Things have changed since we last had internet. For the last couple of years we were buying blu-rays or renting movies at the local Civic Videos at Katoomba until they shut down last year.

You can imagine how happy I was when we finally signed up with Telstra they gave us the Telstra Box which served as a doorway to tv on demand via various apps.

It has our Aussie channels apps and a YouTube app that I often use for Gardening Research, playing music. There is also Netflix, Foxtel, Stan, TED and a couple of others.

Lucky for us Netflix, Foxtel and Stan all have 1 month free trials. Netflix was the one we tried first then Foxtel and last was Stan.

What we want

We are Sci-Fi/Fantasy people. I love all the Stars - Treks, Wars and Gates. I watch Firely then of course Serenity straight after at least twice a year. Battlestar Galactica once a year... 😁

(I still cannot believe Firefly only saw one season. How the hell did that happen?!! Source)

I'm not a fan of reality shows unless it's a home renovation or gardening.

Having a movie selection is important, one can only binge watch so many tv shows, as for the genre anything but Horror, well for me anyway.

The price is also a factor and since Netflix and Stan are around the same price I wanted to see which one of the three had the best value for $15 a month.

What do I think about all 3? Well.....

Netflix

When we first got Netflix I was in awe. It was the first time we had anything like it and I scrolled for hours looking at everything. In fact for the first few days it took me an hour to decide what to watch - my mind was boggled.

It had some of my favourite tv shows and movies. Although the majority of the movies we already had, still, it was convenient having them in one spot.

One thing I noticed and that sets Netflix apart is the amount of foreign tv shows and movies available. They also had a great selection of Anime, something I used to love when I was younger but they were always very hard to find. Not on Netflix!

Pros

• They had ALL the Star Trek series TV and Movies.
• The Originals, Lucifer, The 100, Riverdale
• A great selection of new release movies and kids movies.
• Lots of big name shows

Cons

• The foreign shows and movies are mixed in with everything else making it hard to navigate.

Foxtel

After our Netflix subscription ran out we decided to give Foxtel a go. I had it years and years ago and remember it cost a lot of money and it had a lot of shows most of which just kept replaying.

For $15 a month, you only get a handful of channels and just coming from Netflix, it just fell flat and didn't live up to the magic that was Netflix.

That said, Foxtel did have GOT.

Within a few days I was already looking into signing up with Netflix, but decided to give Stan a whirl.

I seriously was not impressed with Foxtel at all. I'm sure for more money you can get more shows and movies, but this is all about pay tv on a budget.

Pros

• GOT, Bitten, Westworld

Cons

• Limited channels
• Limited movies

Stan

Stan was a huge surprise. I wasn't sure what I was going to find. All I know is the Stan commercials were always on TV and I never paid attention to it. But since we were a few screen taps away from signing up with Netflix, I figure it's time to try Stan.

Stan is like Netflix but for Aussies so it's got a lot of aussie shows and movies. If you're a Hamish and Andy fan you'll love Stan.

I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed Stan. I found so many shows I've always wanted to watch like Penny Dreadful and Friday Night Lights (both didn't disappoint).

Pros

• Quite a few awesome tv shows like Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Penny Dreadful, iZombie, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Rise
• Some great old movies and a few new ones too.

Cons

• App navigation is slow.

Which one did we pick?

At the end of it all, 3 months later, we decided to go with...

NETFLIX!

(Screenshot of the Netflix app.)

Netflix just had more choices in the end. Bigger titles on both TV shows and movies. The app navigation is seamless although I do sometimes have problems using my phone to play my shows on the TV, at least it doesnt lag and the photos load when I scroll across.

We will probably sign up with Stan again sometime in the next few months. Depends when we go through all our Netflix options.

Stan had iZombie and Rise. Both have new episodes every week so I will need to catch up eventually and yes I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them!

It's very easy to cancel & restart your subscription with Netflix and Stan. I love that.

If you are into your Aussie shows, I reckon you'd enjoy Stan. Personally I didn't see the point since they're mostly on the national stations anyway but Hubby told me the Hamish and Andy collection was a big deal.

If you still have a free trial with Foxtel, you gotta give Westworld a go and let me know what you think. I found it so interesting and confronting. I was often questioning human nature and the atrocious things people are capable of. I believe season 2 just started.

There's a couple of shows I want to rave about and share but that will have to be for another post.

What are you guys watching? Anything you love and want to recommend? Let me know!

❤ Arly