Setting up an account was just as easy as most online web sights. Name, address, age and a valid email address were the only things needed to make an account. Payment options are limited to credit cards or paypal. The plans range from just online streaming to having out 4 dvds at a time. They will also ship BlueRay discs for and extra $2/month on any plan with disc rentals. We are using the 1 disc at a time plan and I have not tried the BlueRay yet. It usually takes 2 days between sending in an old movie and getting a new one in the mail. The disc listing is very large and I have been able to find some old movies and mini series to watch again from years ago. The online streaming list is much more limited but is still pretty good. They have lots of old TV shows as well as movies on the lists here as well.
My only problem with the service is the search and recommendation systems. Having a chance to rate movies I have watched is nice but having to do it so the system will recommend new titles to me seems a little odd. Why use this instead coming up with a better search system. The search is not the best. Fairly simple with a box at the top of the page. It does not let you include or exclude items form your search. As an example you cannot search for just streaming titles and exclude disc only titles. Or just search for new arrivals instead of looking at the newly suggested for the user. The new arrivals tab helps here some but it could be better with a search option inside the listings in the tab. When you have more than one person watching movies the suggestions get very mixed together. I would like an option to list the kids movies in a section just for them. The boys would have their own list to choose from that would have very good parental controls.
Over all I am happy with the choice we made. I really like that it cost a lot less than having HBO on the cable bill.
Could you come to Colorado and set our Wii up to internet so I can watch netflix on my tv?
ReplyDeleteWe love Netflix through our Wii. The complete Avatar series lasts at least a semester if you watch one episode every morning before going to school. Same thing for Jackie Chan Adventures. We're on old school Spiderman now. I recognize the complaints you have, but pros outweigh the cons. I just want to be able to have closed captioning on the streaming (for after my son goes to bed and as my hearing gets worse), but they are supposed to be working on that.
ReplyDeleteThey threw a lot of money in improving their recommendation system -- it's important to them. Search for "Netflix Prize".
ReplyDeleteNick, I like the rating system, I just think they need a better search function. Maybe they need to put up $1Million prize for that?
ReplyDelete