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Netflix goes bat@#%@ insane, it's $16 a month now if you want to keep 1 DVD + streaming, $18 for 1 B (1 Viewer)

EricSchulz

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I still subscribe to the RSS feed for Netflix's new releases...I am SHOCKED at how little is added each week, and the titles are lame! I have found that using my library's interlibrary loan program I have been able to get almost every title I've wanted...for free. With the exception of TV titles, I'm getting a huge chuck of titles that I had in my Netflix queue. And Amazon's TV selections are improving...
 

Ronald Epstein

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I'll never go back to Netflix. Poor, poor selection.

As an Amazon Prime customer I am very happy to read this earlier today.

Still have not figured out which (if any) of the devices
I own actually has access to Amazon streaming.
 

EricSchulz

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Ron, I believe Kindle has it installed, IIRC.
iPhones had an app, which I would guess is also available for the iPad.
Not sure about any Android/other devices.
 

TonyD

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Yes comes as part of the deal with the Fire and the ipad app was just released only a couple weeks ago.
Also on Roku and some bluray players including the Sony bd780 which is what i have.
 

Ronald Epstein

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I'd rather have the Amazon streaming capability for my plasma display.

Will have to check if the Oppo has it (I doubt it) or perhaps the Logitech
Google TV.
 

JeremyR

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Ronald Epstein said:
I'd rather have the Amazon streaming capability for my plasma display.
Will have to check if the Oppo has it (I doubt it) or perhaps the Logitech
Google TV.
I just checked into this myself Ron. And it is available. Bye bye Netflix. I've primarily been watching episodes of Star Trek: Voyager here lately, a series I gave absolutely no chance when it originally came out. I regret it now, it's really quite a good show. The premise turned me off initially, but that was a mistake.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_354189382_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000612061&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=12JTMM317NZZ37QJA5JQ&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=1277115742&pf_rd_i=1000612061#devices
 

NY2LA

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Unfortunately LG refuses to update the firmware on my model TV or Blu Ray to include anything it didn't have when I bought it. They've both got Netflix, Vudu, CinemaNow, and some other crap I never use, but they only gave Amazon to the next year's model. They want me to buy another one... PS my stuff is only a year and a half old. I'd have to spend another hundred bucks for an Apple TV box, which I'm considering.
 

Stan

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With Amazon taking over a big chunk of programming, looks like a possible fatal mistake for NetFlix. From what I've read so far, NetFlix basically walked away from the contract renewal and Amazon swoooped in a grabbed a big piece of the market.
My one and only problem with with Amazon over the years was their Prime product and even that was my fault, but didn't catch the automatic renewal before I decided to drop it. Great product, just bad timing as my Amazon purchases were put on hold for financial reasons so didn't get much use of it. Although it actually turned out to be a positive for them and I have more respect for them than before. There was no fine print where they tried to sneak the auto-renewal past me and they automatically refunded $56 of the fee when I complained, no questions asked.
With even more movies & TV shows available now, might be time to renew again.
 

Todd Erwin

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My real problem with the content provided by Epix is that most movies are not in their OAR. If a movie was intended to be seen in anything wider than 1.85:1, then Epix crops it to fit your 16x9 screen (although no disclaimer is presented prior to the film like you see on cable).
 

Stan

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Toddwrtr said:
My real problem with the content provided by Epix is that most movies are not in their OAR. If a movie was intended to be seen in anything wider than 1.85:1, then Epix crops it to fit your 16x9 screen (although no disclaimer is presented prior to the film like you see on cable).
I think Epix has a long way to go. I switched to Dish Network about three years ago, but with about 100 crappy shopping channels made my own personal list that I choose from. Once in a while would hit "All Subscribed" and Epix would pop up. I don't even recall seeing a standard 1.85:1, everything was cropped, pan and scan to full screen so I refused to watch it.
I actually thought it was just a cheap channel provided as part of my package, but then realized I was getting a free preview for several months of a pay channel.
Unbelieveable they actually expected me to pay extra for a channel that showed cropped, non-OAR movies. Pigs will fly before that ever happens.
Even though I might miss AMC, Dish replaced it with HDNMV (which I think is HD Net Movies). They ran "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" last weekend, the first time I'd ever seen it in it's full wide-screen glory. Don't know what the OAR was, but this looked full width and seemed to have even larger letterbox bars top and bottom than usual. Looked even wider than the standard 2.35:1 ratio.
 

