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The idea that it might be more pleasurable to rent
DVDs online instead of standing-in-line at Blockbuster, proved to be
the clincher for me to evolve yet again, but the thousands of titles
to choose from, plus the prospect of getting about 20 movies
(depends on how fast the mail moves) for a flat $20 monthly, had its
allure as well. The problem was - I didn't own a DVD player.
After setting my son, Sean, to the task of
researching what was available, we settled on an inexpensive player
that had some nice features. I ordered the machine and signed up
with Netflix. Visions of an endless supply of classics and new
releases delivered to my couch danced in my head.
The machine was delivered promptly, as were our
first three DVDs. Unfortunately, problems arose quickly, with some
disks simply stopping at certain points and refusing to budge. Upon
ejecting the unmovies, even a casual inspection
indicated that the disks appeared to have been subjected to careless
treatment by former renters who left scratches and dirt on the
surface. Given that a DVD must be handled without the protection
afforded a videotape by its bulky plastic cartridge, it should have
been obvious to me that this kind of rental is going to be more
hazardous to the physical object being passed around, but I hadn't
given it much thought.
Assuming that Netflix was at fault for not having
inspected the disks closely enough before mailing, I fired off a few
complaints and was seriously considering canceling my subscription
(you can cancel at any time). Sean, however, suggested that the
problem might be more with the player than with the DVDs, as he had
been able to get some of the bruised no-play disks to run without a
hitch on his computer. We decided to take an "unplayable"
Netflix rental out to an electronics store and try it on a Sony
player (DVP-NS425P) he had read about.
The disk played. We bought the Sony and sent our
earlier purchase back.
So far, after playing about 15 Netflix disks (some
clearly abused) on the Sony, we've only had to return one
for a substitute. The mail service has been pretty good and we are
receiving a DVD about every two days.
So, my advice, if you find the Netflix deal
attractive, is to take care to buy a player that will
"forgive" surface abuse and play the DVDs in all their
high resolution splendor. Amazon.com is selling the
Sony DVP-NS425P (pictured above) and you can look over their price and terms, as
well as read about the machine's features, by clicking on the link
or picture.
At this point, I am quite satisfied with Netflix's
service and find the process of browsing movies online, plus having
them provide a readily available list of films I've already rented
(great feature for those of us whose "rememberers" aren't
what they used to be), much more enjoyable than the trek
to Blockbuster in the rain and snow and.. well, you get the
picture.
Finally, I recommend both the
Sony DVP-NS425P and Netflix to you. If I change my opinion about either, I'll update
this report, so check back if you are interested.
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