Gadget Report
October 7th, 2004
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October 7th, 2004
Gadget Freak: Movie Download Sites
by PC World Contributing Editor Dan Tynan
I love movies, but I'd rather eat stale popcorn than wait in line at
Blockbuster. So I joined Movielink and Starz Ticket on Real Movies.
You can find them online at:
Movielink
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242758/21421684/239063/0/
Starz Ticket
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242758/21421684/755741/0/
Both services let you download films from the Internet and watch them
on your PC. CinemaNow has a similar service, but a fellow can watch
only so many movies. My quest: to find out if they're a better deal
than Netflix, my DVD-by-mail service of choice. Here's how they stack
up.
Selection
Browsing Starz's 150-odd movie titles is much like cable-surfing at 3
a.m.--not surprising, since the films are also part of the Starz Movie
library. Who can forget "Two of a Kind," starring John Travolta and
Olivia Newton-John, or "Smokey and the Bandit III"? (Answer: everyone
but Starz subscribers.) Movielink, in contrast, serves up 900 films,
including recent Oscar winners like "Cold Mountain." Netflix offers a
whopping 25,000 DVD choices. Game over.
Price
Starz's $13 a month for unlimited downloads may seem like a bargain,
but what do you do once you've rented the five flicks worth watching?
Movielink charges $1 to $5 per film--but mostly $5. That's about $4.99
more than I am willing to pay for movies like "Bio-Dome." With
Netflix, I can rent up to three DVDs at a time for $22 a month. We'll
see 12 to 15 movies in a good month. It's a much smarter deal.
Convenience
With Netflix, you add movies to your list, and the discs are sent to
you as they become available. Movielink and Starz let you download
movies to watch later (or alternatively, in Movielink's case, as they
download; Starz expects to offer streaming by press time). That's more
convenient, right? But the services are hobbled by the studios, which
give movies to them a month after they hit the video stores, and
impose silly rules on when you can watch films.
On Starz, for example, you can watch a movie at any time, provided you
do it while the film is still available on the site and within 24
hours of starting it, but not more than three times, except during a
blue moon in months that end in "r." (Okay, I made up that last bit.)
Starz lets you burn films to disc, but you can only play that CD on up
to three PCs. Movielink gives you 30 days to watch a movie, but you
must finish it within 24 hours of starting it or pay $1 for another
24-hour license--no burning allowed. You can keep a Netflix DVD for
weeks and watch it a hundred times. That would be stupid, but you
could do it.
Playback
To simulate a real movie-theater experience, I connected my notebook
to a digital projector and watched "Blue Crush" (from Starz) on the
wall of my living room. The picture was almost as good as with a DVD.
But Movielink was a mess. One file that I downloaded was corrupted and
wouldn't play. I had to reinstall Movielink's media software and
download "Bride of Chucky" all over again. When the film did finally
play, it stuttered and dropped frames. Netflix DVDs do have a high
schmutz factor, and this can cause playback problems, but a quick wipe
with Windex and a tissue usually fixes them.
The verdict? Movie download sites are a good idea done poorly, at
least so far. But when Netflix launches its own download service next
year (possibly in partnership with TiVo), I'll be one of the first in
line to sign up. And I won't even have to get off the couch to do it.
By the way, if you're interested in NetFlix, you can check it out
online:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242758/21421684/755742/0/
* Next Up: Frag Your Friends *
Want to stop lugging a full-size PC to LAN parties? Then try Falcon
Northwest's new FragBook line of notebooks. The TL (thin and light)
models, which have 15-inch screens and Pentium M processors, weigh
only about 7 pounds. Prices for the TL series start at $2786. The DR
(desktop replacement) FragBooks are Pentium-4a-based and have 17-inch
wide-screen displays, a built-in Webcam, and four speakers. Prices for
the DR series start at $3300. To psych out your gaming competition,
you can order your FragBook with any automotive finish available.
For more info, go to the vendor's Web site:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242758/21421684/755743/0/
--Rebecca Freed
Read Dan Tynan's regularly published "Gadget Freak" columns:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242758/21421684/364470/0/
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