The proper way to use Netflix is to rip the movie onto your HD as soon as you get it in, then mail back out the same day. Watch whatever movie you are in the mood for, then delete it if you don't feel like watching it again later.
How much does the free game rental cost you every month?
Comes with the plan.
Well, it's not really free then. It's part of the plan.
And the "free" game rental can only be gotten in-store.
Netflix is good, or it was when I had it. I ended up canceling it, though, because 9 times out of 10 when the movie did show up it wasn't the kind I was in the mood to watch right then. Much better, for my wife and I, to just go to the rental store.
I do recommend the hell out of Netflix if you want to see some obscure movies or rent TV on DVD.
My roomie likes obscure movies, I like watching TV seasons. Blockbuster Online says they've got 60,000+ titles while Netflix has 70,000+. Do you think Netflix has much wider selection.
You know, I would venture to say they have at least 10,000 more movies than Blockbuster. You know, that whole math thing and all.
Oh hey cool. Numbers mean jack shit, as previously noted. Those 10,000 movies could be fucking exercise movies.
You didn't ask anything about the type, you asked if they had a wider selection and then went on to give numbers. That is still a WIDER selection you twat.
Here, this will help.
"Desired type of products :: Claims of the services :: Opinions on products."
My wife and I had Netflix for a few years, and we were mostly satisfied with it. I don't think we ever got the wrong movie, but we did get several scratched/cracked discs. We never once got a series out of order, and shipping was *usually* fast.
The only real issue we had was pretty much never getting new movies when they came out.
We switched to Blockbuster once the whole "total access" thing started because it effectively doubles the number of movies we can watch. So far, speeds have been nice (about the same as Netflix, a movie shipped on Tues is typically in our mail on Wed), but the addition of being able to take things back to the store and get more movies has made it really awesome.
Also, so far, I haven't had even one new movie not ship to me the day it came out. I know Netflix has a slightly better selection, but I think the largest question is how close they have distro centers to you, and just how obscure the movies you like are.
My brother has Netflix and he loves it, BUT he and his wife watch like 10+ movies a week. So, it's great if you want to watch an assload of movies
To wtach that many they basicaly force you to take one of thier higher plans. As was explained already they start slowing down thier tuenarounds and knock you down to a lower priority i you make a habt of sending movies back too quick.
The proper way to use Netflix is to rip the movie onto your HD as soon as you get it in, then mail back out the same day. Watch whatever movie you are in the mood for, then delete it if you don't feel like watching it again later.
:roll:
And we have people in the thread complaining about how Netflix "punishes" people.
For what it's worth, I had Netflix for about 9 months and I loved it. But I also didn't have cable, so I watched a lot of movies. I never once got my movies out of order or lost, or had my service throttled down because I was deemed a movie ripper. And I would go through about two to three movies a week.
I only stopped when I got married and I got cable, and I just didn't have the time to watch movies that much. Like someone said above: it's only worth it if you watch the movies enough. Netflix's $17.99 for 3 movies out at once plan means you have to watch about 5 movies a month to make it financially worthwhile. Games are a whole other beast with Blockbuster, though.
To me, the in-store rentals offered by blockbuster are only worthwhile if the stores near you ever offer things you want to rent. The one by me is absolute shit -- horrible organization, the "new release" wall is old by about a year, and if it's not something you saw advertised on TV or just cheap, it's not going to be there. There's more direct-to-dvd horror films there than I thought existed.
And don't get me started on the game selection.
So, for me, they'd be essentially equal. I haven't signed up for either, ever, though, because when I was planning on it my wife and I suddenly got very busy, and still haven't got time to watch 2 movies a month, and at that point we just buy stuff we like so we don't feel pressured into watching it. We've gone months w/o watching a DVD and when you get to that stage, you're more willing to just catch things in the theater.
Anyway, people here at work have tried both, and they report that it's great if you have a blockbuster nearby w/ a good movie selection. However, they also all ran into dirty/scratched disks far more frequently thank they ever did with Netflix. Some switched back, many stick w/ it simply because of their proximity to a blockbuster.
