Netflix, Amazon Prime - Do you stream online?

**Chris** · June 30, 2016

I've started to become somewhat disappointed with Netflix, not only have they recently announced a price hike - they're pulling certain movies and series from their services (most people do not seem to notice this behaviour) and this after they started limiting devices to their plans, which is fair to a degree but to make people pay more for HD - are they serious? It should come as standard.

However, it's happening and it's forced my family to consider if it's of value to us.

I have three children, all of which are very wise to technology and they enjoy watching cartoons - family time is also fun when we can all watch something together and Netflix has always made that easy to do.

Recently myself and Cheeky decided to re-try Amazon Prime (as we did have a subscription before the days of their video service).

I have to say, I'm in the NETEXT camp.

Fast deliveries as standard, music streaming and videos all for one price! Brilliant.

Now, I fully expect Amazon Prime to grow in leaps and bounds which for me is exciting. Their music service is limited to a degree, yet there are plenty of included albums but you do have to be mindful of the one's they obviously want you to pay for. Likewise, this is the same with the movie service and although Netflix appears to KISS (keep It Simple Stupid) - I find Amazon Prime Video to be very powerful, I like the addition of the cast and the little facts you can find when pausing the video.

It's not perfect but neither is netflix. In fact, one of my biggest complaints is paying for HD and getting SD quality packaged as HD, which comes out of sync.

What about you? Do you use either Netflix or Amazon Prime - perhaps an alternative? Discuss...

**DangerousSausage** · June 30, 2016

I use Amazon Prime, but I've given up on trying to watch things on it. Never mind HD, it doesn't even manage SD. After the first five minutes the picture gets progressively grainier until I can't even make out people's faces. It's not a problem with my internet - my connection is among the 95% fastest in the country and I can watch other streams in perfect HD quality without any problem (even through a proxy). Amazon told me to uninstall the app and install it again, but nothing helps. I've heard that one of the problems is that videos are streamed from Italy for some customers, which slows everything down. I do use Amazon Music, which works OK on some devices, but the app crashes constantly. Will be cancelling ASAP, it's a waste of money.

Also, it's not just Netflix that removes videos - Amazon had a lot of complaints when they removed the whole of Breaking Bad without warning in January. The grass is not always greener.

**Chris** · June 30, 2016

3 hours ago, DangerousSausage said:

I use Amazon Prime, but I've given up on trying to watch things on it. Never mind HD, it doesn't even manage SD. After the first five minutes the picture gets progressively grainier until I can't even make out people's faces. It's not a problem with my internet - my connection is among the 95% fastest in the country and I can watch other streams in perfect HD quality without any problem (even through a proxy). Amazon told me to uninstall the app and install it again, but nothing helps. I've heard that one of the problems is that videos are streamed from Italy for some customers, which slows everything down. I do use Amazon Music, which works OK on some devices, but the app crashes constantly. Will be cancelling ASAP, it's a waste of money.

Also, it's not just Netflix that removes videos - Amazon had a lot of complaints when they removed the whole of Breaking Bad without warning in January. The grass is not always greener.

Are you running anything that could be draining or using up your CPU? I can watch things fine on my phone, but I also have struggled at first to watch video. I had to close a few applications down, as it would seem to prefer a fair bit of resources - I've reported this to Amazon, so hopefully they improve it.

**DangerousSausage** · June 30, 2016

Nope, this is on more than one device: PC, tablet and phone. Other streaming services work perfectly, even when I'm using a proxy. I've tried a few times but it's just unwatchable and far, far worse than what's on offer elsewhere.

Canadian · June 30, 2016

I use Netflix a lot. Never seems to be a problem. But could be due to the Infrastructure of Internet over here.

Primewire is also a Good one. Newer movies & TV Shows are at your Fingertips. I'm currently watching Rovers" on Sky 1. it's normally up within 1 - 2 hours after the Show.

liampie · June 30, 2016

i use netflix also and i am quite happy with it but i do think its becoming quite expensive.

**Super_Danny_Allsopp** · June 30, 2016

I have both Netflix and Amazon Prime, and I have no problem with either in terms of quality, on speedtest.net I come in at 50Mbps even at peak times. Amazon Prime I picked up by mistake, I had the trial and forgot to disable it, so it auto extended and charged me for the year. Not complaining though, I've had a fair few things delivered and watched a few series. Highly recommend 'The Man in the High Castle' (books are good too).

My biggest bugbear with Netflix is blocking of the VPNs/Smart DNS's. However, I have now found one that works with Netflix, BBC Iplayer, ITV player etc... (of course I pay the TV licence... ), but the VPN service is a tad more expensive than I would have liked.