Adam C.

I've been using Crackle quite extensively this past week, and must say, I've had quite a good overall experience and am surprised and dismayed at all these horrible reviews. Is it a perfect 5 star service? No. There's definitely room for improvement in the interface, streaming and commercial algorithm, but it works reliably enough to be quite enjoyable and what you get in trade for simply watching a few short adverts every 7-10 mins is more than worth it. In honesty, my real rating would be a solid "3 stars", but I gave it a five to slightly offset a couple of these ridiculous, 1 star reviews from apparently self-entitled, everything-for-nothing, out of touch with reality, whiney-$#*! babys.

So here's the straight up 411 from my recent experience with Crackle:

- the content selection is of a smallish size, but is about what I would expect from this sort of service. Crackle can only provide a licenced selection relative to the advertising revenue they make on the service. So unless the service just explodes in popularity and they sell a great deal more advertising, the selection will remain smallish.
- that being said, however, the selection that IS provided is quite varied, with something for pretty much anyone's tastes, from a few newer, big named movies and tv shows, to a variety of others throughout recent years. I do wish there was more "sci-fi", but hey you can't always have everything, I'll just hope some comes in when things switch up.
- Crackle's original content is actually suprisingly good! There are more than a few really cool shows and movies here, starring great talent and recognizable stars, that are Crackle exclusives, and you WILL NOT SEE ANYWHERE ELSE. Great stuff!
- over an hour's time watching, I will see an average of LESS THAN 5 MIN of adverts. What I usually find is that every 7-10 mins, I watch ONE 10 sec commercial, and then it's right back to my show, big whoop! Sometimes they will show 2 or 3 ads, but the total is still less than a minute each time, even with the rare showing of all 3 ads. This is SOOOO much less than you would have to endure while watching ANYTHING, at ANY TIME, on network television. I've even watched a couple movies with just one short ad at the beginning of the movie and no further interruptions for the rest of the show! Totally acceptable, and barely even bothersome once you make your peace with it.
- the ads that are shown ARE repetative. Right now, it's apparent that Crackle only has 3 different ads running in my region, so of course, you will see the same ads over and over, but Crackle can only show what they've been paid to show by the advertisers buying time with them. This will fluctuate over time and between regions, but so what? Take a breath, have a sip of your beverage or close your eyes for a few short seconds. Before you know it, you're back to watching your show AT NO COST TO YOU!
- over about 18-20 hours of use, I have lost the stream about 4 times, and my Xbox froze twice, requiring that I either back out and restart the stream, app or system, depending on the situation, and then resume the show. Now, of course, this is not optimal, but nor is it the end of the world or a reason to write off the service. If you've ever played "Skyrim", or "Fallout: New Vegas", you'll know what I mean when I say, "Ha! That's nothing!" An annoyance, certainly, but one easily dealt with.
- streaming quality is more than acceptable. I've found it to be clear and consistent. Maybe not super extreme HD, but totally watchable and hey, slightly lower resolution will help keep your bandwidth bill down! Look at the bright side! Lol

So that's my Crackle review. Thanks Crackle for all the free entertainment. Much appreciated! Recommended to anyone who like free stuff, enjoys movies and TV shows, and doesn't have unrealistic expectations!