Streaming services - Confused

neil_g · 12 Mar 2017 at 11:56

Recently picked up a 4k TV which I use with FreeSat and I've been looking at content services and been pretty unimpressed by what's on offer. Thoughts are below, was wondering if anyone had any comments or suggestions.

Netflix
£8.99/month (premium)
+UHD content
+Lots of TV show content
+Free 1 month trial
+Service built into TV
-Poor movie content
-Hard to find out whats on without signup

Amazon Prime
£7.99/month
+Better movie content (although still not great and some pay extra)
+Service built into TV
+Access to Music and other prime perks
-Worse TV show content
-No UHD content? (or at least difficult to find)

NowTV
£6.99-9.99/month depending on pack
+Access to some Sky TV content/boxsets
+Not a bad selection of Movies on Sky Cinema
-External device (although I do have an original Chromecast kicking about)
-Only 720p
-Multiple packs to get all content is pricey

Google Play
No subscription, PPV
+Not a bad choice of recent TV/Movies to rent
+Service built into TV
-Cost could stack up with lots of viewing
-Hard to work out what is HD

Seems the only way to get up to date/recent movies is to buy a Blu Ray player, then sell on the discs after watching. But then miss out on TV content.

Don't really want to go VM or Sky, adding TV to my VM internet will be at least £18/month extra for basic (£39/pm if I want Cinema) and Sky at least £22/month basic (+£18/pm for Cinema).

If you made it to the end of this brain fart then thanks

TheVoice · 12 Mar 2017 at 12:54

You can take any of them on a month-by-month basis, so the best thing to do is join one for a month or two, catch up on the series you want, then switch to the next one for a month or two.

Movies are never going to be particularly recent on any of these services (except NowTV, but you'll pay for it).

Edit: At least if you have Amazon Prime your Blu-rays will arrive the next day.

sprite- · 12 Mar 2017 at 13:45

I think it comes down to what content selection you prefer, rather than volume of content.

We have full Sky TV package (Movies, Sport, HD etc) and multiroom.

We also have Amazon Video and Netflix though, I'd say we watch them both far more than Sky. Likely to cancel Sky in August, we've only kept it as we use their Fibre and the retentions offers.

I'd find it very difficult to choose between Netflix and Amazon Video, as Amazon has gotten allot better in last couple of months. If I had to, I'd go Netflix. Then again, it's only because it has more of the content to prefer i watch.

If it's good 4K HDR content you want... UHD Blurays is your only option really, apart from a couple of TV series there is little streaming content.

HungryHippos · 12 Mar 2017 at 14:09

Amazon does have UHD, but there isn't as much as on Netflix.

I have Amazon Prime anyway, so have access to that, I share a Netflix account with a family member, and watch it occasionally for new seasons that come along, worth it for me at 50% of the cost, would not really use it enough at full cost.

Psycho Sonny · 12 Mar 2017 at 16:42

what is it that you want to do?

every subscriber has exclusive rights to certain content. You cannot watch everything through 1 service.

pay for what you want to watch not because service A offers this and service B doesn't

If you want UHD content then expect to pay a pretty penny. UHD blu ray player plus discs is the best way to go. buy them second hand if need be and sell them on.

neil_g · 12 Mar 2017 at 18:47

I just want a service that offers a good mix of recent HD content. Uhd would be a bonus but the TV seems to have a decent upscaler so not life or death.

It just seems that there is no single service that offers this and either multiple subscriptions or chopping and changing is required.

Psycho Sonny · 13 Mar 2017 at 00:08

neil_g said:
I just want a service that offers a good mix of recent HD content. Uhd would be a bonus but the TV seems to have a decent upscaler so not life or death.

It just seems that there is no single service that offers this and either multiple subscriptions or chopping and changing is required.

you want sky HD then with their entertainment and movies pack, so you get to download all the boxsets, etc.

once your bored, you can subscribe to netflix for a month to watch what is on there. no point in subbing to netflix for any longer it doesn't have much content and not much new stuff gets added either. same goes for amazon prime.

Rroff · 13 Mar 2017 at 00:31

I find Netflix kind of weird - now and again I discover something is on there, that I'd be interested in, but never shows up unless searching for it specifically or occasionally doesn't show in searches but pops up on the top of the main page one day but apparently has been on the site awhile not just a new addition.

Sadly the UK content especially 4K is kind of meh and no one service comes close.

