Legit streaming services

DarrenM · Post by **DarrenM** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:31 am

With Netflix AU launching today and several others available I was wondering which services people have used and what they think of them.

https://www.stan.com.au/
$10/mo
Run by fairfax and Nine. I've signed up to the trial of this and I'm finding it a bit weird. They have a bunch of different shows but a fair few of them have a limited number of seasons available which seems a bit useless to me. They've also got a deal with ABC and SBS to provide their shows on top of the ones Nine has the rights to I guess.

https://www.presto.com.au/
$10/mo for movies or tv. $15/mo for both.
Run by foxtel, with a cable pricing model.

https://www.netflix.com/au/
$9/mo for SD, $12/mo for HD, $15/mo for UHD
I guess the question here is how limited the content is compared to the US site.

https://www.quickflix.com.au/
$10/mo for streaming. $12 to $30/mo for physical disc rental.
Seems to be mostly aimed at physical dvd/blu-ray rental. Their streaming range seems a bit limited.

http://ezyflix.tv/
No subscription, but rental/purchase model.
Has a wide range of shows and movies available but all the tv shows seem to be only for purchase, not rent.

Any others out there worth considering?

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:48 am

I've used the US based netflix for a while now. We're pretty happy with that, it's got a lot of content and the Netflix exclusives are pretty great, I think we'll be able to log into Aus site with out details. I'm curious to see the difference. One of the best things about Netflix is it has apps for almost every device. We use the PS4/3 to watch it on our telly. It works a treat.

I used to do work for quickflix, but haven't ever signed up for their stuff because it didn't appeal to me. Take from that what you will.

Haven't tried the others, but I think Stan has some good stuff going for it, but it's run by companies that are a long way behind when it comes to delivering online content. They are playing catchup in a big way.

DarrenM · Post by **DarrenM** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:59 am

I was going to list which ones had mobile/chromecast apps but it looks like they all do. The shows I've watched on Stan have all been via chromecast and my nexus 7. I just wish it had the ability to cache a couple shows so I could watch them on the bus. I'm sure it would be possible to rip them if I tried hard enough.

Short term I'll probably sign up to netflix and stan then dump whichever is the least useful after a few months.

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:11 am

Stan doesn't have an app for the playstation. We've had Netflix for a long time and we were watching it on the laptop, but when I worked out I could use that app I was pretty pumped. It's a great interface, and without a chromecast currently, I've avoided stan for that reason.

SE1Z · Post by **SE1Z** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:27 am

I'm going to try out Netflix.
Curious to see if my slow internet is good enough.

DarrenM · Post by **DarrenM** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:32 pm

Apparently the local version has 7000 titles less than the US site

Here's a comparison of the tv shows available between the local and US netflix
http://www.finder.com.au/netflix-austra ... s-tv-shows

Here's a comparison of Stan, Presto and Netflix
http://www.finder.com.au/movies-internet-tv
http://www.finder.com.au/tv-shows-internet-tv

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:55 pm

Shit, I got through a small section of that Netflix stuff and can already see I'll stick with the US one.

NeilPearson · Post by **NeilPearson** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 2:27 pm

Sigh. Why even bother releasing it. anyone who sees that list won't bother if they already get to shows elsewhere

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 2:31 pm

Well, the problems early on will be the deals that are in place for this region with the distributors. I'm sure all that will change over the coming months/years, but it will take a while for contracts to run out.

Even Netflix will get pressure in the states as companies like Hulu, Amazon, Yahoo, etc all push with their streaming services.

r8response · Post by **r8response** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:03 pm

Coincides perfectly with Telstra (Bigpond) doubling the quota for their ADSL plans

Post by **Bauer** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:52 pm

Netflix is quota free with Internode

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:47 pm

With all these different services, I fear that I'll end up paying more than foxtel to get all the shows I want to watch.

wabbit · Post by **wabbit** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:00 pm

Give it time. To my mind it's almost like a light switch has been flicked on and in such a short space of time these alternate legitimate services keep coming online. I remember only months ago we were all annoyed that there wasn't any choice in this country.

Dr. Pain · Post by **Dr. Pain** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:35 am

Still seems better to VPN and access say Netflix US. I had a feeling any service like this, coming to Australia, would be hamstrung by the media outlets here. They want their ratings or money first.

