AVS Discussions
Video Source Devices => Blu-ray => Topic started by: SRW1000 on April 18, 2023, 08:30:44 PM
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Just got an email about this today. Not exactly a surprise, but still sad to see. It's been my primary movie watching method for years and years, but that will all come to an end on September 29th of this year. :'(
Here's a link to the FAQs in case anyone else is a subscriber: FAQ - DVD Netflix (https://dvd.netflix.com/Faq)
Looks like I've got five months to find a suitable alternative.
Scott
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It’s amazing how far that company has come. Inused to rent discs from them when they started. Now they produce outstanding shows and movies. Incredible.
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Just got an email about this today. Not exactly a surprise, but still sad to see. It's been my primary movie watching method for years and years, but that will all come to an end on September 29th of this year. :'(
Here's a link to the FAQs in case anyone else is a subscriber: FAQ - DVD Netflix (https://dvd.netflix.com/Faq)
Looks like I've got five months to find a suitable alternative.
Scott
That sucks Scott, but at least streaming has closed the gap significantly in the video department (audio is still pretty inferior). Are there other options out there?
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That sucks Scott, but at least streaming has closed the gap significantly in the video department (audio is still pretty inferior). Are there other options out there?
Yeah, there are a few.
- Redbox. The drawback is that we'd have to drive to the next town the following day to return the movie. Like Netflix, they're limited to Blu-ray in my area, and pricing would be similar
- www.store-3d-blurayrental.com. On the plus side, they offer 4K disc rentals and a deeper library of catalog titles than Redbox. On the downside, from what I've heard, the delivery times are slower than Netflix, and the price is about double what Netflix was charging
- Gamefly. Like 3d-blurayrental, they offer 4K discs, and their monthly fee is slightly lower, but still more than Netflix. Selection on new titles looks pretty good, but their catalogue is not as deep
- Various streaming services. I'll have to take a deeper look at this option as I've been avoiding it, but the quality does keep improving
There's still plenty of time to weight options, but I'm probably leaning towards Gamefly for the convenience and 4K disc availability.
Scott
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Interesting enough, the vast majority of folks that I know mostly stream now. Hardly anybody even buys bluray that I know. Sign of the times.
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Interesting enough, the vast majority of folks that I know mostly stream now. Hardly anybody even buys bluray that I know. Sign of the times.
I only buy discs, never stream, and haven't rented a movie since I last went to a Blockbuster Video with my wife ( at that time my girlfriend ) in 2007, in Walnut Creek, California! I'm stubborn!
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I only buy discs, never stream, and haven't rented a movie since I last went to a Blockbuster Video with my wife ( at that time my girlfriend ) in 2007, in Walnut Creek, California! I'm stubborn!
For me, there wouldn't be much value in buying every new release that I might be interested in watching. Of the approximate 60 new movies we watch a year, there are probably less than 30 I'd ever want to sit through again and only about 10-15 that I'd want in my permanent collection.
Renting offers the opportunity to try it out at about 10% of the cost of owning, and then I can wait for it to hit the right price point if I really like it. It also allows me to take some risks and find some hidden gems that I wouldn't even notice in the store or on Amazon.
But if you have the money and plenty of storage space, buying everything is a fantastic option.
Scott
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Craig, you're 1 in a thousand... maybe million.
Seriously lol... there's probably close to the % of folks at this point who are that hardcore about only buying discs and never streaming. As Scott mentioned, the cost and space to buy and store everything is too much for most of us, or else having to constantly sell stuff to recoup is a hassle.
But I also have a bunch more space dedicated to CDs, books, and LPs. (Yes, I'm one of the idiots who restarted buying vinyl... some. Maybe 20 in the last 2-3 years but I have to add some shelf space there b/c I now have some standing on the floor!) Also a bunch of board games squirreled away in closets/cabinets. It's toooo much, drives my wife nuts.
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But I also have a bunch more space dedicated to CDs, books, and LPs. (Yes, I'm one of the idiots who restarted buying vinyl... some. Maybe 20 in the last 2-3 years but I have to add some shelf space there b/c I now have some standing on the floor!) Also a bunch of board games squirreled away in closets/cabinets. It's toooo much, drives my wife nuts.
I'm right there with you on the collection side, Paul, except substitute LPs with thousands and thousands of comic books. My movie collection is more modest, with only about 450 titles.
I think a large chunk of my retirement will be spent selling off much of this stuff. I've got more books than I'll every have time to read, more games than I'll be able to play.
