Netflix Is Live Now In The UK At ?5.99 A Month - But Does It Pass The Bleeding Cool Tests?

[Brendon Connelly]

After months of talk, both in the media and the customer base, and between Netflix and their distributor clients, the UK finally has its own service from the movie subscription pioneers.

Netflix UK is live now, and priced at ?5.99 per month, with a 6.99 Euros per month package also available in Ireland. By linking to a Facebook account you can get a month long free trial.

There's no disc-mailing package here, this is a streaming-only option. As well as being able to use your PC, Mac or Apple TV, there are also apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android devices, Windows phones, PS3, Wii and X-Box 360, several Blu-ray players and Smart TVs. So you're pretty much covered.

But what's the selection like?

I've just chosen nine films at random from my Blu-ray shelf and checked them out on the Netlix UK database. The results:

• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - absent
• Frozen - absent
• Ondine - absent
• Trading Places - absent
• Looking for Eric - absent
• Cyrus - absent
• The Fighter - absent
• Aliens - absent
• Ocean's 11 - absent

Oh. Okay.

Perhaps that's an unfair test for some reason that's not yet obvious to me.

And here's the range of Kevin Bacon films on offer. In theory, there should be loads. In actuality, there's:

• Picture Perfect
• The Woodsman
• Criminal Law
• Where the Truth Lies
• Beauty Shop

Not so many.

But even in the face of these two failures, the service still looks hugely attractive to me. I've browsed across several films I haven't seen but am hugely curious about - loads of Joe Swanberg, for example, or Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

?5.99 seems like a lot when compared to the $7.99 price in the US. It seems like a pittance when compared to the huge number of films available, no matter how comprehensive the selection might or might not be as yet.

Now to find out what the best way to stream to my TV would be, in terms of quality...

[Monetta]

The Fighter is in the American version, but don't expect much in the way of the latest top movies to be in that instant. We're just waiting for that Starz contract to end before we lose a bunch of movies.

IMO, the Netflix instant is more worth it for the TV show seasons. I got into shows like Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad and Weeds thanks to Netflix.

[JimShelley]

Now to find out what the best way to stream to my TV would be, in terms of quality...

If it works in the UK, you should use a ROKU box. They are insanely cheap and offer the best user experience for browsing your Netflix Instant queue.

Monetta said:

IMO, the Netflix instant is more worth it for the TV show seasons. I got into shows like Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad and Weeds thanks to Netflix.

I agree! The TV seasons is the coolest thing on netflix. I'm currently watching the BBC Merlin, White Collar and Burn Notice via netflix.

[Mart]

Great stuff, thanks chaps - it's the telly stuff I'm most interested in.

[Charlesknight]

By linking to a Facebook account you can get a month long free trial.

You don't need a Face-book account - I got a free month trial with my email address - the problem with signing up via face-book is that it will share everything you watch unless you tell it not to (on a show by show/film by film basis).

Now to find out what the best way to stream to my TV would be, in terms of quality...

Not got a PS3 or Xbox? Check also in your settings that you are set to highest quality (which uses 2.7gb per hour).

My first impressions is where this beats the lovefilm option is in its access to TV shows.

[Nicholas Smith]

Actually £5.99 is quite cheap, the conversion plus VAT should be about £6.10ish.

[Mart]

You don't need a Face-book account - I got a free month trial with my email address - the problem with signing up via face-book is that it will share everything you watch unless you tell it not to (on a show by show/film by film basis).

Ah, that's good - I hate all this Facebook broadcasting of my every pump.

[TommieKelly]

I got genuinely excited when I seen this on twitter this morning.
€6.99 is a decent price for what you get and it looks great on the PS3

Now if i can get it to work with my Sony Smp-100n then I'm in heaven

[Charlesknight]

Works great on my hacked (running android) touchpad as well.

[Kimota94]

We've had a similar sort of Netflix (streaming only) in Canada for awhile now, and it's just as you've all described it: rather lacking in film selection but good for TV shows. I did the same sort of test when we first got it: thought of 10 movies at random, and I think only 1 of them was in the Netflix library at the time. However, they're always adding more, so there's that. Also, the recommendation software seems pretty good, as we've routinely discovered good or even great movies we'd never heard of, simply because we watched something and had Netflix provide 8 to 10 "if you like that, you may like these..." suggestions to us. Definitely worth the $7 / month we pay for it here.