Amazon Prime Video users....

RickAns

RickAns

Dedicated Member
Hi,

I'm wondering if there are any Amazon Prime video users here. I have some questions and not finding the answers on their website.

-Is there a difference between Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Video? Get the impression it might be two different things.

-About the options when mousing over a movie video icon: What is with Rent for X amount of $, Buy for an even more amount of $ and then Watch for zero $ with (checkmark) Prime?
1) Are they streaming a low grade quality for free and you have to pay extra for the HD version?
2) Do you get to download the pay for HD ones to watch whenever? If downloaded what format are they in? Are you forced to use their special player? If restrictions on watching and for some prices mentioned it would make sense to buy the DVD or Blueray used / new. For example, Iron Man 2 - $4 HD Rent, $20 to HD Buy, $0 to watch. For $20 I'd rather just buy the DVD!

- Seems like there are Channels that you pay extra for to watch their content.

- Is there a BBC channel So I can watch great UK TV? Want to see Peaky Blinders series 5 (which is currently out I think) instead of waiting months for Netflix or buying DVD? I tried searching but nothing came up.

- Amazon is releasing The Expanse season 4 in December which I would like to watch via Amazon instead of waiting months for Netflix or buying DVD.
Not sure what Amazon service to subscribe to view it.

I plan to buy the DVD or Blueray of both Peaky and Expanse current series when available to complete my collection. Would be nice to watch the episodes in the meantime.

---

What are your thoughts on Britbox, AcornTV or others for watching British shows in the US? Do they have modern and classic Brit TV like what we care about? I can peal this question off into another thread if need be. Seeking viewing options.

Thanks
Rick
 
Hello Rick ,

I am a Prime amazon Customer so I have access to Prime Video. Some films/shows are free to watch some films you pay for, some shows you pay by the episode and you are correct they have grouped some shows into a "service" that you pay a subscription for . I am a big music fan and there are videos of concerts but they are provided by Stingray Qello which starts with a free trial but you then have to sign up and subscribe to keep enjoying which adds to the cost of your basic £79 a year for Prime membership .

As a Prime Customer it offers expedient one day delivery for purchases as well as access to Prime Video and shows . I don't think the quality is any less for what they stream its clearly what the actual content is , so on the whole the items free tend to be older shows/movies and a large percentage of those available are lower budget type films that are straight to dvd with a smattering of films/shows that aren't the latest releases but are fairly new .

I have been a member for a number of years and I joined for the expedient delivery because I purchased lots of CD's [I have about 2000] when I was working and I wanted them to get delivered quickly . I have to say I don't take advantage of all the content available I think the last thing I watched was the Grand Tour but I even found that irritating as the format really hadn't moved on from Top Gear and it became mediocre very rapidly. The last film I watched was The Picture Show Man which I think Bruce mentioned in a thread which was excellent but to be honest having access to Prime and Netflix I am spoilt for choice and there aren't enough hours in the day to watch everything and do other things .
 
Thanks, captain. Is one able to get Amazon Prime monthly or must you sign up for a year at a time?

Did not think about them having a music inventory on Amazon Prime. Figure you are talking mostly video, do they have audio only as well? That is an impressive CD collection you have.
 
We're Prime members too, my husband watches the videos and as watched all he can for free but the shows he really likes he has to pay for.
 
Rick,

They have a service [again subscription ] called Audible which is for books you get two free as a trial for the service then its £7.99 per month subscription to the service but then like you may expect there are free books[not top titles] but others you pay for . For example take the Handmaids Tale you could hear it for free as one of your two . If you buy the Kindle version to read on your laptop/PC/Tablet its £5.99 and you can get the audible version for £6.99, if you bought the audible version only its £20.99 , Margaret Atwood's latest The Testament is £27.99 but buy the Kindle version for £9.99 and its only £9.49. As a member you get one credit per month which can be redeemed against any audio book you purchase regardless of cost but its not clear what value a credit is , you can save up credits and then use against a top seller but the credits expire year on year .

