Archive for DVD Rental

Top Tips When Purchasing DVDs

Sometimes, you want to watch a certain film from the comfort of your own home. The best way to do this is by purchasing the DVD edition. Purchasing every DVD you ever want to watch is not going to be affordable, so what tips can we give to make owning DVDs affordable.

Firstly, you want to think about where you are purchasing DVDs from. Most people will turn to buying them new from the supermarket, thinking this is their only choice. But, if you are not against it, you can purchase secondhand DVDs from places like car boot sales or online marketplaces. These will be cheaper, you will just need to check the quality of the DVD to ensure it is not scratched and should work well.

You should also keep an eye on supermarkets for special offers and deals on their DVDs. This will help to make purchasing new DVDs more affordable for you.

HD DVD vs Blu-Ray, a Brief History

Blu-ray and HD DVD began their campaigns in the year 2006. Movie studios and electronics manufacturers were looking for a new video format, one that would suit their ever more visually impressive movies. In the midst of this consumers began rushing out to replace their hardware to experience the new formats.

But it was a war between the two, HD vs Blu-ray, only one could win and consumers were left on the sidelines trying to figure the whole thing out. Meanwhile, DVD players had become commodity items with little or no profit margin, and the bargain bin at local stores offered discs for under £7.

Fast forward 10 years and you will find quite literally dozens of Blu-ray Disc players on offer, starting well under £50. Ranging in all different shapes and sizes.

But now theres 4K, which is expected to be the new Blu-ray; well almost. While it is a new video format, it doesn’t quite carry the physical clout that the new disc formats held.

 

 

DVD/BluRay Disc Rental Is a Thing of the Past!

The day’s of DVD/BluRay rental are fast becoming a thing of the past, those stubborn few that have remained trying to salvage the remains of what’s left of the physical disc rental market won’t have long before it’s gone for good.

As technology has developed more and more content is being pushed online and into a cloud based service, paving the way for massive online streaming giants with vast library’s of the films and shows we all know and love, the undiscovered titles and the fresh and new films and shows that come available.

Nobody ever really wants to go out into town after work or on the weekend to rent out film content on physical discs anymore, we seem to be in a fast-paced world where we don’t have that much time to spare anymore, so turning on your P.C/Laptop/Mobile device and accessing content directly online through a site you have membership is so much easier, and your bound to find something you want to see; no need to waste time physically going out to get what you want.

The only exception of course is Cinema, but with the prices being driven up higher less people go and people rather wait for those films to be released through Netflix, Amazon Video, Now T.V and the like.

The day’s of physical based disc rental are over; if not already it’s time to move over to streaming online.

Online DVD Rental and Streaming Service Providers.

What is the best way to watch films and T.V shows these days? The days of Blockbuster and fixed based video & DVD rental stores is gone; only to be replaced with online streaming services and film-by post rentals from the former Lovefilm company, who were brought out by Amazon.

There are 3 main contenders out there for paid online streaming of the latest movies, music and games; those are NowTV, Amazon video, and Netflix; there may be others, but they are simply not worth mentioning.

Now T.V is basically an extension of the Sky TV channels, though available as online content to stream; there are 3 packages available: Sky Movies Pass, Entertainment Pass and Sky Sports pass. Depending on what your into watching you can get some good value for money; the downside with NowTV is that your subject to the usual scrawl you get on the regular channels and that is mostly what comes free with each of those packages (depending on the type of package and the content available for it). There is a lot of confusion with the Sky Movies package and some of the latest films will take you to the main sky website, of which you’re not a member. Others are actually On-Demand and you will have to pay various prices depending on how new the title is, for each film/show; the Entertainment package, and the Sports package are more or less the same, and you are left wondering what your actually paying for, when most of what’s free is rubbish, and the stuff that’s not you have to pay Extra. Memberships range from £6.99 to £9.99 monthly.

Amazon Video has some similarities to NowTV with the mixed content that is available with your package, and the stuff that’s on Demand that you will have to pay extra for; though they have a lot more available that’s more or less ok and part of your package. The good news is that you get the Amazon Video package with the Amazon Prime membership, which enables you to have better delivery options for some of the things you buy from Amazon; as well as access to music and also the absorbed lovefilmby post service. There are some other features, but they will not be mentioned here. Be aware that the Amazon Prime membership is billed yearly in a full lump sum instalment of about £75; it is taken automatically the same time each year as a continuous credit/debit card payment.

Finally we have Netflix; by far the most popular and the most flexible of all the online streaming services for movies and shows, with a simple and affordable membership fee each month. With Netflix you get access to all the movies and shows they have available and there are no extra costs for newer films; everything basically is on-demand. They have packages from £5.99 – £8.99 per month.

Conclusion: Now.TV will have the latest movies and some of the latest shows on their Network, but they will be available at a cost for each title, on-top of the price you’re paying for the membership.

Amazon Video will have some of the Latest films available at a cost for each title for many of the title, and a lot more of the latest shows that are on any Network (Space, CBS, SciFi, etc…) ontop of the cost of your membership; their new film titles are not brought out as fast as NowTV, but their shows are fairly quick and regular.

Netflix will not have the Newest films available for a least a month or so after the top two competitors, and may or may not get them when they are available; new films and shows are slower to come in and it could be weeks before you see any new content. There are however, exclusive shows only released in Netflix, and are Netflix originals like “Orange is the New Black”; so when they are available it is worth it when all episodes are released at once without the wait.

What you choose now, is down to your preferences and also what you can comfortably afford.

Watching Classics in Blu-Ray

Film watching is something many people will be doing this Christmas, and if you want to relive your younger days, start watching class films in HD.

There are plenty of classic films out there that have been successfully converted into a Blu-ray DVD format, even extremely old films such as Gone With The Wind  or Taxi Driver. It can be quite an unforgettable experience when you’re watching your favourite films from the past in HD, and it can make for a brilliant Christmas gift.

If a member of your family is a film fanatic, and they still are yet to have their own Blu-ray player, they’re extremely well priced. Blu-ray players are becoming the norm, so make sure you don’t fall behind, and watch films the way you’re supposed to, in high definition!