Netflix, Hulu Plus, BBC Iplayer and Plex (Differences & Pro's and CON's)

Joka69

Joka69

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With all the Post's and Threads about Netflix and Hulu Plus etc. I thought i'd post my thoughts and findings on these services.

3 ISP's: Webafrica Capped (1gig + 1gig) for gaming, VOX Telecom (1tb Samsung promo) and 4 Meg Uncapped TI account

Using Unotelly DNS directly in the router with Uno-helper installed on PC to update ip every 30 minutes.

My current Home Theater set up is:
HTPC with Plex Media Server> Samsung (UA50HU7000)> Samsung Home Theater via Optic cable
Xbox One > Samsung (UA50HU7000) > Samsung Home Theater via Optic cable

Samsung (UA50HU7000) Region set to UK (TV Room) (Wired connection to Router via switch)
Apps:
Netflix (Region US set on Unotelly)
BBC Iplayer
PLEX
VEVO
TuneIN


Samsung (UA46F6400) Region set to US (Main Bedroom) (Wired connection to router)
Apps:
PLEX
HULU Plus
Netflix (Region US set on Unotelly)
Spotify
Pandora
VEVO

So here's my findings of these app's and channels,

Netflix - Not as good as HULU for series content, streaming is always good, never had any issues on both the TI and VOX account anytime of the day. Movies, not the best movie content on Netflix, so i rather rely on my PLEX Media from my HTPC for all my movies. Stopped downloading some series because of Hulu Plus.
Gripes of Netflix, not quick enough with the series, and not the biggest variety (compared to what i can actually download via nntp)

HULU Plus - For series mainly, they have a wider variety of TV Series compared to Netflix, as well as more recent series. Had an issue with a series we were binge watching (that was already downloaded) on Saturday (EMPIRE) missing episode 9 of the season, went on to Hulu Plus, searched for the series and watched the entire episode in 720 with no buffering and no issues.
My Gripes of Hulu Plus, movies suck on HULU, the AD's are way too much (reminds me DSTV back in the day) and the fact that they only have the last 5 episodes of certain series is really annoying.

BBC Iplayer - The main use of this is Cbeebies for my little girl, cant really comment much on this, all i can say is, it works, all the time and works very well!

PLEX - For local, already downloaded content. This just works, and is a very awesome app.
Only gripe with this is that Samsung devices have to be connected to the internet to log onto the app on 1st use, after that you dont need to the internet.

Spotify and Pandora i only discovered these over this long weekend, not so into Spotify, but Pandora so far is the best of the 2.

And VEVO, not really making use of that, for some reason that channel always buffers, so i dont bother much with it.
 
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Joka69 said:
BBC Iplayer - The main use of this is Cbeebies for my little girl, cant really comment much on this, all i can say is, it works, all the time and works very well!
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Good quality tv, especially if you prefer UK TV over US. All4 (4OD) also has some good shows.

Demand5 is another UK broadcaster that has quite a few children's shows for your daughter. Also has some decent tv shows.
 
Joka69 said:
Netflix - Not as good as HULU for series content
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Not sure I'd agree with this. Heavily depends on which series you watch.

Things like Daredevil and House of Cards alone make Netflix better to me. Never mind that Hulu has incomplete series. And then Netflix UK gets some series like Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad the day after they air.
 
I don't use Hulu at all, I just CANNOT stand ads in any shape or form. Have to say there is so much content on Netflix that I just cannot get bored. Sure the shows are older but they are complete and perfect for binge viewing. Also it gives me an opportunity to watch something from start to finish at my own pace. As for movies, I use yify TV for that, get the latest without downloading. Do I have DSTV, no. Do I have STARSAT, yes, why because it only costs R199 pm and I can leave it on the kids channel for my daughters' and they are as happy as can be.
 
agree on most but Netlix is better than hulu in the long run and Spotify is simply amazing!!!
 
Im starti g to agree with everything you guys are saying, Hulus ads are killing me!

Started playing around with the regions, just not getting the best region, trying to the latest season of Vikings, because im missing a few episodes.

Trying to figure out where i can get the history channel and stream from that app rather? Anybody know if the History channel on Plex needs some work or it works standard?
 
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Joka69 said:
Im starti g to agree with everything you guys are saying, Hulus ads are killing me!

Started playing around with the regions, just not getting the best region, trying to the latest season of Vikings, because im missing a few episodes.

Trying to figure out where i can get the history channel and stream from that app rather? Anybody know if the History channel on Plex needs some work or it works standard?
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Vikings is on Netflix.
 
Joka69 said:
Thats right, Netflix only has till season 4. On almost all the regions i've checked.


Yeah, i remember when we still had dstv some years back, they used to have more ad's then show.
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I think you mean season 2 - season 3 is the one that's currently airing. For that Hulu seems like the best bet.

My only problem with the ads is that they're very repetitive… and they make me a little homesick at times. (And I really wish we had Jack-in-the-Box here! :D)
 
bwana said:
I think you mean season 2 - season 3 is the one that's currently airing. For that Hulu seems like the best bet.

My only problem with the ads is that they're very repetitive… and they make me a little homesick at times. (And I really wish we had Jack-in-the-Box here! :D)
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Yeah you right! My bad, i was gettig confused with that and The Walking Dead, also cannot seem to find that anywhere on Netflix.
 
Joka69 said:
Yeah you right! My bad, i was gettig confused with that and The Walking Dead, also cannot seem to find that anywhere on Netflix.
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You probably wont see season 5 on netflix until around the same time that season 6 airs so September'ish.
 
bwana said:
You probably wont see season 5 on netflix until around the same time that season 6 airs so September'ish.
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Nah, resorted to nnntp rather, i barely use nntp now with Netflix, just certain series i get through nntp. The rest i watch on netflix.
 
Netflix Samsung app (new version) works in US and UK region (previously it only worked for UK app). Netflix is more for movies..

Hulu is great for current seasons of series and slowly they adding on back seasons too. Only issue i have with Hulu is that sometimes they'd show a series and then suddenly remove it from their catalogue :( or only have back seasons.. also they have ads.

Plex is awesome and i'm actually currently looking for a place to host my Plex server (someone with VDSL ;) ) I need the upload speed as parents & siblings stream from me and my ADSL line sucks so using cloud sync to get around upload issue. Thnking if i can get VDSL or someone to host for me it will be awesome (will pay for own bandwidth.. just can't justify getting VDSL also Telkom still doesnt have it in my area which is the main limiter :( )

VEVO is cool for music but then so is Youtube.. seriously.. Youtube iMusic s pretty cool. Problem with VEVO buffering is that their live stream sucks vs quality.. i think its set by default quite high maybe or just their stream is crappy.
 
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You guys complaining about Hulu ads are subbed to Hulu plus?

Plus has fewer ads than normal Hulu.
 
Chevron said:
You guys complaining about Hulu ads are subbed to Hulu plus?

Plus has fewer ads than normal Hulu.
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Not using Hulu at all. I did for a month or so but the buffering drove me up the walls. They need to sort their back end.
 
Pitbull said:
Not using Hulu at all. I did for a month or so but the buffering drove me up the walls. They need to sort their back end.
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Hulu's been streaming almost as well as Netflix as of late. We regularly have dual streams going in the evening.
 
Are Hulu, NetFlix and BBC the only 3 international that can stream locally through Unotelly and local credit card?
What about Amazon Prime, HBO etc - as easy to get working?
 
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