Amazon Prime Discussion

[barnabas1969]

I'd like to ask more questions about Amazon Prime. What kinds of movies and shows can I get with Prime that I don't get from Netflix and the free version of Hulu? Is it really worth the cost of the Prime membership?

[barnabas1969]

Hmmm... I see that I can browse "Prime Eligible" titles on Amazon's website. I'm looking around. I guess what I'm really wondering is if this could be something that would make it easy to "cut the cord" and simply use my OTA tuners, Amazon, Netflix, and possibly Hulu Plus (I use the free version of Hulu to watch some shows occasionally now).

[foxwood]

I'd like to ask more questions about Amazon Prime. What kinds of movies and shows can I get with Prime that I don't get from Netflix and the free version of Hulu? Is it really worth the cost of the Prime membership?

Go to http://amazon.com/video

Just below the search bar, there's a Prime Instant Video link that will show you a selection of the Movies and TV available.

The key thing about Prime, though, is that it was originally a way to get free 2 day shipping on anything you ordered from Amazon. The videos were just an extra bonus. I think it's gotten to the stage where it might be worth it for the videos, with free 2nd day delivery for Amazon orders thrown in as a bonus.

[TeddyR]

I'd like to ask more questions about Amazon Prime. What kinds of movies and shows can I get with Prime that I don't get from Netflix and the free version of Hulu? Is it really worth the cost of the Prime membership?

Personally I do not believe that Prime membership is worth it on the Movies/Streaming merits alone. The selection of availible streaming titles is not as good as netflix nor hulu yet.. Its only when you add up all the "features" that it may be worth it...

Essentially for ~80/year you get the benefit of free 2 day shipping on items that are prime eligable (mainly items sold by Amazon itself, and rarely by third parties through Amazon).. If you order more than 5 prime eligible items per year from Amazon and care about shipping times for those items then in that case the addon of free streaming may be worth it...

If you have a Kindle and use their ebooks, then with prime you also get the ability to "borrow" some books from their "lending library" once per month.

In my case I place a 3/6 value on shipping, 2/6 on streaming and 1/6 on the kindle feature... so all together it is worth it.. take out one of the items then it quickly loses value...

[makryger]

I got the Amazon Prime student membership for $39. Totally worth it just for the 2-day free shipping. Can't tell you how much I've saved in time, convenience, and not having to add extra items for super saver shipping. And that's aside from the Prime movie selection.

I find that amazon prime movies are mostly the same as netflix selections. The I think amazon's selection is a bit more limited. Between the two, I prefer netflix- mostly because of the netflix add-in.

If I had a kindle, that'd be an addition measure of value. Of course, this is all from the POV of a $39 entry price. But I think I still would have done it for 2-day shipping even for $89/yr.

[Doctor Feelgood]

I wouldn't sign up for Prime just for videos... But, I use Amazon like crazy for shopping and it pays for itself by never paying shipping or tax (which is ending soon). From grocery store items, to electronics, to car parts... I have saved a ton with them through Prime. Free Shipping on 8 brake rotors weighing a combined 200LB? Silly. Plus, there is subscribe and save, which gets me the things I need every month without thinking (or paying too much)... Like diapers, tissues, laundry detergent.

For movies... The selection is comparable to Netflix to me. For TV... It seems to have more that I want to see than Netflix.

When browsing videos at Amazon - be sure to keep the paid/rental videos separate from the 'free' Prime videos...

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sa_menu_aiv ... 2676882011

[barnabas1969]

Well, I did a bunch of browsing, and I only looked at the free stuff that Prime members get. There is a way to show all of the TV series, grouped by name. There many TV shows that I like there, but I've seen almost all of them because most of them are old ones. And... many of them are from broadcast TV, which I can get for free with an antenna. The movies.... hmmmm... not much free stuff there that I would want to see, except the ones I've already seen.

I get that Prime gives me free shipping. I've used their free trials in the past just because I was buying something from Amazon anyway. I'm not sure if the membership would pay for itself in shipping, but it would definitely help sometimes. I probably buy three or four things from Amazon in a year. I suppose if the shipping is free, it might make Amazon a better deal than e-bay sometimes.

I don't know. The wife likes CNN, and we watch a few shows on Showtime. Of course, I could get the Showtime shows from Netflix or Amazon a year or two after they air. I also watch some stuff on SyFy, Discovery, Science, History, Comedy Central, etc. I'd love to save $100/month by not paying for cable anymore... that would almost pay for a trip to Bonaire to go SCUBA diving for a week.

I suppose I should sign up for the free trial, and try this Media Center plugin for a month. The real test would be to see if I could stand going without cable for a month. Hmmmm....

Any cord cutters here who can share their experience?

[Scallica]

I think Amazon Prime is a great value. Free 2-day shipping on anything that doesn't weigh a ton, plus access to some on-demand "prime" content at no extra charge. Many devices have an Amazon VOD app such as PS3, iOS/Android, and Blu-ray players, so it's convenient to access.

