Thursday, May 13, 2010

Movie Downloads Options That You Should Check Out

By Edward Bowen

We're a wired culture with the ability to satisfy and curiosity, question, or whim at a moment's notice. Many times multitasking has the inclusion of background music, taking time to social network, or watching your favorite movie while you work. You don't have to go to the video store anymore to get what you want and even the expense of pay per view is a thing of the past. The internet has democratized what we can do with entertainment and the prices are lower than ever.

The largest and most popular movie service is NetFlix which allows customers to subscribe, for little money, to a service that will deliver movies either to your door or through your computer. It is the quintessential model for on demand service. As more and more families have transformed their living rooms into entertainment oasis', the internet has come up and met the demand to stay home and have your fun on your own terms.

The technology of video on demand (VOD) can stream in real time through a specific box connected to your television, a digital video recorder (DVR) or your computer. Streaming videos gives the same variability as if you were watching a DVD - you can still fast forward, pause, rewind, jump chapters and frame, etc.

The ease of getting what you want has already created somewhat of a firestorm in the music industry regarding peer to peer file sharing and that networking has extended to movie downloading. The dangers are the same in downloading either movies or music including the insertion of malware - usually adware or spyware thatcan slow down the performance of your computer considerable while also putting you at risk regarding your personal information. Pay to watch movie downloads sites are the safest best in terms of quality, performance, and keep you away from malware through free virus protection.

Some of the most well known movie download sites outside of NetFlix are Apple's iTunes, Starz's Vongo, Amazon's Unbox, CinemaNow, and Movie link. The disadvantage to Apple's iTunes outstrips it's advantages which include only that you can watch your downloaded movies on one computer and your video ipod. Also, there are no rental fees, what you buy on iTunes is yours, it is like buying a movie and with prices ranging from 9.99 to 14.99 it's better to go to the store and buy the DVDs you want.

Because you are only able to watch your downloads on an iPod or your computer, the price is exorbitant for the limited number of venues to watch your movie. Also, iTunes does not offer free movie selections and, for families, it has weak parental controls and no subscription or rental options. It's a hard pill to swallow to be forced to purchase a movie rather than just spending a little to watch one.

If you know the Starz network than you know that it does not show new releases and it's download site Vongo is no exception. However, there is a good collection of movies, all available for rental for under $10 a month.

Amazon, which has burst forward to corner the downloadable book market with the Kindle device, has made a leap into the movie download business with fair results. The movies you download can work across multiple platforms and devices, unlike the iTunes downloads and the image quality is one of the sharpest available. Rental prices include TV and movies ranging from 1.99 to 3.99 a download.

Most likely the best downloading site of the bunch is CinenaNow which has a total library under 4,500 movies and offers a variety of plans for the consumer including a subscription rate, one at time rentals, free movies and the power to burn what you've downloaded onto a blank DVD.

One of the cheapest and best used as a quick fix for boredom is MovieFlix which, for 7.99 a month gives you access to large database of movies excluding new releases. The image quality is better than free, but not as good as NetFlix, Amazon, or CinemaNow. Depending on your devices, your needs, and really you wants, there is a movie downloading site to quench your thirst for entertainment.

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