[Iain Chapman]

Hi All,

We've currently got Sky Movies which adds £16 each month to our Sky bill.

With Netflix now launched at £5.99 and LoveFilm now offering unlimited steaming for £4.99 a month, I'm wondering about changing.

As I understand Netflix move TV series than films. On that basis LoveFilm seems the nearest to Sky Movies, but I'm wondering how it really compares?.

I wonder if someone with more information can addresses these questions please:

Considering LoveFilm's streaming service, who releases films first - LoveFilm or Sky?.

Does Sky offer more films (based on film company contracts) than LoveFilm?

Am I right to discount Netflix at the moment for accessing a wide library of films?



Thanks

Iain

[coopermanyorks]

I have taken up a free 60 day trial at Lovefilm , (Google will give you the code) and choose the 3 disc and streaming option as you are not paying anything ,

I have an invitation to take a Netflix free trail (not signed up yet) as I think they offer more TV than Films and its Films I want

So you can join up for both on a free trail and make up a decision based on your requirements

Personally LF is more in tune with my requirements than NF,others will differ

I bought a LG 3D Tv @ Christmas and its only in the last 10 days that LF has actually worked/streamed onto this TV due to technical changes

If you take Sky Tv and Sky BB does Anytime+ offer anything you are looking for ?

LF 60 day trial , see here

https://www.lovefilm.com/signup/1?pr...code=C6XWK4K7F

[Iain Chapman]

Thanks.

Anytime+ is OK, but obviously only provides movies if you are subscribing to the movies options,

What I was trying to understand was could I drop Sky Movies and instead subscribe to LoveFilm or similar. Sure this would save me £10+ per month, but I'm wondering what the trade-off is.

I don't really want to be mucking around with physical media. We tend to look for a film to watch as and when - perhaps recording one of Sky's weekly premiers if it was something of interest.

So I was trying to understand whether a move to a streaming service would provide a similar film service.

Additionally I was wondering if there were any 'penalties' in doing this - for example:

- do the streaming service have new films available in the same timeframe as Sky, or do you have to wait even longer?.

- am I going to find that some new films are available via Sky Movies, yet not available via the streaming service. Are these likely to be big films or it's more the smaller, unheard of films that fall into this situation?


Thanks

Iain

[Pete Baker.]

[quote=Iain Chapman;56063360] - am I going to find that some new films are available via Sky Movies, yet not available via the streaming service. Are these likely to be big films or it's more the smaller, unheard of films that fall into this situation?

No, the opposite really - films are available to rent usually at the same time they appear on Sky Box Office, then 6-12 months later on Sky Movies. Not sure whether some of the newer ones will be disc only. I left Lovefilm tho a while ago as I wanted "Get him to the Greek" which Blockbuster and everyone else had available, but they didn't due to a personal dispute with the distrubutor/studio.

Generally probably a better choice.

[Senium]

I have all three at the moment, actually. I canceled LoveFilm yesterday but I still have 20 days of viewing time.

I despised LoveFilm. I had a HUGE hassle canceling with them. They claimed that I had two 3D blu-ray discs at home, despite only ever being on the viewing package. It took me 45 minutes on the phone to eventually cancel after I demanded I spoke to a manager (not only that, it even said on my account i had no discs at home). I'm not in a high-speed internet area and when one person ued LoveFilm we found that the whole internet slowed down to be unuseable. With Netflix, I can be watching a movie whilst my partner is playing World of Warcraft and we have no lag at all.

Sky Movies is expensive when looking at Netflix. However, I have a 3D TV, so I don't know if I will cancel Sky Moves at the moment (as I love the Sky 3D channel if I do).

I am really enjoying Netflix, as a whole it seems to run smoothly and the programmes they offer are programmes I've always been interested in watching but never got around to (Dexter and Heroes!). So yeah, sticking with Netflix.

