Sometimes at the end of a long day all you want to do is relax with a bucket of popcorn (or plate of cookies works too) and watch a good movie. Netflix is one option, but is it the best? Is Netflix really worth it – your money? Here’s a Netflix review from on-and-off-again customers who have a few things to say about the streaming service.
Netflix Reviewed: Our Experience with Netflix
I first encountered Netflix when I was gifted a three or six month subscription. I remember using the DVD service but can’t remember the streaming portion at that time. Regardless, it was a fun gift and I wasn’t sure that I would continue the subscription once it ended.
I didn’t. At the time I was in college and hardly had time to watch movies on a regular basis – I had books to read and lectures to listen to! There was no time for movies. Period.
But once I got out of college and got married, things changed. There was a need to relax at times and watch movies, and I didn’t have massive exams to study for anymore.
After I quit working for a brick and mortar Blockbuster store (BlockBuster later declared bankruptcy) and started working for another company, I no longer had free movies I could take home with me from work. Was I really going to spend gas money, drive to Blockbuster, and pay four bucks for a movie? Not when we heard that we could stream Netflix unlimitedly!
We Signed Up for Netflix
So, we decided to visit their website and see what all the fuss was about. At that time, you could get one DVD out at a time with unlimited streaming (we streamed to our iMac, as it was our only “television” at this time) for $8.99/month. That’s not a bad deal!
What We Watched and What We Didn’t
Documentaries, documentaries, documentaries. That’s pretty much all we watched, except for the occasional action movie or two. The latest movies weren’t always the “latest” movies, but they came soon enough after their release in theaters to be satisfying.
This wouldn’t be a true Netflix review without the cons . . . .
As Christians, we were disappointed to see that there were some pretty suggestive and non-God fearing movies on Netflix. You’ll run into that if you sign up – just avoid those like the plague. Some Christians argue against Netflix altogether because of this, but should we avoid doing business with anyone or any business who participates in sinful acts? Aren’t we sinners ourselves? We decided to watch the movies that we deemed appropriate, and neglect those we don’t believe in. In fact, Netflix has a “Faith and Spirituality” section that has some pretty uplifting movies.
The Pricing Change
For about a year or so we kept our subscription until the pricing changed and they started charging about double for what we were already getting.
That’s when quit Netflix. But the price change wasn’t the only reason we quit.
I started working more and more online writing articles and managing The Christian Dollar, so I found myself with less time to spare. Netflix just wasn’t as attractive as it once was because our situation had changed. I was working hard again – but this time with two jobs.
Where We Stand Today
Currently, we do not have Netflix. I have a feeling that Courtney and I will be tempted to sign up again soon though, as the free side of Hulu.com is pretty sparse and I’m home at nights now that I’ve quit my day job.
How Netflix Works
But is Netflix worth it? Here are some things we’re going to consider before signing up.
The Cost and What You Get
For $7.99 a month, you can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streaming over the Internet to your TV via a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Apple TV, or any other device that streams from Netflix. You can even watch from your computer – that’s what we’ve done in the past.
Grab a Free Trial!
If you’re wanting to try Netflix out, you can sign up for a one month free trial. If you’re enjoying Netflix, you don’t have to do anything – just sit back and relax (your card will be charged the monthly fee after your free trial). If you want to cancel Netflix, you can do so at any time.
Netflix has one of the largest selections of movies online: thousands of movies and TV episodes available to stream 24/7. It’s actually quite impressive when you think about it. During the course of your free trial you can get a good feel for the selection.
DVDs
It seems a lot of people have forgotten that you can still get DVDs through Netflix. This probably wouldn’t be an option we’d choose, but for those of you interested, you can get 1 DVD out at a time for an additional $7.99 per month.
Adding DVDs will give you a broader selection of movies and TV episodes that you can choose from. Have a Blu-ray player? Just add them for an additional $2.00 per month.
To anyone who currently has the DVD plan, could you leave a brief review of it in the comments? It’s been some time since we had DVDs through Netflix, so a comment for this part of our Netflix review would be appreciated.
Our Recommendation
Sign up for a free trial. The first month is free, and you’ll have enough time to see if you’ll stream enough movies to make it worth your $7.99 a month. If you find that Netflix is ruling your life, you can always cancel it and focus on reading a few books instead. But sometimes a good movie is just what the doctor ordered. Don’t you agree?
