Best way to buy films?

[Radio Fixer]

We are with Virgin Media who do have Netflix but that has a lot of bad press for getting the charging wrong, poor films and terrible user support. Don't really want to be a subscriber either, just pay to watch, as and when.

So whats the best way to do it?

In the past I have just bought DVDs which means I have control.  Can keep or pass on to friends ...

thanks for tips   Gary

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
Never had any issues with Netflix nor have my family, I'm on the basic subscription which is SD but all the movies watched are in HD so no problem. There is less choice now on DVD and of course recent DVD players are of very low build quality. Most people stream now and the dump is full of DVD and CD players

[chriswood]

I use all the popular methods for getting films depending on quality, what and when. I have access to Virgin and Sky for current films and use Netflix and Amazon for online so I can watch most of what I want. As to quality Virgin and Sky are full 1080 HD whereas the downloads from Amazon and Netflix tend to be available in 4K which I will use on the main TV for main features. As to purchasing I occasionally buy and use and have collected rare or unusual stuff not available online as DVD. The other thing is sometimes if family are looking to buy a gift I might ask for a film on DVD/Blue-ray as it is something tangible they can wrap. Generally though I go for online as it is cheaper and you don't collect clutter and I rarely watch films more than once.

Chris

[Mark Hennessy]

I buy second hand DVDs and Blu-rays - mostly from our local CEX, but occasionally from eBay if I want something specific. I can't remember the last time I bought new, but it occasionally happens. What I like about CEX is the ridiculously low prices (often just 49p), which means I can grab a random handful. I like CEX, and don't mind supporting them in this way.

Not interested in streaming - we just don't watch enough TV to justify a monthly subscription. Having tried Netflix and Now TV, I don't think they offer good VfM for our usage. And in terms of picture quality, HD Netflix is mostly sharp enough, but I notice a lot of motion artefacts that aren't present on the DVDs or Blu-rays. Same for iPlayer as well. Not surprising given the bit rates concerned.

Luckily, s/h media is ridiculously cheap because people are moving over to streaming. Admittedly discs take up space, but "minimalism" is for other people

If we ever get fed up with DVDs cluttering our bookshelves, then I'd rip them and store them on my NAS box.. I have 3 free disc slots in my NAS box, and for just over £300, I can buy the discs needed to up the capacity from 8GB to 16GB or 20GB (depending on whether I go for RAID 5 or 6). If we assume that a typical SD movie comes on a dual-layer disc with the layer change roughly half way through, that implies about 8GB per movie, very roughly. That translates to about 2,000 movies, give or take, and allowing for the other data already on the box. We probably only have 200 discs, so we've plenty of capacity for the future, and it would be all in-house, completely under our control and not reliant on a working internet connection. And should the worst happen, we'd still have the physical discs in the attic.

For the sake of balance, one big advantage of the streaming services might be the recommendations based on your viewing habits. I can't recall a time when I've followed one of these suggestions, but the people in the iPlayer team tell me this is huge factor for most viewers.

[Radio Fixer]

Thanks. Any of the streaming service do Pay To View IE no subscription?

Gary

[Craig]

If you have a smart TV, you just use Freeview for your main channels and catch up/boxed sets, and then subscribe to any pay per view you want. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix.

[Murphyv310]

I don't like prime.
Not only do you pay a sub but some films are chargeable. At least with Netflix you can drop out at anytime and there is no extra costs.

[Radio Fixer]

Decided to just buy Blueray disks. Can be picked up quite cheaply for the films we like (not that many as not into violence and shoot 'em ups)

Will look around for DVDs and BD when we go out again to Charity and the like.

Have so many channels and interests usually able to find something to watch anyway.

Have a huge dislike for subscription services that cant easily be got rid of and keep pestering. Noted that Trevor said Netflix doesn't.

Gary

[Radio Fixer]

Thanks Craig.

We actually watch by a Virgin box but I expect there is a service there.  Know there is as if we go to stored programs, there is usually an add for a film from them at the top of the list.  One time, as I remember it, we clicked it and watched the film and it got added to our monthly payment (I think, haven't been adventurous since  )

Gary

[Richard_FM]

I record a lot of films from channels like Talking Pictures to my hard disc recorder and then watch them on my collected sets.