While running about the 'Net I came across a site called www.netflix.com. Apparently for $19.95/month you can rent and watch as many movies as you want. You can even keep them for as long as you want. There are no late fees, apparently. The only catch is the max you can have rented out at any given time is 3. Apparently you order the DVD's and they mail them to you and you just mail them back in a pre-paid envelope they send. Is this a good deal? Oh, and if you guys are looking for a good price search engine for DVD's, I found this one : www.dvdpricesearch.com. Know of any others? ------------------ "I was arrested for sexual assault involving an elderly man and I was out in 35 minutes." -- Achebe - programmer by day, geriatric ass grabber by night. As(s?) a side note, he did state he was cleared of charges. [This message has been edited by Dr of Dunk (edited March 13, 2001).]
Netflix.com rocked when they started. I was one of the first subscribers and I got a deal to rent 4 at a time for $16/month. I could always get any DVD I wanted, and new releases were always available. Maybe 6 months ago, I noticed their service going down hill. They raised my price to $20/month (altho still 4 discs at once), the time it took between mailing an old one and getting a new one increased dramatically. New Releases were never available, and even some old movies were unavailable. Cool Hand Luke, eg, was "checked out" the first few times I tried to rent it. Their best feature is the Marquee Queue, you can keep a queue of discs on the netflix website, then when you return a disc, they just send the next one on your list. I was a happy customer for 9-10 months, but I dropped because their turnaround time for news discs slowed, the Blockbuster next door increased their DVD selection, and basketball season started and I don't have time to watch that many films.
I have used it for a while now and for the most part enjoy it. You can actually have 4 movies out at any one time. They are very quick at sending you stuff (it usually takes around 2 days) but sometimes it seems they are slow at "receiving". That is O.K., however, as you have the opportunity to inform them that the DVD is in the mail and they will release the next title to you. My only complaint is that as they have gotten bigger, sometimes the movie supply doesn't seem to be adequate to keep up with the demand. They get the new movies in stock as soon as the stores, but they may not have enough to go around. It is truly easy and convenient. It may be a little pricey, but the convenience is worth it. ------------------
jamcracker, You're saying it started taking too long to get your movies. How long was it taking? I ask because bobrek states 2 days. Hell, I think that's FAST! bobrek, You guys both say that it's 4 movies at a time. Right now their site says 3. Not that it matters, but maybe their site is wrong. I dunno. It seemed like a pretty good deal to me anyway. The convenience rocks, especially with my work schedule and Rockets worship at the top of my list at the moment. ------------------ "I was arrested for sexual assault involving an elderly man and I was out in 35 minutes." -- Achebe - programmer by day, geriatric ass grabber by night. As(s?) a side note, he did state he was cleared of charges. [This message has been edited by Dr of Dunk (edited March 13, 2001).]
I bet bobrek and me are grandfathered into a 4 disc deal at $20. That deal may not be offered any more. I was grandfathered into a 4 disc for $16 for several months after they stopped offering it to new customers. In the past, when you mailed a disc back to netflix, you could press an "I Mailed The Disc" button on their website, and they'd send the disc out immediately. Some time a few months ago, they changed it, the "I Mailed The Disc Button" no longer causes an instant ship. Now netflix waits until they physically receive the disc until they ship the next one, effectively doubling the between disc delay. Lately, its been taking me 4-5 days to get new discs. Twice, I just plain never received a disc that netflix sent. It was never a problem, they never accused my of stealing the disc (even tho they've no proof) and always just mailed out another copy.
jamcracker They have released titles to me (within the last month) when they haven't acknowledged actually receiving the disc. Perhaps they had, but I have received a disc and then gotten the email (a couple of days later) that the got the one I sent back. Whenever they have acknowledged that they shipped a disc I have received it in 2-3 days. I have only received 1 "bad" disc that had a number of skips. The movie wasn't that good anyway (Stigmata) so it didn't matter. ------------------
