Shall I buy on DVD or Download?
This is your personal choice. We will continue to sell DVDs as long as there is the slightest demand. We like DVDs because they hold more content with extra bonus scenes and trailers. Also you can take them with you on holidays or camping (if you like camping). DVDs make great gifts… order one and we can ship it to anyone you like. They also make excellent coasters… if its a transformer movie, that is. One other factor is your download connection speed. Do you have broadband internet connection, either DSLR or cable modem or satellite? If not, then downloading a high definition movie is not for you unless you have two or three days to wait around. The key factor in favor of downloading is owning a HD or High Definition version of our movie which would otherwise only be possible on Blu-Ray… which require special players. So if HD is what you want, downloading is the way to go.
Shall I Rent?
We also offer a ‘Watch Now’ or streaming service. This is also called Video on Demand. For a small cost you can rent to watch a movie one time. Once you pay you will have a certain period to watch the movie, usually 30 days and once you start watching the movie it will expire in 24 hours (similar to iTunes). This is a cheaper alternative to buying but one statistic we see is that many of our customers go ahead and buy the movie after renting! So if you feel sure you want to watch first then rent away…
I chose Download so What’s Next?
Once you have selected which movie you want to buy via download, you have one more important decision to make. Which size? This is the drop down menu next to the price and this also determines the price.
480P SD. This is standard definition video… the same size found on a regular DVD at 720 x 480px. We offer just a few movies at this size but they are extra high quality ones and are close to the same download file size as HD. File size is less than 1Gb.
720P HD. This is high definition and the standard size for internet streaming at 1280 x 720px (Youtube and Netflix HD). For most purposes this is the best choice with good quality video and audio and with a medium file size. This will look good and sound good on all computer screen sizes including large LCD and plasma televisions in your home. File size is between 1Gb and 2Gb for most movies. It’s a popular choice.
1080P HD. The holy grail of high definition. Large size resolution of 1920 x 1080px. If you are only happy with the best then this is for you. Its like this, a Ford Focus will get you where you want to go, but a Lamborghini will do it and leave you smiling for days. That’s 1080P. (Apologies to Focus owners). The video and audio is excellent but this comes at a larger file size so make sure your connection is stable and fast please.
How Do I Download My Movie?
The steps are the same for buying any product on the internet… once you have the movies in your shopping cart go to checkout and pay. You will not be allowed to download a movie as a guest, so you must login if you are already registered or if not complete the form to register during payment. After payment you will be taken to your account page. Here you will see confirmation of your purchase and a download link for each movie purchased. This same download links will also be emailed to you with your purchase receipt. Click the download link to begin downloading your movie. Please be patient if your download progress is slow…. everyone thinks their connection speed is the best. You will have 48 hours once download begins to retrieve your movie. Check to see if your browser allows partial downloads so you can resume downloading if your connection fails. You are also allowed to download a second time in this time period. If you have a problem contact us and we will help. Once you have successfully downloaded your movie the link will expire.
Will My Movie Play?
Our DVDs are region free and formatted to work worldwide in any country. While the video itself is designated NTSC the DVD will play on all regular players both in the USA and Europe and Australia and South America. Certain older DVD players may require a setting change but most do not. Using the built in DVD player on your PC or Apple computer will also play our DVDs. For download digital formats, while we can never guess what you use for watching movies, we have picked a video format which is the best all round format for almost any situation. Our movies are Quicktime MP4 format using the H.264 codec. This is becoming the standard format for quality movie files and is used by iTunes. This will play on any computer platform including PC and Apple with popular video players. It is also compatible with almost every media server for televisions such as Playstations etc. A popular workflow is to keep the movie on your laptop or desktop computer and using HDMI out to a television.
More to come on FAQ…