My brother has Netflix and he loves it, BUT he and his wife watch like 10+ movies a week. So, it's great if you want to watch an assload of movies
To wtach that many they basicaly force you to take one of thier higher plans. As was explained already they start slowing down thier tuenarounds and knock you down to a lower priority i you make a habt of sending movies back too quick.
That's lame... what kind of silly shit is that? They've had it for a while and never said any such thing.
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mntorankusuI'm not sure how to use this thing....Registered Userregular
edited January 2007
I had Netflix for a year, and only two or three movies were ever sent from somewhere where it took more than a day to recieve. And I had a 3-movie plan, and usually sent them all back within 1 to 2 days.
Does anyone know of any kind of service like this available in the UK? I've been taking a look at Amazon and it doesn't seem like Blockbuster do this over here.
I've had Netflix for about 4 years or so, now. In that time, 3 movies have been lost in the mail, and each time they said, "Okay, no sweat" and sent me the next one on my queue. When my house was burglarized, and the thief would up stealing one of their films, I contacted them about it. They offered their condolences, and gave me a free movie rental (so I could have 4 out instead of 3).
I've been extremely satisfied with their customer service, and that alone keeps me from switching to BBO. Also, while I haven't checked out BBO too closely, Netflix's movie selection seems pretty awesome. I've never tried to find a movie and discovered they didn't carry it, and while I don't go out of my way to find obscure shit, I do watch a pretty large number of foreign films and less mainstream offerings.
ElJeffe on
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Setting up a plan tonight, so far I'm slightly leaning towards BBO and I think my housemate is leaning towards Netflix. Having a Blockbuster about a ten minute drive from my place is nice but so far, doing searches for obscure movies, we've found that Netflix carries one movie that BBO doesn't. I figure between the two of us, we'll put down two movies a week easy.
Netflix. I worked at Blockbuster... their online service sucks balls. Def. go with Netflix... even when I was working there, I told the customers the same thing. Blockbuster online is shit.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
edited January 2007
NetFlix isn't nearly as fast as they lead you to believe.
"in about one business day" in reality means "2-3 business days"
If you are super prompt about returning your movies, you will still only see one shipment per week.
Also, a lot of the discs are pretty scratched up. The last disc I got was shattered.
My wife and I have had both, and hands down Blockbuster wins. We watch 3-5 movies every week, and Netflix just can't handle that. With Blockbuster, we almost always have a movie to watch when we want one, and if we don't, we can just go turn in one of the online movies and grab an in-store movie. The game rental on top of it, plus free coupons for older movies every once in a while really make it worth it. There's simply no way for Netflix to compete.
They both suck. Both will throttle you down for having the audacity to use their service.
Eh? I've got to wonder, at what point do they throttle you down? I had Netflix's three-at-a-time plan and was blowing through six movies a week at one point, which came out to roughly 25 movies a month for a mere $18. And they never once so much as made a peep.
NetFlix isn't nearly as fast as they lead you to believe.
"in about one business day" in reality means "2-3 business days"
If you are super prompt about returning your movies, you will still only see one shipment per week.
Also, a lot of the discs are pretty scratched up. The last disc I got was shattered.
It really depends on how close you live to a distrobution center. I'm about an hour away from one, so turn-around is fairly quick. If I send a disc out on Monday, I'll almost always have a new movie by Wednesday. You've just got to make sure you actually get it into the mail before they collect.
Eh? I've got to wonder, at what point do they throttle you down?
For me, it was at the exact point when my free trial ended.
I'm very skeptical of your six movies a week claims, since I was getting something like four a week before the throttling, then closer to two a week afterwards.
I worked at Blockbuster while in college. I've never quit a job before, but the managers at my store were damned dirty liars to the customers, so I had to. I just had to reply and say fuck them.
Eh? I've got to wonder, at what point do they throttle you down?
For me, it was at the exact point when my free trial ended.
I'm very skeptical of your six movies a week claims, since I was getting something like four a week before the throttling, then closer to two a week afterwards.
