request for opinions -- netflix vs BB

[lilrebel]

HI --

I had netflix before the price change (1 DVD at a time). I liked it a lot because the things not available via streaming would come via DVD (Dexter, Nurse Jackie, and various other tv shows). I just saw the BB/Dish membership ad. I checked out the BB website and it looks like I can get the latest movies streamed and get the HBO/SHOWTIME series via DVD and it only costs 10.00 per month! I was hoping people who had used both Netflix and BB would chime in on whether BB was close to what I described above with netflix.

 

[TheKrell]

I would say the DVDs by mail services are fairly comparable. BB has new disks 28 days earlier than Netflix. But some people report that the mail/turnaround takes 1-2 days longer than Netflix.

 

[Bruce]

HI --

I had netflix before the price change (1 DVD at a time). I liked it a lot because the things not available via streaming would come via DVD (Dexter, Nurse Jackie, and various other tv shows). I just saw the BB/Dish membership ad. I checked out the BB website and it looks like I can get the latest movies streamed and get the HBO/SHOWTIME series via DVD and it only costs 10.00 per month! I was hoping people who had used both Netflix and BB would chime in on whether BB was close to what I described above with netflix.

You do not get the latest movies unless you pay extra for them (ppv) via the net, the only way to get them is by disc.

 

[hemway]

I've had both Netflix and Blockbuster by mail service at one time or another and both would ship new releases to you the day before the DVD was available in stores, so you would get it the next day (I live in the Phoenix area where both Netflix & Blockbuster have distribution facilities). Netflix had a slight advantage because you could stream some content to your TV if you had the right hardware.

When Netflix started waiting 28 days before mailing some new releases, I went to Blockbuster who didn't have a wait. Then Blockbusters service got real bad when they went into bankruptcy, so I went back to Netflix because even with the 28 day wait, I would get most of the new releases faster than with Blockbuster. After Dish bought Blockbuster from the bankruptcy court, I was assured that the service was back to per-bankruptcy quality, so they gave me a 30 day free trial to try to get me to come back. I tried it and it seemed that the service was back to the way it was before the bankruptcy so I cancelled Netfix (rise in price at the time was also a factor) and went back to Blockbuster.

But since Dish started their Blockbuster by Mail promotion, the service has gotten pretty bad, at least here in the Phoenix area. Once a DVD goes on 'Short Wait' (which is most of the time in my case) you never know what you'll get or when you'll get it. If you exchange DVD's at BB stores, you can usually get a new release but the exchange process sometimes takes longer for your account/queue to get updated then when you mail back a DVD.

Another thing I noticed is if you do return a DVD and you do have an available title in your queue, it now seems to take Blockbuster longer to process the return and mail you the next DVD. With NetFlix, if I mailed a DVD back, I would get an email the next morning that they received the DVD and another email later in the day that they shipped the next DVD. That used to happen with Blockbuster but not since Dish bought Blockbuster and they started this Dish promotion. I also don't think Blockbuster ships or works on Saturdays like Netflix does which also impact the delivery service.

Will Dish/Blockbuster beef up their distribution with more new DVD stock, increase each distribution centers processing capacity, and process 6 days a week, nobody but the folks at Dish/Blockbuster. If they were smart they would because they could really put a dent into Netflix's mail service if they did.

As for steaming, until they integrate the Blockbuster and Dish systems so you can go online and select an available DVD or TV show and have it sent to your Dish DVR so you can watch it when you want, I won't be using the service. Ordering it through the DVR is slow and a pain in the a%%.

 

[Teehar]

There is no comparison of streaming because Blockbuster doesn't truly have streaming.Netflix wins hands down there.