Do you have Netflix? What do you think of it? Leave a comment below!
Netflix envelope pictures by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar
Netflix seems like a good deal, with starting prices at around $8/month. Unfortunately, it’s a bit deceptive, as the combination of DVD/Streaming services is DOUBLE that. I have a DISH account, and if you are in the market to save a few dollars AND get great content, the new Blockbuster @ Home package may be the right choice. Blockbuster declared bankruptcy, but was quickly bought by DISH. Now, with the BB movie package I have access to over 100,000 games, TV shows and movies. I can get them streaming, in-store or by mail, so no need to worry about spending gas money going to the store every time. Netflix is also confused as to the future of their business, choosing to put more emphasis on DVDs, rather than the innovative streaming market. If you’re into family-oriented material, DISH just added another 6,000 titles to its family/kids streaming library. My boss at DISH convinced me to sign up for this, and my family has NEVER had so much material to enjoy. I save money, get great content, AND love the extra 20 HD movie channels DISH put on my regular lineup as a bonus. DISH really hit a home run this time!
I only have the streaming service now; I only cancelled the DVDs because the price doubled and it wasn’t worth it to me because I don’t have much time to watch many movies. But I do miss it at times because there are many titles I would like to watch but they are only available on disc. If I ever have more time on my hands (and money to spend) I would sign back up for that side of it in a heartbeat. As far as the service, it was great. Very quick turn around; I would receive a DVD within one business day. Example: I mail in a return DVD on Monday, they receive it and send a new one on Tuesday, and I receive that one Wednesday. Very fast. I rarely received damaged discs; only twice in several years of service. But all I had to do was report it damaged online, and they would ship out a replacement before I even mailed the damaged one back. So the service was always great.
I am thinking of going back to Netflix. I have tried the Blockbuster service and was definitely not happy. Every disc I received from them was scratched, one was completely unplayable and the others we would miss 5-10 minutes at a time trying to get it to a point where it would play. I also tried Amazon’s service. It is $79 a year but they have limited content. I was not satisfied with the movies at all. The only thing that has kept me from going back to Netflix is the content. I know they lost Starz so I don’t know that they will have many movies for me.
I’ve been a Netflix user for over 5 years at the “3 at a time” level. Lately, I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the number of damaged disk I’m sent. The last straw was tonight when I inserted a disk into my player and it didn’t play. I ejected it, and found that it was broken and that someone had glued it. So, I sealed it up to send it back. Then I inserted the 2nd disk in my player (after checking it for damage) and, not only would it not play but
my player started thrashing like a washing machine with a bunch of nuts and bolts throw into it. I ejected the disk and it came out spinning and too hot to handle. Also, after it cooled down, I noticed that the disk had been badly scratched by my player. I called Netflix customer support (at 4:30 in the morning) and the support person (Andy) said that they could send me replacement disks but would not compensate me for the damage. I sort of expected that, but…
When I asked to speak to his manager, HE REFUSED. AND WHEN I ASKED FOR HIS LAST NAME, HE REFUSED. SO, I CANCELLED MY SUBSCRIPTION. In the end, they’ll pay a lot more than the cost of a dvd player. What he did should be illegal.
Wow, that sounds like a pretty horrible experience Ray! I haven’t experienced that with Netflix before. Having worked at a video store before, sometimes the DVD player could be the source of the issue. If your player is making those types of sounds, usually it’s not due to the DVD being at fault.
We have been Netflix subscribers for around 7 years. We were very happy with the service for about 6 years, but last year, two changes occurred that have made us quite unhappy with their service. For one, prices increased about 60%, an enormous increment. From what we can see, these additional funds are partly used by Netflix to expand into Europe, obviously of no benefit at all to American subscribers. The second and more severe problem (to us) is they are substantially reducing the number of DVD copies available to their subscribers. As an example, we have had 3 movies at the top of our queue marked “very long wait” for about 8 weeks. One of these films is about 12 years old… hello? You can’t tell me there are so many subscribers seeking a film this old. I have complained to their Customer Service several times, to no avail. Also, we have had many films in our Save queue for years, some of which are well known and popular, like “The Ipcress File” (older, but very well known). At this point, if I could find another service like Netflix with as many films and TV series as they have, I would immediately switch.