To me I would rather either have the physical book or the Kindle version I think the audio books are really quite an expensive listen .

You can pay monthly or annually for Prime but the monthly subscription works out more expensive in the US its $119 or $12.99 a month spread over 10 months but knowing them it could be 12!!

I found this site which gives some tips to maybe exploiting the Audible service to your advantage if you proceeded

The Ultimate Guide to Audible Savings: 26 Tips For Saving Money on Audiobooks | Best Fantasy Books Blog

Read this article to learn exactly how you can (legally) gain steep discounts on Audible audiobooks by working the Amazon ecosystem to maximize your free
bestfantasybooks.com
 
RickAns said:
Hi,

I'm wondering if there are any Amazon Prime video users here. I have some questions and not finding the answers on their website.

-Is there a difference between Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Video? Get the impression it might be two different things.

-About the options when mousing over a movie video icon: What is with Rent for X amount of $, Buy for an even more amount of $ and then Watch for zero $ with (checkmark) Prime?
1) Are they streaming a low grade quality for free and you have to pay extra for the HD version?
2) Do you get to download the pay for HD ones to watch whenever? If downloaded what format are they in? Are you forced to use their special player? If restrictions on watching and for some prices mentioned it would make sense to buy the DVD or Blueray used / new. For example, Iron Man 2 - $4 HD Rent, $20 to HD Buy, $0 to watch. For $20 I'd rather just buy the DVD!

- Seems like there are Channels that you pay extra for to watch their content.

- Is there a BBC channel So I can watch great UK TV? Want to see Peaky Blinders series 5 (which is currently out I think) instead of waiting months for Netflix or buying DVD? I tried searching but nothing came up.

- Amazon is releasing The Expanse season 4 in December which I would like to watch via Amazon instead of waiting months for Netflix or buying DVD.
Not sure what Amazon service to subscribe to view it.

I plan to buy the DVD or Blueray of both Peaky and Expanse current series when available to complete my collection. Would be nice to watch the episodes in the meantime.

---

What are your thoughts on Britbox, AcornTV or others for watching British shows in the US? Do they have modern and classic Brit TV like what we care about? I can peal this question off into another thread if need be. Seeking viewing options.

Thanks
Rick
Click to expand...

Rick
I think britbox might be okay for overseas viewers to catch up on old favourites, when it comes out in the UK it will be a rehash of what has been pushed on the UKTV brand channels for years plus certain channels on Sky, the fact you still need a TV licence here to be able to view Britbox is a complete rip off, it's all stuff licence payers have paid for over the years, yet they expect you to pay again to watch it
 
Thanks. Good to know about being able to subscribe monthly. My initial thought was to do that for a few months to watch the show they are producing coming out in December (The Expanse). Then I would see I if like the service enough to move to the yearly plan or end it.

Talked to a friend about the service last night. What I find odd is that if I search for the show Peaky Blinders on the Amazon website nothing comes up. But he searched through his account and the first few series show up. Of which each series is bundled into a pack that you have to pay additional for. Would be nice if I could better see what content they have to offer in searching their website to help decide if I want to buy their product.

Does not seem right that you need to have a license in order to use Britbox. As you say, you have already paid for the content with your previous years of being a license payer.

There was a trend over here where private companies would convince the (local) government that it would be a great revenue stream to allow them to put up toll booths on certain stretches of roads. The road had already been paid for and built from our taxpayer dollars. The road is maintained by our gas taxes. Yet the local drivers now have to pay a toll to use the road that has already been paid for. The Toll company would give part of the collected money to the (local) government.

The use of red light cameras by private companies to generate revenue for themselves and the government is much the same. Seems a bit like what they are doing to you over there to you with the TV licensing content. If the private company built their own road from their own funds and put a toll on it I would have no issue with that.

Does Britbox or AcornTV have a similar system as Amazon where you pay extra for some content or channels? I need to look into them further. I am not really interested in a provider where they want to charge extra for every show or series I'd like to watch.
 
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