Haggisman · 13 Mar 2017 at 07:14

We have sky for TV, and then alternate between Netflix/Amazon with a few months on each depending what we want to watch. Occasionally grab a NowTV movies pass if there's a decent offer on (like the current Samsung one), but wouldn't pay full price for that as the picture/sound quality is awful

dbmzk1 · 13 Mar 2017 at 10:58

Amazon Video is rubbish, it's only really good for the odd random movie or The Grand Tour, so unless you have Prime don't bother.

Netflix is good for TV shows, though content is shamefully poor compared to the US.

Neither are good for new movies.

Wish there was a decent all round service.

neil_g · 13 Mar 2017 at 12:55

Psycho Sonny said:
you want sky HD then with their entertainment and movies pack, so you get to download all the boxsets, etc.

Like I said, giving sky £40/month to get basic pack+cinema isn't really an option.

I was hoping one of the streaming services would do the job but apparently not.

Psycho Sonny · 13 Mar 2017 at 13:03

neil_g said:
Like I said, giving sky £40/month to get basic pack+cinema isn't really an option.

I was hoping one of the streaming services would do the job but apparently not.

It's the only option with the most new content.

Netflix and Prime have older content and the movies they have are ancient. Only their exclusive shows are the new content they have access to. I understand why prime is so popular because you get a lot for your money. Free 1 day or same day delivery. Free access to lots of music. Free cloud storage. Netflix I've always found pretty poor tbh for the money. It's good to subscribe for a month here and there watch what you want then wait it out for them to get more content before doing the same again.

The usually give you a free month every year anyway. So just wait until they offer you one and use that.

NotAGolf · 13 Mar 2017 at 13:52

There's always Lovefilm by post. That's quite good on the movie front, and it's going to be good quality too with the physical disc. Not much on the TV front though. Also feels a bit archaic waiting for something to come through in the post!

jpaul · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:42

Films on bfi player

Another criteria for evaluating different services is the sound quality :
- although I think nowtv 720ps quality is good (as good/bad as iplayer), the sound seems to be a low bitrate 2channel
- I do not know which of the others offer 5.1 ?

Also maybe sky/nowtv will improve when sky release their purely streaming box (no satellite required)

nicknack35 · 13 Mar 2017 at 17:19

I was thinking on getting rid of my Sammy H6400 for the KS7000. But after a good think we have decided to wait 2 years to get an OLED. Few of the reasons we backed out was because of the content thats not available and what is will cost over the earth for like Sky, Or 4k player and 4k Blurays. We have a lot of Blurays and we are still very happy with the H6400 for the time been

TheVoice · 13 Mar 2017 at 20:00

neil_g said:
Like I said, giving sky £40/month to get basic pack+cinema isn't really an option.

I was hoping one of the streaming services would do the job but apparently not.

Sky (and the channels that are on Sky) have the rights to a lot of stuff, and £7-9 a month isn't going to get you a streaming service comparable to what a proper TV subscription has.

TJM · 13 Mar 2017 at 23:16

Buy Now TV vouchers at auction and you shouldn't pay more than about £8 a month in total for Entertainment and Cinema. Combined with Netflix and a TV licence, you'll have heaps of good content.

neil_g · 14 Mar 2017 at 06:45

TJM said:
Buy Now TV vouchers at auction and you shouldn't pay more than about £8 a month in total for Entertainment and Cinema. Combined with Netflix and a TV licence, you'll have heaps of good content.

Good shout thanks. Risks of fake vouchers?

Also anyone used a now tv box on a 4k TV? Does it upscale okay? (obviously this is tv depending)

joeyjojo · 14 Mar 2017 at 09:22

jpaul said:
Films on bfi player

Nice wasn't aware of this one.

In a similar vein, Curzon has a great selection of art house/foreign films. https://www.curzonhomecinema.com/

jpaul · 14 Mar 2017 at 10:40

neil_g said:
Good shout thanks. Risks of fake vouchers?

Also anyone used a now tv box on a 4k TV? Does it upscale okay? (obviously this is tv depending)

I always apply the voucher immediately I get it, so you have quick recourse via paypal if necessary, if it had been sold multiple times; I Had one failure and received refund.
But usually ~£3p/m for entertainment, movies are poor imhop so maybe get 1m voucher every 4 months.

Have not tried 4K, but I think nowtv has an adaptive bitrate, like iplayer live, so need a reasonable BB supplier who is not traffic managing, but a
nowtv box is not too expensive, although Roku2 I now use is noticeably faster