 

[Character Zero]

I guess it all depends on how you use it. I had Netflix (1 DVD + Streaming) and before the price changes it wasn't bad at around $13 a month. But really I didn't use the streaming enough to justify the $8 stand alone price they changed it to. I also used Gamefly a few years ago and it was $16 a month. Now I also don't watch a ton of movies, we normally watch the 1 we get on a Friday or Saturday and with BB I have been able to get my next movie before the weekend. But I also opted for the 2 out at a time so one could be a game. Basically I started with 1 out at a time, and loaded my queue with movies. After I got my first movie, I put games in the queue and put them at the top. I then switched over to 2 at a time and they shipped me a game. So while I have the game out (and I typically have it out for weeks at a time playing it) I have my movies at the top of the queue. So each time I return a movie I get another movie. When I am done with the game, I push all my games to the top of the queue, send in the game and get another game and then push the movies back to the top. So for $15 a month I am getting the equivalent of the $8 Netflix + $16 Gamefly, not bad at all. Now they don't get the newest games in the timely manner, but I have tons of games in my queue that I never played and got mediocre reviews because they may have been short, basically a bunch of "rental" games that I wouldn't have bought.

 

[Yespage]

There is no comparison of streaming because Blockbuster doesn't truly have streaming.Netflix wins hands down there.

Well, doesn't have truly streaming is misleading. The Blockbuster Movie Pass has absolutely no streaming from the Blockbuster Catalog. All streaming material is from the Platinum channel slate.

 

[Teehar]

All streaming material is from the Platinum channel slate.

If you call that streaming,the vast majority of the platinum content has to be downloaded before you can watch,so imho thats not streaming.

 

[Lord_Vader]

At this point, I would have to say their is no comparison at all. I was really looking forward to dropping Netflix mail service and keeping streaming only. Since I get blockbuster included in the "platinum" channels, it was essentially free. But after having it for a month or so, I would have to say that it reminds me of Netflix from years ago. Waits, not sure what will ship, and somewhat limited selection.

That being said, its easy enough to try. You can add "platinum" / blockbuster and try it out. Just don't expect Netflix type service. It will most likely improve over time, but its not there yet.

 

[demsd]

I have had both and because of the games, and now Movie Pass, Blockbuster wins IMHO.

 

[demsd]

If you call that streaming,the vast majority of the platinum content has to be downloaded before you can watch,so imho thats not streaming.

When was the last time you tried? I have not had to wait for the movie to download the last 3 movies I watched.

 

[Teehar]

When was the last time you tried? I have not had to wait for the movie to download the last 3 movies I watched.

Last night.Quigley down under,and Rob Roy both had to download before I could watch.The only thing that has truly streamed on either the 612 or 722 has been some short sd 3 stooges.So it's possible that streaming may be working for a select few but certainly not most.

 

[Tony S]

I have had Netflix for years, but after their price increase, I checked out Blockbuster. For me, disks shipped by mail come very quickly and is just about equivalent to Netflix. However, Blockbuster gets new movies quicker and they have a lot more new movies than Netflix (...just check out the 'releasing this week' list of movies from Netflix vs Blockbuster and you will see that blockbuster has quite a bit more). Since Netflix has become more streaming orientated, they just don't get as many new disk releases like they did a few years ago. Also, you can get Blu-ray disks for the same price where Netflix charges extra.

Streaming is a different story however. Netflix has blockbuster beat in streaming. Netflix has a lot more choices and has real streaming. Streaming from Blockbuster is not at all like Netflix. Blockbuster has pay per view (video on demand) streaming, but who wants to pay $3.99 for streaming a movie? (note that I am talking about streaming from the blockbuster site, not streaming through Dish Network).

So I ended up keeping Netflix for streaming only, and I use blockbuster for disks by mail. The best of both worlds!

 

[jfkittredge]

I can't say that I'm especially happy with either service. I was a Netflix subscriber for years, but found my use of the service waning. First, there was the 28 day wait, then, there was a progressive degradation of titles available for streaming. Sure, the one business day turn-around on discs by mail was nice, but that alone wasn't enough to justify the subscription price bumps, the bluray fee, or the diminishing selection.

