Blockbuster vs Netflix, how do they stand up?
Written: Mar 17 '09
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This was the question that I wanted to answer for myself, so I went onto blockbuster and Netflix to start my two-week trials and find out for myself. My husband and I don’t subscribe to cable because we never have time to watch, so we only watch movies. Because of this, I thought that the best thing to do would be to get something we could watch on our time without fear of late fees. An online movie rental store sounded great.
I chose to have two DVDs at once because I could send one back every other day, and I would constantly be able to look forward to a new movie in my mailbox.
The plan was that I would try Blockbuster for the first two weeks. After that was done, I would unsubscribe and try Netflix for two weeks. At the end of this time, my husband and I would know which one was for us. Here is what my husband and I found out in our time with both.
A small glossary of terms so that you know what I mean.
Queue - The Queue is your list of currently requested movies.
WL – Wait list indicating the wait time. (now, short wait, long wait, very long wait, unavailable, and unknown)
Xbox – a game system that allows owners to watch movies.
Tivo – a tv service that allows you to record tv, and also allows you to watch movies.
Blockbuster
You can check your account at the top of the page, (much like you can with Netflix) but I was never able to find a way to split the queue into two or more queues. Blockbuster has a larger number of tabs on their main page, many as one might expect, focused on selling you things.
There are the buy, download, store and gift tabs, both of which cost you money to take advantage of.
The rent tab has DVD suggestions and items that you might want to add to your queue. You are able to search by many different categories including new releases and movie categories.
My blockbuster which has information about your account and the activity of friends and family that might also have accounts with blockbuster online.
Games where you can go to rent games for various systems. (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii & 360).
I do not have any of these systems, so unfortunately I cannot give any info as far as the quality of these rentals.
Blockbuster offers a fairly large selection, though some of them are not available for rent (only purchase). It doesn’t have some of the more obscure, or less family friendly titles that some might be interested in, probably because blockbuster is considered ‘family friendly’. I have had several DVDs on my WL that had a short wait, and a few of the more obscure or hot titles had long or very long waits. I did find a few that were unavailable because the copy was unwatchable.
All of the DVDs that I have watched from Blockbuster have been in good working order. They weren’t very fast at returning DVDs. I would put a DVD in the mail, and five to seven days later I would have a new one in hand, so with my rotation system I had a new DVD every three or four days. Blockbuster offers free in store exchanges, but you pay more for that option, and the store movies are subject to normal late fees and must be returned to the store they were rented from so my husband and I didn’t use that feature often.
Netflix
When you log on to Netflix, you see a list of specifically suggested movies that is slowly tailored to your tastes as you rate the movies you watch. It is the most accurate that I have ever seen. I know that when it tells me that it thinks I will give a movie a 3 ½ stars, that is exactly what I would have given it. It also tells you what the average rating is for other viewers. It also makes more of these suggestions as you pick movies to add to your queue.
In the upper corner, you will see your account, where you can access information about payments or your plan, change your plan, etc… You will also see your name. This is where you can click to add personal profiles for others in the family that might want their own queues. (Yes parents, you can set the rating and number of DVDs they are allowed to receive.) You also see four tabs:
DVDs –where you can look at the latest dvds, and search by numerous factors including genre, new releases, and suggested movies.-
Instant - where you can look up movies for your instant queue, which we will discuss later.-
Queue – where you can see and adjust what is in your instant queue and mailing queue.-
Instantly to your tv – where you can find out more information on watching movies instantly.
Let’s talk about the queues now. In Netflix, you have a queue for movies sent by mail, and an instant queue for movies you want to watch instantly. This is a feature where you can watch movies instantly on your computer, xbox, tivo, or a specially purchased box from Netflix (more info about these is under the instantly to your tv tab). Instantly, that means no waiting for the mail and it doesn’t affect the number of movies that you have out in the mail. It doesn’t cost anything extra to view these movies or shows this way, and you can see as many as you want. There is a limit to the number of movies that they have available to view online, but I don’t think there would be a server large enough to carry all of those movies and shows all the time so I didn’t count that against them. They also seem to rotate these movies on a regular basis because some of the movies have expiration dates that you have to watch them by. If you don’t they moved to your saved cue to be added when they become available again.
Netflix offers a large selection of movies available for rent. From the mainstream to the obscure, every movie that I have thought of watching, as well as many of the television series I like have been available on Netflix. I have only had two DVDs on my WL that had a short wait, and both were new releases that were available when the reached the top of my queue.
All of the DVDs that I have watched from Netflix have been in good working order, and they mailed them out quickly. I would put a DVD in the mail, and three to four days later I would have a new one in hand, so with my rotation system I had a new DVD every two days. In between I was able to watch movies instantly as often as I want. I unfortunately do not have an Xbox, or tivo, so I am unable to tell you how the instantly to your tv system works.
The price difference?
There isn’t one really. I won’t try to give all the plans and pricing because it changes so fast, but I will give you an idea of what is available. The Netflix.com and Blockbuster.com websites will have more information.
They each have a two a month plan for about $5 where you are only allowed a limited number of rentals and exchange/instant movies.
Beyond that, Netflix offers plans of 1 – 8 movies out at a time from between $9 and $47 per mo, and each includes unlimited instant movies
Blockbuster has three tiers of plans.
One is mail only. These offer 1-3 movies at a time with no free in store exchanges for between $9 and $16 per mo.
One is limited. These offer 1-3 movies at a time with limited numbers of monthly exchanges for between $12 and $20 per mo.
One is unlimited. These offer 1-3 movies at a time with unlimited store exchanges for between $22 and $35 per mo.
Both accept credit cards and take out the money automatically. Blockbuster does accept PayPal payments, which may be a boon for some people.
My decision.
Overall, I found that it seemed that blockbuster just wanted to sell me things, not give me the service I paid for. I chose Netflix because even when there wasn’t a movie in the mailbox, there was something to watch. My husband and I watch a movie an evening, and going nearly a week without one wasn’t our idea of worthwhile. Now it is time for you to decide.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? rental videos
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About the Author
Member: April Dawn
Location: California
Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me: I'm a teacher, a wife, a mother, and a novelist.
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