WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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You’ve got a lot more choices out there
these days than just cable tv, thanks to the

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selection of TV and movies provided by video
streaming services. While you won’t be able

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to watch live sports or news like you would
with cable, these sites do make a great alternative

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for entertainment.

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The streaming services we’ll talk about
in this video allow you to start watching

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videos on your computer as soon as you subscribe.
But most of these services are also compatible

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with mobile devices like smartphones and tablets,
as well as devices that stream directly to

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your TV, like Roku and Chromecast.

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Let’s start with one of the most popular
streaming sites: Netflix.

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With Netflix, the monthly price is low, you
can cancel your subscription any time you

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want, it has a good selection of tv shows
and movies, and you can watch them all commercial

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free. It’s also known for its easy to use
interface, popular original programming, as

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well as its recommendation system.

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Hulu is another popular site for streaming
videos, and it offers a wide variety of current

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tv shows. There are actually two different
versions of Hulu: Hulu.com, which is completely

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free, and HuluPlus, which requires a paid
subscription.

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But there are some more differences between
these two besides cost.

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Basically, of the shows on Hulu.com, you’ll
usually only be able to stream the last five

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episodes of a season that aired on TV. Use
is also limited to your computer, so you won’t

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be able to watch shows on your phone or tablet.

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HuluPlus on the other hand, offers episodes
from current and previous seasons for most

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of the shows available on the site. HuluPlus
also gives you more device options. With the

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HuluPlus subscription you can watch shows
on your smart phone, tablet, game console,

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and a number of other devices.

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Hulu isn’t ad-free though. So even with
the paid subscription to HuluPlus, you’ll

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still have to tolerate some commercial watching
before and during your show.

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Amazon Prime Instant Video is another popular
option for streaming video. When it comes

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to selection, it offers a wide variety of
TV shows, movies, and original programming

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to choose from, as well as the added benefits
of being a Prime member (like free two-day

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shipping on all your Amazon orders).

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Rather than a monthly payment, with Prime
you’ll pay for a year upfront. Also, there

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may be times when you find a title available
to stream on Amazon that isn’t included

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in the Prime membership. These titles will
require paying for them individually, meaning

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you could end up paying extra for a video
in addition the total price of your subscription.

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Vudu is another video streaming service that
offers thousands of titles to choose from,

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but it’s doesn’t require a subscription.
All of the TV shows and movies are rented

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or purchased on an on-demand basis. So in
terms of cost, the total amount you end up

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paying depends solely on how many titles you
rent or buy.

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But since it’s still kind of an up-and-comer,
Vudu has a smaller library of titles to choose

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from. And if you’re renting or buying titles
frequently, over time you could end up paying

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more than you would for a subscription service.

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If it seems like one of these services alone
won’t meet your entertainment needs, consider

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combining services for a more comprehensive
selection of movies and shows to choose from.