getting it.

Sky Anytime+ is sort of combining this in their box (by downloading over the internet) so it shows people are happy to use the internet for content as long as it's delivered correctly.

[smackos]

I think two things are key to the spread of this type of service in UK, the first already touched on is smart tv's, around 9 million sets are sold in the UK every year in a total of 25/26 million households. The same as with Hd itself, people don't have to know what they're buying into, its just going to be part of the tv they'll buy next. The other thing is with things like iPlayer, 4oD and Sky Go so prolific in the market already we're already used to these services to watch tv.

I know I sound like some sort of crazed Netflix fanboy sometimes but thats because as of right now from a tech standpoint Netflix offers the best streamed experience available in the UK. I've no real loyalty to it, if something better comes along then great. The main thing is we don't loose the service and end up having to use inferior versions.

[KRW]

Originally Posted by silent ninja

Downloading stuff is still for the more tech minded people imo. Ask the general population what a torrent is and they'll talk about water!!
.

See, you'd think that, but no. I was amazed when someone I know said they spent the weekend watching 'Sons of Anarchy' they'd downloaded. Her boyfriend had set it up for her after someone he works with showed him. He's a builder and not techy at all. He probably wouldn't know what a torrent is either, but you don't need to know. People are doing it, not necassarily coming onto forums and talking about it - now that's a bit techy for most.

Heh, Smackos, yeah, you do sound like a crazed netflix fanboy, starting another thread for it when there's already quite a few, but I'm glad you're enjoying it. I don't think quality wise its the best. Mubi blew it away years ago, offering good sound and better than DVD picture but its still better than Lovefilm. I'm 'enjoying' six months free Lovefilm at the moment because I told them their streaming was so bad I was quitting. It's still terrible.

[smackos]

I've had Mubi, when I owned a ps3 for when blu-ray launched here and it is completely different fair to Netflix. Mostly older avant garde films that the general population would'nt touch with a barge pole. Even if they had the financial clout they would'nt want to dilute they're material with modern mainstream releases. From a tech point I'll suggest fanboyism would be trying to suggest a service putting out films at an average 1mb/s is remotely going to "blow" Netflix away. They only pushed they're picture resolution to 720 wide last year. Again to even make the comparison with Mubi your still trying to view it as a film rental company, which is something it morphed from a few years ago. I've been a mod on a few smaller forums over the years so before starting a thread to debate Netflix's merits as a tv network I did check first.

[bosque]

Originally Posted by smackos

They only pushed they're picture resolution to 720 wide last year.

I know you'll get irritated but you don't need to write it that way. It's spelt their - I only mention it because you've done that nearly everytime you post a comment about netflix