Be skeptical all you want. I had them staggered so I got one movie a night, and sent it out the next day. Using my previous example, I got a movie on Monday, sent it out Tuesday and got a new one Thursday. In the meantime, I also got a movie Tuesday, and Wednesday, and sent them out Wednesday and Thursday respectively, getting replacements on Friday and Saturday. I did that for about two months straight.
I currently have the Netflix 2-disc plan, and it's been great. I signed up for it a couple weeks ago. I live near a distribution center, so each mailing has taken a day (except one). I get a movie, watch it that night, mail it back the day after. Netflix receives that the following morning and ships out my next movie that afternoon, then I receive it the next day. If they throttle me down I'm going to quit, because I am watching the movies.
One of the great things about Netflix is their website. You can rate movies (which I like doing anyway), see what your friends rated, and it has a lot of recommendations and good browsing/searching. I check the thing every day or so to plot what movie I want next, then I come home the day after it ships and it's in my mailbox. I don't have to make a 15 minute detour to stop at Blockbuster every day to pick up my movie (and Blockbuster is on my way home right near my apartment).
Netflix is great. I won't switch to Blockbuster unless I have to.
Now in terms of this game rental stuff... I tried out Gamefly, and their shipping is really slow. Gameznflix looks cheaper, so I may quit and try them instead. Are they any good, or are there any other good places? I just want one game out at a time (I already have my 2 movies :P).
Eh? I've got to wonder, at what point do they throttle you down?
For me, it was at the exact point when my free trial ended.
I'm very skeptical of your six movies a week claims, since I was getting something like four a week before the throttling, then closer to two a week afterwards.
Be skeptical all you want. I had them staggered so I got one movie a night, and sent it out the next day. Using my previous example, I got a movie on Monday, sent it out Tuesday and got a new one Thursday. In the meantime, I also got a movie Tuesday, and Wednesday, and sent them out Wednesday and Thursday respectively, getting replacements on Friday and Saturday. I did that for about two months straight.
I've watched movies at almost this rate for sustained periods, as well, with no throttling.
ElJeffe on
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
Setting up a plan tonight, so far I'm slightly leaning towards BBO and I think my housemate is leaning towards Netflix. Having a Blockbuster about a ten minute drive from my place is nice but so far, doing searches for obscure movies, we've found that Netflix carries one movie that BBO doesn't. I figure between the two of us, we'll put down two movies a week easy.
If you want to watch new releases then you want Blockbuster. Because even if they don't have a copy online, there's a great chance they'll have one in store. My roommate doesn't even watch the ones he orders online, he just returns them they day they show up and grabs a new release.
So my roommate and I are looking at splitting Blockbuster Online. With it's free game rental a month, same pricing and plan as Netflix and giving you the option to return movies to stores in exchange for a movie, it seems to be the prime candidate. Anyone have a bad experience with them? Are they really better then Netflix?
Thanks!
Just my opinion, and I'm sure others have probably had other experiences, BUT: I've tried both and prefer Netflix. I had multiple BB movies come scratched so that certains parts skipped and were unplayable. Never had that happen with Netflix, which I also subscribed to for a longer period of time than BB. Further, I had better/more reliable turnaround time on the mailing with Netflix.
EDIT: Also, I never expereinced the supposed turnaround drop for returning movies quickly. I had read that online, but I was rocketing movies back to them during the past summer cause I had little else to do, but still never saw the turnaround drop. In general though, yes, it does matter how close to distribution centers you are.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
Eh? I've got to wonder, at what point do they throttle you down?
For me, it was at the exact point when my free trial ended.
I'm very skeptical of your six movies a week claims, since I was getting something like four a week before the throttling, then closer to two a week afterwards.
Be skeptical all you want. I had them staggered so I got one movie a night, and sent it out the next day. Using my previous example, I got a movie on Monday, sent it out Tuesday and got a new one Thursday. In the meantime, I also got a movie Tuesday, and Wednesday, and sent them out Wednesday and Thursday respectively, getting replacements on Friday and Saturday. I did that for about two months straight.
