I did some searching of Amazon, Hulu, Redbox and Blockbuster services and I think I will come out better with downgrading my Netflix subscription to streaming only at $7.99 a month and then just going to Redbox if I need to pickup DVDs. I came up with that decision after looking at my DVD rental history with Netflix of which I only rented 1 DVD about every 2-3 months; definitely not worth spending another $7.99 for Netflix’s 1 at a time DVD subscription. Redbox DVDs are only $1 a rental but the only downside for me is returning the DVD. I am famous for just letting a DVD sit around without even watching it until weeks later; another perk that made Netflix so good – no late fees and you could return it whenever I wanted.
Before making the decision, I checked out Amazon’s Prime service and they just don’t have enough titles for me. Most the type of content I watch (science fiction movies and shows like The X-Files, Farscape – don’t laugh – and reality shows like on the A&E channel such as Hoarders, Intervention, Addiction, etc) weren’t even Amazon Prime eligible so they were something like 99 cents or $1.99 PER EPISODE. Um yeah, uncool. So that immediately knocked Amazon Prime out for me. So then I took a look at Hulu’s content and was sad to find they don’t even have Farscape! BLASPHEMY! If they don’t have Farscape then whatever science fiction shows I watch won’t they have? Probably more. Instant disqualification. Took a look at Blockbuster good content but their prices are just way too out there for me. One DVD at a time rental is $11.99 a month although you can exchange it (still doesn’t make it worth the price) and their buy On-Demand ranges anywhere from 99 cents to $18+ …. I did a search for a few movies I would be interested in, like Salt and not surprised they all were in the $17.99 per download bracket. Um yeah, Blockbuster is a no-go too.
So unless Netflix changes their plans for the better or one of their competitors opens their eyes and see an advantage here and start to offer some crazy plan better than Redbox, it looks like Netflix + Redbox subscription would be best for me. In fact, I’m saving $2 and I only rent a DVD every 2-3 months anyways AND I’ll also have access to Redbox’s gaming content. Woohoo! Don’t know if its me but it looks like Netflix is intentionally trying to give their business to Redbox. Can anyone say future merger coming? Because if this were the case, it makes perfect sense why Netflix would do this if they play on buying out Redbox in the future. They’re both red ya know.