Online movie rental is growing in popularity, but it remains a temporary, flawed solution. While we wait for technology to catch up with the far-reaching promises that were made years ago (that's right, I am referring to instant movies via the ubiquitous broadband promise), we'll continue to see greater and greater demand for online movie rentals.
So for those who are now contemplating a decision to try an online rental house, or for those who are considering changing services, here are a few factors that you should consider in making your decision:
Distribution Centers: for added convenience, you will want to be sure that there is a fulfillment center near you. This can make the difference between a one to two day turnaround, and a three to four day turnaround. This consistent turnaround time will become important to you as a user of the service so that you can plan your returns and rentals around typical viewing nights.
Movie Selection: the breadth of movie selection is obviously important. Many movie watchers are primarily interested in new releases, but you should also consider what other types of rentals are available, including TV series, familiar classics, independent and foreigh films, etc. You might even join the ranks of those who turned off cable entirely once they began using a rental service. Having regular access to series hits from HBO, Showtime, and network television is very attractive.
DVD Availability: A wide selection of movies is only one consideration -- having enough copies of each title is also important. The number of copies of each movie will never be disclosed, but for the most part, the more popular the service, the deeper their selection. In this area, Netflix is generally considered to outrank Blockbuster.
Ratings and Other Information: being able to view what others have said about a movie is important to help you narrow down your selection. Ideally, your service will be able to learn from your previous selections and soon be able to suggest movies to you with some degree of accuracy.
Ease of Use: as you build your rental queue and look for movies to rent, you will begin to appreciate more and more how easy a web site is to use. Looking at things like site response times, the ability to search on multiple criteria, overall site availability, information in areas like mouseover boxes, navigability, etc. will have a big impact on your satisfaction with a service. I personally find this one of the top three factors to easily rent DVD titles.
Specialized Features: each service will have characteristics that make it unique from the other services. For example, Netflix has a very convenient movies on demand section. The selection of titles isn't great, but is still better than a swift kick in the pants. Similarly, the ability to walk into a local store to return movies or rent new ones, as you get with the Blockbuster service, are also very important to some.
Considering all of the factors above, there are really on two practical choices for a rental house, and those are Blockbuster and Netflix. To look at how each of these services up with each other, and to see which one's best for you, check out the Netflix and Blockbuster review referenced below. It stacks the rental services up side-by-side, and can help make your decision much easier.
So for those who are now contemplating a decision to try an online rental house, or for those who are considering changing services, here are a few factors that you should consider in making your decision:
Distribution Centers: for added convenience, you will want to be sure that there is a fulfillment center near you. This can make the difference between a one to two day turnaround, and a three to four day turnaround. This consistent turnaround time will become important to you as a user of the service so that you can plan your returns and rentals around typical viewing nights.
Movie Selection: the breadth of movie selection is obviously important. Many movie watchers are primarily interested in new releases, but you should also consider what other types of rentals are available, including TV series, familiar classics, independent and foreigh films, etc. You might even join the ranks of those who turned off cable entirely once they began using a rental service. Having regular access to series hits from HBO, Showtime, and network television is very attractive.
DVD Availability: A wide selection of movies is only one consideration -- having enough copies of each title is also important. The number of copies of each movie will never be disclosed, but for the most part, the more popular the service, the deeper their selection. In this area, Netflix is generally considered to outrank Blockbuster.
Ratings and Other Information: being able to view what others have said about a movie is important to help you narrow down your selection. Ideally, your service will be able to learn from your previous selections and soon be able to suggest movies to you with some degree of accuracy.
Ease of Use: as you build your rental queue and look for movies to rent, you will begin to appreciate more and more how easy a web site is to use. Looking at things like site response times, the ability to search on multiple criteria, overall site availability, information in areas like mouseover boxes, navigability, etc. will have a big impact on your satisfaction with a service. I personally find this one of the top three factors to easily rent DVD titles.
Specialized Features: each service will have characteristics that make it unique from the other services. For example, Netflix has a very convenient movies on demand section. The selection of titles isn't great, but is still better than a swift kick in the pants. Similarly, the ability to walk into a local store to return movies or rent new ones, as you get with the Blockbuster service, are also very important to some.
Considering all of the factors above, there are really on two practical choices for a rental house, and those are Blockbuster and Netflix. To look at how each of these services up with each other, and to see which one's best for you, check out the Netflix and Blockbuster review referenced below. It stacks the rental services up side-by-side, and can help make your decision much easier.
About the Author:
Before choosing an online DVD rental service, make sure that you have all of the facts so that you avoid months of headaches. Click here for a thorough, side-by-side comparison of Blockbuster vs. Netflix, the two largest and best services for online DVD rental.
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