Netflix Reviewer's Comments

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Known for it’s movie rental by mail service, Netflix is expanding it’s wings into the realm of movie downloading. With your regular subscription to Netflix’s standard service, you are eligible for a limited amount of online movie time. However, these services are inseparable. You can not just subscribe to the PC movies without a regular mail subscription.

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Movie Selection:

Netflix’s online service is quite unique. Your regular monthly subscription; one, two or three movies at a time, determines the amount of hours you are eligible for online movie viewing. It ranges from 5 to 24 hours of viewing time. Now, this isn’t exactly movie downloading. The films are hosted on Netflix’s site and you can stream them. Your time is counted when you log on to you account. If you spend three hours watching and pausing and rewinding an hour and a half movie you have used three hours of your time.

The general selection is like walking into the older DVDs section of a video store. They offer about 2000 titles and do not include new releases. Films are dependant on Netfilx’s contracts with the studios.

Ease of Use of Service:

We have always found Netflix to be user friendly. The website is simply designed and easy to use. Everything is clearly labeled. You will have to download Netflix Movie View player and support Windows Media Player. Additionally, the service is only compatible with Internet Explorer 6 or 7. Other browsers like Firefox are not supported.

Help/Support:

Netfilx includes FAQs and email support for members. We contacted them by phone and were on hold for about 12 minutes. When we were finally connected, the customer service representative was nice and answered all of our questions, even though we weren’t members yet.
Summary:

Netflix is really making a name for itself in the movie world. We hope to see this feature eventually expanded into a full movie download and rental service. Restricting people by the number of hours they can watch may turn many off; however, we know at the moment Netflix’s main focus is the mailing service.