[Aeschylus]

This is a easy one mate, get rid of SKy Movies, get rid of Lovefilm and get Netflix + Unblock US both work out to around £8.50 a month...

puts all other services to shame we have in the UK, this is what I did

Just note depending how you intend to watch Netflix will depend on if you need to sign up for a USA account or a UK one will suffice, if on a console or computer than UK account is fine, if you have a TV etc which is a smart TV and you want to watch it using that you need to get a US account, the new WDTV box also has netflix etc, let us know how you will watch it and I can help some more

[Gormond]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aeschylus

This is a easy one mate, get rid of SKy Movies, get rid of Lovefilm and get Netflix + Unblock US both work out to around £8.50 a month...

puts all other services to shame we have in the UK, this is what I did

Agree with this

[carlosfigueira]

Lovefilm has way worse picture quality. No HD, at least i haven't watched anything in that format. Picture quality is about DVD or less.

Where did you see that LF is 4.99 a month for unlimited viewing? Look again!!!! 4.99 gives you 14 unlimited viewing and then????? I might be wrong but looking at there website you have to be on 9.99 to have unlimited viewing! 4.99 doesn't give you any streaming at all. Why can people not read?

Netflix does give you unlimited viewing for 5.99 and is HD if your net speed allows it.

[Gormond]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlosfigueira

Lovefilm has way worse picture quality. No HD, at least i haven't watched anything in that format. Picture quality is about DVD or less.

Where did you see that LF is 4.99 a month for unlimited viewing? Look again!!!! 4.99 gives you 14 unlimited viewing and then????? I might be wrong but looking at there website you have to be on 9.99 to have unlimited viewing! 4.99 doesn't give you any streaming at all. Why can people not read?

Netflix does give you unlimited viewing for 5.99 and is HD if your net speed allows it.

Lovefilm Instant http://www.lovefilm.com/partnership/instant

[carlosfigueira]

thanks for the info my bad

[daleski75]

Definitely ditch sky movies and lovefilm and go for netflix which is way better in my opinion and far cheaper too.

[Aeschylus]

I just dont see why you need Lovefilm if you get Netflix USA, since we did that we have not touched Lovefilm and we are paid up until july using various vouchers..

[Gormond]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aeschylus

I just dont see why you need Lovefilm if you get Netflix USA, since we did that we have not touched Lovefilm and we are paid up until july using various vouchers..

I agree Netflix USA has loads of content.

[coopermanyorks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iain Chapman

I don't really want to be mucking around with physical media. We tend to look for a film to watch as and when - perhaps recording one of Sky's weekly premiers if it was something of interest.

So I was trying to understand whether a move to a streaming service would provide a similar film service.



Thanks

Iain

You don't have to take up the physical media,just use the unlimited streaming part of the free trial

As they are both free trials try them both at the same time as Sky Movies,then decide for yourself which fits your requirements,personally I think the Lovefilm is more in tune with what I want than Netflix

Its good to hear others feedback but nothing beats actually using the services and systems yourself

[coopermanyorks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlosfigueira

.............
Why can people not read?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gormond

Lovefilm Instant http://www.lovefilm.com/partnership/instant

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlosfigueira

thanks for the info my bad

classic

[ShaunW]

Sky Movies definitely has the better content especially when you take into account Anytime +. It would cost me £7 being a Sports subscriber but at the moment Netflix is better value for me because it offers box-sets that I want to see and I'm hoping its film catalogue will improve over the coming months.

I would try the Netflix free trial, ring Sky to cancel and when they ask why mention the Neflix £6 service, maybe Sky will offer you a discount

[Bio Max]

I can't decide which to get either. It's between netflix or sky movies. Sky movies might be more expensive but it's just more convenient I think - although I don't have access to sky anytime+ yet - to anyone that does..... is it good?

[birkenhead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aeschylus

This is a easy one mate, get rid of SKy Movies, get rid of Lovefilm and get Netflix + Unblock US both work out to around £8.50 a month...

puts all other services to shame we have in the UK, this is what I did

Just note depending how you intend to watch Netflix will depend on if you need to sign up for a USA account or a UK one will suffice, if on a console or computer than UK account is fine, if you have a TV etc which is a smart TV and you want to watch it using that you need to get a US account, the new WDTV box also has netflix etc, let us know how you will watch it and I can help some more

I'm sure am not the only one wondering how you get round the blocked content (within the US), can you shed some light on this, or better still do quick tutorial would make you my new hero.

