All of streaming services I’ve tried are still at the “bleeding edge” compared to disk distribution.

I think once the Internet 2 initiative is fully deployed, there will be enough reliable bandwidth available for 1080p and at least 5.1 audio, but until then, disk distribution offers the best experience with the fewest problems.

I’ll be buying a Blu-ray player soon that has Netflix streaming so that while Netflix & Blockbuster duke it out over streaming, I can at least enjoy Blu-rays with a Netflix membership.

It’s possible Keyes has some new deals with the studios in the works, but right now when you go to BB ON DEMAND it shows Star Trek (2009) will be available for “rental streaming” on Dec 16. That sounds a lot like the “30 day rental delay” I’ve been reading about here (Trek was released to disc on Nov 17.) Admittedly I didn’t do a very thorough search, but I did’t see anything available for streaming that was released to DVD within the last month. Still, that definitely makes availability of new releases MUCH earlier and much more probable than Netflix – but at a price.

Today I see on the BB website that I can “Buy a Download” (whatever that means) of Star Trek for $22. Wal Mart is selling the DVD for $10 and a 3-disc Blu-Ray set for $20. Other options shown are, of course, Rent by Mail or Rent in Store.

The other over-30-day-old “New Releases” (we’re used to seeing that at Blockbuster brick & mortar, aren’t we!) available for streaming seem to cost $4 for the newest titles. That makes them $1 cheaper than On Demand available via my cable company; $2 cheaper if it’s HD. Approximately 1,100 titles are priced at $3 or higher and there are also about 1,500 streaming rentals for $3 or less. I only see 20 titles included at no additional cost with the DVD-by-Mail plan.

Compare those 2,600 fee-based and 20 free titles to Netflix’s 17,000 streaming titles available at no additional cost. Yes, that big number includes individual TV show episodes to pad the number and yes, a lot of it is crap that doesn’t even rate 1 out of 5 stars. Still, with so much is available there are plenty of gems.

And, by the way, The Wrath of Kahn is not available for streaming on NF, but the original TV series is in HD.

See here:
http://www.insideredbox.com/community/forum/redbox-codes

I want to talk about the new thing Redbox is doing, offering a free code if you confirm your e-mail address. Why are they doing that? They already have it.

Are they still offering a free code when you sign up? Is this like signing up new and will happen every year?

And why are there so many one time use codes posted to the code page lately? Is there a new offer we don’t know about?