It has gotten to the point where they are doing this on purpose. I really don’t get it. And of course the only way to communicate with NetFlix is by phone. I really don’t want to sit on hold for an hour just to complain about my queue. NetFlix realy knows how not to treat a customer. The only thing keeping me from canceling the service is their On Demand feature, where you can watch movies on the computer. The selection isn’t great, but its getting there. Aside from that, I have had it with NetFlix. NetFlix sucks.

I went and took every other movie out of my queue except for the Burn Notice DVDs. Your move NetFlix.

So common sense say since Vantage Point has a Long Wait that I would get Batman: Gotham Knight and Burn Notice Season 1 Discs 2 and 3. Well, not so in the world of NetFlix. They are sending me Batman: Gotham Knight along with Vantage Point and The Spiderwick Chronicles. I don’t understand why the queue is a numbered list if they are just going to send whatever they feel like. And I love how Vantage Point goes from Long Wait to Shipped, it never hit Short Wait. Is this proof of NetFlix throttling New Releases in the queues of members to favor those on Free Trials? Obviously something is going on and NetFlix is playing with peoples queue’s for whatever reason. All the while, the last three Burn Notice Discs are marked Now, yet I still can rent them. I thought the queue was about what I wanted to rent? I guess not. NetFlix is making a great case to switch to Blockbuster.

Why have a Queue if NetFlix isn’t going to follow what you set? I can’t believe the NetFlix people are so ignorant to ignore the Queue order. NetFlix is doomed to fail. From the terrible interface redesign, to the removing Profiles, its obvious the leadership at NetFlix is unable to handle running a company successfully. This is just another reason in the laundry list of reasons to switch to Blockbuster.

Thanks for not sending me Burn Notice NetFlix, you suck. And for those considering getting into online DVD rentals, stay far away from NetFlix.

One feature they removed was the column that listed if you chose a DVD or Blu Ray movie. I can understand with HD DVD being phased out that there is less of a need for that option, but I thought it was really functional to be able to toggle from DVD to Blu Ray right in the queue. This was a very convenient feature that let me change selections without having to take the standard DVD out of the queue, then search for the Blu Ray and add it back to the queue. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but in my house, the Blu Ray player is off limits to the kids. Not to mention, I only have one Blu Ray player in the house and that is in the living room. So I have a need and desire to rent both Blu Ray and standard definition DVDs, sometimes both formats of the same movie. So this part of the redesign has really made the service less convenient.

NetFlix also redesigned their Browse DVDs section, which is the first page you look at once logged into the system. This section has always been terrible and this redesign does very little to improve on it. The best part of the redesign is the section that gives and update on what’s been shipped and received. The rest of the best is based off of their recommendation system. They basically pick five genres that they figure are your favorite and recommend four movies from each genre. This page is useless. I find their recommendation system lacking and unwanted. 99% of the time I know what I am looking for and when I don’t I browse by genre. I don’t think NetFlix has ever given me a recommendation I haven’t seen and ended up renting. What I want to see on the Browse DVDs page is new and upcoming releases. That is why I use NetFlix. If I want a catalog movie, I will buy it or catch in on cable. There is a new releases button under Browse DVDs but that page is just as clunky and disorganized as the main page. Most of the new releases listed are older new releases that I’m not interested in. I want to know what has been released in the last two weeks and what is coming in the next two weeks. I really don’t care about 1-3 month old releases that I haven’t watched.

The Browse instantly section has inherited the same changes made to the Browse DVDs section and if fails just as miserably. While it shows what I have recently watched, that’s not a new feature, it’s always told me that. And again NetFlix is picking what it thinks are my five favorite genres and giving me four movies or tv shows that I should be watching. Thanks, but no thanks, most of the recommendations are way off. Again, what I am looking for is what is new, especially with this section probably adding more movies a week than we see in new DVD releases. I don’t like and I don’t want the recommendations, NetFlix needs to concentrate on highlighting the new additions and improve how users can browse through the genres.

The biggest thing left off this update was the ability to contact support by email. The extensive FAQ is nice, but there are something I want to be able to email someone about. And there are somethings that don’t justify a phone call. For example, I really wanted to give feedback on the new design, but I really don’t want to sit on hold just to tell them I want the ability to change formats back in the Queue. There are many little support issues and questions that could easily be handled by email, yet my only option is to call.

