Hands on with Hulu Plus

Their business model doesn't seems right...
- you must pay to participate to the beta version
- there still showing ads
- TV Shows collection is kinda good, but movies selection is very, very poor

In the same time, Netflix has a free 1 month trial, lower monthly dues (8.99), no ads and larger movie selection.

I shared this comment with their customer support and just got back a lame automatic response.

Too bad Hulu, my money will go to Netflix.

Hulu plus is presently pretty weak. The content is not the same as the free version, being that some of the networks haven't changed over the Html5 I suppose, but still you should be able to see everything on your pad that you can see online at the very least...

I know its beta atm, but its really weak, hard to navigate and once you find a show your only option is to subscribe... What if I want to browse around and tag stuff to watch later like (gulp) netflix... What if I am subscribed to show X and there is another new release in the library, wouldn't it be great if Hulu suggested the show for you like (gulp) netflix?

Yes, I am subscribing to both, no I'm not sure that will change. I'm not sold on Hulu being something I will continue with, but will be sure and comment more here
http://ramlbings.blogspot.com/2010/08/ipad-hulu-plus-day-1.html

I'd consider the $10 a month if it also worked on the Xbox.

What's an iPod 3G? And where can I get one?

Hulu has said that the ads allow it to be offered at $10 per month. They did surveys and people would rather pay $10 with ads than $20-$25 without ads.

The best part of a service like this is "video exploring" and the ads completely take all the fun out of that. They are obtrusive and repetitive, and with this service, ads punish you for exploring. I'd rather pay more for no ads, I'd at least like that option.

I find myself heading to Netflix streaming instead of Hulu, just because the hassle of Hulu ads makes a great service dramatically less fun. Nothing worse than sitting down to an entertainment service and getting slowly agitated.

I am sure they will tweak this, but I envision more people trying then canceling after a month.

I'm still incredibly disappointed that I can't stream the "standard" hulu videos to my phone for free. Epic FAIL in my opinion...

I subscribed for Hulu Plus when I received an invite. I did not expect what I saw -- a bunch of old CRAPPY shows and even crappier movies with annoying ads. I'd understand if they had no competition but with Netflix out there, offering TONS more content + DVDs by mail for $9, I have no idea what people at Hulu are smoking. I'm not continuing my subscription to this excuse of a video service unless they drastically improve the library. I wouldn't pay even $5/month for what they have on Hulu Plus now, even if they had no ads. If they had all the shows and great movies, I wouldn't care for ads.

I don't see how they could compete with Netflix when their deal with Epix goes into effect in couple of weeks. Netflix will have a lot of great and new movies available to play online + their iPhone app is coming very soon.

What I'd want to see from Hulu for $10/month + ads: ALL episodes of EVERY show ever produced in US/UK + a decent selection of movies.

I don't mind the ads so far. The price would have to be quite a lot higher without them, so whatever.

What I do mind is the limited library. Stuff that is on FREE Hulu isn't available on Plus, so the name "Plus" is basically a lie.

Why not spend the money on Netflix instead? Well, maybe because the half-dozen or so things Netflix has available for streaming aren't what I want to watch.

It says in the invitation email that it's essentially in beta; that it will still have ads until they can figure out how to make both the free, ad-supported and the "plus" ad-free versions work for the separate customer bases.

From what I've read, the Hulu Plus iPhone/iPad app doesn't have closed captioning, even on shows that offer it via the web interface. That's a dealbreaker for me, unfortunately; dialogue is often so fast-paced and mumbly that, even with headphones on, I often need several rewinds just to make out what someone's said.