Why Netflix? Life was so easy and you had to make it so complicated. And expensive. At first you hike the rates, now we have Qwikster? It’s so convoluted now. Is this a play by Netflix to convince the media conglomerates to move on from physical media? Because with a name like Qwikster, I think it’s doomed to fail. Not mention all the crap Netflix has pulled lately, alienating its entire customer base. Now, I’m sorry to say, the search is on in our household for a better service. Well, it seems like Netflix is trying to shift everyone to the streaming service ultimately and abandon the disc model. Which is not that bad of an idea. How many times have we gotten a blu-ray and it didn’t work? At least 60% of the time we get blu-rays, which is why I tend to stick to dvds. How many times have I been unable to stream a Netflix video? Twice. Buffalo ’66 and The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet). So a much higher success rate. I would love to only stream, I think we all would, but we all know that isn’t feasible, because their library just isn’t there yet. If every movie on my DVD queue were available on instant, I would not longer be searching. I’d cancel the dvd subscription and stream to my heart’s content. Unfortunately, the Netflix dvd only collection is for the most part made up of recent releases, extremely popular titles, and some obscure classic films that somehow they didn’t get streaming rights to. So here are some options for on demand streaming of those recent releases that Netflix can’t seem to offer instantly. (For the obscure films, coverage is pretty spotty at all these other sources.)
Amazon Instant Video and Amazon Prime
Subscription Fee: $80/yr for Amazon Prime (comes with other perks too). Allows unlimited streaming of many TV shows and some films.
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $3.99 for a 48 hour pass (unclear whether it was more if you rent it in HD on your TV)
Highest Video Quality: 1080i for TiVo, 720p for everything else
Selection: The best after Netflix. Also offers season passes to current TV shows.
Delivery to TV: Cumbersome/Limited- Certain Smart TVs, connect computer to TV, Roku Player, TiVo
Streaming or Download: Both (Computer download only available with PCs)
Overall Rating: 6.5
PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387719,00.asp
YouTube Movies
Subscription Fee: N/A
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $3.99 for a 24 hour pass
Highest Video Quality: 480p (DVD quality, not HD)
Selection: Extensive, but not as good as Amazon or Netflix. They do have a number of films that are free, but apart from a few old classics, most of them are free for a reason.
Delivery to TV: Cumbersome/Limited- Connect computer to TV, Motorola Xoom Tablet, or Android Device
Streaming or Download: Streaming
Overall Rating: 5.5
Hulu+
Subscription Fee: $7.99/mo
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: N/A
Highest Video Quality: 720p
Selection: Pretty much just TV, does not solve the movie access problem which mainly concerns me.
Delivery to TV: Easy/Ubiquitous- Smart TV/Blu-ray player
Streaming or Download: Streaming
Overall Rating: 3
PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366593,00.asp#fbid=aOiJtr94HcJ
Vudu
Subscription Fee: N/A
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $4.99 for 720p, $5.99 for 1080p
Highest Video Quality: 1080p
Selection: Surprisingly decent. It seems focused on recent popular films and its foreign film selection doesn’t seem very good. The classic film coverage is spotty, but it did surprise me with a few films that Netflix doesn’t have at all.
Delivery to TV: Easy/Ubiquitous- Smart TV/Blu-ray player
Streaming or Download: Both
Overall Rating: 5.5
Vudu Set top PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2270955,00.asp#fbid=aOiJtr94HcJ
iTunes and Apple TV
Subscription Fee: N/A
Cost of Recent Release Bridesmaids: $4.99, available for 30 days with 24 hours to watch once you begin
Highest Video Quality: 720p
Selection: Not as good as Amazon for the films. Probably on the same level as Vudu, but it also boasts a large television selection.
Delivery to TV: Cumbersome/Limited- Apple TV or connect computer, must have iTunes
Streaming or Download: Download
Overall Rating: 6
Apple TV PC Mag Review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387719,00.asp#fbid=aOiJtr94HcJ
Conclusion: Okay so the going rate for a recent release HD movie rental is $4.99. $3.99 for SD. Other films can be had for $0.99 to $2.99. This is probably a more economical option than the 1-at-a-time Netflix dvd/blu-ray option at $9.99/mo, especially if you are really busy and don’t want to have to cycle the discs fast enough as often happen at our house. It also gives more flexibility and freedom. The problem remains, the access to that Netflix dvd library is not to be had anywhere but your local independent video rental store. We happen to have a good one fairly close by, but unless it was in walking distance, which it isn’t, I just don't see it replacing me putting a movie in the queue and forgetting about it until it shows up in the mailbox. Unfortunately, I think the search is just going to continue. I didn’t find any good replacements yet and I want to see what happens with Netflix and Qwikster split. I heard about some other options and will be looking into those next. To be continued...
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