SE1Z · Post by **SE1Z** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:40 am

For anyone on the fence with NetFlix, I decided to give it a whirl.
Went with the middle option. 2 simultaneous streams and HD.

My ADSL is painfully slow, I sync at 4800 on a good day - so I was fully prepared to downgrade to the single stream/SD content after the trial month.

But....

I have no problem at all maintaining a buffer free, 720p stream in 5.1 surround.
Also am able to run a second SD stream at the same time, or surf/email with no noticable impact on either.

Very impressed so far.

Tried during peak times as well (after 7pm) - all good.

Very surprised and impressed, considering I can't view 720p youtube...

Brett_S · Post by **Brett_S** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:33 am

Does Netflix provide an option to pre-download content before you view it?

When I visited a family member in the US they had the ability to select a bunch of shows and download them all for watching later. I can't remember if it was Netflix or not - was about 5 years ago...

DarrenM · Post by **DarrenM** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:55 am

That might have been TiVo.

wobblysauce · Post by **wobblysauce** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 4:34 pm

TiVo for sure.. TiVo was available here also.

Sarsippius · Post by **Sarsippius** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:06 pm

I've signed up to Netflix and I like it so far, I think I'll stay with it once the subscription starts up. The quality of the streams are good once they ramp up the bitrate after a few minutes. I think a small part of it is also feeling I'm contributing something rather than downloading everything for free and will just get what they don't have through the usual means.

It's also a bit timely in that I'm gradually filling up the NAS and would need to pay about $400 to whack another couple drives in there so $144 for a year of Netflix is quite ok in comparison and I can probably even get rid of some stuff on the NAS.

All the aussie content is hosted by aussie ISPs so that's why the streaming quality is high.

I might have a look at Presto but maybe with just the movie option, between the two it should hopefully cover me movie wise.

ysu · Post by **ysu** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:13 pm

I've used netflix for a while now, through getflix.

Similarly poor 'net connection (waiting for the NBN guys to pull out a finger - it was scheduled to be here fucking years ago!), similar speeds to se1z and similar good results.

wabbit · Post by **wabbit** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:14 pm

SE1Z wrote:I have no problem at all maintaining a buffer free, 720p stream in 5.1 surround.

I was thinking about your comment. I understand it's 720p but I'm wondering how good it looks. Like it is super clear say something like a .mkv or more like a dodgy 720p from YouTube? (yes, I know you can't stream 720p YouTube but I'm sure you get my meaning :P)

plastik8 · Post by **plastik8** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 6:36 am

wabbit wrote:
SE1Z wrote:I have no problem at all maintaining a buffer free, 720p stream in 5.1 surround.
I was thinking about your comment. I understand it's 720p but I'm wondering how good it looks. Like it is super clear say something like a .mkv or more like a dodgy 720p from YouTube? (yes, I know you can't stream 720p YouTube but I'm sure you get my meaning :P)

Pretty sure there is a free trial... Why don't you try and find out ?

SE1Z · Post by **SE1Z** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 8:55 am

wabbit wrote:
SE1Z wrote:I have no problem at all maintaining a buffer free, 720p stream in 5.1 surround.
I was thinking about your comment. I understand it's 720p but I'm wondering how good it looks. Like it is super clear say something like a .mkv or more like a dodgy 720p from YouTube? (yes, I know you can't stream 720p YouTube but I'm sure you get my meaning :P)

I'd say it's somewhere in between.
Not as good as a 'good' .MKV, but definitely better than youtube.

Netflix reckon 3gb per hour for HD streams.

ysu · Post by **ysu** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:09 am

I've watched an HD cartoon early on (Croodz, it's not bad). It looked brilliant, but I'm not sure it's worth the 4GB+ download. You certainly can't watch one of these every night if you're on a limited connection...
It went all right, by the way. But it may have been a lucky night - some nights the 'net is better, some nights it's near rubbish.

Sarsippius · Post by **Sarsippius** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 7:24 pm

For movies I generally download 1080p rips with at least 2GB/hr and I've found the quality of Netflix to be quite good. It depends a bit on the source (eg older stuff or lower quality video) but any content that's HD looks very good to my eye.

by the way I mentioned Presto above, read a bit about it and will give it a wide berth. All SD and you can't watch on a pc with an external monitor by design, so that means laptops or a chromecast plugged into a TV, no htpcs, wtf??!!

A.R.S.E.