DISH Blockbuster@Home vs Netflix

[ltownsend]

OK - I have been a Netflix customer for many years. Mostly satisfied until they went and changed their subscription rates. Like just about everyone out there I was outraged at their doubling the price.

So, along comes Dish/Blockbuster. Nice pricing / comparable (a little less) to Netflix.

My question to the forum - Who has Blockbuster@Home currently and was a previous sub to Netflix? How does the service compare? In all aspects please - DVDs available new releases preferably, ship to home time, customer service, on-line app usability, etc - you get it. A full blown comparison.

 

[rogerpl]

OK - I have been a Netflix customer for many years. Mostly satisfied until they went and changed their subscription rates. Like just about everyone out there I was outraged at their doubling the price.

So, along comes Dish/Blockbuster. Nice pricing / comparable (a little less) to Netflix.

My question to the forum - Who has Blockbuster@Home currently and was a previous sub to Netflix? How does the service compare? In all aspects please - DVDs available new releases preferably, ship to home time, customer service, on-line app usability, etc - you get it. A full blown comparison.

Disc availability esp. new releases is sad just plain sad. I use it because it comes at no cost with the old platinum package but otherwise its kinda of a joke. Online is easy enough to use, ship times for me is about a two day turnaround. If i send one back on monday I get new one on friday.

 

[TheKrell]

There is no significant BB@home streaming (other than via Dish receivers), so this comparison is for disks at home. Netflix is much much faster, and in my experience turn around rentals on the same day they receive it, even if it's a Saturday. BB@home take a day after they receive the disk to do anything like acknowledging receipt, and I'm pretty sure after they finally decide to ship a new one and send me an email, they don't actually ship for another day. No Saturday anything.

The only way I can watch more than one DVD/week is when I take the mailed disk back to my local BB and exchange it. That gives me two/week.

 

[Ronnie-]

IMO, right now, Netflix is superior in all ways except for the fact that BBaH does offer games.
Otherwise, shipping speed, selection, online content, is all better with Netflix, at least for me.

 

[Tampa8]

You should not get BB to replace Netflix. The allure of BB is the combination of all the included channels,many of which we watch often, and the extra benefit of getting Blu-Ray/DVD/Game discs at no charge every now and then. If the extra movie/entertainment channels mean nothing to you, BB will be a disappointment compared to Netflix.

 

[ttomni6]

Blockbuster @ Home also gives you several extra movie channels. In Hawaii and Alaska, there are a few that are missing.

If I understand the Netflix pricing, you pay about $8/mo. for streaming and another $8/mo. for DVD's through the mail. If I recall, you also have to pay an extra few bucks a month through Netflix if you want Blu-Ray.

Blockbuster@Home is no extra charge for Blu-Ray. Streaming and mailed DVD's are all part of the package price.

Turnaround time on DVD's through the mail slowed down quite a bit about a month ago, but it seems to be getting back on track (at least for me).

As others have mentioned, movies at the top of your queue often get bypassed, even if the website says "Available Now". However, there are two options you can set in your preferences. You can select "fastest shipping" or "next in my queue" - something like that. I have "fastest shipping" selected and that may be part of the reason I don't always get the top of my queue.

The ability to exchange a disk at the local Blockbuster is helpful to get the newest releases - especially when the new releases through the mail say, "long wait".

As for the streaming selections, I haven't been all that impressed. I've only had the service for a little over a month and the new streaming selections don't seem to change. Last time I had Netflix was about 2 years ago but I seem to recall a fresher selection of streaming movies.

As someone else mentioned, the streaming is only via your DISH DVR. The selection of movies for streaming seems to be more limited than the main Blockbuster website. I'm guessing that a subscription to the Blockbuster online/website would be more similar to Netflix than Blockbuster@Home.

 

[Skee7ix]

For me the best of BB@Home were the Epix channels and Palladia. And that I used the rental service for games mostly.

Delivery times are too slow, no stores around, streaming is not compared. Almost in all the time I had BB@Home didn't find anything that I want to actually watch.

 

[garys]

BB@Home and Netflix may be similar but both have different offerings. If price is you biggest concern, BB is a nice alternative but it is not a replacement for Netflix.

 

[Neutron]

We have BB@Home as part of one of the promos we got late last year when we signed up. Once it expires we are dropping it. The interface for it on the 722k is HORRIBLE and from what I've heard about the discs it's a pain.

We have streaming only Netflix and we like it.

 

[Peter Parker]

I was a Netflix customer and I now have BB only because it is free with my DISH package. For no cost it is fine and I have a much better rental experience than many but I occasionally miss the Netflix streaming. I amy yet breakdown and resub to netflix for streaming.

 

[mike123abc]

You do get EPIX with BB@Home which you can stream without a Dish receiver (like with a GoogleTV device). You can also stream to a computer via dishonline.com.

 

[GaryPen]

-Netflix disc-by-mail is superior to BB@H in every way other than BB@H includes games. Better selection and faster turnaround.
-Netflix streaming is vastly superior to BB@H streaming, as Netflix content is directly contracted between Netflix and the content creators/owners, whereas BB@H streaming is simply an OnDemand service for the channels included in the BB@H programming package. The BB@H designation is just somewhat misleading marketing hype.

