Your Life On DVD - written by J Schipper

Why waste time going down to the video rental store, when it is so easy to get movies and TV shows online? It is possible to rent or buy new movies, or obtain copies of your favorite TV shows, without leaving your house.

One of the most popular options, NetFlix, offers 3 rental programs. The cheapest option is $11.99, allows 2 DVDs to be taken out at one time before being returned, at a maximum of 4 per month. Their second option is priced at $14.99, allows 2 DVDs at one time, with an unlimited number per month. Their most expensive plan allows 3 DVDs at once, with no monthly limit, for $17.99. The user selects a list of favorite movies, the first 2 or 3 are mailed out, and as they are mailed back after viewing the company sends the next ones on the list. Movies arrive in a day, shipping is free both ways and you can keep them as long as you want without late fees. The company has 55,000 movies to choose from, from classics to recent releases.

NetFlix is advertised and promoted by Walmart, since this store ended its own DVD rentals on June 17, 2005.

Not to be outdone, Blockbuster has an online rental plan with slightly lower fees for the standard 3-movies-at-a-time program, as well as in-store coupons to users who sign up for the online service. Blockbuster offers the cheaper deal because of the coupons. In addition, Blockbuster has game rentals, which NetFlix does not offer at present.

Intelliflix offers theater movies as well as Adult titles, and video games. With or without a subscription plan, it is possible to rent any movie or game on a pay-as-you-go plan. Individual rentals start at $4.26, and at $8.25 for a one-year pre-paid subscription, they are almost 50% cheaper than NetFlix or Blockbuster. Like the other major services, this includes free shipping. The user has five days to watch the movie before returning it in a pre-paid mailer.

If you intend to purchase a DVD, Ebay has a constantly changing selection from thousands of venders. If you don't find what you are looking for one day, try again a few days later and it may be listed. For obscure titles that may be unavailable at regular outlets, Ebay can't be beat. The oddest items pop up there unpredictably.

If you missed an episode of a favorite TV show like Arrested Development or the Sopranos, they are all available online. Entire seasons of shows like Six Feet Under and Farscape are now on DVD. These come in attractive boxes and make great gifts for fans.

It is also possible to obtain copies of hard-to-find shows and movies on file sharing networks such as Kazaa or EDonkey. It is possible to download entire shows in an hour or less, depending on your connection speed. You can watch them on your computer or burn them onto CDs. However, free file sharing is illegal, so you didn't hear about this option from me. There are now many legal file downloading services as well, for both music and movies, for monthly memberships of around $5.95.