I'm dubbing the last month the month of illness. It first started with an infected, huge cyst. Then I had a week long stint with hives from the antibiotics for the cyst. Then I'm well for like a week or something and then I come down with a cold that is the sickliest I've been in over a year. I actually left work early 3/5 days and took a longer lunch one of the other days (the day I closed). I'm still sick, but it's better. I'm like maybe 60% well. It's amazing how tiring and horrible being sick is. It's definitely not something I've missed and it's shocked my co-workers because I've never gone home sick!
Anyway, while being sick, I haven't really wanted to do much, so I started watching TV shows again to pass the time. So this past week I found out in January (wow) that Redbox sent me my beta access code to try out the Redbox Instant. I also had a free month trial for HuluPlus from Chegg and I found CBS has a streaming app, which then started me thinking and comparing everything...
Redbox Instant vs Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant - So, I've discussed Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant before, which basically concluded that they're similar, but I like the next episode auto function on Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant doesn't have it. I have another thing I'd like to add about the apps. Netflix app you can use either on your wireless network or over wifi. Amazon Prime Instant only allows you to use it over your wifi, which I find a little weird. So, Netflix reigns over those two. The Amazon Prime Instant app is a little less user friendly too, but it's not a big deal.
I've been interested in Redbox Instant for a while, but was curious what was available to stream. Well, turns out, it's pretty much the same stuff that the other two have, but it doesn't seem to have TV shows. The app is okay too. I haven't tried it off of wifi, but considering the less amount of content (i.e., TV shows), it pretty much makes it the lesser of the 3. The only thing it has going for it is the 4 kiosk credits, but the major draw OF streaming is the fact I don't have to GO to the kiosk. Hence, I'm not going to subscribe (after my free trial is over). The 4 credits and maybe 1 or 2 movies I'll stream a month means I'm spending par on what I would pay if I just went to the kiosk every time (assuming I use all 4 credits AND stream 2 movies a month). I'd rather just not subscribe and go to the kiosk since I've got the same movies available on Amazon Prime Instant and I pay a year subscription for that. So, Redbox Instant...? Disappointment. I'll keep using Amazon Prime Instant and keep using the kiosk for Redbox, but no Instant subscription.
HuluPlus and CBS streaming - I used to use Hulu way back in the day when you didn't have to pay. Since then, I've just stopped and never wanted to pay or wait (week delay for new episodes?) so I never used it. A month free subscription came up (not the trial one on the webpage so, technically, I could get 2 months free) and I thought, "Why not?". I signed up while sick and it's come in handy. I've caught up on Bones and Castle thanks to it. Not to mention the app is handy. It's a decent app, but the webpage version has the Netflix similar next episode option when you finish an episode. Fox, ABC, and NBC both use HuluPlus, but CBS has its own streaming and doesn't use HuluPlus.
I don't particularly like the CBS version. First off, it only has the last 2-3 episodes of a season and maybe 1 other random one in the season (on CSI it's the first one and another show it's like the 5th one). I'm further behind than 3 episodes (more like 6) so it's a little awkward, BUT it's completely free (unlike HuluPlus). Then again, you can watch the last 2-3 episodes for free on Hulu, but you can't stream them on their app. So, it's a trade off. Subscribe and get a full season and app capabilities or go for free and only have the last 2-3 episodes available on the webpage only. It's more than the last 2-3 episode thing with the CBS version, though. I haven't webpage streamed, but their app is a little off. It has closed captioning (as HuluPlus has too), but it's not synced correctly and I think it's because the commercials don't break where they should. You have that pause right before a commercial, but their ads come maybe 2 or 3 seconds before the pause. So then the ads happen and then you go back to the show and THEN you get that last 2-3 seconds with the pause following it. It's kind of weird. I've also read that sometimes if you leave the app in the middle of an episode, the sound and closed captions will get off from the video. I haven't had that experience, but I also closed the app in the middle of an ad and it wasn't closed that long. I do wish CBS did something to make the entire season available, though. I also wish, sad to say, that CBS would mix-up their ads a little. I saw the same ads for all 3 CSI episodes I watched. I found you repeated ads on HuluPlus, but not as much. I watched the same ad maybe maybe 3-4 times each episode (there are 2-3 ads per break and about 4 or 5 breaks) or, at the very least, some variation of the same company. CBS was the EXACT same 5 ads for all 3 episodes, which meant I'm really tired of the Jack in the Box "Hot Mess" commercial and the Buick commercial. If you're going to torture me by making me watch ads, at least mix them up!
So, during my illness, I've definitely been doing a lot of app streaming on my iPad mini, which has been nice, but there are definite quirks on everything! It has allowed me to sort of catch up on my TV shows too. I'm a little awkwardly catching up with CSI and the other CBS shows since I'm up on the last 3 episodes, but missing episodes 11-13 (or somewhere around there).
Anyway, that's about all for now. I have watched one new movie, but I'll wait till I get another one or something.
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