How about Netflix? I put Avatar in my queue today and I'll get it tomorrow.

[elocs]

It said "very long wait" so I thought it would be awhile.

I must admit that I have a quick turnaround since my returned disks go to a P.O. box at my post office and are sent out from my city. So I returned a dvd on Wednesday to my post office, Netflix gets it Thursday morning and later that day they will send out the next available dvd in my queue and I'll get it tomorrow (Friday).

[Whisp]

1. wow.

I was going to look into Netflix as I'm sick of giving money to our local Bollockbuster.

will do soome research on it soon.

whats your opinion (besides the delievery time being good), lots and lots to pick from?

is it a monthly flat fee you pay for a certain amount you can order in a time frame or a payment per movie...

:)

[elocs]

3. Just check out Netflix.com and you can get a one month free trial.

The charge is based upon how many disks you have out at a time and then a couple of bucks more for Blu-Ray. I have Blu-Ray so I can check out if I might like to buy a disk and 1 out at a time. With mail delivery 6 days a week I can get up to 3 dvds a week. It's a flat fee and when you send one back you get the next available selection in your queue. There are thousands of movies, documentaries, and tv series to choose from.

Ultimately, for me, the value of Netflix is not in getting the physical dvds and Blu-Rays, but in the huge selection of streaming videos that are available with no limits on how many you watch. I use a Roku box (http://www.roku.com/roku-products?gclid=CNXwqqbo4aECFQPyDAodlAFtIg) which allows me to watch the streamed video on my 50" plasma.

With it I get the Netflix streaming videos as well as other channels (some free) and also there are all of the videos available to rent from Amazon.com. The video quality from Netflix streaming and Amazon is great. I have also run a line from the Roku box to my tv in the bedroom.

So, I highly recommend Netflix and you can try it out for a month. I have had 2 damaged dvds and one that never came and I simply let them know and there was absolutely no problem.

[Bryan]

6. It's a monthly flat fee

I'm at the one-at-a-time unlimited plan, which runs me about $10 a month. It's great. Getting new releases is a bit of a pain, but for older films and TV series, it's a joy (and the streaming feature is very convenient).

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. We've enjoyed it. Use the streaming more than the disks, but there are just some

cases where you can't stream it so DVDs are our only option.

If it hadn't been for NetFlix, we would never have discovered "The IT Crowd." I think that right there made it worth it for us. :) (And the documentaries. All kinds of great political documentaries on there.)

[Whisp]

12. thanks, thanks all for info. I would definitely be looking for what you want GPV

docs, foreign films, stuff like that.

and I'm getting anew computer, finally!, so will be able to do that stream thing.

awesome.

[elocs]

13. Do check out the Roku box for watching Netflix & other streaming on your main tvs.

http://www.roku.com/roku-products?gclid=CLeMk5iQ46ECFQ_yDAod2UFeKQ

They are not expensive and I have found them well worth the price to watch the streaming videos on my 50" plasma, or on any other tv.

[gmoney]

17. Roku is cool... plays Pandora, too

Not sure why it doesn't have an OFF switch though. I guess that keeps it "logged in" so you don't have to sign in each time.

[Auggie]

2. I had to wait a month for "A Serious Man" -- which died at the box office

Netflix randomly throttles new releases to heavy/moderate users -- doesn't matter how bad the film is or what it did at the box office.

What's worse, A Serious Man was available via OnDemand for weeks before Netflix shipped it.

[elocs]

4. I think a lot of how it works depends on where you live.

I only have 1 disk out at a time and am in no way a power user. In fact, I have sent disks back without ever watching them. I primarily have Netflix for the thousands of streaming video movies, documentaries, and tv series that I can watch as often as I like.

[Auggie]

5. I have the one disk option at a time too

It's for my parents who usually watch one DVD a week. I wouldn't call four a month heavy use. I'd dump Netflix but it's the only easy way my folks can see new release movies (they are not tech savvy and won't own a computer).

