Joe D’Ambrose

How do you get movies?

My parents and my sister both are happy Netflix customers. They tell me that if you break it down they’re paying between $1.00 and $2.00 per rental, and it’s been steadily on time with the deliveries. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington prefers Blockbuster’s Total Access online rental service because “movies received by mail can be returned directly at any Blockbuster store.” I don’t use either, and I’m also hesitant to rent movies at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video because of the high price of $4 or $5 per rental. I recently started using the Redbox vending machines which can be found at most Stop & Shop’s. They let you rent movies for $1.00 per day and charge it right to your credit card, providing receipts by e-mail. Not bad at all, and I’ve been happy with their price and convenience. However, on a few occasions the DVDs I rented were slightly damaged and playback would stop halfway through the flick on some DVD players. They probably aren’t checking up on their machines very often, replacing the damaged discs. An understandable challenge.

If I see a movie I like at Hollywood Video or Blockbuster being sold as a pre-viewed DVD, I consider buying it. The other day I bought 4 DVDs for less than $18 at Hollywood Video, which has a lifetime guarantee against damaged discs. To me, that was a good value, because if I end up wanting to get rid of the DVD, I could just sell it on Half.com.