Debt Free

Through this weekend CinemaNow is giving people a nice way to save money on legal movie downloads. You'll actually save money in two ways. The movies are 2 for 1, so you'll save money there, and you won't have to fight traffic and pay for gas to go get them. With the price of gas these days, that's kind of a big deal. They also have a free trial, so you can see if you like the service. Currently they have about 3,500 movies to choose from.

 
Cinema Now is one of the leaders in the growing legal movie download market. There are a seemingly a million of those probably not legal P-2-P movie download sites out on the net, but the legal sites that follow the traditional subscription or pay per download model are growing fast. If you're a TiVO subscriber, you can use Amazon's Amazon Unboxed service to download movies right to your TiVO. Apple has introduced the Apple TV that lets you download movies and videos for rental from iTunes.

There is also the Vudu, which I've been using for about 8 months now. It is a movie download terminal that you hook to your TV like any DVD player, except that it has a network connection like a BluRay player. As with the Apple TV you have to buy the box, of which 2 models are available; one at $299, and one at $999. The more expensive unit has a larger hard drive, in case you're one of those who has to own a large movie library and don't want to rent most of your movies. Yes, you can get HD movies on the Vudu and the Apple TV. The Vudu is extremely easy to hook up, use and navigate to find your movies. Even my 2 small kids have absolutely zero problems, because there is a graphical interface with movie cover art. That way, even if you can't read, you can still find a movie.

For those of you that are subscribers to the incredibly popular Netflix DVD delivery service, you can now partake in a movie download service as well. Netflix has just released a download terminal that allows you to pull movies fomr the Netflix catalog, and stream them for viewwing to your TV. It's pretty darn cool, but I prefer the Vudu, and here's why:

• The Netflix box offers worse picture quality  compared to the Vudu – some movies stream at 500kbps vs. 2mbps or 4mbps for VUDU.   If you spent your hard earned dollars on a nice, new  flat panel TV, you probably want to feed it the best possible signal.

• Netflix box user interface is static with no animations.  As opposed to the amazing and engaging user experience you get with VUDU.

• Netflix box is stereo only vs. DOLBY DIGITAL PLUS (5.1) for VUDU.  Did you hear that plane fly by?  Probably not in stereo.  If you have any type of decent surround sound system, this is probably a deal breaker. Studies have shown that people actually derive more enjoyment fomr a movie with decent picture and fantastic sound that the reverse.

• Netflix reportedly offers 10,000 movies with a HIGH emphasis on back catalog, in other words there isn’t as much new that you can see, unless you like older movies.  Compare this to VUDU where they have the most current movies available (as well as a deep back catalog) 5700 movies and growing weekly!

• The Netflix box does not contain an internal HDD.  For this reason, playback will not be glitch free and will be highly variable in many situations.  Additionally, the video server aspect of VUDU is completely lost with the Netflix box.  So you can forget multi-dwelling or mobile applications with the Netflix box, because rarely do they have internet service available.  The lack of an internal hard drive means you can't load up your box with movies, and then take it on the road for vacations or other travel.6.     

• Netflix does not offer the same level of integration ability.  If you're one of the (admitedly few) with a home automation system such as those offered by Crestron, AMX or Control 4, you just won't be able to get the same level of integration and control from the netflix solution. 

The CinemaNow and Amazon services require either a computer (both work for computer downloads) or TiVO (Amazon), but you don't need to by a dedicated box like you use with the Vudu or Apple TV.

The movie studios can't wait until the download model displaces traditional disc based content completely, because they can dispense with distribution costs and disk pressing plants, yet still charge the same for their movies. They'll save money on labor, capital expenditures and transportation and packaging. That's definitiely a winning situation for the movie studios.

You can find out more about the CinemaNow specials and free trial here.