After years of being green with envy over our American friends ability to utter the phrase, “Dude, I’m totally going to catch up with that on Netflix,” Canada’s time has finally arrived. Netflix.ca is here. But is it worth the price of admission? We’ve spent the better part of the last month taking the service out for a test drive and come to the following conclusion.
What Works: In short, virtually everything. As advertised Netflix.ca allows users to “instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows over the internet” for a ridiculously low price of $7.99 per month. What’s more, thanks to the services’ ridiculously easy to navigate website and clever (albeit not perfect) recommendation engine, you’ll never run out of entertainment options that you can watch quite literally anywhere and everywhere courtesy of the system’s compatibility with the PS3, Wii, xBox 260, iPad and iPhone. The latter of which plays surprisingly stellar after testing it both over Wi-Fi and 3G.
What Doesn’t: Despite some really cool Canadian exclusives like AMC’s MAD MEN, FOX’s RUNNING WILDE, and FX’s JUSTIFIED to name a few, Netflix Canada’s selection is sorely lacking in contrast to our friends south of the 49th parallel. Also of concern is the dreaded issue of bandwidth use. And while this isn’t technically a Netflix problem, “unlimited use of movies and TV shows over the internet” may be slightly less so when you factor in the penalties one may incur by streaming all four seasons of HEROES, or our current obsession, AVATAR: THE LAST AIR BENDER over our very pricey Rogers internet.
Bottom Line: While we found more than enough content available to justify the $7.99 price tag, results — based one ones personal entertainment preferences — may vary. That said, considering Netflix is offering a no strings attached one month free trial there is virtually no downside to at the very least taking the service out for a spin. 