Buy Movie Downloads

Where to Buy Movie Downloads

CinemaNow

At CinemaNow, shoppers can buy movie downloads, "rent" movie downloads, or download movies to burn to DVD. They offer more than 4,000 titles from major distributors and independent producers alike. Movie downloads can be watched an unlimited number of times on up to three electronic devices; downloading a movie costs $9.99 to $19.95. Rentals cost $3.99 and are valid for 24 hours from download. The burn to DVD option allows users to burn the movie once to a blank DVD in addition to playing it on their computers. Prices are similar to movie downloads, ranging from $8.99 to $19.99.

CinemaNow also offers a subscription service. For $29.95 per month, or $99.95 per year, members can enjoy ad-free access to the site's free download area, members-only offerings, and unlimited use of the site's adult offerings. Parental controls are available.

Amazon Unbox

Amazon's Unbox service offers movie downloads for rental and purchase. For movie downloads, some classic movies and documentaries are available for around $4, most new releases cost $14.99, and a few titles approach the $20 mark. Rentals range from $1.99 to $9.99. They can be stored on your computer for 30 days, but they expire 24 hours after pressing play. Amazon lists close to 2,500 movies in the purchase area and about half as many rentals. Watching Unbox videos away from your computer requires an Unbox-compatible device.

Walmart.com

Walmart.com sells movie downloads that are playable on any Windows computer and many personal video players. New releases generally cost $14.88, with the cheapest downloads selling for $7.50. Walmart.com has a much smaller selection of movie downloads than sites designed purely to let you buy movie downloads, but they sell releases from most major studios at competitive prices. Walmart.com does not offer a rental option.

iTunes

iTunes, the leader in online music downloads, has also entered the realm of movie downloads. New movies are $12.99 during their first week of release, and older favorites are available for $9.99 to $14.99. Films can be played on your computer or on video-enabled iPods, and you can start watching your movies as they download. There is no rental service, and while movies can be stored on a DVD, they can't be copied in a format that can be played on a standard DVD player.

Vongo

Unlike the other sites, Vongo operates solely on a "rental" basis, with no ability to permanently buy movie downloads or burn DVDs. Users can pay a $9.95 per month fee for access to over 2,000 movies, or rent over 100 different titles on a pay-per-view basis. You have 24 hours to watch movie rentals. Subscribers have 10 days to watch a downloaded movie, and they can store up to 10 movies at once on their home computer.

Guba

Guba offers $2.99 rentals and movie downloads from $9.99 to $19.99. The specific rights vary from video to video, so you'll need to read the information on each individual file to find out how long you have to watch a rental, how many copies you can make of the file, and other playback issues.

Movielink

Movielink offers movies for rental and purchase. Rentals start at $.99, but most cost $2.99 or $3.99, and can be stored for up to 30 days. The files expires 24 hours after you start watching them. You can buy movie downloads for as little as $1.99, with most movies costing around $9.99. A purchase means you can keep them indefinitely. Read the specific licensing details of each film to find out whether you can transfer a movie to another computer. Movielink does not offer the option to burn DVDs to be played on a regular DVD player.

Before You Buy

• You must have high-speed Internet access to buy movie downloads. Movie files are simply too large to download over dial-up.
• Read the terms of use carefully. Don't let your rental expire before you've had a chance to watch the video. The majority of movie downloads can't be burned to DVD, so if you hope to watch movies on your TV, shop carefully. If you want to watch your movie downloads on a portable player, make sure you're allowed to transfer the files to another device.
• Know your computer system and media player. Many movie download sites are not Mac-friendly. For instance, the Vongo website won't even load if your computer isn't running Windows XP or Vista. Other sites may require a specific version of Windows Media Player or only allow downloads in certain web browsers. Files that will play on an iPod won't play on most other portable players.