Hello everyone can anyone tell me how far behind the tv shows are? Like monday night castle would it air that next day or weeks? Thanks
Jerry– from my best estimation, the TV shows are about a season behind. You won’t be watching last week’s show today, you’ll have to wait a while. I’m a big fan of The Office, and Netflix just now released Season 8, which started airing in September of 2011. I think they’re all about like that.
Netflix – we have had it for six years or so. Lately every DVD we get is in poor shape. The movie freeze and after i look at the surface it is scratched and dirty. Their business model is failing. I will most likely cancel my service. This is a failing business.
Yeah Don, I know what you mean. DVDs are really becoming pretty dated. Netflix’s streaming service is much better, and have you heard that Redbox Instant is coming out – another streaming service?
I get the blu-ray disks. All of the reviews I see talk about how the system works. No one talks about the poor quality of the disks. Netflix does not care because they would rather stream then send disks. I can’t do streaming. It hangs on my network. 20-25% of the disks are either scratched, dirty, or made wrong. I have checked with others that get disks and they give me about the same percentage. I also get many that are cracked, but that could be shipping damage. Since there is no store you have to wait days to get another disk. If there is somewhere else to rent blu-ray disks I would be interested.
Robert, thanks for your input. Right now, we’re just doing the streaming, but I remember when we were receiving disks occasionally they would be scratched. But it was probably 1 out of 50 that had issues. I wonder if scratching has to do with the area where disks are circulating… I don’t know… perhaps Netflix has a way to tell if a disk is scratched up beyond acceptability… hmm…
Every time I sign up for Netflix I cancel it almost immediately. Inevitably, the film I want is only available on DVD and I cannot stream it. When they do away with this I will sign on. I understand not everyone can stream, but those who can should be able to do so.
Poor selection of movies. Six John Wayne movies. Few of the most memorable ones. Same with many actors. actresses. No way to comment on Netflix site. For the price, its ok. But please expand choices.
Ralph, yeah I’d like it if Netflix expanded their library. I’d imagine that they will eventually! We’re enjoying some pretty funny TV shows on Netflix right now.
Cindy, yeah it is disappointing when you go to search for something and then… uh… it’s only available on DVD. That’s a good point. I’d be happier if Netflix charged something like $16 – $18 per month and included their ENTIRE library in their streaming section. Wouldn’t that be great? Netflix would win because they wouldn’t have to ship content, and we would win because we’d get instant access to a lot more content we want to see. NETFLIX, are you LISTENING? Anyway, we still have the streaming section of Netflix because we do enjoy a few TV shows and documentaries.
I had both DVD rental and steaming when I was living outside of Charleston, SC. I recently moved to middle Georgia to help with my Mother’s failing health. No high speed internet this far in the woods, so I discontinued streaming, and kept DVD rental. It’s ten miles to town to rent a movie, so picking it up at the mail box is a lot easier and saves gas. Wish I could get high speed internet because I did enjoy the streaming service as I like old movies and documentaries. My only choices here are cell phone internet, or satellite. Had satellite for a while in Bonneau, SC, it was terrible due to the limitations on downloads. Cell phone internet is not much better.
We are looking at getting Netflix, Hulu,and possibly amazon for the rocky box. I would love some insight on any of these. For example is there somewhere I can see what each library offers? There are a few movies that came out a couple of years ago would these be in the libraries or is there a time frame you need to wait to see them come out? “J Edgar Hoover” was one we missed at the theaters. I see from the comments tv series are about a season behind.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Chris, I did find a movie about J Edgar Hoover on Netflix, but I’m not sure if it’s the one you’re interested in – it was also only available on DVD. I don’t think Netflix advertises their library, others might though. You could always do a free trial and see if you like it!
Thanks for your input Randy! Yeah, some people should just go with the DVD portion of Netflix.
NO COMMERCIALS!!!Cancelled Direct TV!!!
Yeah, isn’t that the best?
NOT worth it. I’ve looked up at least 30 different movies in the past week and not ONE movie was listed (old movie of course)
Goodbye Netflix.
Muriel, yeah, you’re not going to be able to find many “big name” movies on streaming.
netflix is not worth it at all. it is allways crashing. all old moives and not good old moives ok. netflix is not worth your time,your money.