On one level, BB is nice, because you get a Netflix-like service, plus the platinum channels for a competitive price, but I've found the whole shebang pretty frustrating otherwise. I do, however, love the in-store exchange program. Here are my problems with BBMP, in general:

1. The on-demand selection is limited to what is available through the dish channels you subscribe to.
2. The on demand interface is terribad. It's laggy, slow to browse, there is often a problem with titles refreshing correctly, finding a movie you actually want to watch requires sifting through mountains of lousy B-movie fare, and HD movies often take quite a while to buffer (that may be a comcast internet problem, though).
3. Disc-by-mail selection is great on paper, but lousy in practice. Of the fifty titles in my queue, 35 have a short wait, and another 10 have a long wait. The short wait has proven to be significantly longer than short. I haven't updated my queue in more than a week, for example, and none of my short wait titles have become available.
4. Being able to get games by mail is nice, in theory, but if I want new release games, I'd better forget about it. With most, there is a 90ish day lag before they become available. Plus, when a title does actually become available, see #3.
5. When titles are actually mailed, it takes me about 4-5 business days to receive them. Netflix used to take one day.

All in all, I'm getting more use out of BBMP than I did Netflix, but I'm not especially thrilled with the service. I might keep it for another month or two and then cancel and go back to using the Redbox more frequently.

 

[Ray M]

I was hoping to be able to quit Netflix and use BB but it does not sound like BB is up to speed yet, maybe growing pains? Can you still exhange your movies in the stores instead of mailing them?

 

[wormil]

There is no question, Netflix is the better service for now. I was hoping to cancel my Netflix DVD service but the BB DVD service is so bad that I just can't do it. Turnaround is 4 days out and 4 days back compared to 1 day with Netflix. I'm actually getting new releases faster from Netflix than BB where they are all short wait unless you go to a BB store and pick them up (if you have a BB store, all of ours closed). The games option is nice in theory but they are all old lesser games that few people want to play and most of them are still on short or long wait. BB streaming is a joke, it's just the same movies that are on the platinum channels... there are only 3,000 movies available, zero are 4 star or above, only 280 or so are 3 star.

 

[PopcornNMore]

To me the 20 plus additional HD channels are worth the $10 a month and the 1 disc at a time and streaming are just a bonus. This is something that you don't get with Netflix. I enjoy watching "HD Net Movies", "Sony Movies", "MoviePlex", "Hallmark Movie Channel", "MGM", "Universal" and many of the other HD channels. So, even if I only watch 1 disc by mail to me its worth having the BB service.

 

[Ghpr13]

I had NetFlix, changed over to BBMP when the NF price increase hit. As has been stated by other posters here, streaming is a bit of a joke. Mainly due to the horrible user interface for finding a movie off of your Dish receiver. It is way too time consuming to have to go through movies titles one by one, even if you filter your choices down. Dish needs to work on all their guides and modernize them. As far as the BBMP disc by mail, I find that it still kind of hit & miss. This week was a good week. I mailed back two disc on Saturday, received two disc yesterday. I do like that BD are at no extra charge...Dish has a great ideal here, and it could be a very welcome addition for subscribers, but Dish needs to get to work on it and take care of the bugs...Needs to be a lot more user friendly.

Ghpr13

 

[Ganthet]

I already had the Platinum package when BBMP came out so I decided to reduce my Netflix account to streaming-only and use BBMP for discs-by-mail. My Netflix was 1 disc at a time plus Blu-Ray so essentially this saved me $10 a month. BBMP has been a little frustrating though. As others have commented the newer releases (what I primarily rent by mail) almost immediately go to "Short Wait/Long Wait" upon release. When the discs do ship I receive them as quickly as I did with Netflix. I'm giving the service until the end of the year to see is the availability issue gets better. If not, I may just start using Netflix for discs again and keep BBMP as a supplement.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I was hoping to be able to quit Netflix and use BB but it does not sound like BB is up to speed yet, maybe growing pains? Can you still exhange your movies in the stores instead of mailing them?

I would answer that with a "Yes*". You can exchange, but only for certain things. I don't profess to have all of the details, but the store manager said something like "you can get any of the 99 cent games that you want." I'm not sure about the movies. I haven't been back again. You do need to return the in store exchange to the store before they will mail you another title, and you can't mail the store disc back.