Netflix Streaming List

It's not a static list--it's changes all the time and without notice. It's better to look at it as an extra rather than as the reason to sign up for Netflix. The selection is nowhere near comprehensive enough to be the primary reason for signing up. On the other hand, Netflix easily pays for itself if you are a regular movie renter.

I'm not sure how accurate this site is, but it's pretty extensive:
http://www.thenowhereman.com/netflix/

Also, the netflix site has a "Watch Now" tab that shows the streamable content and lets you filter to just show HD content. Unfortunately I think you might have to be a member to see this tab...

Until you rent "too many" movies and Netflix flags you as an "abusive" renter at which point you will never get a new release or anything popular for at least the first 6 months after release. I quit Netflix because of this....

How would you go about getting on this "abusive" list?

I always return my movies back the following day and have not gotten this treatment. I don't know how you could make the turn around any quicker.

-Suntan

A member and you have to activate a Netflix capable device on your account, such as a Roku, 360, or some blu-ray players.

This HD list on Netflix's site isn't complete (or at least up to date), however, as I've found many movies that show "HD" in my Roku's menu are not on the list yet.

The practice is known as "throttling," and Netflix actually settled a class-action lawsuit about the practice (see Netflix's wikipedia entry). Right now there's speculation that Netflix is doing something similar with its Watch Instantly service, reducing the video quality for people who use the service heavily.

In my own experience, I think that when I've rented a bunch of new releases recently, I have very long waits when I next try to rent a new release. If I've rented only older titles recently, then it seems like I have just a short wait for a new release.

^This.

I had friends that would queue up a new movie AFTER I had it put in and would get it many weeks before me...they were very casual renters that would go through maybe 3-4 movies a month where I was a little heavier user going through 2-3 a week. Netflix couldnt have made it more obvious....though I would have no problem getting Revenge of the Toxic Avenger if I wanted it....

Sounds like something else is going on with your service. It may have to do with your location and how far you are from your local distribution center.

The class-action suit settlement was a total joke. It meant that my 3 movies at a time plan went up to 4 for one month.

Back at the time of the suit, the assumption was that if you're renting above 12 movies a month, you get held back by an extra day or two. If you're waiting any longer than that, then something's up. Sometimes I get a single day turnaround, other times I get a three day turnaround. Never more than that. To be completely honest, though, I rent more old movies than new releases (probably 5:1), so that might be why I never have to wait.

But how are you waiting "weeks"?! Are they sending you anything in the meantime? At that point, I'd just stick to the local video store. You could try the Gamefly trick and take everything else off of your queue.

@OP:
Don't get Netflix just for the streaming service. It's spotty. Nothing close to comprehensive. It's a nice bonus, but it's definitely no substitute for their disc catalog.

I wait MONTHS sometimes for new release movies. I was once on the 5 at a time plan... but now I'm down to the 2 at a time plan because of this.

Right now I have 2 open slots (I have no movies at home), and 6 "new" release movies that are released but listed as "Very long wait". It's been like that for a week.

So basically... every month I have to call them and they credit me since they weren't shipping me the two at a time I'm actually paying for.

Old movies get shipped right away... but new movies I can usually expect to watch 1-3 months after being released.

I've been a member since 2005.

Wow. That's jacked up. Sure am glad I don't like many new movies.

Yes. Everyone who is a member sees the Watch Instantly tab (because anyone can watch them on the PC)

You only see the HD "genre" under the Watch Instantly tab if you register a device that's capable of streaming the HD titles.

As for throttling, I am a very heavy user and never have been (as far as I know). I did have to wait about 3 weeks for Gran Torino, but I'm hardly going to complain about that....3 weeks is "acceptable" turnaround for a new release considering it was an award winner and everyone and their mother probably had that in their queue.

Of course, I have over 350 movies in my queue (and around an additional 60 in my Instant queue), so it's not a big deal if I don't get a new release right away. I have plenty to watch. I guess I have been waiting for Watchmen for awhile now...so maybe I'm throttled. I don't notice though, since like I said, I don't care if I get a new release immediately or not.

I suppose if you only care about getting new releases day-and-date, it could be an issue. You can always try BB (hahaha...yeah, they're better...sure they are) or maybe Redbox. Or buy.

I don't think Confidenceman understood what we meant by throttling.

Basically if you are a high volume renter from Netflix, they make you wait longer to get new releases. They will be in your queue as "Long Wait" or "Very long wait".

For example I added "batman:the brave and the bold" that came out today to my queue. It's in Long wait. NCIS Season 6 is in short wait and it hasn't even been released yet!!!!!


Meanwhile, someone that is brand new to the service can get any new release they want at the beginning because netflix wants to take care of the new customer while screwing over the long time ones. Good business model huh? THe problem is there really is not a good alternative. I tried Blockbuster online and it wasn't as good.

The entire Netflix catalog, nor anywhere near it, is available for streaming. Streaming should be viewed as a nice add on to your subscription, but don't subscribe solely for the streaming.

Yea... I'm not much into the new movies either... so I continue to give them my money every month.

When Dark Knight got released my girlfriend went out and bought the Blu-Ray for me because she really wanted to see it and was tired of waiting for Netflix to ship it to us 2 months after it has been released.

Throttling sucks... but there's not really a better alternative out there. I've thought about keeping Netflix for watch it now and older movies, and getting BlockBuster for new releases... but like you, I'm not really into many of the new releases so it's not worth it for me.

Actually, that's different from throttling. Or at least, that's a particular type of throttling. When the class-action suit was filed a few years back, the problem was that high volume renters would have to wait longer to receive any movie.

That was a way of keeping the company profitable. If someone rents 20 movies in a month on a 3-movie plan, they're getting too good a deal. So Netflix artificially added slower turn-around times. They didn't (back then) **** with the time people had to wait for high priority titles. They just slowed down your overall turnaround time by a day or two so that you would have a hard time renting more than 12 movies a month on a 3-movie plan.

It sounds like their compromise after the lawsuit was to apply throttling only to high priority titles. Personally, I think that makes sense from a business perspective. It keeps more people happy. I watch around 8 movies a month on disc through Netflix (I'm now on the 2-disc plan). I also don't watch many new releases. So I'd be pissed if I had to wait weeks to watch the one movie a month that's high priority (a new release). I'm the sort of renter that Netflix makes a killing on since I watch only a handful of movies and just one or two new releases a month. I'm the renter they want to keep happy.

If I was someone who watched a lot of new movies, I'd be pissed too. I definitely wouldn't use Netflix anymore if that were the case. I'd try another service or go back to using the video store. Pretty much any video store has every major new release. Video stores don't, however, have very extensive old movie collections. The reason I like Netflix is because I watch a lot of old movies (mostly 1920s-1970s).

It's an ideal service for me. Doesn't sound ideal for people who watch lots of new movies. I think Blockbuster's deal sounds more appropriate for many of you since it combines in-store rentals with by-mail and internet rentals.

Honestly I use it for stuff for my kids to watch who are 4 and 6, and I watch a lot of TV series I missed that way. For movies I try to mostly catch them in HD on HBO or Cinemax.

Here's a couple good sources for complete lists of what's on netflix:
netflixcanadacompletelist.blogspot.com (for Canada, eh)
netflixusacompletelist.blogspot.com

Both are updated daily, and provide a complete list ordered by name, and by release year.

Instantwatcher is pretty good and I've used feedfliks.com