[elocs]

7. I was using Redbox, but I think Netflix has them beat hands down because of the streaming video.

There's nothing like being able to watch a tv series one episode after another and if you pause them you can come back later and watch them from that point.

Although I have only 1 out at a time, I do get up to 12 a month but I get them back real fast as well.

[jberryhill]

10. Streaming is great - the discs are beside the point...

I just finished the original Cosmos series.

Billions and billions...

[gmoney]

16. let me know what you "get" out of that movie

left me kind of scratching my head...

[Missy Vixen]

8. We have the three-disk option

We live in a rural area, and it's better for us to watch movies at home than rent them (with gigantic late fees) from the only video store left in town.

We're not heavy users. If we get six movies a month, it means I actually made it to the post office in a timely manner.

Avatar is at the top of our queue as well. We returned two discs today; the queue now reads "short wait" next to Avatar. We'll see. I'm expecting to get "The Men Who Stared At Goats" and another movie this weekend...

[supernova]

11. Couldn't play it in my player

We rented Avatar last Friday because I really wanted to see it. But it simply would not load into my Samsung BluRay player. Wound up taking it back to BB to get a credit for something else.

If you don't have a Sony player, well, YMMV.

[elocs]

14. I've heard of that and the need for some Blu-Ray players to be updated online.

I have a Panasonic Blu-Ray player so I'll find out today how it works.

[elocs]

19. Avatar does play on my Panasonic Blu-Ray player. n/t

[bikebloke]

15. They're good.

In my area, main stream DVD's usually have a long long wait. Hurt Locker has been near the top of my queue with a "short wait" status for weeks. Yet I easily get foreign DVD's on release day (no complaints since they're my preference). For me, movie night is Saturday, so it's once a week with plenty of time for the exchange. I've read of people who turn DVD's around fast to get as many DVD's as possible. Those are the folk who get throttled.

But the selection is enormous. I stopped going to Hollywood Video when they started stocking mostly straight-to-DVD.

[elocs]

18. Well I turn mine around fast, but I only have 1 out at a time.

Usually if I get a movie today (Friday) I will watch it today and take it back to the Post Office before the mail goes out for the night. The returned Netflix disc will go from my P.O. to a P.O. box there and then on Saturday they will send out my next disc which I will get on Monday.

So at one out at a time I get my movies on either Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Still I enjoy Netflix much more for the streaming videos than for the physical discs. One of my main reasons to get the discs is to check out the Blu-Rays to see if I would like to buy them.

[elocs]

22. I just added "The Hurt Locker " to my queue and it says, "available now".

Like I said in the OP, I added "Avatar" on Thursday morning and received it Friday even though it said, "long wait".

I do turnaround my discs to get as many as possible but with just one out at a time and my availability and turnaround is very good.

[bikebloke]

23. Area demands

I suspect different supply areas have different demands. My Hurt Locker queue still has a short wait. But I'm fine for my Saturday movie night with The Girl on the Train and Crazy Heart.

[one_voice]

20. The messenger came today..

and tomorrow I'm getting Crazy Heart.

I love Netflix. I definitely get my money's worth, between the discs that come through the mail and the live streaming.

[elocs]

21. I love Netflix the most for the streaming video, but my turnaround time is fast.

To tell the truth I have sent discs right back unwatched.

[one_voice]

32. I think my turn around time is pretty quick too..

If I put a movie in the mail on Monday, I have the next movie by Wednesday. I usually only wait a day between mailing and receiving.

[Speck Tater]

24. I've always been very happy with NetFlix. The only I recent I just quit is ...

There were only 10 movies left on my queue that I wanted to see, and every one of them was "Long Wait" or "Very Long Wait" and each of them had been in my queue for more than a month. So after a couple days of them not sending me ANY movie in my queue, I just quit. I'll go back when more good movies come out that I want to see. Probably in another 6 months or so.

But for now, I just ran out of movies I wanted to see.