Scott
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Man, I miss the early days of Netflix. It was fast and cheap to get three DVDs in my mailbox. I watched a lot more movies back then partly due to the fact that it was so cheap and about a two-day turnaround on discs. I just loaded up my cue with all the new releases that I was interested in and they magically appeared.
Back then, you could subscribe to the disc-only plan. I miss those days.
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But I also have a bunch more space dedicated to CDs, books, and LPs. (Yes, I'm one of the idiots who restarted buying vinyl... some. Maybe 20 in the last 2-3 years but I have to add some shelf space there b/c I now have some standing on the floor!) Also a bunch of board games squirreled away in closets/cabinets. It's toooo much, drives my wife nuts.
I too have started rebuying records. However, I still have most of my original collection which is mostly Rock.
My new buys are Jazz and Blues, for the most part. All the new reissues of classic Blue Note, Impulse!, and some of the "audiophile" pressings from Acoustic Sounds and Mofi are my new addiction.
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Tracy, I've been a jazz & blues fan for a long time. I have a few Blue Note LPs from a reissue program they were doing back in the early 80s. Shortly after I converted to CDs and picked up a TON of BN recordings on CD. I've grabbed a few of the Tone Poet reissues, and they are very impressive.
Re: Acoustic Sounds. A few years ago I was reading an article about Chad Kassem and AS. The next day I took an extended walk with our dog, and an older man in a Lexus pulled up and started a conversation. (Connection based on the LSU t-shirt I was wearing.) He introduced himself as Chocky Kassem... and I just had to ask... yep, Chad's dad live just down the road from me.
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Tracy, I've been a jazz & blues fan for a long time. I have a few Blue Note LPs from a reissue program they were doing back in the early 80s. Shortly after I converted to CDs and picked up a TON of BN recordings on CD. I've grabbed a few of the Tone Poet reissues, and they are very impressive.
Re: Acoustic Sounds. A few years ago I was reading an article about Chad Kassem and AS. The next day I took an extended walk with our dog, and an older man in a Lexus pulled up and started a conversation. (Connection based on the LSU t-shirt I was wearing.) He introduced himself as Chocky Kassem... and I just had to ask... yep, Chad's dad live just down the road from me.
Small world....very cool story Paul.
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For me, there wouldn't be much value in buying every new release that I might be interested in watching. Of the approximate 60 new movies we watch a year, there are probably less than 30 I'd ever want to sit through again and only about 10-15 that I'd want in my permanent collection.
Renting offers the opportunity to try it out at about 10% of the cost of owning, and then I can wait for it to hit the right price point if I really like it. It also allows me to take some risks and find some hidden gems that I wouldn't even notice in the store or on Amazon.
But if you have the money and plenty of storage space, buying everything is a fantastic option.
Scott
I don't really have an interest in watching 90% of the stuff being pumped out these days. I always have plenty of time to vet new movies long before they are released ( including reviews here ), and I know what I like. Plus, I tend to rewatch favorite movies many times. I have zero time for TV shows too. At most I watch on average 11 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. That's held true for the last 20 years. So, I know 100% I'll be buying The Covenant, the new Mission Impossible film, the new Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune Part 2, and John Wick 4 ( already bought ), and Asteroid City. Besides those, it's questionable what else I would buy. I'm with you - there might be 30 movies a year I'd like to rewatch. That's about all I buy and watch. Mostly it's older favorites being remastered on 4K. I still haven't had the time to watch any of the Star Trek films on 4K - and I have all of them now. Considering that ( and all the other movies I have that I haven't watched yet ), I can afford to cherry pick new stuff.
I see myself watching less when I fully retire rather than more, as we definitely plan on buying a 4x4 off road " adventure van " and camping more.
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Craig, you're 1 in a thousand... maybe million.
Seriously lol... there's probably close to the % of folks at this point who are that hardcore about only buying discs and never streaming. As Scott mentioned, the cost and space to buy and store everything is too much for most of us, or else having to constantly sell stuff to recoup is a hassle.
But I also have a bunch more space dedicated to CDs, books, and LPs. (Yes, I'm one of the idiots who restarted buying vinyl... some. Maybe 20 in the last 2-3 years but I have to add some shelf space there b/c I now have some standing on the floor!) Also a bunch of board games squirreled away in closets/cabinets. It's toooo much, drives my wife nuts.
Ya, I have some CD's and books, but don't add to those much anymore. I have zero vinyl. The one thing I do buy exclusively digitally is music for my Burning Man nightclub!
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i got back into vinyl about 10 years ago....then quickly got out when my kids started jumping around the house lol
but ill be back in about 10 years :)
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I'm right there with you on the collection side, Paul, except substitute LPs with thousands and thousands of comic books. My movie collection is more modest, with only about 450 titles.
