I have recently received a voucher for (Sky) Now TV for Sky Movies, it says I got it because I was a previous Sky TV customer. The offer is 4 months at £7 a month. TBH this still seems a bit pricey compared to Netflix at £6 and Lovefilm at £5 but am open to giving it a try for a while if it is a genuinely good service.

Does anyone on here use it and if so what do you think about it?

In particular, what is the picture / sound like? Do they broadcast in HD for (nearly) everything like Netflix or is it mostly SD with only some HD like Lovefilm instant and how does the HD/SD picture compare with Lovefilm/Netflix?

Good range of films?

Also is it pick what you want to watch or live streaming of all the Sky Movies channels or a combination of both?

Finally does anyone know if I can use the £7 a month offer in combination with the 30 days free trial they currently offer? If so that might just tip the scales in it's favour.

For that price its definitely worth it. The library the Now TV has is so so so so much better then Netflix and Lovefilm put together, I can't stress it enough!

Absolutely not true.
It's a matter of taste and depends on what you're looking for...

@steven123: if you're looking for recent movies (the ones that air on Sky Movies) then Now TV is a really good service. If I remember well there's no HD and no 5.1 at this time but the quality is good.

If you're looking for older movies or tv shows, then Now TV won't suit your needs.
If you want both recent movies and tv shows, then I'd suggest you to subscribe to unblock-us ($4.90/month) and Netflix. Then you will have access to the American, Canadian, English, Brazilian et Mexican Netflix Catalogue.

Canadian Netflix has many recent movies (some before Sky Movies/Now TV) and great tv shows on the US, CA and English catalogues.

-Eban

Well it all depends on personal preference but I will agree that Now TV is a million times better than Netflix and Lovefilm combined. I've actually heard of virtually all the movies they offer... can't say the same for the other two.

If we're being blunt, the versions of Netflix and Lovefilm aren't exactly meant for the UK are they... of course if you want to change your IP address you can access more content but from a strict UK stance, Now TV is far superior to other offerings... and they do have archive films too, it's not just new releases.

As it almost 3 times as much per month to subscribe then it really should be better!
In actual fact its just a few good movies we've all seen plus loads of average stuff and at the moment no other content whatsoever.
Netflix may have an older movie catalogue but has some superb tv content, at a much lower price.
Just my opinion of course!

Again it depends what you are looking for

-Eban

Iv been on the nowtv 30 day trial & iv had no end of trouble. Iv got 2 days left in the trial but nothing seems to want to play & parts of the site dont work at all. So i wont be continuing with the service.

Yeah they're still having problems but it's not across the board. It's crashed my Xbox twice in 30 days and I've had one film jumping and with sound issues the whole way through but apart from that I've been lucky. It's still in beta testing but I would have expected better from Sky from the off really.

Customer support is so slow. If you want to watch a film you want to watch it now, not 12 hours after you reported the issue.

lol very true.

seems to be working today, but the picture is very soft on my 15.6" laptop, probably look awful on a big tv.

I have to say it sounds very disappointing overall and I don't think I'll even bother at £7pm. Can't believe they aren't even broadcasting anything in HD, for £14.99 pm that is plain unacceptable, I know they have newer movies but I don't watch movies based on how new they are, a good film is good regardless of when it was made. Reliability issues just aren't on either at this kind of price. Not that surprised though as LoveFilm seems to be quite unreliable too, particularly the 360 and PS3 player, which is annoying as the 360 has the best Lovefilm player when it works. Aside from reliability probs though Lovefilm is getting better (in PQ and choice of content) and at least it is pretty cheap unlike Now TV.

Netflix meanwhile I have found to be consistently excellent in choice of movies and tv plus the picture quality and reliability, can see why they are so big in the states, and probably will be here too with some time.

I've watched many films on Netflix (and a few less on Lovefilm) which I've never heard of before and I've enjoyed the vast majority of them.

Just because it isn't a recent release, that doesn't mean it isn't worth watching. For x3 the price, I would expect Now TV to have better content. It doesn't even support decent HD yet, does it? 720i on the Xbox? WTF is that?

Also bear in mind that (according to one of the tech sites) some of the older releases on Now TV require a PPV charge, while the same content is included in the monthly free for Netflix and Lovefilm.

Agree that the HD quality should be higher considering the monthly charge but TBH I find that the picture is great. It's sharp enough for me anyway.