I'm about 2 hours away from one. I put them in the mail the night before I want them sent, so I know when the mailman (or femailman) takes them.
I had Netflix's three-at-a-time plan and was blowing through six movies a week at one point, which came out to roughly 25 movies a month for a mere $18.
This is why I'm skeptical of your claims:
Using the Netflix calculator, based on the info you've given me, the maximum number of rentals you could see in a month is 21, and that's only on the condition that there are no postal holidays and only four Saturdays and four Sundays in the month.
And that's without throttling.
You guys are acting like throttling doesn't happen because for some reason or another it hasn't happened to you personally, even though their practice is publicly admitted and well documented.
The whole business model of online DVD rental is totally backwards. Those customers who use the service the most are the least profitable, and therefore the least valued.
That said, BBO's new in-store returns make a whole lot more sense: speeding up turnarounds to cut their postage costs in half, a win-win situation.
Blockbuster gives more money to Republicans; Netflix to Democrats. And in all honesty, I don't mean it as flamebait, but to me when it comes down to a choice between relatively similar services/goods/etc., I try to vote with my dollar. Take that as you will.
For anyone who has tried both, which is the best for anime series?
I've never had experience with BBO, so I'm not sure of its anime library, although of what I've seen in the physical store, it's always been very limited.
Blockbuster gives more money to Republicans; Netflix to Democrats. And in all honesty, I don't mean it as flamebait, but to me when it comes down to a choice between relatively similar services/goods/etc., I try to vote with my dollar. Take that as you will.
Good, because my roomie and I are going with Blockbuster just so it can fund cutting down jungles, giving guns to everyone and deporting everyone with a Mexican name! :P
Blockbuster Online has every movie we searched for so we're going for it. Just too many good perks and the ability to turn back the movies to the stores is awesome.
My brother has Netflix and he loves it, BUT he and his wife watch like 10+ movies a week. So, it's great if you want to watch an assload of movies
To wtach that many they basicaly force you to take one of thier higher plans. As was explained already they start slowing down thier tuenarounds and knock you down to a lower priority i you make a habt of sending movies back too quick.
That's lame... what kind of silly shit is that? They've had it for a while and never said any such thing.
yeah, I heard that Netflix's "unlimited" plan is really "unlimited until you watch and send back too many movies. then we just stop altogether"
For anyone who has tried both, which is the best for anime series?
I've never had experience with BBO, so I'm not sure of its anime library, although of what I've seen in the physical store, it's always been very limited.
Essentially identical, with one exception -- BBO seems to stock the platinum Evangelion release, while Netflix seems to only stock the standard collection.
I'm totally with nindustrial regarding the 'vote with your dollar' aspect of a lot of things, but I agree that it's not for everyone. If you don't care about politics, it's a moot point.
Ultimately it doesn't really matter, though. it's not like you're locked into only one service for the rest of your life, and it's also not like both companies don't save your queues if you happen to cancel.
Try one, catch all the movies/tv shows you want, and if you feel like you're getting bored or come across some aspect of the service you dislike... cancel! And then in a few months try the other one! There's no 2 year contracts and it's not like you need new DVDs each day (unlike the internet).
appologies if this has already been said, but here's all i have to say about it
blockbuster's plan allows you to turn in your movies in store rather than mailing them in, and (i don't know if this is new or not, or something magical i fell into on accident) you can use the envelope you are returning them in for a free rental.
so, i get three at a time, return all three in-store, get three in-store rentals (do not count on your queue of movies online), and they update my online queue for the 3 i just returned and start sending out the next couple movies.
the in-store rentals are treated as regular in-store rentals, so they have due-dates and such
For anyone who has tried both, which is the best for anime series?
I've never had experience with BBO, so I'm not sure of its anime library, although of what I've seen in the physical store, it's always been very limited.
Essentially identical, with one exception -- BBO seems to stock the platinum Evangelion release, while Netflix seems to only stock the standard collection.
