Legal Movie Download Service $9

The Wall Street Journal covered a neat little new feature of NetFlix accounts: unlimited legal movie downloading. There's tons of movies and tv episodes (actually over 6,000 video files right now).

The streaming and download service is now included for all plans $8.99/month and up.

Deatils here.

List of All NetFlix DVD Rental Plans Available

I just called NetFlix to cancel my trial membership after 2 weeks, but found out that they have a whole menu of different price points for DVD Rental memberships. Oddly enough, the customer service person didn't try to upsell or downsell me onto another plan. It was extremely hassle-free to cancel my membership.

Simply call Netflix Customer Service at 1-800-279-5688 to cancel your trial account, and a Customer Service Representative will assist you 24 hours a day. And I was simply told that I must return all outstanding rentals within 7 days, or they'll automatically charge the credit card for the unreturned DVDs. And no refunds or credits are given for partial months or unwatched movies, so it was good that I cancelled 1 day shy of the trial end period.


Here's the complete list of NetFlix DVD Movie Rental Plan Options:

8 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $47.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 8 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $47.99.

7 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $41.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 7 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $41.99.

6 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $35.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 6 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $35.99.

5 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $29.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 5 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $29.99.

4 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $23.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 4 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $23.99.

3 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $16.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 3 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $16.99.

2 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $13.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 2 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $13.99.

1 at-a-time (Unlimited) for $8.99

Unlimited rentals - up to 1 movie out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $8.99.

1 at-a-time (2 a month) for $4.99

Up to 2 rentals a month - up to 1 movie out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $4.99.

Blockbuster Total Access Alternative

Blockbuster recently rolled out a $4.99/month service for their online DVD movie rental service to try and align it's plans better with the majority of consumer's real movie watching habits. Do you REALLY watch 4-6 movies EVERY month? If not, the $5 movie rental plan might be for you.

However, if you are even more realistic, $4/month might be better on your wallet for the same thing. Intellifix is a competing DVD rental service that does the same thing as NetFlix and Blockbuster Total Access, but for less.


Intellifix has plans starting from $3.99. That plus the fact that Consumer Reports just rated Intellifix the best DVD movie rental service -- even better than Netflix and Blockbuster -- should be enough to give them a try.

Of course, they have a free trial period so you can test out really how fast they ship the movies to your door.

Blockbuster vs. NetFlix $4.99 Plan Comparison

Blockbuster just announced a new DVD rental plan for $4.99/month. In keeping with Blockbuster's strategy to undercut NetFlix with plan features, you'll get 12 more video or game rentals with Blockbuster-by-mail vs. Netflix at the $4.99/month price level.


Netflix only offers 2 movies a month, 1 at a time via mail for $4.99. Blockbuster's $4.99 plan also gives you 2 DVD rentals per month by mail, but you also get a bonus coupon for a free additional movie or game rental from the Blockbuster store every month. Thus you get 12 rentals per year free for the same price. Another added bonus with any kids in the house -- the coupons are good for game rentals, not just videos!


Separately, Blockbuster slashed their unlimited Total Access plan price to $16.99, making it literally cheaper than Netflix for the same unlimited service.

Netflix offers only 2 movies / month at $4.99

If Jessica Simpson Chooses Blockbuster Video Online, So Should You

Ok, case closed, if Jessica Simpson chooses Blockbuster's Total Access DVD Rental Program over Netflix, shouldn't you?

Why is Jessica Simpson even involved with Blockbuster? She's not even a movie star!?!?! Movies ---> Blockbuster....Jessica Simpson--->WHY?

The only way is to try it and find out why, I guess. Thank goodness it's free to try the service.

Animal Instinct Is To Choose Blockbuster Video over Netflix.com, Shouldn't You?

Blockbuster has added 800,000 new subscribers to the Total Access DVD's-by-Mail Rental Program. Almost a MILLION people can't be wrong. But if little hamsters also choose Blockbuster Video, then you have to jump on the bandwagon right now, right?

Why Jets Football Fans Use NetFlix.com For DVD Movie Rentals

Here's another competitive reason why NetFlix is going to trump Blockbuster Online in the end.

Jet's fans (as in NFL football) are banding together and going all NetFlix purely for the reason that Blockbuster Online is associated with Wayne Huizenga who just happens to own the Miami Dolphins. "Huizenga repeated his business success [throughout his career] with Blockbuster Video, opening a handful of stores in 1985, and achieving status as the country's leading movie rental chain by 1994," according to Wikipedia.

For example, Josh Turnof, one of those crazy Jet's fans that dress up for games even when just watching them at home, is a prime example: "I haven't even stepped into a Blockbuster store since Dan Marino's (Miami Dolphin's QB) fake spike in 1999."

You can't compete against rabid NFL fans. It's probably one reason why Blockbuster's Online DVD Rental Service is finally piling on the features for their customers to stay competive with NetFlix.

