Using Hulu Plus

The idea of paying for anything online is a foreign concept for me, but I finally decided to take the leap into Hulu Plus.

The service runs at $7.99 a month, with your first week always free.
The main difference between free Hulu and Hulu Plus is having access to much, much more programming.

Free Hulu only gives you the past five episodes of any currently airing series, but with Hulu Plus, you can get a complete series, including shows like The Office and every single episode of Saturday Night Live going all the way back to 1975.

You also get complete access to the Criterion Collection, a boutique DVD/Blu-Ray label that makes obscure and foreign films available in the United States. They originally partnered with Netflix, but switched to Hulu in February, because “Hulu has built their brand on letting the shows and movies take center stage,” according to Criterion.

In addition to films they have released on DVD, they have a number of movies that they have yet to put out, including the complete Charlie Chaplin filmography. While they only have around 200 up now, eventually they want to have 800 available.

So, while the content is the main positive aspect of Hulu Plus, it is its lack of high definition programs and actually having to still watch commercials that make up the negatives.

For example, I went to go watch the latest episode of Fringe after I signed up, but the highest quality that it was streaming in was 480p and included commercials. Thus, it is the exact same as the free version. Not all Hulu Plus exclusive programs are streamed in 720p (which is almost equal to standard DVD quality) either. Criterion is streaming very few films in 720p.

Also, the only other movies streamed without commercials are public domain pictures. Thus, even though distributors like MGM and 20th Century Fox have films up, you’ll still get commercial breaks.

Hulu Plus does allow you to stream on your mobile devices as well. After testing out their iPhone app on my iPod Touch, though, I decided that watching a full program on a little screen isn’t very practical.

Also, if you have a either PlayStation 3, a Sony or Samsung TV or BluRay player, or a Roku streaming device, you can bring Hulu to a bigger screen than your laptop.

My verdict is that if you exclusively care about content and not the quality, Hulu Plus is the way to go. Still, the quality leaves much to be desired. Also, paying to watch commercials is not the best idea.