[elocs]

25. For me the physical dvds are secondary to the many hours I enjoy with Netflix streaming.

I don't have cable or satellite, just over the air in hd, so Netflix streaming does very nicely for me and the $11 I spend each month is the best entertainment bang for the buck I've ever gotten.

I've never had to wait more than a week for any of my choices, even when they did say "very long wait". If I took "Avatar" back today I would get "The Hurt Locker" on Tuesday.

[Speck Tater]

26. Netflix policy penalizes heavy users.

Policy is to send "long wait" movies first to the people with the slowest average turnaround time. That way they don't have to mail out the movie as many times.

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service… (From official terms of use)

If, however, they sent it first to the people with the fastest turnaround times that would maximize the number of people who got to watch the movie in a given period.

So clearly their priority is to minimize postage cost, rather than to maximize customer satisfaction.

Here's an interesting analysis of NetFlix disk availability depending on how heavy a user you are:

http://dvd-rent-test.dreamhost.com/

[elocs]

27. My turnaround times are fast. I can get discs M-W-F or Tu-Th-Sa.

So with 1 disc out at a time I can get as many as 3 a week. That will obviously change when there no longer is Saturday mail delivery. But obviously with only 1 out at a time I do not rent a lot of movies. Someone with 5 out at a time, returning once a week could get 20 a month which is 8 more than I could get at best.

That website has a lot of information, but it is way, way more info than I need since I am quite satisfied with how quickly I get my discs.

[Speck Tater]

28. I also turned around my movies very quickly. They way they penalized me for it was...

...that movies that were listed as "Long Wait" or "Very Long Wait" on my queue were listed as "NOW" on my sister's queue, because she took much longer, on average, than I did to view and return her movies. So she got the first run movies before I did. The top three movies on my queue were all "Very Long Wait" on my queue, and had been listed as such for TWO MONTHS! Yet my sister had received, viewed, and returned all three because she takes 3 or 4 days to turn around a movie instead of my 1 day turn around.

[elocs]

29. All I can say is that "Avatar" was listed in my queue as very long wait & I got it the next day,

and I never waited longer than a week for any video. When LoTR came out on Blu-Ray it was listed as a long wait also and I got that disc right away as well. I chose RoTK because I had just watched the first 2, but it came in my next delivery.

I'm not disputing other's experience, this is just mine.

Again, I do not keep Netflix for their actual dvds, but for the streaming video.

[Speck Tater]

30. I don't doubt your experience.

But I had Inglourius Basterds and Precious as numbers 1 and 2 on my queue for over two months without ever getting them. They were still there at the top of my queue when I canceled my subscription last week. Avatar was still listed as "Not Yet Released" when I canceled, which was odd because it had been on the shelves at Walmart for over a month by then. Same with Sherlock Holmes. It was on the shelves at Walmart for at least a month before it was released to Netflix.

My suspicion is that I turned around movies quickly enough that Netflix didn't really want me as a customer. I was costing them too much in postage.

[elocs]

31. I thought I had read something about new releases being withheld from Netflix for 30 days.

I wonder how much of this depends upon where you are located? La Crosse is a city of 50,000 and my discs are returned to a P.O. box at my post office. So if I return a disc to my post office it does not have to go far.

If I return Avatar on Monday I will get an email at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday informing me they have received the video. Later on Tuesday I will receive an email to tell me my next disc is on the way and being mailed from the post office here in La Crosse going to my home here it does not have far or long to go and I will have my next disc on Wednesday.

I guess I should just appreciate my good fortune, but all in all I really have Netflix for their streaming videos.

[Speck Tater]

33. I am 30 miles from a center and I also get next day turnaround.

But that only works for movies that are "available now". Movies with "Short Wait", "Long Wait", or "Very Long Wait", I just never got those. Ever. Those always got skipped over and "Now" movies from lower down my list were sent to me. When there was nothing left on my queue except movies that had a wait, after several days of not getting ANY movie sent to me, I just canceled. Especially since those same movies Netflix wouldn't send me are available now in the Redbox vending machine at both the local Safeway and Walmart for $1/day.