Netflix Logo

One of the things that I like to do here, aside from how-to articles, scripts, tips and tidbits, etc., is to share things that I have run across that I find useful or fun, a good value, and so on.  One such thing recently has been Netflix.  Now, unless you have been living in a cave somewhere, I am sure you have heard of Netflix before.  Their claim to fame is DVD rental by mail with no late fees.  It works, works well, I have used the service in that capacity and been quite happy with it.  However, that is not what this post is about.  No, in this day and age of instant gratification, this post shows off a new feature that Netflix offered up, which is the ability to watch movies and TV shows instantly, over the ‘net.  Bing!

You can do this a couple of different ways, using your computer (this is how I do it) and streaming the content via your web browser, or using a special device that connects to your TV and streams directly to your set.  I haven’t used the special TV device, and I don’t know anything about it, I will just be talking about the browser based service.

For a nominal fee, ($8.99/month) you can get both DVD by mail service and unlimited instant service (over the Internet).  To me, this is a pretty good deal.  That’s a rental or two and you can watch all you want, nice.  What’s the catch, you ask?  Well, naturally you have to have some type of broadband connection.  I haven’t actually tried it on dial-up, but I can’t imagine it would be fun.  The other thing is that their instant content selection isn’t near as vast as their physical DVDs, something like 12,000 instant viewing titles versus over 100,000 DVDs that they can send via mail.  That being said, I haven’t had any trouble finding something to watch.  Yeah, I have found a few things that was only on DVD or what not, but there is still lots of good stuff to choose from and they are adding more all the time.

All in all, I think this is a good deal if you spend a lot of time at your computer (check), and like to watch TV and movies (check), and want the versatility to change it up and watch one thing one day and something else the next without having to buy a truck load of DVDs (also check).  For the record, I am not affiliated with Netflix in any way, I get absolutely nothing if you go sign up (although, Netflix, if you want to send me gifts feel free! :]).  I simply wanted to share something I found to be good with my audience.  Feel free to post your own thoughts and/or experiences in the comments.