Ok, we all know about the fight against digital media on the net. I came across this today and was suprised I had not heard of it before, MovieLink.com. They offer movies for download, such as Bourne Identity, 8 mile, fairly new movies. I was curious so I went ahead and joined. I am quite impressed. The movie did not take long to download, it plays in either wme or real player, it was full screen (or widescreen) with great sound. I used it on a notebook and saw no discernable quality flaws. They let you download a movie to test as well. The movies are provided by the studios so your money is feeding them.

I personally like this idea since I hate going to BlockBuster. The only draw backs are the time restrictions, but if you think about it, they are no more restrictive than a pay-per-view on DTV. You usually have up to 30 days to view it. Once you start it, you can watch it as much as you want for a 24 hour period. The movie then deletes itself from your computer. They say average file size is 600 mb so space could be an issue for some as well as download time, I have broadband so it was pretty quick. I would not try to use it on a dial-up though. The rental fee ranges from$4.50-4.99 for most it seems. I did just notice that many are for $2.99 as well...but for older movies such as "As Good As it Gets" and "The Breakfast Club".

I didn't think I would like it, but am impressed so far. Have any of you used it? What do you think of this approach?

Thank you for your interest in Movielink. We want you to take part in the powerful Internet movie rental experience that Movielink delivers, but it is presently unavailable to users outside of the United States.



Darn.

Doh....I forgot to mention that. I assume copyright laws are causing that. The selection is currently small, but they still have some decent new releases there. They seem to have any affinity with USA Network as several movies are from there.