I think a large chunk of my retirement will be spent selling off much of this stuff. I've got more books than I'll every have time to read, more games than I'll be able to play.
Scott
Comic books?
Comic books?
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i got back into vinyl about 10 years ago....then quickly got out when my kids started jumping around the house lol
but ill be back in about 10 years :)
I don't have kids jumping around the house but lol, yeah that's obviously not compatible with playing LPs. My medium term goal is to try digitizing mine to high quality DSD or PCM. I've got the gear I just need to set it up correctly and learn how to use it with some software on the files to edit and make proper digital tracks with metadata etc. (Manual is ok b/c I don't have a huge amount to do, I think. I have 150-200 older LPs from my teen years but most aren't really worth it for multiple reasons.)
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Back then, you could subscribe to the disc-only plan. I miss those days.
That's the plan I have.
(https://i.imgur.com/osiJbl4.png)
As far as I know, there's always been the option of just DVD/Blu-ray rentals, with the option to add streaming.
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Comic books?
Nice! I greatly admire your organization. Mine are all packed in boxes, but not in any kind of order. When we moved to our new house, we filled up the floor of a 20' U-Haul truck with boxes, but only stacked about three feet tall. That was most of them.
I'm sure yours are worth a lot more, since your collection started earlier than mine.
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Going back to the original topic, I wonder if this will have any impact on pushing Netflix and/or other services to upgrade the audio quality of their streams. Probably not much if any, but just hoping that the loss of the disc option will push those holdouts - many of whom have been doing so due to this specific issue - to put more pressure on that issue.
Actually, if anyone has any suggestions for giving feedback, making requests etc along those lines to those services it'd be good to post info about it.
FYI, for those interested in some pretty nerdy talk about various Netflix tech/platform issues they have a tech blog: https://netflixtechblog.com/. (NB: I don't really read it much myself, but I do occasionally scan the articles to see if there's a topic of specific interest.)
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Netflix/DVD fans: you get a personalized PDF of your rental history at:
https://dvd.netflix.com/Download
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Ya, I have some CD's and books, but don't add to those much anymore. I have zero vinyl. The one thing I do buy exclusively digitally is music for my Burning Man nightclub!
You operate a night club for a side hustle?
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You operate a night club for a side hustle?
Everything you do at Burning Man you give away free, so it's a reverse side hustle. It's like Xmas! Poured about $3000.00 worth of wine, champagne and single malt last year. To total strangers - and Danica Patrick! Doing the same this year.
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That looks. Interesting
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That looks. Interesting
Here's what I do there - Camp DOA Champagne Bar (google.com)
H (https://sites.google.com/view/campdoachampagnebar/home)ere's what it's all about - Burning Man
T (https://burningman.org/)his will be my 9th year stretching back to 2008.
There is even a movie theater - The Black Rock Bijou (@blackrockbijou) • Instagram photos and videos (https://www.instagram.com/blackrockbijou/)
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Cool. Nice job
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An update to this thread. I called Netflix today and they acknowledged that they will be getting very few new releases from now on, likely only a handful of blockbusters.
With that knowledge, I've gone ahead and signed up for a GameFly subscription. Selection isn't anywhere as vast as Netflix's was, but they do have new releases available and a 4K option, so that's pretty exciting.
For anyone curious about renting from them, here's the plan I signed up for:
(https://i.imgur.com/Ai0QbJY.png)
This is movies only. There's a higher-priced plan that includes games, and others that include more discs.
Scott
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An update to this thread. I called Netflix today and they acknowledged that they will be getting very few new releases from now on, likely only a handful of blockbusters.
With that knowledge, I've gone ahead and signed up for a GameFly subscription. Selection isn't anywhere as vast as Netflix's was, but they do have new releases available and a 4K option, so that's pretty exciting.
For anyone curious about renting from them, here's the plan I signed up for:
(https://i.imgur.com/Ai0QbJY.png)
This is movies only. There's a higher-priced plan that includes games, and others that include more discs.
Scott
Maybe they'll find a niche market and make a go of it. Let us know how good their service is as well.
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Maybe they'll find a niche market and make a go of it. Let us know how good their service is as well.
Will do. I'm looking forward to getting 4K versions, even though plain old Blu-rays are looking pretty good these days.
And, as a fluke, I just checked out our library system, and they have a fair number of discs as well, but no 4K copies.
In fact they have Beau Is Afraid, which neither Netflix nor GameFly carry.
We're going to give that a try as well, since we're already paying for it.
