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> How Do Online Movie Rental Plans Work

There are more than a few online movie rental plans available these days. The number of DVD movies that you are permitted to have out at a time establishes the price of the plan. To clarify how this works, we will presume that you have joined a plan that allows for 3 DVD movies to be out at a time. This is the most common arrangement but all other plans will work as well for any online movie rentals.

When you initially join the plan online, you will decide between 3 movies that you want to see. These online movies will be mailed to you right away.

When online, you will continue a list of flicks that you want to see. When your movie rental club picks up your first rental, they will mail you the next movie on your list. The second movie on your list will be sent to you when they receive the second dvd back. Keep track of what movie rentals are at the top of your que because these will be the ones that will be sent to you next.

If for some reason, your movie is not currently available, be patient, and don't move them to the bottom. You will soon claim this title as soon as its available for rent.

Remember that the delivery time for your DVD rental movies will vary depending on how far you are from your rental company distribution centers. So, consider this distance factor when you select the company for your rentals.

Most online rental companies have more than one plan and you can modify it later if you first selection is not closely accurate. Canceling your plan and signing up with a new rental club is also an option if things don't work for yourself. You can also complement your plan by using the local rental store when necessary.

Usually your flicks will be in your mailbox within 2 to 5 days after it is dispatched. Being close to the origination point ought to make your wait time shorter for any online movie rental plan.

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> Online DVD Rental or Pay-Per-View. The Best Way to Get Your Movies

Renting routines such as online DVD renting and pay-per-view , it seems more or less old-fashioned to go to the rental store. But with all the different ways to get the latest online dvd rentals, which way is the finest? Well, that depends on what is significant to you. Here are some of the different ways you can get the most recent movie titles and the pros and cons of each.

Online DVD Rental

The newer system of online DVD rental has its upsides and downsides. This arrangement is for avid movie fans. In this system you more often than not do not pay for each DVD but instead pay a monthly fee for the DVD delivery service. With some plans as low as £4.99 a month with no late fees, you can rent about any movie delivered to your door in one business day. When you are done with that DVD rental, you simply mail it back to receive an alternative.

This can be done as many times as you desire in one month; however, there is typically a limit of how many DVDs you can have in your custody at one time (depending on how costly your monthly plan is).

The major issue with DVD rentals is the waiting. You have to arrange at least one day ahead of what movie you want to view which means no Friday late night movie rushes. On top of that, you have to be renting at least 2-3 movies a month to make this worth your time and money compared to your local rental store.

If you view a lot of movies and do not object to the wait, the internet DVD rental system may not be a bad decision for you.

Pay-Per-View

Pay-per-view has the immediate benefit that the internet DVD movie rental system doesn't acquire. With pay-per-view, at any time you decide you want to view a DVD, you just order it, sit down and watch it. Another advantage with pay-per-view is that you don't have to be concerned about scratched or skipping discs.

Companies such as I-Satellite offer 33 pay-per-view channels and 13 sports pay-per-view channels with fees as low as $1.99 to watch a movie. This is certainly a more easier way of doing things. However, it can start to tally up if you are an enthusiastic movie watcher. With pay-per-view you do not acquire access to the same "bonus features" that you get with the DVD movies.

With the options of renting movies from the store, online DVD rentals, and pay-per-view it is definitely easy to get your movie fix in one way or another. All three approaches of receiving current blockbusters have their benefits and downfalls in which you will have to choose from.

Personally, I like the convienance of internet rental clubs. It allows me to watch a number of newer releases, but I also have the choice of selecting classic titles as well. If you stick with the standard 3 at at time monthly rental plan, you should not have any problems with receiving your rentals on time, all the time.

The top online rental services today are Netflix and Blockbuster Online. These services along with Intelliflix, if you have anyone in the family that plays video games, will surely keep you and your family entertained for days to come.

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> Will Your DVD Movies Last?

If you think your valued collection of DVD movies will last a lifetime, think again - some are already starting to wear away while others are falling apart.

Unofficial estimates put the number of affected DVDs at between 1 and 10%. Yet some of the main distributors for Hollywood Studios are accused of rejecting to accept the problem exists and replace defective products.

The technology, sold as a replacement for VHS, with added interactive contents, is now five years old and the DVD industry claims it is the most triumphant packaged media in consumer electronics history. The failures are a combination of corrosion - known as "DVD rot" - and delamination, where the layers of the disc separate.

Last year Australians spent $398 million buying 13.3 million DVD movie titles - a three-fold increase on the 4.3 million sold in 2001, according to research firm GFK.

Symptoms of the rot include picture break-up and freezing at a specific place on the dvd. The major cause is believed to be poorly planned cases. Delamination shows up as a coffee-like stain that inhibits the disc from playing. Among those worst affected are video movie rental stores, which buy millions of titles per year.

Rohan Byrnes, 34-year-old science fiction fanatic who owns 350 DVD movies, has spent a lot of time glaring at DVD rot. He works as a failure analysis engineer, with access to an optical microscope.

Mr Byrnes has studied five cases of DVD rot - four in his own compilation - and suspects the microscopic decay spots on the aluminium layer inside the disc could be caused by a "chemical attack", possibly linked to the glue used.

"Some stores have reported they only get two or three rentals from a DVD before it's unplayable," said Ross Walden, director of the Australian Video Retailers Association. Distributors "are washing their hands of it", he said. "Once a DVD has been rented out [distributors] will not take them back."

One DVD movie website lists 18 titles known to have at least one bad batch, among them Planet of the Apes (1968), Men in Black: Collectors Edition , Independence Day and the Alien Legacy box set.

Mr Byrnes returned his discs to the distributors, 20th Century Fox and Columbia TriStar, including his analysis, and got replacements, but other victims were not so fortunate. Peter Longworth, a DVD collector in Newcastle , had an identical problem with Planet of the Apes two years after buying it.

However, 20th Century Fox declined to replace it as it was out of the 90-day warranty.

"The company declined to accept that there was a manufacturing setback," he said. Mr Longworth wrote to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in November, but the movie rental watchdog does not act on consumer warranty problems.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox refused to comment on the subject. A spokesman said only: "We always fully compensate our customers for any manufacturing liability found." Warner Home Video's managing director, Stephen Nickerson, said: "If a customer has trouble with a disc and it is obviously a manufacturing problem we will replace it. The question is whether it is caused by a manufacturing problem or consumer abuse."

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