Netflix, not just DVDs Any More

Okay, this time I have to tell you about Netflix! What a great choice this is! The two week free trial sold me on the service. I don't know who your service provider is, but when it comes to cable, satellite, or ATT Uverse, I have made my decision.

I live in a town house and so my cable television service (basic only) is included in my home owners association dues. Of course, with a teenager, and I had a good job at the time, I upgraded to DVR and the expanded service from Comcast. Before I knew what was happening, I had movie channels, and was still catching at least one pay per view each month. The bill grew because I also have my internet and phone bundled in. Needless to say, whenever I would get a "service not available" message, which was all too frequent, I was enraged!

I was paying over $150.00 per month at one point. There had better not be any service interruptions!

Well, now I have cut that bill down to 79.99 per month, and I pay 8.99 to netflix.

Here's the big perk, I get Starz play with the service, so I don't need a movie channel. I get instant streaming video to my PC as well as my TV, so I don't need to be tied to a programming schedule, and I don't need the DVR. My son can watch what he wants as well, and we alternate who picks the next movie in the mail box, too.

I just talked my neighbor into getting this and giving up U-Verse, because there is a huge downfall to these service providers: The salesman sells you a package, but your bill seldom reflects the amount you promised to pay. The biggest problem seemed to be the promotions that were promised may change before the installation.

If I buy a car, my car payment stays the same, month to month. With AT&T, Comcast, and Dish network, the bill miraculously changes from month to month, even if you do nothing different. Why, I don't know, and frankly I don't care. I have tried them all, and I have had repeated service interruption as well as numerous hours on the phone and in person trying to straighten out my bill. Of these, Comcast has always been the one who straightened out the bill in the best interest of the customer, however, the time involved could be considered excessive.

Yes, Netflix site does go down for maintenance, just as Hub Pages does, but the times are rare and minimal. Also, if you are watching something, the down time generally will not affect you. Generally you are affected only if you try to log in or start a movie while the site is down. I've had this service for two months and only had one incident of down time that lasted more than five minutes. With my various other providers I have had down time that lasted for days!

The best part for me is that you can watch many of the Starz movies on Instant queue with Netflix. This meant that I no longer needed a movie channel to "save on rentals" and getting rid of said movie channel resulted in a monthly savings of $10.00, which makes Netflix pay for itself.

Another really cool feature is that if you have a Wii, or PS3 among a host of other devices, such as Tivo, and many Blu-ray players you can get a disc and watch your instant movies right on your television. If you do not, you can hook up your PC to your TV, if the ports are compatible.

If not there are various items out there that you can hook through, and some TVs are actually internet ready such as Panasonic Viera TVs and LG HDTVs with NetCast Broadband.