• Vlyn
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    11 months ago

    I was rather happy with Netflix for nearly a decade. The price was reasonable and family members could also watch. When I moved out I upgraded to the 4K package (split 3 ways between family members) and it was fine at first.

    But there were several caveats:

    • 4K only works on TVs, on my 1440p monitor I could only watch 1080p. Sucked, but it’s not too bad
    • Price kept going up, in the end it was 18€ a month. That’s okay split between 3 people, but otherwise far too much for what is offered
    • Series that I liked kept getting cancelled, while trash was getting renewed or they messed up the later seasons (Looking at you, The Witcher…)
    • They cracked down on password sharing, suddenly you need to be in the same WiFi to count as home or you need a travel code (limited to 2 a month and only for 2 weeks each), so if you regularly move between places it’s a no-go for a service you pay for

    I finally cancelled it, sick of their shit. Which also has the benefit of no longer having to take care of the account for the family. Unfortunately my dad accidentally took over the account (while trying to create a new one) and keeps paying the 4K price (I suggested at least going down to 1080p as the quality is shit either way). Simply idiotic :-/

    Personally I tried out Real Debrid and it has been pretty alright so far. The quality is better too, which is ridiculous.

    • cdipierr@beehaw.org
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      11 months ago

      I’ve had a Netflix subscription from before they even did streaming. I had the 4k plan, and even when I wasn’t watching much on there anymore, my kids would use it often. The price hikes just would not stop. Then they started moving into video games, and I started seeing headlines reading “Netflix plans to open brick and mortar locations” - followed by more price hikes and ads being integrated. It started to feel like I was just funding their dumb business moves that I’m not ever going to benefit from.

      So now I have a beautiful new NAS running Plex. Just accounting for the Netflix subscription price, I’ll break even in 2 years, and I’m using it for a lot more than just a media server.