...available to (most) Amazon Prime customers...
This might be the most enticing part of Amazon's video
proposition: if you're already shelling out $79/year for the free two-day shipping Amazon Prime gets you, then Instant Video is just an added bonus. If you're not already
a Prime member, $79/year works out to about $6.50/month—cheaper than the least expensive plans offered by Netflix and
Hulu. And if you're unsure whether you want to commit to Prime, you can sign up for a one-month free trial here.
Quick caveat: Student Prime memberships aren't included; to get Instant
Video you'll have to upgrade
your account. Which, kinda dumb, right?
...that you can watch on most set-top boxes...
Amazon's lined up what looks like a
decent array of hardware
partners: GoogleTV, Logitech, Roku, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Vizio. But then you see who's missing: Xbox 360, PlayStation
3, Apple TV. TiVo is listed as a partner, but the fine print says not yet. Those are big names absent from the party, especially
since they're the ones you're most likely to own already.
...and has a few nice touches...
Want to watch
the original The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest with subtitles? Go for it! Prefer dubbing? That's okay too! Nice
option to include, although it doesn't appear to be there for every foreign language flick.More important is that Amazon Instant Video also includes the option to rent or buy the free videos
as well, if you want to take them on the go when you don't have a reliable internet connection. Average price seems to be $12 to buy and $4 to rent (for 3 days)
a new or newish movie release, and $10/$3 for the back catalog stuff.
...although it's not great to navigate...
You poke
around Amazon Instant Video the same way you poke around Amazon. Which is to say, it's an endless sprawl, a mishmash of content
with limitless drilldown options. That's good when you're just diddling around on the site with disposable ducats to burn,
but finding something to fit your movie mood isn't a exactly intuitive.
Amazon also takes the opportunity to plug its paid streaming
service, so don't get too excited when you see The Social Network listed in the Instant Video section, only to discover
that it's strictly pay per view.