I'm totally with nindustrial regarding the 'vote with your dollar' aspect of a lot of things, but I agree that it's not for everyone. If you don't care about politics, it's a moot point.
Ultimately it doesn't really matter, though. it's not like you're locked into only one service for the rest of your life, and it's also not like both companies don't save your queues if you happen to cancel.
Try one, catch all the movies/tv shows you want, and if you feel like you're getting bored or come across some aspect of the service you dislike... cancel! And then in a few months try the other one! There's no 2 year contracts and it's not like you need new DVDs each day (unlike the internet).
Great point about the not being locked in bit. When it comes down to it, if BBO sounds like it'd be good cause of the in-store returns, give it a shot! If you end up not liking it for some reason, it's easy enough to switch.
I had Netflix's three-at-a-time plan and was blowing through six movies a week at one point, which came out to roughly 25 movies a month for a mere $18.
This is why I'm skeptical of your claims:
Using the Netflix calculator, based on the info you've given me, the maximum number of rentals you could see in a month is 21, and that's only on the condition that there are no postal holidays and only four Saturdays and four Sundays in the month.
And that's without throttling.
You guys are acting like throttling doesn't happen because for some reason or another it hasn't happened to you personally, even though their practice is publicly admitted and well documented.
The whole business model of online DVD rental is totally backwards. Those customers who use the service the most are the least profitable, and therefore the least valued.
That said, BBO's new in-store returns make a whole lot more sense: speeding up turnarounds to cut their postage costs in half, a win-win situation.
Well, first of all, a month isn't exactly 28 days, and as long as they send a movie out on Friday, I'll get it on Saturdays. But whatever. Don't believe me. But I've got to ask, why the fuck would I lie about something like this?
Edit: I just checked, and if I was watching at the same pace, I could have gotten 27 movies this month on the three-at-a-time plan.
Edit 2: And using that calculator, I don't know what figures you used, but it told me the maximum number of rentals I could have gotten was 33 movies.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
edited January 2007
Okay...
FUCK Netflix.
They sent me a broken disc, which while annoying it was nice to find out that I could just send it back and have it replaced. Which I did. The replacement disc came today, and guess what? It too is fucking broken. I attempted to report the problem and now it appears they just aren't even going to bother trying to send me this movie anymore.
What the fuck?
What in the flying fuck am I paying these guys for?
Hello Block-Buster Online. You have a new customer.
They sent me a broken disc, which while annoying it was nice to find out that I could just send it back and have it replaced. Which I did. The replacement disc came today, and guess what? It too is fucking broken. I attempted to report the problem and now it appears they just aren't even going to bother trying to send me this movie anymore.
What the fuck?
What in the flying fuck am I paying these guys for?
Hello Block-Buster Online. You have a new customer.
What, doesn't BBO use the same postal service? Do you really think these are getting broken at the warehouse?
By the way, I don't know if it's been mentioned yet but the misunderstood thing about "throttling" is that it seems to apply most to people who only rent new releases. If you simply don't care about new releases like me, it doesn't seem to ever happen.
If you're a new release junkie you're pretty much stuck with Blockbuster, as they've struck profit-sharing deals with movie studios to get a bunch of DVDs for cheap on release day. There was a big antitrust lawsuit about this a few years back but Blockbuster won.
timster on
We obviously have a vast interest in women," said Peggy Sterling, AMR vice president of safety, security and environmental. "There is an untapped resource." -- CNN
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Here, this will help.
"Desired type of products :: Claims of the services :: Opinions on products."
Dunno what's so hard about this.
The only real issue we had was pretty much never getting new movies when they came out.
We switched to Blockbuster once the whole "total access" thing started because it effectively doubles the number of movies we can watch. So far, speeds have been nice (about the same as Netflix, a movie shipped on Tues is typically in our mail on Wed), but the addition of being able to take things back to the store and get more movies has made it really awesome.
Also, so far, I haven't had even one new movie not ship to me the day it came out. I know Netflix has a slightly better selection, but I think the largest question is how close they have distro centers to you, and just how obscure the movies you like are.
