Netflix is one of the greatest things we ever did. DH does not go to movies..ever. However by subscribing to Netflix one has access to just about every TV production ever made here and in the UK as well as any movie. I think their data base runs about 22,000 films and tv shows. I have yet to do a search for something that they didn't have. We watch British mysteries twice a week. Netflix is not expensive and you have several plans from which to choose. It is so incredibly easy. You get the films,watch them,plop them in the stamped envelope they provide and put it in the mailbox. Within a couple of days your next films are in your mailbox ready to view. It's just so darn fast and easy,and as low s 10.00 a month,( I think it still is) if you want that plan. When you sign up,you get a month free as a trial to see if you like it. YOu can change your plan with a click on the menu if you think you are getting too many DVDs or too few. We've had 3 plans before we settled on the right one. Go to their website and just browse the gazillion offerings. It will make your head swim. Try it...you'll like it. Right now we are watching the old Father Brown mysteries.

Another vote fro joining NetFlix. We've been members for about 4 years now & have re-watched or watched for the first time many of the old BBC mini-series. In fact the first thing we rented was "I, Claudius." If you go to their web site they usually have a "first month free" promotional offer going on.

As to the DVD player, look into buying one that records too. They're under $200 now.

Josh, I'm a Netflixer too and it's wonderful...the range of choices is huge and there is literally something for everyone. I'm starting on "Upstairs Downstairs" next week as a matter of fact - good series and it will help me brush up my accent! :)

I agree with Andie on the dvd - get one that records too. I'm about to start researching them and I'll let you know if I come across something great for a good price.

And next, Josh... A grown up Computer! Webtv has served you well no doubt but time to move on. Some friends of mine who are in their 70's just bought a Mac after years of webtv use. They wanted to be able to download all of the photogr aphs of their grandchildren they could get, webtv just wasn't up to it.

Thanks so much...this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I did go to Netflix but it advised me my browser wasn't up to date...LOL but said I might find I could still use the site. Decided to wait to see what you guys said.

Sheila...I know...I know I need to change to a computer. Although I can see photos on most photosites fine, all are not available to me. I just feel like a kid with both hands filled with candy being urged to take more...I'm going to get a tummyache trying to digest it all. LOL

To think, a scant 11 years ago, I sometimes fretted because I constantly bought more books and plants while neglecting my old favorites (rereading and repotting, etc.) Now with the internet I sometimes feel truly pulled in all directions...I'm just overwhelmed.

One reason I think the DVD player might be fun is Jim and I both enjoyed the old PBS series. We seldom watch tv together, one of us usually on the internet, the other reading. So this will be a nice change...to watch a show together at the same time. (Yesterday he watched Tim Russert interview Chris Matthews and then I watched the rebroadcast later...LOL)

Sheila...thanks, I really would appreciate a recommendation on the DVD player/recorder. josh

Josh,what they probably mean by not being able to use their site with your browser,is that you also have the option of downloading films and watching them on your computer. So I guess it would be a problem if you wanted to do that but if not,then just using their site to order films should be no problem at all. I can't download the films either but I've never had any desire to do that.

Josh, I don't think I know where you live - I don't even know why I ask, perhaps just to be able to settle you in a place in my mind's eye.

We live now in a very small town, Ladonia, in Alabama, Sheila. Just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus GA, our former hometown. Now closer to our son and his family and yet still close enough to visit old friends, favorite shops, etc.

Hope your recent move went as smoothly and you're as pleased with your new location. Not fun to move jillions of books and many plants but we settled quickly and it's home now. josh

I just finished watching the As Time Goes By series.
Our best friends bought the series from BBC America
Shop catalog. We love the British mysteries and many of
the other series like The Vicar of Dibley, Are You Being
Served, Keeping Up Appearances, All Creatures Great and Small.

Neil came home yesterday from a visit with his aunt and
was excited because she has a new flat screen 42 inch tv
and he could see the screen. I've been trying to get him to
just try one to see if he could watch the programs and movies we enjoy on them.

When we move, I'll try Netflix.

Josh, when you lived in Columbus did you vist Callaway Gardens a lot?

Hey,that's good news Jan. Those screens are amazing. When our tv finally went on the fritz,we decided this would probably be our last one,with a little luck,and got a 42 incher. It's like being at the movies.

I get several of those BBC and Public tv catalogs. I go through them and circle all the ones I want to see and then just go to Netflix and put them all on my list. They always always have them.

OMG, I keep remembering all the greats like the British Raj series and the Duchess (chef) and Peter Cook and I'm going to become a DVD couch potato..I just know it!

Jan, I feel curmudgeonly nowadays when Callaway Gardens is mentioned, but since you asked: It's too commercial/resort-like now. The old greenhouses (back in the 70's) used to be a treasure trove of hundreds of offbeat plants tumbling over one another, now not half as interesting. Everything from the beaches and picnic grounds to the nature trails just became far too overcrowded and then the arts/crafts/gardening demos ad waterskiing and golf tourneys and circuses...whew!

