Since Blockbusters closed its shops i have been looking for somewhere to watch HD films as close to BluRay quality as possible,i find Netflix very frustrating the streaming is generally excellent better than sky movies and with most films in 5.1, i watched breaking bad last year in brilliant 1080p.My problem is the lack of quality films i'm not talking just newish films but back catalogue films,it seems Sky have a unfair advantage with regards deals with big studios something that doesn't seem to be a problem in the states,netflix is a great idea everything is ready bar the most important thing the content unless they can even the playing field regarding sky(which i find too expensive)i will be a occasional member at best when i would like to be a year round member.

Use unblock us. Depending how many films you watch maybe cancel and buy some either bluray or somewhere else. I do both. now tv is also worth a watch. You have plenty of options a even an unlimited movie pass for cineworld for £15 a month

For now Sky have a lot of control but that could change over time,Sky took 25 years to get 10 million customers, Netflix have 3 million in 2 years so maybe the tide will turn toward the streaming services and the content providers will want to get there products on them, provided the customer base continues to grow.

In the meantime as stated there is more to Netflix than just the UK side of things with various services allowing access to different regions, and for UK based then you can drop in and out of Now Tv and Amazon Prime Instant Video on a monthly basis as required.

Would also recommend subscribing to a DNS switching service. There's plenty to pick from, as mentioned there is Unblock-Us, Unotelly or if its just Netflix you're interested in, Ad-freetime is an even cheaper option at only £1.35 a month. What device are you watching Netflix on? This option may not work (or be quite difficult to set up) if you are using a Roku or Chromecast. If you're using a PC/Laptop, Smart TV or games console then its relatively easy, you manually change the DNS settings on the device in question to the ones that the DNS switcher service provides you with. Then usually, through their website it will let you select which Netflix country you wish to connect to. Select the one from the list and relaunch the Netflix app - you will notice how much better the catalogue is.

I use http://whatsnewonnetflix.tv/ to find new content, it lists new releases in all the regions. It's then just a case of me having to visit the Unblock-Us website, change to the region in question and find the title on Netflix.

Can always use Amazons lovefilm by post service for £6.99p/m.

lovefilm I recommend as long as you don't mind something having to wait two months after the film comes out on dvd/blu ray, depending on the distributor

Here's a list of classic films available to watch on Netflix
LINK

Blimey,i never expected to get such good advice and so many replys,i'm new to this forum .i did notice the other day that HMV is doing 5 bluray films for £30 all pretty new and DVD's are even cheaper,i have thought about in the past using the US netflix service using the methods people have mentioned but i am a bit of a thickie where computers and the internet are concerned and am a bit concerned about giving my card details away,i did try lovefilm by post last year but seemed to end up with films from the bottom of my list and the whole thing seemed to involved,i think streaming is the way forward it seems these are still early days and it may be some years before all the problems are ironed out,ironically i use Spotify streamed to my home cinema system and the whole thing is seamless the audio bit rates could be higher but i guess thats a whole different post anyway many thanks for the replies i hope to keep a eye on this forum from now on..Dave

Using services such unblock-us give you access to so much more than just US Netflix, you'll have access to 19 Netflix regions as well as other geo blocked on demand services.
If you are worried about card details then you can pay by PayPal which is easy enough to setup if you don't already have an account.
With unblock-us you can try the service with the 7 day free trial(no details needed other than email address), setting up your device is easy enough, just go to www.unblock-us.com and follow instructions.

Download Hola unblocker extension on Chrome, no card details needed as its free!

Yes NF does have some dross on it "1 or 2" star films etc, but with access to all regions it's probably nearer to Sky than you think. Sky also has some utter dross on it too.

I just love the fact I can watch box sets instantly, no adverts, no fast forwarding just straight programming. I'm beginning to hate just fast forwarding the adverts on sky programmes now, so used to just sitting and watching.

My Sky Plus box packed in is there any way to retrieve recorded items?

Wrong section you'd be better off asking here http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=14 or ringing Sky but the short term answer would be no i imagine.

I may have a go regarding netflix US but can anyone tell me if its possible to do the streaming thru a netflix app on my LG Blu Ray player and onto a large tv as the whole watching films on the laptop does not appeal to me..

If you can change your dns on the device or your router then it should work fine.
Or you could connect your laptop to your tv via hdmi if your laptop has a hdmi port.

Thanks for the tip...Dave