Netflix vs Lovefilm. FIIIIIIIIIIIGHHHHT!!!!

[Neomod]

I think the Gadget show did a test of streaming services about a month ago (can't find a link) and they all came out pretty badly regarding picture quality.

[Paaaaul]

I did a test of TV programmes and The Gadget Show came out badly regarding smugness and interesting content.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

I think it's much more likely that this is the case, as opposed to Royal Mail just leaving the sacks from Lovefilm with the idiot member of the sorting office.

LoveFilm are well known for the postal equivalent of bandwidth throttling.  For a couple of short periods during my membership I'd watch films the same day I got them and post them back the next day, and found that they seemed to just sit on the discs for a day or two after I sent them back.  Turns out they got a lot of complaints for this behaviour.  I don't think they do it so much now, but yes, it's definitely an issue with them.

[Old Nehamkin]

I did a test of TV programmes and The Gadget Show came out badly regarding smugness and interesting content.

You can't fault that prize draw though.

[phantom_power]

Lovefilm has signed a deal with ABC to stream TV shows such as Lost and Cougar Town which is another tick in their favour. I have read about rumours that they would appear on the Wii (I don't have a problem with the resolution but then I haven't got an HD TV) but they seem to be dated a year or two ago and there has been nothing since.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

I saw that the complete Lost had appeared.  I can't be arsed with it myself, I watched series 1 then gave up as it was clear they were stretching it out for as long as possible.  But yes, it's good they're getting such things in.  They say they've got Blackadder on it, but didn't seem to link to it, so I guess they've got some ironing out to do on the technical side.  But presumably it means they've made a deal with the BBC.

I'm surprised the BBC aren't offering anything like this yet.  They've got the most enormous back catalogue of TV shows, and I'm pretty sure they've said it's what they want to do at some point.

[Harpo Speaks]

Interesting. I watched the first two seasons of Lost but once it moved to Sky I lost track of it. I understand it ends particularly poorly, but I might look at getting back into it.

[phantom_power]

I'm surprised the BBC aren't offering anything like this yet.  They've got the most enormous back catalogue of TV shows, and I'm pretty sure they've said it's what they want to do at some point.

Yes, all they would need to do is add an archive section to the iplayer as well.

[Ignatius_S]

...  But presumably it means they've made a deal with the BBC.

I'm surprised the BBC aren't offering anything like this yet.  They've got the most enormous back catalogue of TV shows, and I'm pretty sure they've said it's what they want to do at some point.

Yup, the deal with BBC (and ITV) was announced recently – there was a link about it on the previous page, but not a huge amount of info!

A few days ago, there was some talk about the BBC offering up repeats from shows longer than seven days of broadcast, which could mean opening the archives. However, Auntie has said that this wouldn't be in the near future and has played down these reports – one or two reports have suggested 2016 by the earliest.

A major sticking point is how the Beeb will make money from it – it says that it needs to cover costs, but not necessarily make a profit. The proposal that has been most talked up is some kind of pay-per-view mode

[Ignatius_S]

Yes, all they would need to do is add an archive section to the iplayer as well.

From the various mutterings, it sounds like there would be another means of delivery. As there would be a charge to watch in some form, iPlayer in its current guise won't cut it.

Also, there are a lot of other things to factor in. For example, how long would people have the access for; how would independent programme makers be compensated?

At the moment, BBC Worldwide is one of the big DVD distributors – if someone can access material easily and cheaply online, then there's likely to be an impact on DVD sales.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Interesting. I watched the first two seasons of Lost but once it moved to Sky I lost track of it. I understand it ends particularly poorly, but I might look at getting back into it.

I wouldn't recommend it. Like you I watched the first two seasons but then not the rest, until I broke the leg and ended up catching up with it, and I really wish I hadn't. There are some fantastic episodes, and I love parts of seasons 4 and 5, but the final season as a whole is a big disappointment, with the finale being (for me at least) ridiculously disappointing stuff that made watching the whole thing a big waste of time.

[Penfold]

I'm not sure which way to go at the moment.

I'm using the netflix free trial and I like that they have things on there I would buy on dvd but only if I was really really drunk like the entire spiderman cartoon series from the 90s and south park.

It's a shame there is no Parks and Recreation, Community or It's Always Sunny on there[nb]that I could find[/nb], they have the last season of SNL and some specials but if one of them could get the american shows that you can't get on region 2 dvd then i'd go for that one.

It seems I just want the American Netflix catalogue.

[VegaLA]

It's a shame there is no Parks and Recreation, Community or It's Always Sunny on there[nb]that I could find[/nb], they have the last season of SNL and some specials but if one of them could get the american shows that you can't get on region 2 dvd then i'd go for that one.

Parks and Recreation and It's Always Sunny is there, guess its only a matter of time before its made available your end, not seen Community on there yet but will keep my eyes open for it.

[mjwilson]

I wouldn't recommend it. Like you I watched the first two seasons but then not the rest, until I broke the leg and ended up catching up with it, and I really wish I hadn't. There are some fantastic episodes, and I love parts of seasons 4 and 5, but the final season as a whole is a big disappointment, with the finale being (for me at least) ridiculously disappointing stuff that made watching the whole thing a big waste of time.

On the other hand, if you stopped after the first two seasons, you missed the greatest cliffhanger of all time.

(For the record I loved the finale, but agree that the final season is a bit of a mess.)

[Santa's Boyfriend]

From the various mutterings, it sounds like there would be another means of delivery. As there would be a charge to watch in some form, iPlayer in its current guise won't cut it.

Also, there are a lot of other things to factor in. For example, how long would people have the access for; how would independent programme makers be compensated?

