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In Reply to: I thought you dropped out long time ago. posted by Victor Khomenko on January 08, 2002 at 20:04:48:
you have to admit it seems like a good idea--to rent films thru a website and the US mail. I dropped back in. I forgot how bad it was, and believed them when they claimed they'd "fixed" their problems. I hate myself.I'm willing to drive to Delaware, during low tide I understand there is a road there. I'll have to stop at Overture, and most likely pick up a few cases of illegal wine...you know this will cost me plenty.
when you say "good copy", I hope you mean that most of it is playable, that it doesn't pixelate so badly that the machine freezes.
Oh, and that it's not from Region 3, making it not playable on North American DVD machines...
Netflix calls that "mint condition", and charges $16.95 per disk for the honor--to rent. I think alot of their customers just use the service to exchange their chinese pirated DVDs for genuine Region 1 copies. I get alot of duds, and Netflix has no way to check the condition or authenticity of their films--they just send out any old thing.
You can't imagine the frustration of expecting a movie night when the disk arrives and finding that the darn thing won't even load. That's why I don't keep guns and swords around the house. I take out my frustration by painting the listening room. I believe I've put 37 coats of paint on the listening room walls. I believe the room is no longer big enough to serve it's purpose. One more coat should seal it up permanantly--just one large block of latex, with a door.
And the local Blockbuster? Yes, they do have "Freddy got Fingered".
They have 50,000 copies of it, and that barely meets the demand.
The suburbs of America are a kind of hell Victor, a kind of hell Dante never imagined.
Follow Ups:
I've been subscribing to Netflix for almost 2 years - and have managed to rent about 395 movies from them at an average price of about $1.65 per movie (which is somewhat impressive, considering that they're paying $1.10 for shipping). Compare that to Hollywood Video where my average rental winds up costing about $6 after late fees.In that time I've had one movie get lost (I did not have to pay for it), two crushed and 6 scratched badly enough so that there was pixelation or they wouldn't play. That's a failure rate of less than 3%.
I'll admit that it's extremely frustrating when you don't get the movies at the top of your queue and getting a scratched disc sucks .. and you can tell that they're intentionally slowing down their turnaround in order to cut costs, but as long as you keep your queue well stocked it's one heck of a convenient service.
-my $0.02
well i can't explain it. perhaps it's the kinds of films i'm renting:here's my current list, in no particular order:
Anatomy of a murder
The Intruder
Carnival of Souls
Bluebeard
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
A Hole in the Head
The Vanishing
The Scent of Green Papaya
Ticket to HeavenI've received a total of 4 films since I re-upped two months ago (I currenty have none), even though I keep at least ten in the que at all times, and of the four one had a few drop-outs and pixelations, and one wouldn't play at all.
I had been a member for a year or so a while back, and the failure rate was about 10%. Perhaps it's my machine: a Dennon DVD 5000. Do you know if the Dennon has a reputation for not tracking damaged discs? Or being able to play foreign films? I always check the "non-playable DVDs in the computer player as a cross-check but they seem to fail at the same place each time.
I hardly ever rent a movie that was or is showing at the local multiplex. I figure if it's popular with the American public, I'm not likely to be intellectually stimulating, and most likely to find deeply offensive senseless violence. The rare exception to this rule is if the film has some kind of spectacular technical effect, as in The Matrix.
What are the titles/categories of the rentals you had problems with?
What machine are you using?
I'm using a Pioneer DV-F727 301 disc changer. It's actually a pretty decent machine in my experience. A couple of quirks in cd management, but as far as DVD playback goes it's pretty good. I don't know if the Denon is known for having problems.I'm trying to remember which movies I had problems with. The Mummy and American Movie come to mind.
I've found that Netflix works best when you keep at least 80 movies in your queue and try to load it up with movies that aren't too popular, but not too obscure at the same time. I view it as a substiture for cable TV .. so there's no fear involved in renting a bad movie. I'm on the 8 disc plan - where I can have 8 discs out at any one time for $35 a month.
Here's a series of movies on my queue which are listed as being available right now. And I won't apologize for my taste in movies . . sometimes I'm in the mood for a stupid movie . . and I appreciate senseless violence when it's done well. I don't get cable tv, so I'm open to renting random movies. Anyways .. on to the list:
The Omen
Horror R Now
Nemesis
Sci-Fi & Fantasy R Now
The Pledge
Drama R Now
The Conversation
Thriller PG Now
Jakob the Liar
Drama PG-13 Now
Joe the King
Drama R Now
The Killing Fields
Drama R Now
Monty Python's Flying Circus #1: Vol. 1
Foreign NR Now
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Live
Music & Concert R Now
The Return of a Man Called Horse
Action & Adventure PG Now
What Lies Beneath
Thriller PG-13 Now
Gummo
Drama R Now
Empire of the Sun
Drama PG Now
See Spot Run
Comedy PG Now
Kundun
Drama PG-13 Now
Twin Warriors
Foreign R Now
Dragon from Shaolin
Foreign NR Now
Magnificent Warriors
Foreign NR Now
Death Race 2000
Sci-Fi & Fantasy R Now
Monument Ave.
Drama R Now
The Edge
Action & Adventure R Now
Almost 2 years as well, and only 2 damaged discs so far. The VCR is gathering a lot of dust at my house.
You can buy a used one for less:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search/102-4963024-6052120?tag=imdb-adbox&keyword=6305077800|B00005NFZC&mode=dvd
I presume you know the diff between the two versions... one is trash.
I meant tape... I doubt they have the DVD. I actually forgot when was last time I turned my DVD on. So repeat after me: Beer only comes in a bottle... good films - on tapes...And only weak-in-the-head Pennsylvanians come to De to buy wine here - the smart Delawarians go to Maryland. I thought everyone knew that already. State Line Liquor is your stop - in Elkton.
Did Freddy REALLY get fingered?
If the smart Delawarians [sic] go to Maryland to buy liquor, the smart Marylanders come to DC.You can buy other things here, too.
Some of them are tax-free.
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