What are movie download services?

Movie download services are exactly what they sound like: a service that allows you to download movies from the Internet to your hard drive or DVD. Although this is not a new concept, it is relatively new in the legal world of consumerism. Although ‘pirates’ have been offering free movie downloads for quite some time, movie studios are now getting in on the action, offering access to their movies for download the day they hit stores on DVD – for a fee, of course. . .

Who’s who in movie download services?

In the relatively new world of legitimate movie download services, there are surprisingly many players, but only a few matter. There’s Sony’s Movielink and CinemaNow, which offer old and new movies for purchase or rent 24 hours a day. Rental rates are comparable to the local video store, but the purchase is more expensive than buying the DVD. ClickStar, backed by Danny DeVito among other big names in Hollywood, is another up-and-coming member in the world of movie download services, but the appeal of this one is that it will offer movies for download while they are still playing in theaters. It will also have a streaming channel dedicated to documentaries.

AT&T is partnering with Vongo, another movie download site, to offer its DSL service for concert and duet promotions. Unlike Movielink and CinemaNow, Vongo is a subscription service offered for a monthly fee that allows its members unlimited access to movies, videos, and a streaming channel from Starz. Pay-per-view movies are also available for an additional charge.

Movie Download Services: The Nitty Gritty

• Price – Ranging from $10 to $20, the irony is that downloading movies legally isn’t cheap. In order to attract retailers who make a lot of money from DVDs released in stores, online download services keep their rates sky high. Which, of course, doesn’t hurt your pocket either.
• Availability – Depends. Different services have different agreements with different movie studios. As for old movies, they get added all the time. But the good thing is that if they have it, you can get it instantly.
• Space – You will need between 1200 and 2000 MB of free space to store your movie. Depending on your system, this may be a lot or a little. Some services may allow you to burn your download to a DVD, but only if you’re buying the movie and even then, most won’t.
• discharge time – This is not the time for dial-up, that’s for sure. Anything DSL and faster should get you your movie in under an hour with an average of 35-40 minutes, and that’s if you want it fast and grainy. If you’re willing to wait a bit longer, say up to two hours, you can download a higher quality version. A nice feature some services offer is the ability to start watching the movie while it’s still downloading.
• Technical requirements – At least Windows Media Player 10, fast Internet connection, Internet Explorer 6.0, Windows XP. You may be able to get away with older versions, but it’s not recommended. And yes, did you notice? Everything is for PC and not for Mac. That’s right. PC users only please.
• computer screen only – Currently, that is the state of things. That is, unless you choose a service that allows you to download it to some other handheld electronic device of your choice, like the PSP or iPod. Of course, you can always use an S-video connector to connect your computer to your TV and watch it on the big screen. Some services allow limited DVD burning, but may restrict playback of the DVD to only the computer the movie was downloaded to, leaving your fancy DVD player to collect dust.
• Buy versus rent – It’s a weird situation at this point, but different studios offer different services, different licenses for different movies. Therefore, you may only be able to rent a title through a service that is offered for sale by another. Other services may not have access to certain titles while others do. There’s no standard yet, so it’s a bit tricky.

What is the benefit of movie download services?

Convenience! Forget long lines at the movie theater, the video store without a new release, or waiting in virtual queue to get your DVD mailed through a subscription service. No more worrying about court cases and legal fees for illegally downloading movies or spyware from file sharing applications that will slow down your computer or cripple it beyond repair. Then, of course, there’s the fact that you can watch the latest movies as many times as you like on your PC and instantly after purchase, with no waiting or driving to the store.

What is the downside of movie download services?

At the time, cost and restricted viewing access. You may not necessarily want to watch a movie on your computer when you’ve just invested $2,000 in a big-screen HDTV. And you may not want to spend $20 on a movie that you can’t even resell online if you don’t like it. If you have a slow internet connection, download time can also be a pain, especially if you’re trying to use your computer for other things while the process slows down your computer to a painfully slow pace. And if you’re using a Mac, well, obviously the downside is that movie download services just don’t exist. So what if a virus infects the computer where all your movies are stored? Yep. You have to buy them all again.

Movie download services: yes or no?

Things being what they are, that is, in their ugly prepubescent stage of braces and pimples, probably not. Do you remember the first BETA machines? Or the $700 CD players of the ’80s? When the movie download service lowers its prices and speeds up technology, allowing real DVD recordings that include extras and TV viewing, as well as access to movies that are still in theaters, then yes! In the meantime, stick with the higher quality DVDs that don’t discriminate against Mac users or big-screen TVs and allow for resale later. Unless you have to watch This Very Second movie, movie download services are still not the amazing service that they have the potential to be in the future.