To wtach that many they basicaly force you to take one of thier higher plans. As was explained already they start slowing down thier tuenarounds and knock you down to a lower priority i you make a habt of sending movies back too quick.
And we have people in the thread complaining about how Netflix "punishes" people.
For what it's worth, I had Netflix for about 9 months and I loved it. But I also didn't have cable, so I watched a lot of movies. I never once got my movies out of order or lost, or had my service throttled down because I was deemed a movie ripper. And I would go through about two to three movies a week.
I only stopped when I got married and I got cable, and I just didn't have the time to watch movies that much. Like someone said above: it's only worth it if you watch the movies enough. Netflix's $17.99 for 3 movies out at once plan means you have to watch about 5 movies a month to make it financially worthwhile. Games are a whole other beast with Blockbuster, though.
If you watch 1 a week you are breaking even
If you watch 2 a week you are saving money
There it is. If you have a blockbuster near you, go blockbuster.
If not, go netflix. Simple as that 'fya ask me
I know we don't have NetFlix, we have Zip.ca. Has anyone had any experiance with it?
And don't get me started on the game selection.
So, for me, they'd be essentially equal. I haven't signed up for either, ever, though, because when I was planning on it my wife and I suddenly got very busy, and still haven't got time to watch 2 movies a month, and at that point we just buy stuff we like so we don't feel pressured into watching it. We've gone months w/o watching a DVD and when you get to that stage, you're more willing to just catch things in the theater.
Anyway, people here at work have tried both, and they report that it's great if you have a blockbuster nearby w/ a good movie selection. However, they also all ran into dirty/scratched disks far more frequently thank they ever did with Netflix. Some switched back, many stick w/ it simply because of their proximity to a blockbuster.
That's lame... what kind of silly shit is that? They've had it for a while and never said any such thing.
I'm not from the UK but this sounds like what you're looking for.
I've been extremely satisfied with their customer service, and that alone keeps me from switching to BBO. Also, while I haven't checked out BBO too closely, Netflix's movie selection seems pretty awesome. I've never tried to find a movie and discovered they didn't carry it, and while I don't go out of my way to find obscure shit, I do watch a pretty large number of foreign films and less mainstream offerings.
This looks quite good. I'm tempted.
Setting up a plan tonight, so far I'm slightly leaning towards BBO and I think my housemate is leaning towards Netflix. Having a Blockbuster about a ten minute drive from my place is nice but so far, doing searches for obscure movies, we've found that Netflix carries one movie that BBO doesn't. I figure between the two of us, we'll put down two movies a week easy.
"in about one business day" in reality means "2-3 business days"
If you are super prompt about returning your movies, you will still only see one shipment per week.
Also, a lot of the discs are pretty scratched up. The last disc I got was shattered.
For me, it was at the exact point when my free trial ended.
I'm very skeptical of your six movies a week claims, since I was getting something like four a week before the throttling, then closer to two a week afterwards.
One of the great things about Netflix is their website. You can rate movies (which I like doing anyway), see what your friends rated, and it has a lot of recommendations and good browsing/searching. I check the thing every day or so to plot what movie I want next, then I come home the day after it ships and it's in my mailbox. I don't have to make a 15 minute detour to stop at Blockbuster every day to pick up my movie (and Blockbuster is on my way home right near my apartment).
Netflix is great. I won't switch to Blockbuster unless I have to.
Now in terms of this game rental stuff... I tried out Gamefly, and their shipping is really slow. Gameznflix looks cheaper, so I may quit and try them instead. Are they any good, or are there any other good places? I just want one game out at a time (I already have my 2 movies :P).
I've watched movies at almost this rate for sustained periods, as well, with no throttling.
Just my opinion, and I'm sure others have probably had other experiences, BUT: I've tried both and prefer Netflix. I had multiple BB movies come scratched so that certains parts skipped and were unplayable. Never had that happen with Netflix, which I also subscribed to for a longer period of time than BB. Further, I had better/more reliable turnaround time on the mailing with Netflix.
