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Review Of Netflix DVD Rental Service
Bigbird504 writes "If you haven't already heard of Netflix, they basically rent DVDs online... but for a price of $20/month. While many believe it isn't worth it, many others do feel its a good bargain. Afterall, you can take out 3 DVDs at a time. Best of all, there are no late fees on returns. You keep the DVD as long as you like, and return it when you are done. Its a pretty interesting concept, and may be well worth the money. Check out this review on Netflix."
Agreed, I've been using NetFlix for one month (a Christmas gift; I have three months to go) and this is my biggest problem. Cowboy Bebop v.1 has been in high demand ever since I signed up, and it doesn't seem to be getting available anytime soon. "Long Wait" has been on my queue since I added it.
I think NetFlix needs to add a feature where their database is automatically checked on a weekly/monthly basis, and all high-demand-low-availability discs have extra copies purchased. Combine this with a "purchase used" feature, like the major video chains already do to get rid of movies that are no longer in high demand, and they'd have a killer service.
Economically, the service isn't much better than a pay-per-rental video store, once you factor in the travel time for your movies in the mail. But the convenience of not having to worry about returning them on time (something my family is awful about) is a big plus.