Movielink (discontinued)

Review: I first found MovieLink about a year ago, I think, while looking through Media Center programs on my Xbox 360. At the time, it was the only service with support, though it has since lost the monopoly.

It did take about an hour to setup with the Media Center extender. I also had a little learning curve with the program - specifically where it stores the files on the PC. I figured I could just go through the Videos folder of the X360, but you actually have to go through the MovieLink software via it to find the films.

I love the download speeds with the service. 90% of the time, its my connection that limits the transfer speeds. As we speak, my download of National Geographic: Destination Space (a 97 minute film), is hovering between 8000-8500 Kbits/sec. It was ready to start playing within only two or three minutes and looks like it's on pace to finish at the fifteen minute mark.

The service would get a 10, but the prices are right on par with brick-and-mortar BlockBuster stores, with a smaller selection.

Review: Movie Downloads are too slow. My download is now showing 2 days 23 hours !

Review: I'm sorry, but paying 3.95 for a short term rental when I can pay 15-20 a month for unlimited / keep as long as you want (and in Blockbuster Online's case, turn them in at the store to be mailed while renting another for free doesn't make any sense.

And why buy Casino Royale for 14.99 and be limited as to where you can play it when you can buy it from Walmart for 15.97 or 19.97 for the deluxe version with the poker set???

Review: I'm a mild gadget geek, so I thought that downloading a movie and playing it from my laptop to my TV would be a fun challenge. It was. As far as doing all that everytime I want to rent and watch a movie - no thanks. I really like NetFlix - big selection and I can watch DVDs on my TV or computer as many times as I like for as long as I like.

Review: I gave 8 to the service because most of the limitations of Movielink come from the model it uses and the internet connection speed. If I was rating the overall experience, it would be a 5 due to my slow broadband and lack of TV/PC integration, but that's on my end.

I have been using Movielink for a few months now. Rented probably 4 movies - I have to say it is convenient if you have 45 mins before you want to start watching the movie. The download usually takes 2 hrs (1Gb is the average movie size), so I end up have to wait about 30-45 mins before play button becomes available. Can be annoying if it is 10 PM. It is really only an option to consider and is not THE way to rent movies so far. Broadband needs to go a big step up before Movielink kills Blockbuster or Netflix and by that time there will be HD movies, so multiply your waiting time by 8

Now, that assumes you are either willing to watch a movie on the PC or have it connected to the TV. I have my laptop that has S-Video out - it is pretty good. If you have one of the latest LCD's/Plasmas you can use your VGA input and get a decent signal quality. But if you don't have a PC hooked up, screwing around with cables, settings, and inputs can be daunting. Sorry but I refuse to watch a movie on my 15" laptop screen and use my laptop speakers.

Another difficulty is that it wonly works with Interenet Explorer, which I don't use and I hear it does not work with Mac's either.

The services has a nice feature that rewards additional viewing - once you download the movie, additional sessions are only 0.99 or 1.99 depending on the movie, so I tend to save movies in my "inbox" hoping I may watch one or another later cheaper and without a need to download - that's yet to happen.

Bottom Line:
It is nice to browse through the collection online in the comfort of your house, but sometimes it may not be worth the hassle of waiting 45 mins for a download to start playing, fiddling with the settings on the PC, and connecting it to the TV/Receiver, but can that really stop a geek?

Review: Where do I start? Limited supply of purchase movies, and even more limited supply of rentals (or at least new releases). The prices are way too high even with the major movie studios owning the web site. Some what long downloading a movie. The picture is bad compared to the more reasonably priced store bought DVDs. Now on to the good... Progressive downloading, like cNet said, is a plus for impatient people like me. Convenient for those of us who just want to stay home and click some buttons to watch a movie. More to say, more negative than positive, but overall Cnet got just about all you need to make a decision to purchase on Movielink or not.

Review: Did Cnet rate some new version of Movielink that was released in April 2006? I've been using Movielink sparingly since Fall 2004 and the customer service chat option is a great feature. Movielink would be better with a larger selection of movies, the ability to watch a selected movie for atleast one week after opening. Also I should be able to 'download to own' a movie to own for cheaper than purchasing the dvd because I am not paying for a box or a plastic disc.