Anyone going to get the streaming only Netflix subscription?

[dalej42]

@gotpasswords

I just don’t know what they’re up to, other than successfully irritating existing customers. The streaming-only option is $8 per month. To add one disc out at a time adds $2, but from there, it gets wacky. You’d expect the cost to have multiple discs out would stay proportional - ie: if it costs $2 to add a single disc at a time to the streaming plan, 2 discs at a time should add $4, but instead, it’s $7 more.

My guess is that they figure that someone who is one a 2 discs or higher plan is likely sharing the DVDs with someone else. So, they tend to be heavier users of the DVDs by mail plan.

[Cyberhwk]

@gotpasswords

I just don’t know what they’re up to, other than successfully irritating existing customers. The streaming-only option is $8 per month. To add one disc out at a time adds $2, but from there, it gets wacky. You’d expect the cost to have multiple discs out would stay proportional - ie: if it costs $2 to add a single disc at a time to the streaming plan, 2 discs at a time should add $4, but instead, it’s $7 more.

I wanted to add another 3 disks a few months back so family could watch some stuff in the other room. However, my account was set up for BluRay and we have no BluRay player in the other room. It was actually cheaper for me to bust out another credit card and avoid the BluRay surcharge with a completely separate account than add to the one I have.

In addition to what dalej42 said, I’d imagine they want to discourage hoarding disks. Shipping 10 DVDs costs what it costs, but a DVD sitting on your table is one less DVD they get to loan to others to satisfy demand. If each individual disk cost only $2, I’d definitely spring for the 8 for $30 plan versus the 3 for $20.

[lindsaybluth]

@divemaster

Plus, there may be a way for me to watch streaming on my TV, but I haven’t looked into it. I’m certainly not going to watch a movie on a computer. (That’s why I spent the $$ for a decent TV and home theater surround system)

$75 Roku is a device solely for the streaming of Netflix to your TV. Comes in different versions and price points as well.

The SO floated the idea, but I like the physical DVD if there’s something I wanna watch over the weekend. It’s just what, $1 difference? We’re on the 1 disc at a time + unlimited streaming plan. FeedFliks tells me we spend 50 cents per DVD (which I think they mean per disc, as we watch a lot of TV shows) so I’m satisfied we’re getting enough productivity.

[lindsaybluth]

Oh yeah, and here’s FeedFliks. You gotta use it. Breaks down your usage habits to tell you if you use it wisely or not. Gives you a recommendation (recommended we go from 2 discs to 1 disc, which we did to no ill effect).

[Misnomer]

@bdgr

I watched then entire series of Rockford files, and Adam 12.

I just checked, and none of Adam-12 is available via streaming anymore (and yes, I’m in the US). I’ve seen that happen with some other shows.

[John_DiFool]

Well, I was going to, until Comcast felt they had to stick their noses in-now I’m in wait-and-see mode.

[Terraplane]

I actually just went the other way and upgraded from 1 disc at a time to 3 but that’s because I have an enormous queue backlog that I want to work through. Once I’ve got it pared down a bit I might go back to 1. I don’t know that I’ll ever drop to just streaming unless they add a lot more content to instant watch, it seems like there’s always something I want to see that’s disc only.

I do wish they could put more stuff on instant. As it is I watch Netflix WAY more than I watch cable and it’s maybe 1/10th of the price. If they could make more available for streaming I’d be happy to pay extra for it.

[lindsaybluth]

8% of my Instant Queue disappears tomorrow, 12/1, because of licenses expiring.

I called Netflix (they have no email support) today to ask why and had an interesting conversation.

He directed me to Instant Watcher, which tells you what’s leaving Instant, what’s coming in, what’s foreign, popular, what’s being renewed, etc. A flaw currently is stuff expires (and tells you so in your queue) but doesn’t tell you “oh by the way, this is coming right back in 1-7 days”. Lots of licenses are renegotiated but your queue doesn’t reflect that till days later. Instant watcher gives you a greater hand on what’s going on.

Conversely, when I mentioned Feed Flicks - a service designed to optimize the amount of $ you spend on Netflix - he giggled and said he’d never heard of the site.

To those who have little in their Instant Queue, I have two recommendations. One, rate more stuff and browse Instant recommendations. There is a ton of stuff, really and truly. Two, look for more TV stuff than direct movie stuff. If you put the effort in, you really will reap the rewards.