EDIT: Also, I never expereinced the supposed turnaround drop for returning movies quickly. I had read that online, but I was rocketing movies back to them during the past summer cause I had little else to do, but still never saw the turnaround drop. In general though, yes, it does matter how close to distribution centers you are.
I'm about 2 hours away from one. I put them in the mail the night before I want them sent, so I know when the mailman (or femailman) takes them.
This is why I'm skeptical of your claims:
Using the Netflix calculator, based on the info you've given me, the maximum number of rentals you could see in a month is 21, and that's only on the condition that there are no postal holidays and only four Saturdays and four Sundays in the month.
And that's without throttling.
You guys are acting like throttling doesn't happen because for some reason or another it hasn't happened to you personally, even though their practice is publicly admitted and well documented.
The whole business model of online DVD rental is totally backwards. Those customers who use the service the most are the least profitable, and therefore the least valued.
That said, BBO's new in-store returns make a whole lot more sense: speeding up turnarounds to cut their postage costs in half, a win-win situation.
I've never had experience with BBO, so I'm not sure of its anime library, although of what I've seen in the physical store, it's always been very limited.
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Good, because my roomie and I are going with Blockbuster just so it can fund cutting down jungles, giving guns to everyone and deporting everyone with a Mexican name! :P
Blockbuster Online has every movie we searched for so we're going for it. Just too many good perks and the ability to turn back the movies to the stores is awesome.
yeah, I heard that Netflix's "unlimited" plan is really "unlimited until you watch and send back too many movies. then we just stop altogether"
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Essentially identical, with one exception -- BBO seems to stock the platinum Evangelion release, while Netflix seems to only stock the standard collection.
I'm totally with nindustrial regarding the 'vote with your dollar' aspect of a lot of things, but I agree that it's not for everyone. If you don't care about politics, it's a moot point.
Ultimately it doesn't really matter, though. it's not like you're locked into only one service for the rest of your life, and it's also not like both companies don't save your queues if you happen to cancel.
Try one, catch all the movies/tv shows you want, and if you feel like you're getting bored or come across some aspect of the service you dislike... cancel! And then in a few months try the other one! There's no 2 year contracts and it's not like you need new DVDs each day (unlike the internet).
blockbuster's plan allows you to turn in your movies in store rather than mailing them in, and (i don't know if this is new or not, or something magical i fell into on accident) you can use the envelope you are returning them in for a free rental.
so, i get three at a time, return all three in-store, get three in-store rentals (do not count on your queue of movies online), and they update my online queue for the 3 i just returned and start sending out the next couple movies.
the in-store rentals are treated as regular in-store rentals, so they have due-dates and such
Great point about the not being locked in bit. When it comes down to it, if BBO sounds like it'd be good cause of the in-store returns, give it a shot! If you end up not liking it for some reason, it's easy enough to switch.
Edit: I just checked, and if I was watching at the same pace, I could have gotten 27 movies this month on the three-at-a-time plan.
Edit 2: And using that calculator, I don't know what figures you used, but it told me the maximum number of rentals I could have gotten was 33 movies.
FUCK Netflix.
They sent me a broken disc, which while annoying it was nice to find out that I could just send it back and have it replaced. Which I did. The replacement disc came today, and guess what? It too is fucking broken. I attempted to report the problem and now it appears they just aren't even going to bother trying to send me this movie anymore.
What the fuck?
What in the flying fuck am I paying these guys for?
Hello Block-Buster Online. You have a new customer.
What, doesn't BBO use the same postal service? Do you really think these are getting broken at the warehouse?
By the way, I don't know if it's been mentioned yet but the misunderstood thing about "throttling" is that it seems to apply most to people who only rent new releases. If you simply don't care about new releases like me, it doesn't seem to ever happen.
If you're a new release junkie you're pretty much stuck with Blockbuster, as they've struck profit-sharing deals with movie studios to get a bunch of DVDs for cheap on release day. There was a big antitrust lawsuit about this a few years back but Blockbuster won.