Scott
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Will do. I'm looking forward to getting 4K versions, even though plain old Blu-rays are looking pretty good these days.
And, as a fluke, I just checked out our library system, and they have a fair number of discs as well, but no 4K copies.
In fact they have Beau Is Afraid, which neither Netflix nor GameFly carry.
We're going to give that a try as well, since we're already paying for it.
Scott
I've donated hundreds of discs to our local library over the years, although the majority of them are crappy "watch once and forget" movies. I remember back in the 2004-2008 era when every studio would send you EVERYTHING they released on home video. There wasn't enough time in a given week to watch them all unless you didn't have a day job. It was crazy. Then when you had HD DVD and Blu-ray, you'd get copies of both formats from Universal and Paramount! I still have a HD DVD disc or two in a box somewhere, but no player to play them on :)
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I've donated hundreds of discs to our local library over the years, although the majority of them are crappy "watch once and forget" movies. I remember back in the 2004-2008 era when every studio would send you EVERYTHING they released on home video. There wasn't enough time in a given week to watch them all unless you didn't have a day job. It was crazy. Then when you had HD DVD and Blu-ray, you'd get copies of both formats from Universal and Paramount! I still have a HD DVD disc or two in a box somewhere, but no player to play them on :)
That is a great place to take unwanted movies.
I still have all my HD DVDs, and two players to play them on. I've actually watched some of them in the past year. Some people have reported problems with their old discs, but I haven't seen a problem yet.
It does make the decision to upgrade to 4K easier for some titles, though.
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Hd dvds woah. They lost the format war. Lol like beta max
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Hd dvds woah. They lost the format war. Lol like beta max
Yeah, they're commiserating with my laserdiscs. ;)
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Yeah, they're commiserating with my laserdiscs. ;)
Now laser discs were cool.
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Remember divx? The circuit city rental disc thing?
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Remember divx? The circuit city rental disc thing?
Yeah, that is one that I completely skipped.
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Yeah, that is one that I completely skipped.
Like a lot of people...no wonder Circuit City went out of business ;)
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You needed to buy a player and pay for the discs. Smh. Whoever green lighted that was a moron lol
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I always preferred Best Buy over circuit city
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You needed to buy a player and pay for the discs. Smh. Whoever green lighted that was a moron lol
Probably the same person who went on to do marketing at Bud Light ;)
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Remember divx? The circuit city rental disc thing?
I have a friend at my job who worked as a developer on it. To this day he blames the media for its failure. SMH.
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I have a friend at my job who worked as a developer on it. To this day he blames the media for its failure. SMH.
Hahah taking it to the grave
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I have a friend at my job who worked as a developer on it. To this day he blames the media for its failure. SMH.
Hahah taking it to the grave
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Hahah taking it to the grave
You can say that again....oh wait, you did! ;)
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Oops
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I’m gonna go get the papers get the papers
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I’m gonna go get the papers get the papers
LOL
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Continuing with a parallel bit of news, Netflix yesterday officially threw its hat into the gaming arena (https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/14/23829262/netflix-cloud-gaming-testing-tv-web).
I didn't realize this but noticed in a review in this month's S&V of a Samsung gaming PC monitor, a line that the gaming industry generates 2-3x the revenue of the movie & music industries combined. I had not realized that. I've done some PC gaming off and on over the years but not console gaming so hadn't paid as much attention to that realm. With Netflix and streaming services recently having revenue issues, it obviously makes sense to branch out to get a piece of that larger pie.
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Continuing with a parallel bit of news, Netflix yesterday officially threw its hat into the gaming arena (https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/14/23829262/netflix-cloud-gaming-testing-tv-web).
I didn't realize this but noticed in a review in this month's S&V of a Samsung gaming PC monitor, a line that the gaming industry generates 2-3x the revenue of the movie & music industries combined. I had not realized that. I've done some PC gaming off and on over the years but not console gaming so hadn't paid as much attention to that realm. With Netflix and streaming services recently having revenue issues, it obviously makes sense to branch out to get a piece of that larger pie.
My son, who is 24, is a big gamer. If asked if he'd like to watch a movie or play League of Legends, he doesn't hesitate to play the game. I gamed a lot in the 90s and was actually ranked in the Top 10 players on Age of Empires. Back then you couldn't win money with tournaments and such, but today I'd be a millionaire. Such is my lot in life...I had to earn my money the "hard" way.
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Gaming is one of the reasons I upgraded to a JVC laser projector. I don't have to feel guilty wasting bulb life anymore, and gaming on a big screen is so much more enveloping than on a TV or monitor.
