Late comer to the set-top box market is Blockbuster. Netflix has been on the scene for while now which may have been eating into Blockbuster’s profits in more than one way.
Blockbuster’s new set-top box and service through MediaPoint will charge you $99 for the box which will include 25 movie rentals. Here is a “gotcha”, unlike Netflix’s subscription based viewing where you play a small rate each month (lowest at the moment to have access to online media and even includes one DVD out in the mail at a time, is only $8.99 per month), Blockbuster’s high prices will continue as you will be charged $1.99 to $3.99 for each movie you watch (OOOUUCCCHH!).
One the box end of Blockbuster, they will pre-download movies to the box (which has the capacity to hold five movies) compared to Netflix’s streaming method. Netflix’s method, while common, is dependant on bandwidth, if you have a big broadband pipe you will get better quality than those with a lesser bandwidth pipe. Blockbuster’s model will result in a better quality service for those with smaller pipes or poor connections. I personally like the model of pre-downloading for quality sake. My Internet provider, Charter Communications, seems to often over-sale their bandwidth causing unreliable connections. In the last month and a half we have experienced many dropped connections and missed connections (obvious when you hit a page and it responds with “404 not found” when the site is there and simply refreshing brings it up or when you have a continuous connection such as “Remote Desktop Connections” and it keeps dropping connection). This is the second time in three years we have went through this issue of quality and previously it lasted for several months). I wish Netflix would move more into this model, but there may be issues with digital rights management.
How does the libraries compare? Well, Blockbuster is offering around 2,500 titles. Netflix on the other hand has a collection of OVER 12,000 titles and have made a deal with Stars to broadcast Starz along with thousands of their titles and you have access to all those for only a flat fee of $8.99 per month. Not only can you use the set-top box options which Netflix has several options including through your TiVo or xBox 360, but you can watch them on your PC or Mac through your browser thanks to Microsoft Silverlight technology!
So, if you wish to have a possible higher quality picture or perhaps do not plan to use the service often, then you might check out Blockbuster and pay a couple of dollars per movie, otherwise, you might check out Netflix (also, Netflix has a good selection of Christians movies and documentaries).