Some of the older releases do carry a PPV charge but this is for people who don't want to sign up to the monthly deal. I can't see any rhyme or reason to how they divide the Sky Movies Pass and Pay & Play titles but each has a varied selection. If you like the look of what the Sky Movies channels offer then Now TV is great for you. Equally though, there are things I like about Netflix, in particular their TV shows. I got through all the available Breaking Bad episodes on a free Netflix trial which was superb

Now tv is a tad expensive for what it is. You can subscribe to both lovefilm and netflix for less than now tv.

I'd recommend netflix & unblock-us. Unblock -us is $4.99 per month & you can't watch netlix US, UK & Canada. Netflix Canada seems to have more on it the the US version, or is it just me?

any updates on
a) when is it coming to Roku
b) when are they adding Sports?
c) will F1 be included and what sort of pricing per GP event

I have only just signed up to Netflix and haven't signed up to unblock US yet but from what I have read Canada has less overall content but has a better selection of films.
I have been watching Netflix US content at work where they use a US proxy and enjoying the selection but I am surprised that despite the UK version having more limited content some films that are missing on the US version can be found on the UK version. 50/50 and Nacho Libre are 2 examples.

Content is not the same at all on all the Netflix catalogues. For example, you can find the season 5 of Damages on Netflix Canada but not on the US version. You can find the last Tintin movie on the Canadian Netflix but not in the US. Hunger Games is available on Netflix Mexico but not on any other catalogue. Acquisition fees are not the same depending on the country.

That said, I encourage you to subscribe to Unblock-Us if you want more content (and if you enjoy tv a lot like I do lol).
You will have a lot of American tv shows on the US Netflix, many recent movies on both Canadian and American Netflix but Canadian is most of the time ahead the US. I have a Sky subscription with Sky Movies and I've seen movies coming on Netflix Canada before Sky Movies, that's also why I'm thinking to cancel my Sky Movies option.

Cheers!

-Eban

I think I will take your advice. I got rid of Sky Movies some time ago but replaced with it with Lovefilm. I don't know whether to keep Lovefilm because physical media still has it's advantages. I am currently watching The West Wing, Dead Like Me and Wilfred (the original Australian series). None of these are on Netflix UK and US and I would be very surprised if they were on any other locations of Netflix.

Since I'm not in the UK I can't have Lovefilm (not for physical DVD/BR) that's why I'm enjoying the different Netflix catalogues. Also, in France, movies & tv shows are released VERY late, physical medias aren't interesting for me.
About the shows you mentioned, I know that the US version of Wilfred is available on Netflix US, one of the Dead Like Me movie is also available but I will have to check for The West Wing & DLM show.

Netflix Canada are some great recent movies like the last Mission Impossible, Tintin, last Transformers, Hugo, the last Planet of the Apes and many other that I don't remember. TV shows are sometimes available before UK TV.

I can't tell you if you should cancel lovefilm and getting Unblock-Us& Netflix, it really depends on what you like to watch and like you said, physical discs assure you to get what you want, except if it hasn't been released (many new tv shows are available on Netflix before the european dvd release).

If you want me to check contents on different Netflix regions don't hesitate to send me PM

-Eban

You are right it can be the other way round with physical releases. Rescue Me series 4 onwards has never been shown in the UK on TV and never been released on DVD or Blu Ray but is not only on Netflix US but all 7 seasons are even on the UK Netflix. So in this case Lovefilm could not offer me this title. Also in your case I don't think Lovefilm could even offer the streaming service unless you used someone else's address.
The thing that really impresses me about Netflix is the quality of the streams. Even the SD streams look amazing and like an upscaled DVD. Now if Sky's Now TV is anything like the streams on Sky go then this is another thing that puts it well behind Netflix as well as the price.

As people have said it is all about taste, Netflix got some content on that I like, even just the UK version, like numbers, lost, which I have not watched until now, New tricks, I loved that show, but missed a load. Relic hunter, never watched them all.

Sky now is mainly films, while I don't mind films, some of them go on for far too long. the other problem is that for me, i have got no way to play them on the large screen. i don't have or want a X-box, I got a PS3 and a wii and Now Tv is not available on those.

The other issue with me is now that Now Tv is also showing live TV, that puts the issue of my Tv licence or lack of it into the equation.

Price is the other problem £15 a month is a fair bit of money just to watch a couple of films, which to be honest is all I would watch.

I not sure if i would go for it at half the price, maybe if I had some way of putting it onto my large TV, I would think about the pay as you go option, but only for the cheaper films, I would not pay over £4 for a film.