Hulu Plus/Amazon Instant Video/Netflix?

[Disney Princess]

Anybody want to tell me which they prefer and why? We cut cable to the bare bones (it comes with our internet package), and we are looking to supplement with one of these. We get a free one week trial of each, so we'll go through each of the options and see what we like and dislike, but I'd love to hear from long-time customers of each option to what you like. Any limitations? Problems? Real people give the real information - not the salespeople!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Janepod]

Anybody want to tell me which they prefer and why? We cut cable to the bare bones (it comes with our internet package), and we are looking to supplement with one of these. We get a free one week trial of each, so we'll go through each of the options and see what we like and dislike, but I'd love to hear from long-time customers of each option to what you like. Any limitations? Problems? Real people give the real information - not the salespeople!

Thanks in advance!

I have Amazon Video free through Prime. I don't use it often but it's nice to have.

I cancelled Netflix streaming a long time ago. Although there was always something *to* watch, it was never the stuff I *wanted* to watch. E.g., no recent releases.

I have never used Hulu.

The best bang for my buck has been with HBO Go. (I use my dad's login.) Lots of recent movies that missed, HBO movies and series, etc. I put on Curb a lot while I'm, say, folding laundry.

So I guess I don't really pay for any of these. I do watch a lot of Turner Classics and go to the movies once or twice a week.

 

[Karlzmom]

I find that both Amazon and Netfllix can be tough to load, but Amazon freezes alot more. I also find customer service to be less than helpful. When we have gotten to a human, they walk us through the system, tell us it doesn't look like a problem on our end [equipment] but they can't explain....very frustrating when all you want to do is settle in for the evening & watch something at the end of the day.

 

[leagirl12]

We have all three. We cut the satellite cord a few months ago. We mostly use Hulu and Amazon. I can't remember the last time DH or I turned Netflix on but DS uses nothing but Netflix in his room. It just happens to have the shows he likes and we have had it for forever so he is used to it.

Another one we use a lot is PlayOn....we have a lifetime license. We could hook our laptop to the tv and get the same content but it is worth it tI have PlayOn and use our Xbox to access everything.

We have not missed having satellite at all.

 

[JaymeC]

We used to use Netflix but switched to Amazon. It's not that Netflix's selection was bad, it just felt like we had both covered and Amazon had the bonus of having free shipping and being cheaper. There's been plenty on there for both us and the kids, and I like having the option to rent a movie on there that I would have to wait for Netflix to ship a disc on as well as paying the extra monthly fee. We haven't had any problems with it freezing up other than when I can tell our internet is crawling, and that that is the root problem.

On a related note, if you decide to go with Amazon you can sign up for a *paid* student account (not the free one) if you have a .edu email address available, or know anyone with one who'd be willing to click on a link for you. That makes it only $40 per year instead of $80. We've been enjoying that particular benefit since dh is back at school It still comes with all the streaming and borrowing privileges (for the kindle store)

 

[wallawallakids]

We had Hulu Plus....for a month. It was bad. Too many commercials. We now have Netflix off our Apple TV. It is ok. There isn't too much that I really like to watch on it, but my husband really likes a few of the shows on there so we keep it. It is only 8.99 so it is worth it. I LOVED House of Cards on there and can't wait for the second season of that. That made Netflix worth it IMO! We also like documentaries (I know, we are nerds) and there are quite a few on Netflix.

For the most part I stream off the internet for free from Hulu or CBS.com or Bravo.com. You can't get everything that way, but you can certainly get enough. We hardly ever watch tv anyway. So I might watch the Middle one night on Hulu and then be done. One thing I do like about Nextflix is that they have a lot of kids movies. They also recently partnered with Disney so they have Disney movies on there. It is really nice for our Friday movie night. We own most of the Disney DVDs but it is easier to press play on our Apple TV that we will do that more often then waiting to load the dvd. Good luck and I have to say we cut cable a year ago and do not miss it at all.

 

[momof3ds]

We use all 3 as well.

The only time we have issues with loading is if out internet is down or lagging. And, in the beginning, I realized we needed a faster internet package as well.

You still have the basic cable so you still have local channels then? Do you have a dvr with that? If so, you do not need hulu plus as it is mainly shows off of the major networks (except new releases from CBS). And yes, hulu plus has commercials but it is less than the networks and cable. So, I don't find the commercials so bad.

Netflix has a lot of stuff the kids like. They also have recently released original programming. House of Cards was really good!

We use amazon instant video for the occasional movie rental (loads faster than apple movie rentals through our apple TV).

 

[HM]

I have Netflix and Amazon Prime. We use Netflix the most.

 

[wiigirl]

I have all three, we use Netflix the most, then Hulu Plus, and last Amazon Prime.

 

[ShariVT]

We have all 3 I have more problems with hulu plus then the others but I am happy with all my options. Even with all of them it is still much less then cable.

 

[Pooh2]

We use regular Hulu for free, and netflix streaming.
Rethinking the Netflix.
We mostly watch old shows on netflix.
Seems like alot of work to find any decent movies.
Also considering getting the discs from netflix instead of streaming to get more current movies.

 

[hsmamato2]

Amazon prime seems limited,unless you pay extra for shows,etc-
Huluplus doesn't appeal to me
I keep netflix right now as ds likes to watch various animal shows on it,and I watch it in the basement while folding laundry,etc.... we are fine with just the antenna too-other than netflix,I don't have time to watch what is available even to our limited household!

 

[Kies99]

We use Netflix. Rarely have any issues and those we do have are with the Smart TV app we use (LG). We just disconnect and reconnect and it's fine.

Tried HuluPlus and didn't care for the interface or commercials. Took too long to load and froze constantly.

Looked into Amazon and thought it was pretty limited.

 

[DawnM]

Netflix is used here. I cancelled Hulu+ because they don't stream current CBS shows and that is about all I watch.

 

[geckodani]

We're Netflix and Hulu Plus users. Hulu for the recent stuff, Netflix for older and movies. I tried Amazon Video but was not impressed.

 

[KTSMOM]

We have Hulu + and Amazon Prime. We mostly use Hulu +. They do have some commercials but they are shorter than the ones on tv. Another bonus for Hulu + is that there is an app for it on the Iphone, so I can watch shows away from home (like at the gym).

Now if I could only figure out a way to see sports without cable. I would love to get rid of it.

 

[rlu929s]

We use Netflix and Hulu Plus through AppleTV. We cut the cord and ripped all our DVD's and Bluray's to our AppleTV. We use Hulu for TV and Netflix for the old movies and kid's shows. If we run out of those we'll probably cancel. For the few newer movies and purchases we buy or rent off iTunes.

 

[ImDMous]

We also have all three. We probably use Hulu+ the most, Amazon second and Netflix least. We rarely have any connection/freezing problems. The Hulu interface is a bit clunky, but it's manageable. I like that you can subscribe to first-run current shows on Amazon that aren't available through any other streaming services. Between all three of them, the only shows we miss are ones that simply don't license to any outside streaming services.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We have Hulu + and Amazon Prime. We mostly use Hulu +. They do have some commercials but they are shorter than the ones on tv. Another bonus for Hulu + is that there is an app for it on the Iphone, so I can watch shows away from home (like at the gym).

Now if I could only figure out a way to see sports without cable. I would love to get rid of it.

If I could only find a way to stop having to pay for sports programming on my cable!

We have all three and use them all.

FYI - there are both a Netflix app and an Amazon Prime video app for iPhones/iPads.