Recent Post
Netflix vs. Amazon Instant Video Face-Off
- October 17, 2012
- Review
- 2 Comments
Netflix vs. Amazon Instant Video Face-Off
Streaming video is responsible for the death of cable TV in many American households. Who wants to pay for hundreds of channels that you don’t watch anyway when you can watch unlimited movies and TV shows for as little as $6.58 a month? Streaming video awesome, but there are trade-offs. For one, you need a fast broadband connection. You get average picture quality, sometimes poorer than a DVD (forget about Blu-Ray). There are also no fun DVD extras like actor interviews and director commentaries. If that’s fine and binge viewing is more important to you than anything else, there are two popular streaming video providers that you should look at: Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
Amazon Instant Video
Amazon streams video through Instant Video and Prime Instant Video. Like iTunes, the first is a store that rents and sells films, videos and TV shows. There’s no subscription; you buy or rent titles that you can watch instantly, later or download for offline viewing. Prime Instant Video is a streaming service included in an Amazon Prime membership. Most people sign up for Prime for Amazon’s free two-day shipping rather than video streaming, but that’s included too. For $79 a year, you get unlimited video streaming plus a free Kindle ebook rental per month. The monthly subscription comes down to just $6.58, but note that you can’t pay monthly, only for the entire year.
Price: $0.99 to $1.99 per episode for standard definition and $2.99 per episode for high definition
Library: 120,000 titles
Pros:
Reasonable price
Huge library
Clear HD video
Fast downloads
Videos can be accessed on different devices (PCs, Macs, game consoles and media players)
Latest TV shows are available 24 hours after airing on TV
Cons:
Latest releases and blockbusters are unavailable
Not all titles are available in high definition
Certain content can’t be downloaded due to licensing restrictions
Mac users can stream but not download videos
Prime Instant Video
Price: $79 per year
Library: 18,000 titles
Pros:
Commercial-free unlimited video streaming
Video streaming on the Kindle Fire
Cheaper than Netflix at $6.58 per month
Cons:
Limited library. Most new TV shows are not available for Prime subscribers.
Limited devices. You can’t download videos onto a PC, laptop or mobile device except for the Kindle Fire.
Netflix – Free Trial Offer
Netflix is the original cable TV killer, with currently 27 million streaming video subscribers. It still has a DVD-by-mail service, but with fewer subscribers. Netflix Instant costs $8 a month for unlimited streaming of videos, TV shows and films. There’s a lower priced version ($4.99 a month), but it’s strictly limited: it only streams on computers, the library is sparse and you can only watch two hours of video per month. Netflix Instant lets you watch videos on a PC, Mac, Roku Box, tablets, game console or a mobile device after installing the right media player. It also supports more devices than Amazon Instant Video; it’s available on Apple TV, Nintendo Wii, TiVo, Android phones, iPhone, Windows phones, the Nook, TV sets and Blu-Ray players.
Price: $8 per month (Netflix Instant), $4.99 per month for limited subscription
Library: Twice that of Amazon’s (Netflix refuses to divulge the actual number)
Pros:
More than 80 percent of videos have subtitles (not just the foreign language ones)
Scene thumbnails to mark your spot
Suggestions and recommendations for additional movies
Netflix-produced exclusive TV shows in the works
Cons:
Only available in certain countries due to licensing restrictions
Most movies are old
Limited selection on recent releases
Shifted focus to TV shows after ending partnership with Starz
Verdict:
In terms of playback, selection and site usefulness, Netflix Instant beats Amazon Prime. Netflix also has a bigger library. Amazon Prime wins in terms of price, but you pay $79 up-front and are tied to a one-year subscription. Both Amazon and Netflix are partnering with third parties to expand their video collection, so it will get better with time. But right now it’s more of finding something you like than say, finding that particular art-house movie. If the selection doesn’t bother you, go for cheaper Amazon Prime. If you hate being tied down to anything, go for Netflix. An alternative is to try the free one-month trial for each service and then make a decision.
NetFlix, NetFlix.com Introduces Roku TV Boxes
- May 20, 2008
- Tech
- Comments Off on NetFlix, NetFlix.com Introduces Roku TV Boxes
I currently subscribe to NetFlix because of the high value they offer. For only $16.99 a month I rent 3 DVDs at a time with no monthly limit! I can also watch hundreds of movies from my PC at no additional cost through NetFlix.com. Now comes another groundbreaking way for me to enjoy my subscription in a 5-inch-by-5-inch device from the California startup Roku. The device downloads movies from the NetFlix web site and delivers them to your TV. For the 8.2 subscribers that would like this extra it will cost them $99 for the set top box. Once you hook up the device you’ll be able to unlimitedly stream over 10,000 movies. Best part of all you only need to have the $8.99 subscription to enjoy this service. Early reviews look promising, CrunchGear: “This is one of the most elegant and surprisingly usable dedicated devices I’ve seen in a long time. Unlike, say, the Kindle, everything here is almost perfect. As the literal incarnation of a web service, the Netflix Player by Roku is a true gem.” Visit NetFlix.com.