A NetFlix question
 

How does NetFlix deal with TV Seasons (and box sets?). For example, if I take out Star Trek TNG Season 1 (which is 7 DVDs) does that count as having "1" DVD out, or my full allotment? Thanks!

One disk, 1 rental.
Season sets=multiple rentals.
Movie disk/Bonus disk=multiple rentals.

I *think* I read that instances where the movie itself is split over two disks counts as 1 rental, but I'm not 100% sure.

Nope. In my experience, bonus disks count as a rental and are shipped seperately.

Yes--I meant the few instances where the movie *itself* is on two disks, I think Lawrence of Arabia is given as the classic example.
But where one disk is movie, and the other disk is Bonus, [Pirates of the Carribean], or where one disk is Movie OAR + some extras and the other is Movie FF and some extras, each disk counts as a separate rental.

Okay, so bear with me. From what I understand from the above, I would NOT be sent an entire season at once (since TNG is 7 discs)? I would only get discs 1-5, because you can only have out 5 discs at once? That seems very silly to me.

That's what would happen. I'd only get disks 1 + 2 because I'm on the 'can't watch DVD's as much as I used to' plan : )
But when you send back disk 1, and while you're watching disk 2, they send disk 6 to you.

Even people who are on the regular 3-plan, how many disks can you watch at once? And if they gave you the whole season as 1 rental, that's 7 disks they can't rent to anyone else, that are probably just sitting on your shelf also.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Blockbuster does that too--for movies, they give you both the Movie and Extras disk, which is cool, but TV series are disk-by-disk.

Besides, most TV series now put at least 75 minutes to 3 hours of material on a disk, so you should still be getting your moneys worth.

Although I wouldn't mind renting all 20-some disks of Cardcaptor Sakura at once ; )

You can *request* the entire season at once now, which is a relatively new feature, and pretty convenient, but you order them in your queue and recieve them disk-by-disk.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. The wherehouse is 10 mins from me, so I probably could even get away with the 2 disc plan and still get a disc per day.

It does bother me that a disc and its supplemental features are two rentals. Most major releases are two discs now, so it's really unfair to the person who would want 3 DVDs for the weekend but can't.

In a way, yes, but by keeping it separate someone can use two rentals, watch the movie, send it back, it can go to someone else, and repeat with the extras disk. Plus not everyone is interested in the extras disk. I don't think I've ever rented an extras disk; either I'm not interested enough to use a rental on it, or if I am, I'll probably just buy the dvd itself.
I've been with Netflix for almost three years, and love them--especially if you're close to a distro center. No, they're not perfect--but they're pretty d*mn good.
One caveat about the 2-out plan: I've been on the 2plan for quite some time, and it works for me [what with my schedule and other commitments], but the current 2-plan is:
Have 2 out at a time, *up to 4 rentals a month*[which is hardly worth it, imho]
whereas it used to be
Have 2 out at a time, *unlimited rentals per month* [which is what I'm on].
So if you are interested in watching a decent number of DVD's, I'd at least go for the default 3-out. Plus you can always find a 2-week free trial for that plan, which gives you 1/2 a month free.

That's a great series. Unfortunately, Netflix carries only vols. 1-2 and the two movies. :(

At least with Netflix it doesn't cost you $4 per disc.

Regarding movies spread over 2 discs, Netflix seems to have moved all multi-disc movies to count as seperate rentals. Previously it was hit-and-miss. Once upon a time I got both Pearl Harbor discs sent together, but Lawrence of Arabia was seperate rentals. Checking the website now, both Pearl Harbor & Godfather 2 are seperate rentals. (Lawrence is now a single disc version). I guess you just really need to plan in advance. I would be pissed if I started watching Godfather 2 only to have it abrubtly end, and I have to wait a few days for the conclusion.

d'oh! I've actually got the first 5 or 6 disks, and really enjoy it, but I've been lucky and found deals on them. Anime is a lot cheaper than it used to be, but [legitimate] anime can still end up being expensive, especially for the 10+ disk series. I was glad Netflix had Princess Nine, though--I wanted to check that one out, but didn't want to buy it blind [and if I bought/saw one disk, I'd want to buy/see them all.]

That's one thing that's kind of odd--I know there aren't many movies that don't fit on one disk, and who's going to watch Part 1 without watching Part 2, so you'd think they'd send those together. Hopefully if you select it it tells you 'There is another disk for this movie!'

And yeah, with Netflix's buffet-style rental, I try a lot of stuff I would never pay a la carte for at BB [or anywhere else.] Some hits, some misses.