with Kim Flowers

I bet you’re wondering whether Netflix is worth your precious pennies (or cents if you’re here in Australia with us).

I’ll give you the short version – I’m still on the fence.

While I occasionally watch it as background noise (you know, those movies you don’t mind missing parts of but want to watch it while you’re cleaning the house…) I’m finding it more limited than I initially thought. While the collection is growing slowly… I’ve often run out of things to watch.

Ask my dog Molly, she’s watched the same cartoon and/or dog movies numerous times over (I gave up DogTV and it’s bad network connection – picture me growling at their website and their lack of customer service).

Now, the one thing I need to point out, is that we have unlimited ADSL2+. And the TV is at the farthest point of our unit. So occasionally we have issues with our streaming dropping out – and that doesn’t include when we run the microwave.

Despite our network issues, Netflix runs smoothly. We haven’t yet *touch wood* had Netflix drop on the network, and it only takes about 30 seconds to load the HD quality image.

The interface is easy to navigate, easy to set up and the movies are all in genres and accessible via search. The only thing they haven’t included is a ‘What’s new on Netflix’ section. When you’ve seen almost everything on there, you start wondering when and if they have added anything new.

I’ve played around with Netflix on Android tablet, iPad and our Samsung SmartTV (which is the one we use it the most on).

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Quality:

I’d definitely recommend avoiding the standard definition pack. It will definitely drive you crazy with the blurry images very quickly.

Compatible Devices:

Netflix can be viewed on practically anything. If you think you have a random device you’re not certain about, check Devices on Netflix for more information.

Pricing/Plans:

Pricing starts in Australia for $8.99 a month for a Basic plan (standard definition) up to Premium for $14.99 per month. Take a look at the plans here for updated information on them.

Netflix on iPad:

Australian Netflix on iPad video

Overall:

I wouldn’t rush to it. If you’re the type of person that avidly watches new releases, then I’d hold off for now. But if you’re like me, and want to have movies run and rerun in the background for noise, then it’s easier than picking from your slowly declining DVD collection.