Posted on 12/02/2009 9:41:46 PM PST by DGHoodini
Several years back, I had a summer with a goodly amount of free time, and I got a Netflix membership, at $19.99/mnth, 3 DVDs out at a time. It seemed like a good deal, but after a month or so, I noticed no matter how quickly I watched and mailed back the DVds, it was no better than renting movies from the local shop.. The movies just didn't "turn around" all that fast, and I assumed it was beacuse they all came from a California distribution center. So after a few months, I discontinued the service.
a year or so back, the news came out that Netflix had been intentionally slowing down, the turnover rate for "heavy renters", (Like me), and had been caught out at it. Hearing of this, it added some resentment to the disappointment that I held towards Netflix as a enterprise.
So, even though Netflix had addfed several new distribution locations, and began advertizing the new 'Watch instantly' movies, I was not inclined to take on a new membership. But recently, over the last few months, in threads about watching TV online, thjere have been some very complimentary posts made about NetFlix's Watch Instantly movies and TV shows availiable. Again, I remained skeptical. But as time progressed, seeing numerous ads on TV and websites, I figured I'd check out the new Free trial, figuring even ifg they got me for a months fee, it' wouldn't be any worse than renting movbies for a weekend, before I again cancelled.
I wasn'ty really all that interested in the DVD's being shipped bty mail, as I was interested imn what kind of selection they had of TV and movies that could be watched by instant download.
To my pleasant surprise, while you could hardly call the collection "vast" it is quite reasonably large for a service they've recently started. And in the last couple of weeks, I've found enough comntent that looks to be able to fill my free time for the winter, wityhout getting any DVDs mailed to me until after the winter snows have melted. (A key benefit to me, as making a couple of trips tyo the Post Office each week during the zsnowy season is just "Not On" for me. So, at $9 bucks a month, I am pleased. They have a pretty good selection of BritComs and Brit mysteries, for an Anglophile like me, Though no Morse, Poriot, and only a few Marples, but they have Wire in the blood, Inspector Lynleys, Campions..et cetera. and quite a few American classics I enjoy. (No 'It happens every Spring' not even of DVD!)
But in all, I am glad I decided to give them another chance. Turn around is quick with the Distribution center only 60 miles away, and when they couldn't get one DVD out in time, they sent the next one in my que, and had the one that they couldn't send me, mailed to me from the next nearest distribution Center!
So, take this as you will. I shall be watching to see how fast thet are moving more movies into the 'Watvh Instantly' catagory, and if they find that many people like me, want most of their content streaming, if they institute a higher price for it, and if they do, they better darn well put a lot more of their movies up for streaming.
Ok, that's all I wanted to relate.
Wow. Heavy, man.
I live in the same town as Netflix' headquarters, but I don't think they've ever had fulfillment in California. I think it's in Texas.
I bow to your hometown knowledge. It was *several* years ago that I had that first membership. Obviously, my memory is faulty. But perhaps I thought it was from California, because that seems as far away as it could be! :)
My 14 day trial is done today, I’m keeping it.
I stream it through the PS3, works better than I expected.
Another suggestion for you or anyone else considering Netflix:
Spring quarter of our senior year of college my roommate had a very light course load and I’d finished early and was just working a random job until my “real” job. That spring/summer we had a bunch of time to kill so we gave Blockbuster’s version a try.
We picked them because there was a store just down the street and you could do returns there instead of mail-ins. Instead of having to be mailed back to them before triggering your next movie, as soon as they scanned them at the store your next movie went out. Also, each mailed DVD was a voucher for a store rental, turning our basic 3 movie plan into a 6 movie plan.
So gorged ourselves on every “I’ve been meaning to see that” and classic-that-everyone-should’ve-seen until we started to run dry on ideas. It was kind of like trying to “win” at an all you can eat buffet. Obviously that was a unique circumstance, but the point is that a normal person could just choose the most bare minimum plan and watch a TON of movies for very cheap without the long turnaround.
I live in the Bay Area too, and also have Netflix. They have several distribution centers around the country (I believe the newspaper article I read about them said they have 12 distribution centers around the country, but don't quote me on that - it has been awhile since I read the article). The nearest center to one's location is the one that usually sends you your movies. In our case, they have a distribution center in San Jose', CA. This is why we receive our movies from them in just one day.
I've been using blockbuster's. I like being able to exchange the movie received by mail at a brick and mortar for another and watch that while the next movie on the list ships.
Placemark.
I am trying to decide if I want to switch from netflix to blockbuster.
I use the streaming on my 360. It is a pretty nice service. Def watch more movies on that than I get through the mail
We just recently signed back up for Netflix also because we purchased a blu-ray player that hooks up to our network and streams these videos directly to the HD Television. They do have a pretty good selection and $8.99 a month is cheaper than adding premium channels to the cable.
They also have a distribution center in Orange County, so that makes two for California.
Yep, I canceled 2 premium channels, I’m actually saving money and watching more.
I've been very happy with their service so far.
They also give you a coupon at the beginning of each month that you can print out for a free rental from the local brick and mortar.
I live up in the Sierra mountains near Fresno and we used to get our Netflix movies from San Jose. Sometime in the last couple of years our movies started coming from Bakersfield. So California must have a few distribution centers now.
It is a quick turnaround for us too. Send movies back on Monday and get the next in the queue on Wednesday.
Thank you very much for the information! Really appreciate it.
There’s no restrictions on the number of movies you’re allowed to exchange at the store?
My current netflix plan is the 3 at home plan. I’m getting tired of netflix because of the ‘wait’ time on new releases. One “long wait” turned into 7 weeks! My God, buy more discs!!!
The Blockbuster store is only a mile and a half away.
Not that I'm aware of, and it wouldn't make sense for there to be.
I had a problem once with a disk not playing and not only did they send another right away, but gave me a coupon for a free rental also.
I think it's nice to browse a brick and mortar every now and then, I find I'll rent movies I might not have otherwise.
I got soooo addicted to Dexter through it. They have the first two seasons on there.
We’ve used it for a lot of educational purposes, plus some of the kids’ favorite shows are on there.
Love the Netflix.
Forgot to add that we nearly exclusively use the live streaming version and not the mailed discs (except for educational movies and docu’s).
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