Xbox Live Gold Questions

[Tracer]

Well looks like I'm having to finally break down and purchase Xbox Live Gold so I can run Netfix on the Xbox extenders. Family got a taste of having Netflix on the Xbox during the free month of Xbox Live Gold on the 360 I had just purchased.

My question is I want to go with the Family pack however I can't find the family pack listed on Amazon and I really don't want to buy it directly from M$. I read somewhere if I purchase the Xbox Live Gold from a retailer like Amazon once I enter the code I should have the option to upgrade to the Family Pack on the Xbox Live site.

Just wondering what options are out there, we currently have 5 Xbox's being used as extenders but, really only two of them at this time can I see were we are needing Netfix being used on them.

[spanner]

This is the one thing i think MS is making a mistake on. I have three xboxes that i use almost totally as extenders. Not only is a gold account required to watch netflix, but you need to have multiple gold accounts if you want to watch on more than one xbox. example: my grandson is playing a game on one xbox, my other grandson wants to watch netflix on another xbox. Gold accounts might make sense for gamers or one xbox households, but when multiple xboxes are purchased and used as extenders it seems ridiculous. I know you can buy family packs and or move game tags around on thumb drives but this is a hassle . I refuse to by multiple gold so instead I picked up a 60 dollar rouku box that i move around. it seems a shame to have a ruku box sitting on top of a xbox that could do this. I really wish MS would rethink gold when xboxes are being used as extenders.

Edit: I reread this and it sounded way to much like a rant, sorry. I just meant to say that something like a small roku box is cheaper than gold accounts in the long run and might be a option

[makryger]

According to the internets:

Q: Can I purchase an Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack at my local retail store?
A: The Family Pack is only offered online through the Xbox LIVE Dashboard or Xbox.com

I'm not going to try signing up myself, but there is a straightforward option on xbox.com under the "XBOX LIVE" link.If you want to avoid buying from MS, It looks like if you add it to an already bought XBox Live account, they just create a prorated discount, 5 dollars per month. So if you spend $60 on a an individual account, then upgrade through the dashboard immediately, then the family pack costs $100 - (5*12)=40. If you upgrade after one month its $100 - (5*11) = $45, and so on. I suppose if you wanted to save tax on $60, then thats the way to go.

For more info: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Live/JoinLive/FamilyPackFAQ