I’m thinking about signing up for Netflix. What’s your opinion?
I love Netflix. I absolutely despise going to the rental store, so for me it’s a godsend.
I’m currently using the basic $19.95 option where you have 3 DVDs out at a time. I’m in Chicago, and they ship out of Michigan (among other places), so I generally get pretty good turnaround time. The selection is excellent, IMO. I’m catching up on classics I’ve always wanted to see, and they have the latest and greatest blockbusters as well. I very seldom have to wait for the titles I want. The website is generally pretty easy to use, though there are a few clunky thinkgs about it. I have about 100 movies in my queue.
One thing to take note of: When you add a title to your queue that has, for example “Very Long Wait,” that status isn’t updated as the wait become shorter for you. So a title that has “Very Long Wait” that’s at the top of your queue may all of a sudden be shipped to you. I generally keep anything with a wait at the top of my queue, but if I want a particular movie for a weekend, I reorder my list. If you’re anal about what movie you want when, you may spend a fair amount of time baby-sitting your queue.
The timing of the mail service is sometimes a pain - I’ve occasionally gotten stuck with no movies over the weekend if I’ve watched 3 over one weekend and dropped them all in the mail on Monday. If it was a Holiday weekend with no mail service on Monday, I almost always get stuck without getting a turnaround in time for the next weekend.
I don’t think their recommendations work that well, though. I’ve rated about 350 titles, and their recommendations just don’t seem to hit the mark that well.
The only thing I’d like to see on their site is a list of DVDs that are going to be released soon (within the next 3 months or so), so I can add those that interest me to my queue in advance.
The other things to be aware of is that two DVD sets are rented separated, so be careful about which one you are renting.
I’ve been on Netflix for a few months now and love it. I have never had a shipping problem, although I have received a handful of bad disks.
My rental queue currently has around 50 selections in it. I get everything from movies to documentaries to old TV shows to musicals (one complaint here; they mix movie musicals and music videos rather than having separate categories).
They have a fair selection of gay and lesbian movies, also, which I doubt Wal*Mart will have.
Anytime I see a new DVD advertised on TV or in the papers, I’ll check it off on Netflix, and, if interested, rent it.
Turn around time here is about two days since there is a warehouse in my home town.
There are a few ‘long wait’ items on my list, but not significantly so.
Hope this helps.
Bob
I’m another Netflix fan, even though I’ve cancelled a few times (not enough time to watch the movies). The best thing I love about Netflix is that they have many movies that I can never find at the video store. I just re-subscribed today because our video store doesn’t have any copies of The Bounty, which I really want to see. Stuff like that.
I’ve subscribed for about a year and have no complaints. Every problem (a DVD that never arrived, and one that arrived cracked) has been handled quickly and easily.
Good. I’ve had it for nearly a year, and no complaints.
I wish they had more documentaries, but I’m a documentary freak. I live close enough to a distribution point that I get the return set 3 days after dropping a set. I’m currently watching the second season of Red Dwarf.
No complaints here. I’ve been on the subscription for about a month, and I used Netflix a few times a few years ago (when you could pay per movie instead of per month).
I’ve heard (from an anonymous source) that they prioritize customers when they queue movies, so that someone who rented 20 movies last month might see “long wait” for a certain title, but a new customer or someone who only rented 5 movies last month might see “available now”. If that’s true, you may not be able to rent as many movies as cheap as you might expect.
I love Netflix. Never had any problem whatsoever and the turnaround time is excellent.
I was a little leery at first about signing up but I’ve heard nothing but good things about Netflix.
I agree that their documentary section is a bit lacking but there’s enough that I haven’t seen to keep me busy for a couple of months at least, so I can’t complain.
I did get an email last week informing me that “The Hours” had been removed from my queue and that they would no longer be offering it for rental. Five minutes after I got that email, I put the movie back on my list and it’s been there ever since. Must have been a weird hiccup in the system, I guess.
I love it. Being able to keep a movie indefinitely is great. No pressure to have to watch it right away (although this is not the way to get the best value for your money). I actually save money using netflix as I am prone to get WAY too many late charges at the video store. I have cut my video expenditures by 2/3rds. Never had a problem with the service. It is exactly as advertised.
As a side note, Netflix stock has done extremely well (sure wish I would have bought some when I was considering it). I have heard that a division of Blockbuster has targeted the Netflix market with a new service. A large company such as Blockbuster may put the hurt on Netflix, though I do not believe it has launched yet. (bordering on speculation here…) my bro sold his stock as soon as he read that press release.
No hesitations about heartily recommending Netflix. I did manage to find some fairly negative reports through Google before signing up, yet it has been a very positive experience so far (1 1/2 years). If the price seems right to you, I really dont see how you could go wrong.
Netflix been berry berry good to me.
Another big fan. Every time I drive past a video store now, I just shake my head and think “poor fools.” (Of course, they’re not paying $19.95 a month even if they don’t watch any of the movies, so maybe they’re not the foolish ones.)
My only complaint about it is that you get charged whether or not you watch the DVDs, and I’ve had no time the past couple of months to see anything. Meaning that it cost me about $20 to watch Deliverance last month. Squeeeeeeal!
Their quality control isn’t 100% perfect, either; just about every disc except for the very newest stuff, has at least one part that caused my player to freak out until I pop out the disc and clean it.
Love my Netflix, will never go back. They have a great selection- there’s only been one time when I couldn’t find what I wanted- and even carry obscure titles. Their turnover speed is quite fast, even though it goes through the mail, and I usually have the next DVD within 5 or 6 days of putting the old one in the mail. I think Netflix is the best thing to come out of the change to DVD technology.
I just recently cancelled but for no fault of theirs. I only watch DVDs in the winter. In the summer I am busy and just don’t have the time. I will join again when the weather turns colder. The turn around was really quick and they have a great selection. No problems at all.