Online DVD Rental Vs. Instant Access Movies

As more and more people look to meet their movie watching desire at home, two major players have emerged to challenge traditional brick and mortar stores for our movie dollars: online DVD rental and instant access movies. Each has pros and cons to consider. Each also offers something the other doesn’t.

Online DVD rental companies, like Netflix and Blockbuster Online, provide DVD’s for rent from the companies website. The DVDs are delivered to the home and are returned the same way. There are no late fees as monthly plans allow you to keep a movie as long as you want. The plan you choose determines how many movies you can have out at any time and how many you can rent in a month. Most plans offer between one and four DVDs at a time and many allow for an unlimited amount each month. The title selection is unprecedented and movies are almost always in stock. If you decide you like a movie, you can often buy it and keep it.

Instant access movies are delivered one of two ways: via pay per view television channels or via the web. Cable television, and to a lesser degree satellite TV, offers several different instant access opportunities. Both offer pay per view movies and events. Cable also offers instant access to pay channels such as HBO and Showtime. Viewers are able to watch the movies playing on that channel for that month. There are no late fees, but in most cases, a purchased movie is only viewable once or only available for 24 hours. There is never a limit to how many movies you watch in a month. Selection is somewhat limited, usually less than 50 different movies in a month. The attractiveness comes from the instant access. You do not have to wait three days for the DVD to show up when you decide you want to rent a movie. You also don’t have to worry about sending anything back. Each movie purchase is separate and independent of each other, allowing you to watch as much as you want.

The other instant access technology is via the web. High speed Internet is now available everywhere. This technology has many companies, including Netflix, offering the ability to download and watch full DVD versions of movies across the home computer. The technology is still new and some download speeds may not allow it. The selection is limited, though usually better cable or satellite. Poor download or processing speeds will affect playback. This technology will become more popular once hardware requirements are met by more users. Regardless of which instant access technology you choose, neither of them can be used to keep a copy.

However you spend your movie watching dollars, you have many choices. Online DVD stores offer a wide variety but you have to wait. Instant access provides a movie now, but they may not have the movie you want. Online DVD stores allow you to keep a movie, instant access does not. The choice you make depends on which is more important to you: selection or speed, permanent or temporary options.