[woodchuck]

I love amazon prime, but your primary reason for buying it should be for the two day shipping. The other goodies it comes with are not enough by themselves, IMO.

[foxwood]

Many devices have an Amazon VOD app such as PS3, iOS/Android, and Blu-ray players, so it's convenient to access.

I'm pretty sure that the only Android device that has an Amazon VOD app is the Kindle - Amazon has absolutely no interest in making the Nexus 7 or the Galaxy Tab even more attractive than they already are!

[barnabas1969]

I'll reiterate my last question. Any cord cutters with some input?

[staknhalo]

95% of my consumption comes from online....so while I'm not a true cordcutter - my viewing habits are mostly the same (online and local storage mostly).

I looked into getting Prime because I felt like I was missing something by not having it. After comparing titles - if you have Netflix it is not worth it at all. Netflix will be getting WB produced shows (like Fringe) and Disney movies (Pixar and Marvel) in the future - so that's when/where Netflix will gain the advantage. Right now they're almost identical services content wise. One benefit Prime has over Netflix is that you can rent/buy whatever is streaming. I used to use CinemaNow in Media Center to substitute that feature - but that plugin is dead. I have made due though with Netflix rentals and Redbox.

The main point and benefit of Prime is the shipping; as others have pointed out. That's what should sell you on Prime - the streaming is just a bonus. If the shipping doesn't appeal to you then I can safely say you should feel content with just Netflix streaming.

Edit: Now depending on what exclusives Prime gets in the future; obviously my answer might change.

If you're thinking about cordcutting I'll tell you what I tell others thinking of doing so (and what I will do should I ever ditch cable) - OTA antenna + Netflix + Hulu should do the vast majority just fine.

Also for a cordcutter using WMC, the SecondRun.tv plugin is a must I think. First the bad - it's $3 (cheap but not free), it's no longer developed, and Hulu did away with RSS feeds so it no longer works with this program. What it is used for (now only) is getting random episodes of whatever show Netflix (by title/genre/keyword) and locally stored content; and populating them into a tv guide grid. You can then make your own channels based on genre, mimic the network that each show was on, or even just a channel of a specific show (and for each show you can specify how many entries in the guide/channel to show; so 2 entries=2 episodes). Aside from Netflix and locally stored content, you can incorporate RSS feeds, and websites (you then control a mouse pointer with the arrow keys on the remote and enter=ok). You use a 2ft backend to populate and build your channels. After that, you would only ever need to use that part again to add a new show. If you have a Netflix show in a channel that Netflix no longer carries - no errors - it just won't show up. A new guide/list of content will populate everyday (when you first enter the app that day). It's supposed to have a task scheduler function to populate the guide; but I never got it to work. It sucks that it's a dead product; but I still use is daily. It's probably my most-if not-second most used app inside WMC. I don't regret the $3 it cost.

[TKEBH964]

As a cord cutter...

I signed up for a trial of Amazon Prime for free 2 day shipping on my HTPC case. We have used it only a handful of times to watch shows on. Most of our content is viewed through Netflix or recordings from OTA.

Since all this has to relate to your viewing habits, I will state ours. We are primarily concerned with children's content. We have two small kids and Netflix takes care of their TV needs pretty good. In the evenings we don't watch much TV. After the kids go to bed we have about 1-2 hours of TV viewing where we usually just watch what we have recorded that we can't watch with the kids around.

However, I have used the free 2 day shipping several times and am considering keeping the service just for that.

[freetvee.com]

Here is a comparison chart that should help you see the basic differences between all Internet Streaming Services: http://freetvee.com/free-streaming-links/ For the average person, I don't currently see the point of having both Prime & Netflix since they offer similar content-unless you do lots of Amazon shopping for the 2 day free shipping (which I do so I have both) . Netflix has a much better user interface in WMC than Amazon, although Amazon does offer new release PPV movies here: http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Video/b/? ... tveecom-20 They also have a new "video finder" feature if you look on the top of their website from the previous link.

[foxwood]

For the average person, I don't currently see the point of having both Prime & Netflix since they offer similar content-unless you do lots of Amazon shopping for the 2 day free shipping

or you own a Kindle Fire - you can't take advantage of the free Prime videos on any other Android device, so Netflix has the edge, as you can access Netflix from Android devices.

[LuckyDay]

For the average person, I don't currently see the point of having both Prime & Netflix since they offer similar content-unless you do lots of Amazon shopping for the 2 day free shipping

or you own a Kindle Fire - you can't take advantage of the free Prime videos on any other Android device, so Netflix has the edge, as you can access Netflix from Android devices.

That's strange, you can watch them on IOS, I would think Android would have a similar app.

[foxwood]

That's strange, you can watch them on IOS, I would think Android would have a similar app.

Amazon doesn't want you to buy any Android devices except Kindle Fires, so it won't deliver the services that would help other tablets compete.

They see the IOS market as a different market - the $200 Fire HD isn't competing with the $600 iPad. Not having a player for price-insensitive customers wouldn't make any sense.

The Amazon website only lists Kindle Fire, iPad, iPod and iPhone as Compatible Mobile Devices.