That being said, I feel the BB@H package is worth the $10/mo for that collection of channels and the one-disc-at-a-time plan. There are enough movies for my wife and I to watch with that plan plus our subscription to Netflix streaming and our free Amazon Prime VOD account.

 

[stvlg1]

We had Netflix 3 years ago mostly to watch premium HBO and showtime series. For us Netflix was not that great at offering
newer movies. So when we had watched the previous season of our favorite shows we dropped them because for us they
didn't offer anything we liked or had already seen. A few years ago I signed up for BB@home. For us we got disks the next
day as we did with Netflix. We have a blockbuster store about 5 miles away. So it wasn't a big deal for us to get our trade
in disk the same day we received our 1st disk. As others have said, Streaming content is limited to what you already subscribe to.
However, we found that streaming it-self was pretty fast. I ended up using BB@home for games and every now and
then we would go to our local Blockbuster and get a new release either with our trade in or just spend the $1.99 for a non
Dish 1 day rental.
If you are already a Dish customer, I think what you should instead be asking is if you should just add
BB@home and keep your Netflix for streaming only. If you have a blockbuster store within a reasonable distance you can
just go there instead of waiting for disc's to ship from que. So $18 vs $16 is not that bad. If you are a gamer, then it
sort of makes it worth the extra couple bucks to have a vast streaming library plus access to an entire blockbuster store.
Just a thought. If you are simply just trying to save money , I would just keep Netflix and hope they offer more content down
the road. Going with BB@Home only you will end up spending more money for On Demand because you wont find what you
need online or willing to wait for. Imo Dish should have a Disc only option for $5. This would be a great way to get customers
like you to drop Netflix Disk option and save a little money. If you have no BB store close by, then I think its an easy choice.

 

[multnomah]

When I first got my free BB subscription I experienced 48 hour turnarounds; but several months ago all my discs started arriving from another city, and turnaround slowed down to about 6-8 days. I have seen other posts in the subforum testifying to similar problems in other parts of the country. Apparently DIsh is trying to save money by closing BB distribution centers and consolidating the inventories. This basically means I now get only a third as many disks as before, but for the same amount of money.

Another thing that really irritates me is that a huge percentage of the titles they list have never been purchased, and there is no easy way to identify which are which; so, every time I add a new disc, I have to switch over to my BB queue and hunt around to see if it went into the Available queue or the Unavailable queue.

One nice thing about BB is that they did have a lot of the titles that were in my Netflix Saved queue, I think about 30 or 40.

I kept my Netflix account and I'm glad I did. Netflix is not as good as it used to be, but it's still a lot better than BB.

 

[harshness]

I can't speak to Netflix or the Blockbuster standalone product, but the DISH version is not wonderful. One disc per week is all they seem to be able to muster. They seem to process only on the next business day (after the disc comes back) and they don't appear to be mailing the discs until the day following the shipment advice. I returned the last disc on Thursday evening and received notice early this morning that the next disc has been sent. I expect that it won't arrive until Wednesday. I'm located within overnight USPS service from the mailing address (unless the USPS is somehow holding up the only thing that keeps them in business). Given a four business day turnaround, I can't figure out how to adjust my schedule to get more than one disc a week.

I suspect the service varies widely by region but it is generally pretty slow.

 

[satjay]

One plus with bb@home is if you do have a blockbuster by your house that adds value, now I know there are not many around. I am lucky that I have one close to me

 

[KAB]

That being said, I feel the BB@H package is worth the $10/mo for that collection of channels and the one-disc-at-a-time plan. There are enough movies for my wife and I to watch with that plan plus our subscription to Netflix streaming and our free Amazon Prime VOD account.

I'm gasping my last breath here, agreeing with you. The OP (and others) are blind to the fact that BB@H was NEVER intended to meet or compete with Netflix. It was to augment the programming and mail service to customers who ALREADY had PLATINUM, and then those who chose to opt for BB@H. Making a thread to compare the two is a waste of time..., among other things.

 

[ltownsend]

I'm gasping my last breath here, agreeing with you. The OP (and others) are blind to the fact that BB@H was NEVER intended to meet or compete with Netflix. It was to augment the programming and mail service to customers who ALREADY had PLATINUM, and then those who chose to opt for BB@H. Making a thread to compare the two is a waste of time..., among other things.

OMG .... so sorry

 

[PeggyD]

I have both with one disk at a time. Netflix is much faster on turnaround & will send the second next in your queue while it sends the next one from somewhere else in the country. My local distribution center is in Tacoma, WA, but just today I got two, one from Tacoma & one from San Jose, CA. Last week I got one with a return address in New York. BB@H just makes you wait while the next available comes from wherever. I do like that I can get Blu-ray from BB@H at no additional charge. I do wish I could stream classic TV shows to my TV through my 722k.

 

[Dgenx321]

No comparison, BB@Home is horrid as far as streaming goes. You have to pay for alot of the movies you get with your sub from Netflix.

The Disc through the mail, well they are ok.