Xbox Live

I recently signed up for the Xbox Live Gold membership. I actually was considering getting the 13-month deal Amazon had but kept debating the $45 dollar price. Microsoft must have heard my complaints and offered a special $1 rate for 1 month. I was eager to try the relatively new Netflix streaming service and therefore jumped at the chance.

After less than one month of usage, I watched a few Netflix movies and the quality wasn't all that great (worse than DVD and with only 2 channels of audio). To be fair, the quality is dependent on how fast your internet connection is and although I have FIOS, I'm getting internet access to my Xbox via Powerline connections, which isn't the greatest. So the the streaming service is convenient yes, but it would never replace the Blu-ray/DVD's I rent from NetFlix so I ended up canceling the service today.

I expected a big fight but it really wasn't that bad as some people have posted on the internet (although it stinks you can't cancel online but have to call Microsoft). I was put on hold but only for a few minutes and the operator tried to counter some of my arguments for canceling but I held firm and she gave me a verification code and stated the cancellation was complete. Still it seemed to be easier than canceling an AOL account!

If I upgrade to Gold again, it will definitely be with the prepaid card that doesn't require me to call Microsoft if I don't want to autorenew. Most likely when Valve releases Left 4 Dead 2 so I can multiplay with the Kruddster.