Don't you have to have movies mailed to you with Netflix?
I don't get the appeal of that.
I never got the appeal of it either...until I tried it. There's only a one day turnaround on mailed DVDs (for clarification: I mail a DVD on Monday and get a replacement on Wednesday) and their streaming service alone is worth the price admission. There's a reason that they were able to knock off the 900lb gorilla.
Only a couple negatives for me...they don't get most new releases available to "rent" until some amount of time has passed. I've not quite figured out the formula, because sometimes they'll be available on the day they're released, but sometimes you'll have to wait 3 weeks or more after the general release date before they start shipping. example: Due Date, released on DVD this week, won't be available through Netflix until March 22! Ridiculous.
That shoehorns me into my other gripe: sometimes the wait time for new discs is absurd. It's not so different from the old Blockbuster where new releases were sometimes impossible to get, but man...I've been waiting WEEKS for Dinner for Schmucks, ffs.
None of my gripes amount to much though because they just send you whatever is on top of your queue and if the first isn't available, they send just you the next one. I have 242 discs in my queue so I have a constant stream going in and out so I don't worry much about when Dinner for Schmucks will get here. If you're not one of the people that HAS to have a new release as soon as possible, it's a great service. If you ARE one of those people, supplementing it with iTunes or DTV Cinema is the way to go.
I'll miss Blockbuster though. It was a Friday night ritual for me (and, I suspect, most of those in my generation that grew up in the 80s) but I haven't done a traditional rental on a movie in a decade, so I won't miss it that much.