I posted about my initial impressions of Netflix back in January.
It’s now nearly May and I’m still happily paying a monthly subscription.
Why?
Well it comes down to economics and a couple of other things.
Even if you don’t circumvent the content limits on an Irish Netflix account there is quite a bit of content available to watch. As I already noted, the “new releases” are a bit of a misnomer, but there’s still quite a lot to watch. I’ve found some real gems by exploring the TV series and films, as Netflix carries quite a few of the titles that iTunes doesn’t – and even when there is crossover it’s cheaper to use Netflix.
The idea of “all you can eat” TV and films is pretty appealing and the “social” element is pretty interesting.
I was paying Sky quite a bit per month for a number of movie channels which I haven’t really been using. There’s nothing wrong with them, but I simply wasn’t watching enough to justify paying for them. Cancelling my Sky Movies subscription won’t save me much money per month, as I’ll end up using whatever I “save” on my iTunes accounts.
But what about the content restrictions on Netflix Ireland?
It’s all down to licensing obviously, but there are ways to circumvent the restrictions. It doesn’t take much effort to find any number of services that let you “appear” as if you’re logged in from the US and then you get access to a much wider range of films and other content.
Even with access to the US content, however, you still won’t find everything you might want. You can find Iron Man 2, but not the original, for some odd reason. None of the James Bond movies appear to be available and you won’t get access to mainstream Hollywood hits much faster than you would on any iTunes account (either side of the Atlantic)
Overall, however, I’m happier to stick with Netflix and watch a few TV shows and movies and not have to worry about how much I’m paying. At €6.99 a month it’s so cheap it’s barely worth talking about (it works out at less than 24 cents a day!)
So what do you think of Netflix? I know what Conn and Conor think 🙂
Related articles
- Miramax the latest studio to ink Netflix U.K. deal (news.cnet.com)
- Netflix touts success of UK and Ireland launch (techradar.com)
I’m the opposite. Despite singing its praises when it came out, I just this week cancelled our Netflix subscription because I was tired of not seeing anything recent that I wanted to watch on it. I think we’ll give it another six months and then try it again. In the meantime, I’ll use the €6.99 a month to rent a movie or two through Apple TV and iTunes instead.
Lisa
I guess it depends on your viewing habits.
I initially thought I’d drop it after the free trial, but I’ve found enough content in there to justify the monthly fee.
Friends of mine with kids love the cartoons 🙂
Thanks for your comment
Michele
Definitely! Viewing habits make all the difference. Shortly after we signed up, my 2 year old went through a Wonder Pets obsession phase, and it was fantastic to have the show ready to stream whenever we wanted. But gradually he got over that, and in the past month, we’ve barely used the account. So we’re cancelling it for now, but I expect we’ll sign up again in about six months to see if it has improved. For now, it doesn’t have enough of the shows we normally watch.
Hi Michele, Long time no see/hear etc…
I think the Irish Netflix will get better. I think I read somewhere that the Canadian version had similar content issues when it launched and doubled its content by the end of the first year and that’s what the Irish/Uk one aims to do as well. I notice that season 3 of Dexter has just been added to the Irish site. Currently I’m circumventing when I can get a decent DNS that hasn’t been patched (yes V naughty)a and using the home site as well. All-in-all it’s a good service and the children’s stuff is fairly comprehensive and that’s important for my three wains.