DoYou LOVEFiLM?
Our regular visitors will probably have noticed that we have started promoting the movie rental website LOVEFiLM on some of our pages. It turned out that none of us here had actually used the service before so the bozz suggested that I give it a try and report back. He also patiently explained that in the interests of impartiality I should do it at my own expense. Hmm well OK so here are my findings...
The way LOVEFiLM works is very simple. You choose a list of DVDs that interest you on the website, pay a manthly fee and wait. LOVEFiLM automatically select a DVD from your list and send it to you by post. Once you have watched it you put it back into the package it came in which has a Freepost address for the return. When they get it back they choose another and send it out. The system has worked flawlessly for me so far. I can imagine that from time to time a disk will be lost in the post or it will arrive scratched but unless you are very unlucky I think it is going to be a reasonable process over time.
These days there is a very limited choice of films on the main network TV channels. If you are a keen film watcher your options are limited to visiting the cinema, subscription TV, buying DVDs or renting DVDs. I do love going to the cinema but with a busy life the number of films I watch that way will always be limited. Subscription TV is quite expensive and so is buying DVDs that I am likely to watch only once or twice. The cost of either option goes up sharply if you want high definition, which as it happens I do.
DVD rental is therefore an attractive option and I personally find that rental via the web is the most convenient option. Even standard definition DVD has a significant advantage in picture quality over satellite or cable broadcasts and with services such as LOVEFiLM you can have Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disks at no extra cost when they are available. If you are the proud new owner of an HDTV that could be the clincher I think.
But the biggest advantage I came to appreciate with LOVEFiLM is the vast choice of films available. They currently have 65000 different DVDs that you can choose from and that puts them way ahead of any conventional DVD rental shop I rekon. The LOVEFiLM website gives you numerous ways of searching for films, by title, driector, actors genre, age ratings etc. I should warn you that building your lists can get quite addictive.
I did experience a few niggles using the site. One is the lack of a full advanced search page that would allow me to select using a combination of criteria. That would be so useful. Another niggle of a slightly different sort is that the back button does not work as it should so I often have to return via a longer navigation route. I must admit that sometimes I resorted to Amazon or the Internet Movie DataBase to find films, then I go back to LOVEFiLM to see if they have them.
LOVEFiLM offer a range of packages starting at about four quid per month for two films per month. You can then buy extra film credits at about two quid each, or you can upgrade to a package that gives more films at a better rate. If you are watching a lot you will be paying well under a pound per film. You can also add an option for video games if gaming takes your fancy.
By the way did I mention that films are usually available for DVD rental before they appear on TV, (even Sky Box Office) so with LOVEFiLM you will see them sooner too. I'm probably not sounding very impartial now so I'll just finish by mentioning that there are alternative DVD rental services including Blackbusters. Recently Tesco and Asda have also started up rivals so if your consumer loyalties suit, do give them a try and let us know how they compare. Bye.