Blockbuster DVD Movie Rental By Mail Service Is Now BETTER Than NetFlix

Since the start, Netflix dominated the DVD rental scene -- because they invented it. They had the head start to build out tons of distribution centers across the country so that any mailing would be close enough to your home that you'd get it pretty much the next day. When Walmart and Blockbuster.com started their own copycat DVD rental-by-mail services, customers experienced waits of 2-4 days because they were mailing to all customers from from 1 or 2 different centers in the country (and we live in a BIG country). In addition, Netflix stocked thousands of videos - much more than your local Blockbuster store, as well as the competitor's DVD's by mail movie services. If you did any compariso

Up to now, Blockbuster's retails stores have taken huge hits because of DVD's by mail rental programs cropping up as well as cable Pay Per View. Well, Blockbuster finally figure out a way to make their brick-and-morter presences into a competitive advantage against NetFlix.com: They let you return the DVD's you got in the mail to your local store *and* immediately take out another DVD to take home that same day *and* they'll ship you your next DVD rental in the mail so that you'll get it in a day or two. Immediate satisfaction plus some. Not bad, huh?

Blockbuster.com has been hitting the airwaves hard with TV commercials lately to promote their program. At the same price as NetFlix, there's now a tangible reason to try out Blockbuster's DVD Movie Mail Rental Program. Plus, Blockbuster has added 2 in-store movie rentals per month to the package, putting Blockbuster's Movie Rental Service over the top vs. Netflix. And if that's not enough, they've taken their discounted $9.99/1st month promotional offer and replaced it with a totally free trial offer that can be found in certain places.

If you use NetFlix, you should try the free Blockbuster.com trial and even do a head-to-head mailing speed competition between the two services. Having the option to go to the local store to get another video + 2 more free videos per month makes it a real serious contender to replace NetFlix.

New DVD Player Means I Need DVD's

Just got the Philips DVD Player which also supports DivX format movies for our master bedroom. Now I can archive movies and watch some of the increasing available movies in the more compressed DivX format. The only question I have is how to add subtitle files to the movie DVD's that are burned in DivX format - it's supposed to be as easy as dropping in the subtitile file into the same folder as the movie files, but it doesn't seem to be so easy. Perhaps my DVD player doesn't support DivX subtitles, but I believe it does. I'll have to Google it one day soon.

In the meantime, I guess that means I need more DVD content to watch. The Video Library just closed down on our town's "main street" which was an independent video rental store. Just another sign the local rentals are being killed by downloaded movies, pay per view, fiber optic TV, and the biggie - DVD Rental Services like NetFlix.

I personally didn't sign up for NetFlix yet for some reason. Partially because I was able to get tons of free movie rental coupons for Blockbuster, although it's 3 miles away, about 8 minutes away from our house. Close enough to go, but far enough to not go every week when you get the slight urge to watch a movie. Instead, we usually hit the Tivo Now's Playing list. Another reason why Blockbuster ain't doing so well.

Anyway, NetFlix seems to be the answer as of now, so I headed over to NetFlix and guess what? I was pleasantly surprised that they now offer plans that don't cost $20+/month. They even have plans for $5/month for their budget DVD movie rental plan. Not bad.

Time to take NetFlix for a spin. Millions of people can't be wrong about how convenient it is to rent DVD's by mail with pretty much overnight delivery if you order early enough, right? I think it's like a Tivo thing - most people know about it. A large chunk of people get it. The rest have some inertia, knowning that it's a good thing, they should probably get it, but just haven't. It's just a matter of time. For us, the time seems to be now. :-)

Great LAST MINUTE STOCKING STUFFER

Can't find that something special for everyone on your Christams shopping list? Here's a unique gift that they'll ACTUALLY USE and appreciate for months after the gift is given -- a Gift Membership to Netflix DVD rental service.

Netflix is now offering Gift Subscriptions from 1 - 12 months at a time. And it's affordable! You can get 1 month for a little as $5.99! That's for 2 DVD movies in a single month. With over 70,000 movie titles in stock, there really is something for everyone.

If they already have a NetFlix account, it will simply start their next billing cycle. If they are new to NetFlix, the gift will start the day they redeem the certificate on the site. And when the gift subscription ends, it will simply turn into an active subscription at that same rate you purchased for them, using their credit card put on file when they set-up and redeemed their gift certificate. Or they can simply cancel and return any DVD's they have out at that time.

And as if you wondered if there really is a santa, Blockbuster Video just announced that they will offer Netflix customers FREE rentals if they just bring in the Netflix rental envelopes (that you don't need for anything). So basically you can double the # of videos you get for free!

More Free Rentals for NETFLIX customers!

FYI, local Blockbusters almost everywhere are now honoring the tear-off address flap from your NetFlix DVD rentals for a free in-store movie rental. So basically it's a 2-for-1 deal for NetFlix customers: You rent a DVD from NetFlix, then use that same envelope to get a free movie rental from the local Blockbuster...

Here's the press release from Blockbuster

And for those that want to jump on the bandwagon and truely get something for free, you can sign-up for a free trial from NetFlix immediately and get your 1st DVD in the mail within 24-48 hours (they are FAST). Their lowest plan is only $5.99/month too, which is really affordable and makes that service actually practical for most families.