Overall I think the NetFlix redesign looks better than previous incarnations of the site. With that new look though, they didn’t really improve the user experience of the site. The Queue looks nice, but NetFlix has made it a lot less functional for me. Hopefully with more customer feedback, NetFlix can take their site in a direction that is functional and looks good, giving customers the best user experience possible.

The move came soon after both Wal-Mart and Netflix announced they would only carry Blu-ray product, and Best Buy announced it would give preference to Blu-ray. Warner Home Video’s decision in early January to only support Blu-ray left HD DVD with Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment as the only major studios supporting the format. Hardware sales data the week after Warner’s announcement showed 93% of high-def players sold were Blu-ray, according to The NPD Group, and Nielsen VideoScan data has consistently shown Blu-ray software outselling HD DVD 3:1 or more.

Toshiba significantly lowered its player prices during the holiday season, and Microsoft dropped the price of its Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on by $50 earlier this month. Toshiba also bought a 30-second Super Bowl ad for a reported $2.7 million, but apparently was not effective in boosting sales or digging into Blu-ray’s lead.

Asked to respond to the report, Toshiba VP Jodi Sally reiterated her company’s support of the HD DVD format. “Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings,” said Sally. She went on to address “the market developments in the past month,” saying only that “Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players.”

When Warner Home Video announced last month that by the end of this year it will release high-def titles exclusively in the Blu-ray format, it joined fellow majors Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment in endorsing Blu-ray. Currently, the two remaining majors, Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, publish in the HD DVD format.

Since the first high-definition DVDs came on the market in early 2006, Netflix has stocked both formats. But the company said that in recent months the industry has stated its clear preference for Blu-ray and that it now makes sense for the company to initiate the transition to a single format. This is an interesting new development. This past December, prior to Warner Brothers going exclusively Blu Ray, Netflix reported that HD DVD and Blu Ray rentals were just about even. So in just three months Blu Ray rentals increased and HD DVD rentals decreased by a large enough margin to discontinue renting HD DVDs?

“The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix.

This is the biggest load of garbage I have ever heard about HD. The communication was crystal clear and consumers were making their choices. Now NetFlix wants to make the choice for you.

Sarandos continues “We’re now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer’s preferred means.”

HD DVD player prices were affordable. It was the Blu Ray players that were over priced. This announcement makes me think that Sony paid them off to drop HD DVD as they did with Warner Brothers.

So what do you think about NetFlix’s announcement? I feel pretty offended that NetFlix is making a consumer choice for me. They rent DVDs, they should support DVD, Blu Ray and HD DVD – then let the consumers decide .

Blu Ray purposely screwed early adopters, and they blame the early adopters by saying “they knew what they were buying”. The same features HD DVD had at launch, Blu Ray won’t have until they release Profile 2.0 and new players. Now here’s the screw, the only Blu Ray player that can upgrade to Profile 2.0 is the PlayStation 3. Profile 2.0 Blu Ray players won’t be available until Q3 this year. And there is no guarantee Profile 2.0 discs will even play on older players. Sony insists that it will only be the special features that won’t play, but some studios don’t seem as sure.

Sony formats have always failed . . . betamax, minidisc. Why support a company that rushed out their new technology just to not fall behind HD DVD. They couldn’t compete with HD DVD, so they put out their incomplete technology and put the money machine to work buying studio support. So don’t support a format that doesn’t care about their customers. And don’t support the studios that don’t care about their customers by being Blu Ray exclusive.

Sign the Save HD DVD petition.

The two-disc “Shake and Shimmy” edition and the high-def versions are fully decked-out with extras, among them behind-the-scenes bonus features including a new musical number (”I Can Wait”), a “You Can’t Stop the Beat” documentary, a “Hairspray Extensions” featurette offering dance breakdowns, audio commentaries and deleted scenes. In addition, the Blu-ray version will have a “Behind the Beat” picture-in-picture-type option allowing viewers to watch behind-the-scenes footage and commentary concurrent with the running feature. The HD DVD, when it releases next year, also will have picture-in-picture, Internet connectivity and Web-enhanced features.