Ok, currently I have netflix and (very poor) antennae tv. We’re thinking of getting a subscription to Hulu+ and I guess this is as good a place as any to ask about it. I already knew there were limited commercials, and that doesn’t bother me. But someone above said you can’t watch everything on all your devices and that DOES bother me. What does that mean? I have a Wii U that I use for netflix, and I would be using it for the Hulu+ as well. Can I get all the content with that? Overall, how does it work? Is it annoying? Is the content good, and substantially different from netflix?
Hulu + seems to have more currant shows than Netflix, most of their shows that are on Hulu are on Hulu+ but I have seen some that are not. I have a TV with a Roku device on it and it works fine, although it took a bit to get used to, working the remote took me a bit of time.
I use the Wii U for hulu+ streaming and I don’t think I’ve ever run into an issue where content I wanted to watch was only available on a computer and if I did, I’d just have to plug the computer into the TV and switch from hdmi 2 to hdmi 1.
The bigger problem I have with Hulu+ is that some users (including myself) have an issue where a show will simply not come back on after the commercial has played, forcing a refresh of the page (and a fresh ad or three to sit through). I’ve googled the issue and there are tons of people complaining about it with absolutely no help from Hulu other then “hey, maybe try deleting your cookies.”
I imagine Hulu feels little incentive to fix a problem that quadruples their ad revenue per television show watched, but it’s the driving force behind my dropping the service.
To answer Miss Elizabeth: some shows simply won’t show up on your Wii Netflix interface. Off the top of my head, I know that The Simpsons and Chopped are two shows that are unavailable on my PS3.
This is the description that shows under Burn Notice, one of the shows I like watching
My suggestion is to go on to Hulu, and look up the shows you’re interested in. If they show the second line of this descrption, you will not get them on Hulu Plus. OTOH, it’s at least worth the 1 month/week free trial for Hulu Plus and give it a test drive. The content is different enough from Netflix to be worth considering.
Veering somewhat off-topic, I am always amused when the sponsor is Kevin Bacon’s new series, and the Hulu voice says, “The following program is brought to you by The Following.”
Back on topic: I also find it annoying to still have the commercials with Hulu Plus, but it’s no different than having commercials on basic cable.
Especially since that costs $40 a month. Pit your cable company!
I don’t mind the ads, but I just cancelled my H+ because the content isn’t what I was hoping it would be. I do enjoy watching current shows the same week they played on cable, but I also like going back and watching an old series all the way through and netflix is much better for that. Last weekend I thought gee, I’d like to try out that show Castle, but Hulu only has season 5 available. A month ago they only had season 2 available, so where is that now? Also why isn’t season 2 of The Killing on Hulu?
So I still watch stuff on the laptop, but I gave up the ability to use my Roku to watch on the tv. Hulu+ doesn’t really have anything to do with content, but I’m not giving them any more money because the specific reason they suck is beside the point.
Yeah, I use Hulu+ and netflix in conjunction. I’m ok with the 16 bucks a month or whatever because I know if I weren’t paying that, I’d be paying for cable.
I’ve always thought this is why Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ short-lived sitcom Watching Ellie was so short-lived. Part of the show’s schtick was that the plot was supposed to be playing out in real time, with an actual clock shown ticking away at the bottom of the screen. That clock, though, inevitably drew attention to the fact that a 30-minute show only had 22 minutes of content!
We have Hulu+ and Netflix and are quite happy with them.
I dislike ads as much as the next guy, but I don’t see why this is an area where the government should intervene. There are lots of ways to watch shows without ads. If you don’t want to watch them, then use those other services.
I don’t think the poster was calling for such intervention now.
Back in the day, the airwaves were regarded as public property in the trust of the government, so they enforced things like the Fairness Doctrine and limits on commercialization.
Then things like cable came along and made video media insanely profitable, so the gummint was thanked and excused and found other things to do with its time. Which should please all small-government/Libertarian types, and people who like their television with 50-90% ad presence.
Yeah, that’s also why that Kiefer Sutherland show 24 was such a colossal failure.
Oh, wait…