There used to be quiet rustic cabins in the woods for rent...maybe they've been untouched, but it seemed everything else got further from nature the more they aimed for a "tourist destination". I suppose it's what attracts nowadays...I've read that thousands of cars drive thru the extravagantly lighted trees each Xmas. I preferred the red holly and dogwood berries unadorned, thank you!

I haven't been up there since the mid-eighties except in pantyhose/heels, for business mtgs. or conferences. Nice venue popular for seminars, etc. but it sure ain't the Callaways I fondly remember. josh

We're currently going through the "Jack Frost" British mystery series, with an occasional "All Creatures" thrown in. It seems nearly all of the PBS Mystery series as well as Masterpiece Theater and most of the BBC comedies are available on Netflix.

Jan, didn't you love "As Time Goes By"?

Marda, I do the same as you do with finding movies and documentaries in catalogs and putting them on my Netflix list. I do the same for all new movies I think look good-- they're out on DVD sooner than one would think. I don't want to tell how long my queue is!

I do what Marda does. When I get one of those catalogs like Acorn or Signals, I go through them & mark the BBC DVD's that interest me & then stick them into my NetFlix queue. I just re-watched Brideshead Revisited about a month ago. It's great to see some of my favorites all over again.

Josh, I've been looking online at DVD players and the upshot for me is that I'm going to go to Circuit City or Costco and buy personally. I will be able to get one for less than $200 as Marda says. I doubt I'll want a dvd for recording since I gave up television broadcasting about two months ago. Even when I was hooked up to dish and had tvo I never used it, so I will go with simple dvd player.

I do think the main thing about buying anything is to not to be seduced by all bells and whistles you'll never use.

with the recorders,you can also record off other DVDs and also VHS videos,if you would ever want to do that.

Copying a vhs I own to a dvd might be interesting to me.

Recording off other dvd's is probably illegal and I'm against that in principle in any event.

Sheila, I spoke to my son and he is bringing a DVD player and hooking it up for me this weekend. If I know my son, it will have bells and whistles...LOL but like you, I doubt I'd ever use the recording feature.

He recently brought over a Samsung cellphone with camera, text and image etc. when all we wanted was a simple device to carry into garden with us for emergencies like our old cellphone. But it-IS-lighterweight and so tiny.

So now I'll be set to enjoy Lilo's film and then join Netflix. I watched Michael Apted's documentary "49 Up" on PBS last evening. Want to go back and rewatch the
"7Up" and others again. What a thought-provoking series!

Andie..Brideshead Revisited is another I'd love to see again! I'm not familiar with Acorn and Signal catalogs...do they have online sites?
You all have been so helpful...Thanks so much. josh

Here's the Acorn catalog.

Here is a link that might be useful: acorn catalog

Josh, you really need to see the entire "Up" series (and NetFlix has all of them) It's fascinating to watch them one right after another.

My main reason to want a DVD recorder is to record movies. SH is the TV nut in this house so we've got the big dish package with all the premium stations. I could still record them on video tape, but I'm thinking that's a waste of time. If I could convert my apes to DVD's & just keep going from there, it would be a whole lot more efficient - especially in terms of storage space.

Thanks, Marda (and Andie) for that trove of what's available on Acorn..but I'm sure glad to know they're for rent thru Netflix.

Andie, I've missed at least one of the Up series, I think...and agree.. can't wait to watch them all in one go. I read an interview with Apted where he stated there's an American and a Russian series, too...maybe just the beginning show with young children but I plan to seek them out.

Musing on today's Thoreau quote...we get rid of VCR and a shelf of tapes and in the door comes a DVD player...Grin josh

Andie, I'm laughing at the idea of you recording your "apes" tp dvd's :)) It's a lovely visual

For those of you who enjoy British detective series, can I recommend one called "Foyle's War" - available on Netflix.
It's set during WW2, from the point of view of a policeman who has to continue doing policework in wartime. His son is an RAF pilot, his assistant is an ex-soldier who lost a leg in Norway (1940). The attention to detail as absolutely first class, and Michael Kitchen as Foyle is just wonderful. Really acts with economy: says more in a single gesture than lines of dialogue would.

Sara,we discovered this just a few months ago and have seen each and every one of them. We agree it's perhaps one of the best BBC series ever . The acting is superb and so many facets of the war are portrayed in a way that each episode is a learning experience...and above all,there still is a great mystery to solve.

Shelia, Yes, my typos have made many laugh here over the years.

And Marda, have you seen the "Island at War" series? It's about the occupation of the Jersey islands by the Nazis during WWII. I knew that had happened, but watching the series made it very real to me.

Josh, that's exciting news - let us know how it goes and what the first thing you watch on your new player.

Sheila, I'm sure the first will be the Lilo tape, but I've already started making a list. I know I'd enjoy "Foley's War" and "Islands at War". Of most interest to me has always been the homefront...the families ..and how they coped.

I wish you and Sara would start a thread on your families' memories. My Mom packed up 3 kids and we followed my Dad thru seven states staying a few months in each while the USArmy trained him until he went to the Pacific in 1944. But we weren't living in fear of bombs or invasion nor did we really suffer under rationing. Most of all, when it ended it was over for us...not true for so many other families in so many other countries. josh