Comparisons among Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Verizon Fios VOD

[Lionel Mandrake]

These are three different streaming services for movies and TV shows. From my vast experience with all three services, I offer the following list of their advantages and disadvantages.

Netflix HD streaming costs me about $9 per month. This is in addition to Netflix DVD service, which costs a similar amount. Old TV shows are streamed without commercials, which is a huge advantage. My TV remote control has a button labelled "Netflix", which I use frequently.

Amazon Instant Video is generally a high-priced pay per view service, but some of their content is free for those of us with Amazon Prime accounts. An Amazon Prime account costs about $100 per year, which is comparable to the price of Netflix streaming, but it also includes free second-day shipping of books and other merchandise from Amazon.com. My TV remote control has another button labelled "Amazon", which would be convenient if the interface were less cumbersome and not so full of glitches. I use this service to watch stuff that does not stream on Netflix.

Verizon is the local phone company and supplies TV and internet service as well. "Fios" is their acronym for the service with the highest bandwidth, which uses FIber OpticS (get it?) rather than copper wire. "Video on demand" (VOD) is their jargon for streaming. With VOD I can only get replays of TV shows from channels I subscribe to. Old TV shows are streamed complete with the fucking commercials. And what's worse, Verizon won't let me skip the fucking commercials. This "service" really SUCKS.

Have I gotten anything wrong or left anything out?

[MarianJack]

1. We have Netflix streaming and no cable or dish.

We're happy.

We had Hulu Plus, didn't like it, dumped it!

PEACE!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Hulu Plus and AcornTV

Hulu Plus costs the same as Netflix, and unfortunately, it has commercials but I keep it for access to the full Criterion Collection of classic and foreign films from throughout film history, its catalog of foreign films, and TV shows from the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Russia, Latin America, Korea, Japan, and other places. This is where you can see the Danish-Swedish original of The Bridge, for example, or the entirety of series such as Inspector Morse or Waking the Dead. I don't like the commercials, but the catalog makes up for it.

AcornTV is more specialized, showing TV from English-speaking countries outside the U.S., and there is surprisingly little overlap between its catalog and that of Hulu Plus or Netflix. It's available as a Roku channel or as a smartphone app.

MHz Worldview is available on some cable and satellite systems, as well as as a Roku channel or smartphone app, and it broadcasts English-language news from around the world during the day. In the evenings, it shows European dramas, mostly mysteries, from Europe. The schedule changes continually, since European series tend to be short.

[MarianJack]

3. We have Netflix streaming and no cable or dish.

We're happy.

We had Hulu Plus, didn't like it, dumped it!

PEACE!

[catchnrelease]

4. Re:VOD

I actually like the fact that I can go back and watch shows I was not able to watch at their regularly scheduled times. If I've had to miss one night of a series I've been following, thanks to on demand I was able to go back and catch up. I agree having to live with the commercials stinks, but since I normally don't watch tv in the evenings I like the flexibility to watch when I want to.

We also have Netflix streaming which is my favorite, and Acorn. I have used Amazon's instant video, also to fill in some episodes that I couldn't find any other place. But that's only as a last resort.

Unfortunately we still have cable, and hopefully one of these days I will be able to wean my husband off of it. I rarely watch anything there.

Thanks for the comparisons!

[ginnyinWI]

5. Amazon's selection is a lot smaller than Netflix.

I don't think I could find enough to watch with only Amazon Prime. We rarely watch anything on it, even though we are Prime members. Netflix is so much easier to use.

We also have the ability to get You Tube on our TV with both our Tivo and our blu-ray player. We have a hoot watching some of that stuff. You get on one person's line-up and just keep watching.

[corkhead]

6. Verizon's service should be called FOAD

[olddots]

7. one guestion

Need a room mate ?

We have net flix and an apple tv box but wretched internet cable that messes up anytime we start enjoying something .

[Lionel Mandrake]

9. We also used to have cable.

It was very unreliable. Sometimes only one channel was fucked up. Sometimes there was no signal on any channel.

Satellite TV is more reliable than cable but has some minor drawbacks. You get fewer local stations from satellites. To receive signals from satellites you need a good view of the southern sky, because the satellites are over the equator, which runs through Ecuador (hence the name), which is south of us. Occasionally rain will interfere with satellite signals, in which case you will see artifacts on the TV screen. But these are minor issues compared to the unreliability of cable.

Digital subscriber link (DSL) and fiber are good options, but they are not available everywhere.

[bif]

8. Love Netflix

Have DVD and streaming. My only regret is not buying stock in the company when it dropped to $70/share!

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. Hindsight is wonderful.

I could make a lot of money on the stock market if I had a time machine.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Update: I just broke down and subscribed to Amazon Prime, partly because

I was interested in Mozart in the Jungle, an Amazon-produced series about intrigue behind the scenes at a symphony orchestra, and all the HBO content. It's a way to see Treme and the rest of Deadwood without having to subscribe to HBO.

[Lionel Mandrake]

12. You inspired me.

I have started to watch Mozart in the Jungle and Treme via Amazon Prime. These are very different shows. The former is comedy, the latter gritty and realistic, somewhat like The Wire. Both shows have lots of music.

The music in Mozart in the Jungle is especially well played and well recorded, mostly classical but some jazz as well. In one episode, a character sang a song in the style of Billie Holiday; then the closing credits were accompanied by a wonderful recording of Billie Holiday singing the same song.

[eablair3]

13. I'm real happy with Amazon Instant Video w Prime

It's been a long time since I've been on Netflix, but Amazon's streaming video service has a ton of quality stuff. All the HBO content, as well as original series like Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, and Alpha House, which I really enjoy. And, other quality series like The Americans, Justified, Orphan Black, Downton Abbey, American Horror Story, 24, and others. A pretty good selection of movies with Prime, as well, like The Wolf of Wall Street with Margot Robbie.

Of course, I haven't had Netflix for a while (since the first seasons of House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black), so I probably don't know what I'm missing.

[yellowdogintexas]

15. Amazon Prime has a LOT of HBO's retired series and early seasons of ongoing programs.

I still have HBO but make extensive use of HBOGo via the ROKU device to watch all their series and movies. I have been able to binge watch several of the series I never got to see.

The minute ROKU and HBO come to terms on the new HBONow, we will cancel the cable and subscribe to HBONow. We have Netflix and AmazonPrime already.

We may or may not pick up ACORN or Hulu+ if either of them offers current productions.... that would be great.

[sendero]

14. My experiences.....

.... I currently have Amazon Prime, which I am very happy with and will probably always have, and Hulu Plus which is just OK.

I used to have Netflix but after a couple of years we had basically seen all of their content we wanted to see. Sometime in the not too distant future I will probably drop Hulu and get Netflix again.

Amazon Prime offers quite a bit of free content, and not just junk. Their original content, such as Mozart in the Jungle and Alpha House (as well as the only one season Betas) is all very good to excellent. Their user interface (I use a Roku) is excellent, in sharp contrast to Hulu's, which seems to have been developed by people who should be in another line of work. It is horrid.

Hulu DOES have some content you will have a hard time finding on other services, such as a nice collection of "Criterion Collection" films if you like such stuff. I generally do.

Amazon Prime gives access to Amazon Instant Video for the non-free content, and prices to rent old movies are generally reasonable. Also, Amazon has the technology to notice if you were having trouble with your internet connection (sadly a common occurence here) and will automatically refund your money the next day.

All told, I replaced a $80 per month satellite TV bill with a $20 streaming bill and I am quite satisfied with it.