Sometimes, I like to see a movie that's not available on one of the services I use, so occasionally, I rent one. I've found that even movies that aren't especially new can be a bit on the pricey side sometimes. I saw one the other day for $14.99. At that point, I might as well buy a movie. Recently, we were going to watch something and it was $5.99 on Google Play. It was $4.99 on another service. I think it might have been Amazon. So, we decided to go with Redbox for $2.00 instead (we have one right around the corner, so it's worth the quick trip to save a few bucks). We wanted to watch the original and the sequel over the weekend, so it made sense to go with the cheaper option. While it's more convenient to get it with the click of a button, doing that frequently could start to add up. So, it does pay to look around before choosing. There are lots of options to compare. Do you have a preference, or do you prefer whichever one costs the least?
Have you tried visiting family-owned DVD rental shops? They usually have the best deal at first to attract customers but you must give them your address in case one is stolen from them. Around here, they tend to cost less than a dollar per rental of regular HD movies or 1.50 dollars for Blu-ray movies.
We no longer have any of those types of shops close to our home, @TheKnight. You are right though, sometimes they do have good offers and cheap rates. When we did have such a place, we didn't have very good luck with them. People don't seem to take very good care of the discs. I was afraid we'd have the same problem if we decided to use Redbox, but so far, we have not had any issues. The grocery store in town used to have a movie rental section, but they did away with it now. They did have good deals though, so for people with local rental places, it might be a good option. They frequently had offers of rent two, get a third movie for free.
@thisnthat I actually know of some libraries that also rent movies for very cheap if you applied for a library card and were accepted into movie rentals program. If you pass the application, they add a sticker to your library card and let you rent certain movies for free and others for a dollar. You just need to add your real address, answer a few questions about the neighborhood to make sure you live there, and the purpose for the rentals.
@TheKnight That is a good deal. I wonder if they have a very big selection. Our library is pretty small. I think I'll still go see what they have. You never know; they might have some good movies that I haven't seen yet. I have to say that I have been pretty happy with Redbox. I really didn't think I was going to like it, but so far, so good. They have a good selection, and they sometimes offer movies that not all the services offer. It's certainly affordable, and as noted, it's really not too much trouble since we have one so close to us. I may even give out some Redbox codes as gifts. There isn't a lot to do around here, so most people watch movies for entertainment.
I am pretty flexible about what I watch, and watch a lot of movies, so for me a subscription service makes a lot more sense than a charge-per-view system. I find Hulu the best for movies, but Netflix is also okay. Amazon Prime has an okay selection but their search engine is terrible. It can be very hard to find stuff to watch there. I have it anyway because I have prime for the free delivery option.
I've always been Amazon's user (although you have already used others) and I do not have a single complaint. Their service is great and the diversity of movies to choose from is incredible. For me, it satisfies all my needs and I always indicate the service - when I have the opportunity - to my friends.
@Penny I have to agree with the part about Amazon. While I like Amazon Prime, their layout and search is awful. I'm convinced that there is a method to the madness though. It seems clear that it's an attempt to sell you more stuff while you're searching for something to watch. I want to watch something without jumping through hoops to find it. If it gets too frustrating, I'll simply close the page and look elsewhere. Netflix is more user friendly, but the content is hit or miss. I still use it though. I'm not really a big fan of Hulu. When I first tried it, they used to make recommendations based on my preferences. That's fine, but when I clicked the recommendations to learn more, half the time what they recommended wasn't even available. What's the point of that? Do they still do that?
@thisnthat Even if it's a small collection, they usually tend to have the most recent releases and almost always have the ones that are the most popular. It's just too bad that when they're very popular, it will be tough to find them on the shelves. You would need to be put on a waiting list. Redbox sounds nice since it's only 1 to 2 dollars but do they have the most recent releases?
Redbox is about as current as any other service, from what I can tell so far. They even have a lot of the same movies the other offer, but they also sometimes have a few that I haven't seen available on Netflix or Prime. Overall, I've been pretty happy with the service, including the selection. They even send coupons and discounts on occasion, if you sign up by email. We received a code for one free rental when we first signed up for the email alerts. I'll have to really compare them to see if it's the better value over Netflix, since I could avail of their DVD service as well. I currently only have their streaming.
I actually heard the word Bluckbuster the other day and I got a good laugh. Not that it was not a good company or anything but just the thought made me think of all the changes in not that long of time.
Yeah, Blockbuster had its heyday, but it is long gone now. @TheKnight there are a couple of other things about Redbox that I recently learned that make it an even better deal. They have a rewards program. For every (eligible) movie that you rent, you get a point or two right now if you get Blue Ray. When you get ten points, you get a free rental. Also, sometimes when you're getting a movie, an offer will pop up on the screen that gives you the option to add another movie for only 50 cents. That's nice if you want to watch an original plus a sequel or just want more than one flick. I also just found out that you can pick up a movie at one terminal and return it at any other. This worked out well for us, since the movie we wanted wasn't available nearby. We got it while we were in the city and then returned it to the kiosk near our home after watching it. That's handy.