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by birkenhead

I'm sure am not the only one wondering how you get round the blocked content (within the US), can you shed some light on this, or better still do quick tutorial would make you my new hero.

Sign up for Netflix as normal.

Download Ultrasurf and install it.

http://ultrasurf.us/

Reboot your PC and launch Ultrasurf.

Now go to Netflix US and sign in with your UK account and password details (it works fine).

Profit.

NOTE: Ultrasurf seems designed to work with Internet Explorer, to get it to work with Firefox you also need to install the Ultrasurf add in, but after that, it works fine.

[birkenhead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainkremmen

Sign up for Netflix as normal.

Download Ultrasurf and install it.

http://ultrasurf.us/

Reboot your PC and launch Ultrasurf.

Now go to Netflix US and sign in with your UK account and password details (it works fine).

Profit.

NOTE: Ultrasurf seems designed to work with Internet Explorer, to get it to work with Firefox you also need to install the Ultrasurf add in, but after that, it works fine.

Its works but reduces my broadband speed dramaticly, from 10mb to 1mb?

Is this normal?

[Matt D]

Try Unblock-US: http://www.unblock-us.com/?v=2

Works on PCs, consoles, phones, tablets...

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by birkenhead

Its works but reduces my broadband speed dramaticly, from 10mb to 1mb?

Is this normal?

It depends on the number of users/time of the day to be honest. All data is handled via their own servers, so at very busy times it does tend to slow down.

If you want as near as possible full speed, then you'll probably need to sign up for a full commercial VPN account, such as Unblock-US mentioned a couple of times. Although they work in the same way, they are commercial so have more money to spend on better infrastructure than Ultrasurf which is really just designed to circumvent censorship in countries affected.

[silent ninja]

Unblock US is not a VPN. That's one reason why it works so well. It uses your full internet speed-- data isn't sent to your fake US location before being rerouted to the UK as you find with a VPN.

I got rid of Sky Movies long ago. They repeat the same stuff and if I actually sit down and think about what I've watched, over a month it's probably 2-4 movies at best (i've gone sometimes months barely watching a single movie sometimes). That's a very expensive service at £15 odd!!

I'm using Netflix US and VUDU for one-off rentals at the moment. Both thanks to UnblockUS. Vudu have the very latest releases such as J.Edgar, Tower Heist (stuff that's barely been out the cinema over here) and I think they charge reasonably well. Brand new releases are $4.99 for 720P, $5.99 for apparently 1080P which I havent tried, and less for SD and older movies-- HD movies on iTunes cost £4.49 in comparison! So in fact you get newer films and at a lower price. It works a treat on the PS3.
Also Walmart have a $0.99 movie every day on their site. You can create a Walmart account, link it to Vudu and purchase via Walmart. I rented Fast Five a couple of days ago for 63p in glorious HD! Thanks to smackos on AVForums for this info.

[glenc17]

VUDU looks great. Ive setup an account, but got stuck on payment page.How do you get round the billing address not being in US. It seems they don't accept PayPal, and vet the address & zipcode?

[Peter the Great]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlosfigueira

Lovefilm has way worse picture quality. No HD, at least i haven't watched anything in that format. Picture quality is about DVD or less.

Where did you see that LF is 4.99 a month for unlimited viewing? Look again!!!! 4.99 gives you 14 unlimited viewing and then????? I might be wrong but looking at there website you have to be on 9.99 to have unlimited viewing! 4.99 doesn't give you any streaming at all. Why can people not read?

Netflix does give you unlimited viewing for 5.99 and is HD if your net speed allows it.

I don't know if it's me but I think the streaming quality on Lovefilm has got a lot better recently at least on my Smart TV it has. I recently watched Fair Game online and it was near DVD quality! I like Lovefilm but then I subscribe to the £9.99 package. I think dealing with physical media is a necessary evil to get to watch what I want. If you don't then I wouldn't recommend them. The streaming service is nice as a add on but on it's own is very limited.