Games have become a huge part of the entertainment business, and I think it's part of the reason why we're seeing a decline in movie ticket sales, disc sales, and the rental market.
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Well, tonight was the night to officially end my Netflix account, with an even total of 500 rented movies. I think there's a period of movies missing there from When I switched over to Blockbuster by Mail (I have a great track record of picking losers!).
Sad to see the service come to an end, but the library has turned out to be a great resource, especially for smaller titles that Netflix never carried on Blu-ray.
It's worth checking out for anyone looking for a free alternative.
Scott
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Well, tonight was the night to officially end my Netflix account, with an even total of 500 rented movies. I think there's a period of movies missing there from When I switched over to Blockbuster by Mail (I have a great track record of picking losers!).
Sad to see the service come to an end, but the library has turned out to be a great resource, especially for smaller titles that Netflix never carried on Blu-ray.
It's worth checking out for anyone looking for a free alternative.
Scott
My local library is about to get a massive stack of movies (over 100) in the coming days. I'm having to purge my collection to make space and I don't ever see myself watching these movies. Ben Franklin would be so proud of me :D
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My local library is about to get a massive stack of movies (over 100) in the coming days. I'm having to purge my collection to make space and I don't ever see myself watching these movies. Ben Franklin would be so proud of me :D
Glad I got Crash and The Limey - thanks David!
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I have to check out our library for movies
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Scott & others, in case you haven't seen it:
Netflix will let you keep your rental DVDs forever after September 29 | Ars Technica (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/netflix-will-let-you-keep-your-rental-dvds-forever-after-september-29/)
Netflix announced a lottery of sorts where you have a chance to get 10 extra movies shipped to you on the final day of service - and keep them.
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Scott & others, in case you haven't seen it:
Netflix will let you keep your rental DVDs forever after September 29 | Ars Technica (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/netflix-will-let-you-keep-your-rental-dvds-forever-after-september-29/)
Netflix announced a lottery of sorts where you have a chance to get 10 extra movies shipped to you on the final day of service - and keep them.
Yes, I did see that, but I've moved on. They weren't getting any new releases anymore, so their value had diminished. And I'm not a huge fan of used rental discs, so it wouldn't have mattered to me.
I'm glad they're not just dumping all of them in a landfill, though.
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Thought I'd post an update to for anyone interested in renting.
After canceling our Netflix membership, I signed up for Gamefly's membership plan. Normally $15 per month for one-at-a-time Blu-ray and 4K rentals, they had a three-month special for just $9.99.
The service was spotty. While there were a couple of titles that reached us in three or four days, most took at least a week, with one taking just a day short of two weeks. Customer service was helpful, and on a few occasions they sent out a title quickly when they hadn't received my return in a week. We're only about 600 miles from their closest shipping location, so it was odd that it took longer to get movies from them than it did from Netflix, which was further away. Like Netflix, they work off of post office scans of returned titles to send out new movies. Unlike Netflix, this only seemed to work for less than half of our rentals. And we've sent back two movies they never received.
Their shipping envelope was actually more protective than Netflix's, with each movie sent in a cardboard slipcase. We never had a problem with scratches or smudges. Selection was minimal in comparison to Netflix, with most films being recent releases. They're probably more on par with Redbox, with few catalog titles.
They have about 150 4K titles available (including those coming soon), which Netflix never offered, and the Redboxes in this area have almost zero. On the Blu-ray side, they have about 242 movies listed. Still, some titles were delayed even longer than the typical 30-day Netflix exclusion period, which varied from studio to studio.
I decided to cancel our Gamefly plan last month but was offered a free month during the process. That extension expires tomorrow, so I canceled for good this time.
While they have the potential to fill the gap left behind by Netflix, the service is too spotty to be of value. At $15 per month for just three movies, the roughly $5 per rental isn't worth it. Then there's the frustration of having to contact them about titles they haven't received yet due to shipping or receiving delays. They do have an option to self-report the movies you've returned that kicks in after six months of membership in good standing, but I don't have a lot of confidence that it would improve the value by that much.
So, we're going to end up using the library more and more. They seem to get new titles in a reasonable amount of time. The key is to keep checking for new titles to show up and add them to our reserve list as soon as we see them. As a result, we're usually within the first one to four people to get upcoming movies. We're already paying for the service, and they have over four thousand titles available on Blu-ray, so the selection is solid. The only drawback is that they have an extremely limited number of 4K films.
I can't recommend Gamefly, but you may want to give it a try with their introductory offer to see if you can get better service. On the other hand, I can highly recommend the library, if you don't mind the hassle of driving there instead of just dropping a return envelope in the mail.
Scott