At the moment, BBC Worldwide is one of the big DVD distributors – if someone can access material easily and cheaply online, then there's likely to be an impact on DVD sales.

BBC World wide makes the vast majority of its money overseas, at least that was the impression I got, so I don't think that's a big deal - also a DVD or Blu-Ray copy is higher quality than streaming is capable of, at least at the moment, so there is still a collectors impulse there.

But as a public service broadcaster I think it'd be hard for people to swallow the idea of the BBC charging for streaming archived content.  I appreciate the need to cover costs, but it'll still be a hard sell.  (I'd imagine independent programmes, or at least stuff that wasn't commissioned by the BBC, wouldn't end up on it.)

[chumfatty]

I signed up yesterday to Netflix for the free month to see if it's worth swapping from Lovefilm. The choice of films resembled that of a eighties mobile video rental van with the odd smattering of post 2001 titles.

Am I missing something? Lovefilm seem to have a far more up to date library (postal wise). Does more content become available after the free trial?

[phantom_power]

Hopefully they are just building up their online library. It is unfair to compare Netflix' streaming service to Lovefilm's postal one as they are different beasts altogether but even comparing the streaming service Netflix loses out at the moment. There is enough stuff in the TV section to keep me interested for a few months though

[Paaaaul]

I signed up yesterday to Netflix for the free month to see if it's worth swapping from Lovefilm. The choice of films resembled that of a eighties mobile video rental van with the odd smattering of post 2001 titles.

Am I missing something? Lovefilm seem to have a far more up to date library (postal wise). Does more content become available after the free trial?

Netflix have a better TV library and their streaming quality seems to be a lot better.
Lovefilm have a bigger overall library and a better selection of films.

Not really arsed about which service has the most "up to date" library - the quality, and quantity of quality, is the biggest issue as far as the decision on who gets my money in the long run is concerned.

[Penfold]

Parks and Recreation and It's Always Sunny is there, guess its only a matter of time before its made available your end, not seen Community on there yet but will keep my eyes open for it.

Seasons 1-6 of It's Always Sunny are due on Wednesday with season 7 appearing on 13 February.

I'll probably just end up buying Community on region 1 dvd then region 2 a year later.

[phantom_power]

How do you find out what is coming to Netflix?

[Penfold]

I saw it on...

https://www.facebook.com/NetflixUK

which I hope is real.

[Paaaaul]

I saw it on...

https://www.facebook.com/NetflixUK

which I hope is real.

Everything in their previous posts seems to have appeared on Netflix, so it looks kosher.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

It seems that the appearance of Netflix has resulted in Lovefilm getting far, far better.  It's still a bit lacking in TV, but it's at least started it, and has a seperate section (I've been watching Red Dwarf series 2, it's been really good to re-watch them.  I Wish they'd hurry up and put the other series on there though).  But I've realised it's changed my viewing habits - I'm much more likely to try out a film I'm unsure of than I am with its postal service as I can just switch to something else if I'm not getting on with it, and although there's plenty of shit on it (John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars - I lasted about 20 mins) I've ended up seeing some real gems.  On there right now are two films I'd really recommend to CaBers, Tucker and Dale Vs Evil, and Interstate 60.  Both comedies I was really unsure of, but absolutely loved both of them.

Interstate 60 is written and directed by the writer of Back to the Future, and comes across as a labour of love movie inspired by Gulliver's Travels and various other mythological stories.  Tucker and Dale vs Evil is essentially Deliverance in reverse, where the yokels are lovable innocents mistaken for psychopaths by a bunch of students.  Both were a joy to watch, I'd recommend them very highly.

How are people getting on with Netflix?

[phantom_power]

It is great for TV. I have been happily ploughing through Breaking Bad and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. It is also good for older films. I have been having an 80s binge on Dune, Buckaroo Banzai and Howard the Duck. Where it really falls down is on new films which it is pretty crap for

[Paaaaul]

Netflix have added very little since launch.  I've very quickly gone through everything I fancy watching and will probably unsubscribe when my current month ends. The couple of months I had with LoveFilm showed a much higher turnaround of content, so I will probably go back to them for a bit.

[wasp_f15ting]

Have any of you tried doing the DNS hack for the 360? Not sure if its legal... but they have all of SG1 which I never saw and much much more

[Penfold]

i'm currently paying for a VPN on my laptop for a month and it has allowed me to use my Netflix account to access the american catalogue which is much better. I originally thought i'd have to set up a separate US account but I don't.

I only really use it for TV so currently watching Party Down, which gets removed tomorrow, and Portlandia.

I may be in love.

Or I should just go back to torrents and save some money.

[wasp_f15ting]

Oh crikey... the US one is pretty epic.. SG1 - All season, SGA, SGU!, then ST TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY... there is too much to watch! Get your ass in gear UK Netflix!

[Beagle 2]

I've loved having netflix for ploughing my way through It's Always Sunny, but after forty-odd episodes I'm beginning to tire of the show, and desperate for something else on there. All I've watched apart from that are Oldboy and some terrible shite documentary about a sex addict who was actually just a massive wanker that I thought might have rude bits. So that's stuck on my "recently watched" for my girlfriend to find, cheers for that Netflix, now look what you've done Netflix.

I'll just echo what other people have said really, the quality is spot on, really handy to be able to pick up where I left off whenever I can find a wi fi signal, but the selection is great big doo doos. I've never seen "In Bruges", so I thought "Aha! Either that or Lovefillum is bound to have that", but they were all like "nah mate". Weak!

[phantom_power]

Lovefilm now outputs to my tv through my jail broken iPad so I should be able to sample more or its wares now. It does have a miles better film selection. There is a big collection of zombie films on there at the moment, in a crossover with another thread.