Sure, almost all the offerings on NBC Direct can be watched at streaming site Hulu. But if you're an HD fiend and want offline access, NBC Direct's player might be worth checking out.
NBC Direct is definitely powered by DRM and ad-powered software, so if you're not cool with that, well, you probably know a few other places to look (like, er, Hulu). But if you dig the idea of subscribing to, and downloading, HD-quality videos of your favorite NBC shows, it's not a bad way of getting them guilt-free...
When you launch NBC Direct from a shortcut or by heading to nbc.com/video, you'll get a pretty easy-to-follow menu of offerings. The full episodes and clips offered tend to follow the Hulu model—usually a few episodes back from the most recently aired episode of current marquee series, and fuller archives of kitsch/nostalgia shows, like Miami Vice. From any video, you can click to download, subscribe to the series (which starts downloads automatically, assuming you haven't killed the NBC auto-starting tray applet), and switch to bigger views...
Even when you're "offline" to watch a show, though, you're getting some ads...
If you're planning to be away from a net connection for a while and want to catch up, NBC Direct's not a bad option, and it does offer good quality shows for free. It's free to use, sign-up required.
Read the full review on lifehacker .