Netflix versus Hulu

Steelgrave · January 11, 2014, 01:28:30 PM

Quote from: mirth on January 11, 2014, 11:43:50 AM
Has Amazon improved their video player? I did a trial Prime membership a year or so ago to try the streaming service and I thought the video player was far inferior to the Netflix player. Also the search sucked. The free and pay video options were lumped together so it felt like I had to wade through a bunch of stuff I didn't need or want.

Netflix is a little more per month and you don't get the other benefits of a Prime Membership, but it's far easier to use when it comes to just watching movies and programs.

I have an Amazon Prime membership because we buy a lot from Amazon and the free shipping pays for the subscription price pretty damn quickly. As for their video streaming, I don't have any problem with it at all. The search could definitely be improved, but the videos themselves play fine on my iPad, TV and computer. What I have found is that a lot of times Netflix won't have a title I'm interested in but Amazon does, with the caveat that if it's not on Amazon Prime you will have to part with a few bucks for it. Anytime I see a "movies you should have seen" list or "best horror movies you missed" list, I go to Amazon and tag them, then go to Netflix to see if they are there.

Netflix is starting to produce some good, original shows and that's another point in their favor.

Staggerwing · January 11, 2014, 02:54:24 PM

Netflix is poised to become more of a searchable 'USA Network/FX Channel' than an 'HBO/On Demand' entity such as Amazon is currently.

Steelgrave · January 11, 2014, 02:56:45 PM

Quote from: Staggerwing on January 11, 2014, 02:54:24 PM
Netflix is poised to become more of a searchable 'USA Network/FX Channel' than an 'HBO/On Demand' entity such as Amazon is currently.

Yeah, agreed. Amazon is more my "gotta see it now" choice where I know I may have to part with a few bucks, whereas Netflix is where I go when I'm undecided and just want to watch something. Both have their virtues.

Toonces · January 12, 2014, 02:57:30 PM

Good thread.

At this point I'm probably just going to keep our current cable set up, but I already told the wife that when we move to our next duty station we're going to try the Netflix/Amazon thing instead of cable. I mean seriously, our cable bill is something like $160/month right now and I know that I personally don't watch nearly enough TV to justify that kind of money.

It's the internet thing that's the problem, because it seems like the cable companies bundle the internet with the TV package so that it's almost not cost-effective to cut the cable and still require internet. I'll have to research my options wherever I go next. There just aren't as many options out here as there likely are on the mainland.

Gusington · January 12, 2014, 03:51:15 PM

We've also toyed with ditching cable and keeping Netflix streaming, which we're very happy with. Our fee of 8.00/month is also awesome for the amount of content available at Netflix. Never tried Hulu but we hate commercials so I don't think we ever will.

Steelgrave · January 12, 2014, 06:52:55 PM

Quote from: Gusington on January 12, 2014, 03:51:15 PM
We've also toyed with ditching cable and keeping Netflix streaming, which we're very happy with. Our fee of 8.00/month is also awesome for the amount of content available at Netflix. Never tried Hulu but we hate commercials so I don't think we ever will.

Hulu never seems to have what I want, or if it does, not an entire season. I've subscribed to Hulu Prime twice and cancelled within three months each time. Just not enough quality there and entirely too much crap for filler.

Bison · January 12, 2014, 07:08:29 PM

Do any of them carry USA or History channel programing like the Vikings?

mirth · January 12, 2014, 07:37:24 PM

I'm not a fan of the Hulu-plus model. The idea of a paid subscription and still having to watch commercials doesn't work for me. If I have to watch advertising, the content should be free.

Steelgrave · January 12, 2014, 08:48:44 PM

I paid for Vikings on Amazon. Don't know if it was on Hulu or not, I didn't bother to look. Frankly, since I don't pay for cable, paying $25 bucks or so for the occasional "can't miss" show doesn't bother me, especially since I can go back and watch all the episodes whenever I like.

Gusington · January 13, 2014, 08:42:17 AM

Netflix has a ton of older History Channel programs and it also had The Vikings, that's how I got caught up.

Bison · January 13, 2014, 09:01:18 AM

Quote from: Gusington on January 13, 2014, 08:42:17 AM
Netflix has a ton of older History Channel programs and it also had ~~The~~ Vikings, that's how I got caught up.

Don't correct me. So I can watch History Channel's Vikings on Netflix, I suspect it's just a few months delayed. That's fine with me. I only watch TV about one a month or two.

Gusington · January 14, 2014, 10:57:50 AM

^It's also how I watch The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Sons of Anarchy and almost every movie since I am antisocial and hate movie theaters. Beware though that it is longer for releases of big series and films, but it doesn't matter to me.

One key missing link from Netflix is HBO programming but I have HBO so it's a moot point for me. For others that might matter.

Bison · January 14, 2014, 05:32:46 PM

That's cool. I don't watch hbo.

Staggerwing · January 14, 2014, 07:20:28 PM

All this may be moot when Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu will have to jack up their subscriptions to cover bandwidth costs that the ISPs are about to slam them with:

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=8985.0

Gusington · January 15, 2014, 08:52:45 AM

Yeah I saw that...:/