Redbox, Netflix
When I went to Giant Eagle earlier this week, I got a two DVDs from the Redbox DVD rental machine in front of the store, as I felt like watching a movie and they only charge 1 dollar plus tax a day, which is really cheap. Sadly, one of the DVDs was so badly scratched that my drive wouldn’t even read it: After a few unsuccessful tries at spinning up the disc, it spit it right back out — though my DVD player isn’t even usually that picky about what it eats (I’ll spare you the reference to Americans and their fast food).
Sure enough, I called customer service (1-800-REDBOX3, in case you were wondering) and they apologized, marked the disc as “to be removed from circulation” and gave me two codes for free rentals in return.
So I took back the discs, and got two new ones — only to notice that one of them was, yet again, looking like somebody had used it as a coaster:
Though they gave me another replacement code, I decided to try something different to satisfy my urge for movies and TV shows: I signed up for Netflix.
The idea of finding a new movie in the mail box when I come home from work sounded appealing to me. So I already put 20 discs into the queue which, considering I have the 1-DVD-at-a-time-plan, will probably take ages to go through, but we’ll see how it goes. Another cool feature is their “watch instantly” collection, but I may blog about that some other time.
I wonder what my readers use to get to their movies? Let me know in the comments.
Netflix!
Friend us on there. I think it’s just JP Fridy. Our queue is somewhere near 100. We’ll never get through it all. =)
I had a Blockbuster subscription for a few months. It was OK (I shared the costs and the movie queue with other interns at the office) and we got a free in-store rental for every mail-in movie we brought to the store. Sadly (or: understandably) they canceled this particular subscription option for obvious reasons. I’m sure we were not the only ones to watch 60 DVDs per month
Right now, I have too little time to watch movies during the week and on the weekend, I prefer the DVD rental place a few blocks away where I can [try to] get the movie I want to see within minutes. I think their latency time is the only disadvantage of the DVD mail business. I’ll try out one of the services (Amango etc.) in Germany sometime and keep you posted on how well it compares.
I got my first DVD (“The Closer”, Season 1, DVD 1) yesterday and watched all three episodes in one go, then I sent back the DVD today. We’ll see how fast they get me a new one.
What’s convenient is that apparently the closest Netflix shipping center is right here in Pittsburgh, so delivery should be fast all the time. I expect it to be fast with the German services as well, just because the German postal service usually gets any delivery anywhere in Germany within one day.
Anyhow, the “watch instantly” feature on Netflix can well help you bridge the time between every two DVDs you get, so I think it may be a good deal what I got. If I had an actual job etc., I would probably get two of them at a time, so that you always have one at home and one in transit.
Its pretty much redbox all the way for me. I do like the deep catalog options of netflix but with a busy life full of sudden changes Netflix is just too cumbersome for planning purposes.
redbox is so cheap and I can get what I want right then & there….because many times thats how my movie watching time comes up….right then and there. Dont let anyone tell you that they never have anything in stock. Go online ahead of time and reserve it…its sooooo easy. The only bad part of that is that you cant use the tons of free rental codes when reserving but if you cant even afford that $1, I dont think netflix or anyone else affordable.
My other issue with these subscription services is that they ALL get the best of you…ALL OF THEM. They have to make money people and they do that buy YOU never costing them too much money in movie shipments. If you DO use them “too much” you get bumped down to the bottom of the wait list on hot movies. They have already been busted twice for this and continue to do it.
Rob: Thanks for you comment. My impression of Netflix has been good so far, but of course you are right that they have to make money somehow. For example, the fact that they don’t ship on Saturdays is one of their ways to make sure you only get so many DVDs a month. What I like better about them is that you can get a ton of older movies, so I am able to catch up on all these classics I haven’t watched yet. Of course, you won’t get them straight away, but only after they make it to the top of your list and you hand another DVD back in.
I just found out that RedBox carries Blu-Ray discs as well. This final piece was the clincher for me. Blu-Ray rentals for $1 with no commitment!!! It’s a no brainer.
Convenience is what it is all about for me. I have the three movie plan and I am never without a DVD. I also watch a lot of the TV and cable shows on their ‘watch instantly’ plan.
It really is like a gift in the mailbox. (That I pay for.)