netflix or hulu?

[pookybean]

hello, i am going to be cancelling our comcast but have decided we need some sort of tv for sanity. i have heard about neflix and hulu, but dont know anyone who uses them as their main source of tv.

will we never be able to watch anything from the current seasons on either?
is one better than the other, more reliable or have more options?

we use a lot of on demand rather than "ohhh its xxx night xxx is on" so i think we will be ok, but there are some shows that we do like to watch.

thanks for any help!

 

[dawnhaze]

Hulu is more for currently airing, new episodes. Netflix will usually only have what's out on DVD.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

We use huluplus for our tv source and have netflix as well, but I'm pretty sure we are going to cancel netflix and it sucks as of lately.

 

[ryansstitch]

I am considering dropping cable as well, and of I do I would go with huluplus, crackle (free wand it has newer movies than Hulu), and netflix. It should come to about $20-25, with lots of variety.

 

[kimblebee]

HuluPlus is offering a free 30 day trial through Nintendo Wii. You can try it and see if you like it. Netflix does the same thing.

 

[tggrbuny]

I have both (Huluplus), it cost 7.99 a month for each. Of course regular Hulu is free. Hulu is better for current TV and Netflix is better for movies and entire seasons of tv shows other than the current season. If you sign up for the free trials of both...you will be able to see what services you needs.

 

[quirty30]

I was really interested in Hulu Plus, but discovered during our free trial that the streaming quality was poor. Tried to watch one episode of Law & Order SVU, and it kept stopping and buffering...I finally gave up. And I cancelled before I had to start paying for it. We also have Netflix and never have issues with buffering.

 

[mrudman]

I was really interested in Hulu Plus, but discovered during our free trial that the streaming quality was poor. Tried to watch one episode of Law & Order SVU, and it kept stopping and buffering...I finally gave up. And I cancelled before I had to start paying for it. We also have Netflix and never have issues with buffering.

W cancelled all our cable about 18 months ago, and now do Netflix, HULU, Crackle, Play-On, etc.

When we first tried HULU/HULU Plus, the same thing happened to us (lots of buffering). At that point, we used some of the "saved" money from canceling U-Verse and upgraded our Internet speed (cost about $5 a month more) and now we never have buffering issues.

 

[Kies99]

Not much else to add other than we pay Comcast around $11 a month to get our local channels only and use Netflix. Have been doing this for the past 2+ years. We are a family of 4 and no complaints from my 11 and 9yo daughters.

 

[hsmamato2]

I have netflix,(just for the month) and it sorely lacks good stuff to watch...it was worth 8 bucks for a couple of weeks,b/c there isn't much else on right now,even my dvr pickings are slim so I found some old movies,and an older bbc series I like, but I can't get over how LITTLE content netflix streaming offers,and they have almost NO newer movies - I could only find one or two old classics to watch! It gets old,pretty fast. I don't know what happened,seemed like a lot better stuff a year or so ago....

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I was really interested in Hulu Plus, but discovered during our free trial that the streaming quality was poor. Tried to watch one episode of Law & Order SVU, and it kept stopping and buffering...I finally gave up. And I cancelled before I had to start paying for it. We also have Netflix and never have issues with buffering.

Not true. We have Hulu+ and never have streaming problems. The problem is in your system, either your Internet or the device you use for streaming.

 

[DisneyEater]

Are there any listing of TV channels you get with huluplus and how closely do the shows air to the original show time?

 

[DisneyEater]

Not much else to add other than we pay Comcast around $11 a month to get our local channels only and use Netflix. Have been doing this for the past 2+ years. We are a family of 4 and no complaints from my 11 and 9yo daughters.

Does the $11 get you local sports networks or just the non-cable channels. (ABC, CBS...)

 

[chicagoshannon]

We have both right now. I have issues with Hulu Plus not having a lot of the shows we watch. It will say they're Web Only. You will also not be able to get CBS anywhere except antenna.

We just hooked up the laptop to the tv and can watch most of the shows directly from the tv channel website. It's free.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We cancelled our cable about 2 years ago (only a local cable company and they are expensive since they have no competition) and only have a convertor box for our local channels, which I'm fine with. We do activate our Netflix during the summer months. I am th eonly one home at night and most of the shows I watch are on ABC and CBS. My husband watches some stuff on the free Hulu on his computer.

I tried to use Amazon and it kept buffering on my iPad and wouldn't work on our PS3, so I called AT&T to upgrade and they say we have the highest speed in our area, but it isn't very good and of course they are the only option we have in this area, and I don't understand that, we don't live in a small town.

 

[Nayan]

We cancelled our cable about 2 years ago (only a local cable company and they are expensive since they have no competition) and only have a convertor box for our local channels, which I'm fine with. We do activate our Netflix during the summer months. I am th eonly one home at night and most of the shows I watch are on ABC and CBS. My husband watches some stuff on the free Hulu on his computer.

I tried to use Amazon and it kept buffering on my iPad and wouldn't work on our PS3, so I called AT&T to upgrade and they say we have the highest speed in our area, but it isn't very good and of course they are the only option we have in this area, and I don't understand that, we don't live in a small town.

AT&T in my area is much cheaper but it was so slow that even web pages wouldn't load. So even though I pay well over $50/month for Road Runner it has the speed I need for online gaming. Maybe Satellite (D*, Dish) might be a better answer for you?

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

AT&T in my area is much cheaper but it was so slow that even web pages wouldn't load. So even though I pay well over $50/month for Road Runner it has the speed I need for online gaming. Maybe Satellite (D*, Dish) might be a better answer for you?

I don't think there is an option for Satellite internet in our area. I pay $35 a month for AT&T and it really isn't too bad all the time, just seems that it has been slow lately. I will see if there are any other options.

 

[skissugar]

you can watch most shows online free at the network website .. mind you i said most.. i have both hulu and netflix .. i would go with netflix if I had to choose just one.

 

[tggrbuny]

Are there any listing of TV channels you get with huluplus and how closely do the shows air to the original show time?

Off the top of my head: ABC, CW, Comedy Central, NBC, and ABC family are next day. Fox is next day for Hulu plus only with many shows, but open to everyone a week later. A & E is a week delay. SyFy and USA network is next day in the first 30 days of a season, then you have to wait until 30 day after airing before you can see it. CBS and TNT do not participate. The entire experience is handled by name of the show rather than a tv channel format. So if you want to watch a show, you search for the title.

Hulu plus will allow you to see an entire season or even all seasons of some series ( Like Law & Order SVU) where as regular Hulu (free version) is limited to a certain number of episodes. Of course this is decided by the network. For example you can only see 5 episodes of a Syfy show regardless of service level.

As for the buffering problem, that is a internet issue. Netflix will adjust the stream based on your service level where as Hulu has a certain level that must be reached to work without buffering. We have 10 (of whatever they call it) and can be we both watching streaming shows on own computers or rokus without any problems.

 

[JB2K]

Off the top of my head: ABC, CW, Comedy Central, NBC, and ABC family are next day. Fox is next day for Hulu plus only with many shows, but open to everyone a week later. A & E is a week delay. SyFy and USA network is next day in the first 30 days of a season, then you have to wait until 30 day after airing before you can see it. CBS and TNT do not participate. The entire experience is handled by name of the show rather than a tv channel format. So if you want to watch a show, you search for the title.

That's because Hulu is a joint venture, meaning it is owned by Disney/ABC, NBC Universal, and News Corp (a.k.a. FOX). Hulu is meant as a alternate delivery channel for these networks' new shows (and some classic ones, too).

Big CBS fan? You won't find it, here (as CBS chooses to deliver their content via the TV.com website).