Todd Erwin

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I checked the same EPIX titles that are cropped on Netflix to see how they looked on Amazon. Surprisingly, Amazon Prime does not crop, and many are even in 5.1 surround!
 

Sam Posten

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Deep dive on how Netflix recommendation engine works:
http://www.slideshare.net/xamat/building-largescale-realworld-recommender-systems-recsys2012-tutorial
 

NY2LA

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Toddwrtr said:
My real problem with the content provided by Epix is that most movies are not in their OAR. If a movie was intended to be seen in anything wider than 1.85:1, then Epix crops it to fit your 16x9 screen (although no disclaimer is presented prior to the film like you see on cable).
that's funny since all the commercials I see for them are letterboxed at about 2.40
 

Stan

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Isn't that nice when ads and previews are letterboxed so you tune in or DVR something only to find it cropped or pan and scan.
Our local PBS station is famous for that. I don't even watch their movies any longer because of the "false" advertising. They show some really great stuff once in a while, but never OAR.
Even our local network affiliates will often do widescreen commercials and news previews, only to zoom in to full screen about 1/10th of second before they return the show. NBC and FOX are pretty decent, but ABC and CBS affiliates are worthless.
I'm wondering if Netflix will survive. Market is getting pretty saturated, they pissed off a lot of customers last year and there are obviously better choices for streaming available. I was never a customer, but certainly not going to become one now.
 

Michael Elliott

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I have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Fandor and I think they're each great. I'm really not sure why Netflix is getting such a bashing. Yes, some of their stuff isn't OAR but I just skip these titles and see if they're available somewhere else. Hulu and Amazon have titles not in their OAR as well. Netflix still has the best selection IMO but I guess it's going to depend on what type of films you enjoy. They have countless "B" pictures that will never be on DVD or Blu and I think many of them never even got a VHS release. They've added a lot of Paramount titles over the past couple months so I've been catching up on a lot of "mainstream" films that I haven't seen since they were released theatrically. I'm not a TV person but it seems like they're adding new season sets weekly.
Of the four, I'd say at this point Amazon is the weakest as they've got way too many Public Domain titles that they're giving away for "free." I have been using their Theatrical Releases a couple times this week (for SIDE BY SIDE and ARBITRAGE) and the quality here has been fine (went for the SD versions to say $$$).
Hulu I basically use for the Criterion and Troma titles but to be honest, I haven't watched anything on here in a couple months (the last was the turkey ENDLESS LOVE, not OAR) so this here is one I should probably cut and just rent it a month at a time when I need it.
Fandor is slowly growing on me. They offer up a wide selection of titles including many from Synapse and VCI, which was the main reason I went with it. This one here is more for fans of the bizarre.
 

Towergrove

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Stan said:
Netflix is said to be dropping about 800 hours of A+E programming it deems unpopular with subscribers, according to a report in Variety.
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/netflix/report-netflix-playing-hardball-ae-content-28343


What I dont like about these services, some programming is here today, gone tomorrow. Ive been in the middle of many series only to discover the next chapter of my show, the one I have spent countless hours watching, is now gone never to be seen on the service again.
 

MattAlbie60

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That's what I dislike about streaming in general. All it takes is for something to be "unpopular with subscribers," whatever that actually means, and it's gone.
 

Jason_V

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Originally Posted by Stan /t/312972/netflix-goes-bat-insane-its-16-a-month-now-if-you-want-to-keep-1-dvd-streaming-18-for-1-bluray-out/270#post_3976603
Our local PBS station is famous for that. I don't even watch their movies any longer because of the "false" advertising. They show some really great stuff once in a while, but never OAR.

I've heard a couple things like that about PBS in the past. I guess I'm very fortunate that one of our PBS stations shows movies uncut and in what looks to be OAR. I just watched Bullitt over the weekend, in fact.
 

Sam Posten

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Towergrove said:
What I dont like about these services, some programming is here today, gone tomorrow.   Ive been in the middle of many series only to discover the next chapter of my show, the one I have spent countless hours watching, is now gone never to be seen on the service again.
I'm with you 100% on this frustration. My solution has been to only use streaming services for shows I am not all that invested in or can burn through quickly, like I just did with Louie. Anything I really care about I buy as a complete series boxed set when they are done, tho with GOT I got hooked and am buying a season at a time. That works for me cause I don't watch all that much regular TV programming but it won't work for most viewers. We are still in the early days, the wild west, where this stuff is concerned so I'm ok with a little bit of churn, but I hope they get something workable for a long term future settled within a few years.
 

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