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Which Movie Download Site Is Best?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the still-costs-to-much dept.

mikemuch writes "ExtremeTech has reviews today of five internet movie download and rental services. The services/sites — CinemaNow, MovieFlix, Movielink, Amazon's Unbox, and Starz's Vongo — have various takes on how online feature-length films should be made available over the internet. CinemaNow has the most alternatives: Free, Subscription, Rent, Buy, and Burn to DVD, while the others offer some subset of these choices. Amazon Unbox has the best video quality, using a 2.5Mb/sec bitrate and VC1 encoding, while CinemaNow is the only one that lets you burn DVDs. There are still disadvantages to getting movies this way, but VOD is making headway, as these services show."

7 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. BT by jrwr00 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I never liked these services, i know there the legal path, but i still stay Bitorrent is better

    --
    WulframII - Free Online Mutiplayer 3D Tank Shooting Game
  2. I've tried CinemaNow and Movielink by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Movielink requires you to download additional software, while CinemaNow works with the software already installed with WindowsXP.

  3. Not yet good enough for me. by PrinceAshitaka · · Score: 4, Informative

    I think this technology is still cannot compete with having the actuall DVD sent to you. I usually on't mind waiting one day.

    I use dvdone.com.

    I get the DVD the next day before noon if I order by 5pm. (and the movie is not rented out)

    I can pay online with wa wire transfer

    I pay less than 2 dollars for shipping up to 4 DVDs round trip

    I can rent as many DVDs as I want, renting many DVDs does not affect when they ship the DVDs I want. (ahem netflix)

    Sorry if this sounds like a plug but it is not, I just want to tell other people what is possible so other companies improve thier services (ahem netflix).

    --
    quis custodiet ipsos custodes
  4. Amazon Unbox by Danathar · · Score: 4, Informative

    They Rated Amazon Unbox as high, but OBVIOUSLY they had not tried to uninstall the software. As they would of found out, Amazon's idea of "uninstall" is different from what most people think as they leave services installed and RUNNING on your system.

  5. Re:Which one meets my needs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Spectre of piracy? So far the sites people are most happy with are all torrent sites. Let's face it, given the option most of us would download a free movie rather than pay for the same legit download DRM'd or not.

    Now, I don't agree with DRM either, but sadly there is a need for it.

  6. Beware of MovieFlix - They SPAM by woolio · · Score: 2, Informative

    I used their services for a while... Okay selection.

    But what gets me is their SPAM practices...

    Go and enter your email address in their "unsubscribe" portion on their website (without first subscribing).... You will start getting emails every month saying "we want you back", etc etc...

    I filed two BBB complaints in the state of California... But it was only a waste of time.

  7. Hidden download costs by brunes69 · · Score: 2, Informative

    My cable ISP still caps my download at 100 GB a month. So, if I download a 1 GB+ movie, theres an extra $0.50+ cost to me on top of that film download.